GRAND FORKS (AP) - New University of North Dakota President Robert Kelley will see the turnover of nearly half of his 10 Cabinet members in his first six months on the job, but some of the exiting vice presidents say that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"He also will be gaining a fresh outlook and some new blood," said Bob Gallager, who's retiring at the end of the year as vice president for finance and operations.

Kelley, who took office on July 1, succeeding the retired Charles Kupchella, said the number of retirements and resignations at UND is not extraordinary.

"I think this is just normal turnover within a university," he said.

The first person to leave the president's Cabinet was Phil Harmeson, who served under Kupchella as vice president for general administration. Kelley eliminated that position and reassigned Harmeson to the College of Business and Public Administration. Harmeson, a tenured faculty member, is on developmental leave this semester.

Gary Johnson left in November as UND's interim vice president for research, and has taken a job with the South Dakota Board of Regents.

H. David Wilson, dean of the UND medical school, announced in late November that he was resigning at the end of the academic year to pursue several national administrative posts.

Wilson also is UND's vice president for health affairs. He is not leaving the university until June but is being immediately replaced in Kelley's Cabinet.

A fifth vice president, Greg Weisenstein, is job hunting. The provost and vice president for academic affairs has been a finalist for several university presidencies. Weisenstein has said he is happy at UND but wants to end his career as a university president.

If Weisenstein were to leave, the only vice president that would remain from Kupchella's tenure is Bob Boyd, vice president for student and outreach services.

Kelley said he has asked Boyd to stay at UND for a while.

"He's got a very, very deep sense of the history of UND and it's very valuable to me," Kelley said.