Feb 24, 2007 - 03:56:40 CST
North Dakota's new chancellor has the task of facing skeptical legislators and repairing recent dents in the university system's image, and William Goetz believes he's up to the job.The Board of Higher Education on Friday hired Goetz, who is Gov. John Hoeven's chief of staff, as the system's top administrator. He begins work July 1, when the incumbent chancellor, Eddie Dunn, is scheduled to retire.
Goetz, 63, is a former business professor and administrator at Dickinson State University. He served almost 20 years in the North Dakota Legislature, including stints as an assistant Republican floor leader in both the House and Senate.
He resigned from the Senate in July 1997 when then-Gov. Ed Schafer tapped Goetz to be his chief of staff. Hoeven kept Goetz in the job when he took office in December 2000.
"He's been a great chief of staff, and he will be an outstanding chancellor," Hoeven said Friday. "We're excited about the future of the university system."
Goetz has had a ringside seat for recent university system tumult - a power struggle between Chancellor Robert Potts and North Dakota State University President Joseph Chapman, which resulted in Potts' resignation last August, and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem's investigation into whether the Board of Higher Education violated the state's open meetings laws.
The imbroglio prompted Rep. Bob Skarphol, R-Tioga, to introduce a constitutional amendment in the North Dakota House that would give the chancellor explicit power to hire and fire the system's college presidents. A House vote on the amendment is pending.
Goetz said he had serious reservations about the proposal, saying he preferred a more collaborative style with campus presidents and board members. When asked if he considered himself the presidents' boss, Goetz replied: "Yes, cooperatively with the board."
"The position I want to take relative to the presidents is one of assisting, gaining their confidence and respect, and help presidents as they confront the various issues and challenges that they do confront on a daily basis," Goetz said.
One of his top objectives, he said, is to promote better understanding of the higher education "roundtable," an agreement that gave the board and North Dakota's 11 public colleges more flexibility in managing their budgets and personnel.
The relationship between North Dakota's state lawmakers and university system officials "needs some work," Goetz said, particularly with legislators who are in charge of writing the university system's budget.
"We need to set an agenda, a strategy, whereby this communication and relationship-building takes place ... not only with the legislators who are on the Appropriations Committee, but leadership and legislators of each region," Goetz said. "I think this is critical."
Goetz will be paid $170,000 annually, with a $20,000 housing and entertainment allowance and an $11,000 vehicle allowance. He has a two-year contract.
Board members voted 8-0 on Friday to hire Goetz after interviewing him and the job's other finalist, Paul Keys, at a Mandan hotel.
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