NDUS staff report on tribal-college grant and new board rules on tenure and reduced-credit degrees

Brenda Zastoupal, director of financial aid for the North Dakota University System, presented the 2025-26 Tribal Controlled Community Colleges Assistance Grant report and described how payments were calculated and distributed to the five tribal colleges.

Zastoupal said the biennial appropriation for the program is $1.6 million (split to $800,000 per year). Using an ISC federal per-student rate of $7,981.41 and the reported 93.7 FTE for the covered period, the ISC-based calculation totaled $747,008.58; statute requires that the remaining balance be distributed pro rata on FTE, producing an additional $52,141.88 to reach the $800,000 allotment. Payments were issued the week of the meeting and the final report was delivered to Legislative Council per statute (Century Code 15-70 referenced in the materials).

Lisa Johnson, deputy commissioner for academic and student affairs at NDUS, briefed the committee on recent State Board policy changes implementing statutory language on post-tenure review and outlining guardrails for reduced-credit bachelor'degree programs.

Johnson said Board Policy 605.1 was updated to require annual evaluations and a post-tenure review schedule (initial review within three years and subsequent reviews every five years), and to set committee composition rules for culminating reviews; the board adopted the policy on 02/26/2026, and Johnson cited a July compliance checkpoint noted in policy materials. She said the board also raised minimum credentials for future tenure eligibility and encouraged multi-year contracts as an alternative pathway for faculty in applied and trade fields where terminal degrees are uncommon.

On reduced-credit bachelor's degrees, Johnson summarized Board Policy 409.1 guardrails: institutions may propose up to two reduced-credit programs each; licensure programs are excluded from initial pilots; campuses must document employer support, align programs with workforce needs, provide enhanced advising to protect students, and pledge internal outcomes tracking with a formal review planned for 2030 once graduates emerge from pilot programs.

Committee members asked about student protections and marketing of reduced-credit options; Johnson and board members said outcomes must be the same and that electives, not core competencies or licensure requirements, are most commonly removed when credits are reduced.

There were no committee votes on policy matters during the session; staff indicated the board's earlier actions addressed many of the legislative issues that had prompted interim committee attention.