North Dakota Board of Higher Education Members

NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 8, 2010



Contact: Don Canton or Jody Link

(701) 328-2200





HOEVEN ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENTS TO HIGHER EDUCATION BOARD



BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. John Hoeven today announced the appointments of Kirsten Diederich of Fargo and Duaine Espegard of Grand Forks to the State Board of Higher Education for four-year terms effective July 1. In addition, Melissa Bonner, a student at the University of North Dakota, has been appointed as the student representative, beginning July 1.



Duaine Espegard, a former North Dakota state senator, was appointed to the Board in March 2007. From 1969 to 2003, he worked for Bremer Financial as a bank director, chief executive officer and regional president. Espegard was elected to the state senate in 2000 and served until 2006. He was appointed to the Industry, Business and Labor Committee.



Diederich will be serving her first term on the board. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from North Dakota State University and currently teaches biology at Concordia College. The Diederich family has been involved in the construction industry in North Dakota for many years. She is also involved in numerous community organizations and civic groups, including the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Ball, the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center; Bison Bidders, the Humane Society, and others.



Student member Melissa Bonner is majoring in German at the University of North Dakota. Melissa was elected as the Education and Human Development Student Senator for the 2007-2008 school year, and in the 2009-2010 school year, she was appointed the Governmental Affairs Coordinator on Student Government’s executive team. As a member of UND’s Flood Coordination Center in 2009, she worked sandbagging, processed requests for transportation and helped with volunteer processing.



The nine-member State Board of Higher Education is the policy-setting body for the North Dakota University System. The Board consists of seven citizen members who serve four-year terms, one student appointed by the governor for a one-year term and one faculty advisor selected by the Council of College Faculties.



As per the North Dakota State Constitution, the Governor makes four-year appointments to the Board of Higher Education from a list of nominees selected by a committee composed of the President of the North Dakota Education Association, Chief Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives. The student member is appointed from a list advanced to the Governor by the North Dakota Student Association.



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