Fargo, N.D. (AP) Supporters of replacing the current eight-member, part-time North Dakota board of a higher education with a three-member, full-time commission say the change is needed to handle a burgeoning system with 11 colleges and universities. Opponents say the numbers don't add up.
Some of the arguments were laid out earlier this week in a public forum that featured the sponsor of the original measure, Republican House Majority Leader Al Carlson. Carlson says higher education is a $2 billion enterprise that is too big for a part-time board to handle.
Democratic State Representative Eliot Glassheim, who attended the forum, says he doesn't see the measure offering significant change for lawmakers who want more control over the board.
Glassheim says that the current system already has a full-time manager in the university system chancellor.