NDSU urges higher pharmacy funding, outlines workforce-driven program priorities as cuts continue

President Cook, president of North Dakota State University, told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division that the university supports increasing the pharmacy funding factor and has prioritized a list of workforce-oriented degree proposals if the Legislature provides new funds.

The university president told the committee that pharmacy education carries unique costs and a larger clinical scope in North Dakota, saying, "Pharmacists themselves in North Dakota, the scope of practice has changed dramatically." He said those changes increase quality, regulatory and data costs and that the pharmacy program includes laboratories, equipment and a significant research enterprise.

The funding discussion came as Cook and NDSU officials described deep personnel reductions under the university's NDSU Transform plan and changes made to tuition waiver policies. "We've cut 87.75 instructional FTE, but we've also increased non-instructional FTE by 26," President Cook said, explaining how the university arrived at a net instructional reduction figure after voluntary separations and program closures.

Why it matters: the Legislature's decision on the pharmacy factor and on any one-time or ongoing appropriations will affect recurring campus budgets, program startups and workforce training in fields such as robotics, precision agriculture and several health professions the…