Dear Friends:

In recent years the Board of Regents’ system of universities and special schools has faced many challenges and accomplished a great deal. Serving as a member of the Board of Regents throughout this period has been both exciting and rewarding.

During this time, the Regents have created from six independent universities a system that will achieve our vision of efficiency and effectiveness, as well as access, quality and accountability. Diverse initiatives are coming together, producing measurable results.

Some of the major changes in the past year include:

• A new funding framework that will provide stability through base budgets, allowing for multi-year planning. The incentive funding component of the framework will distribute additional revenues on the basis of performances. The previous distribution formula, driven by enrollment and the generation of credit hours, was unresponsive to policy changes and did not challenge the universities to improve.
• A salary competitiveness plan that is intended to raise the salaries of university and special school faculty and certain employees to levels more competitive with the regional job market. Salary increases will respond to merit and performance, the demands of the marketplace, and the institutional priorities. This plan could not have been implemented without the willingness of the university students to contribute and the good will of policy makers.
• A proficiency examination administered to all rising juniors that will ensure value is added to the education that our students bring with them when they enter one of the regental universities.
• Increased integration of technology into academic disciplines that will improve the delivery of instruction and prepare university and special school students to enter the rapidly changing work world. Fifty-seven faculty members received the Governor Janklow’s Faculty Awards for Teaching with Technology to redesign courses. The universities cut the ribbon on the Governor’s Electronic Classrooms, technologically advanced facilities that connect all campuses to share curriculum and instruction.
• The nine state higher education policy goals that were adopted by the Board in conjunction with the funding framework and that set forth the Board’s plan for the Unified System of Public Higher Education. The goals now provide the structure for this year’s Fact Book.

In short the past year has been highly productive. The next will be equally so, as we review our general education curriculum, upgrade the technology infrastructure of the institutions, and begin participation in a national cost study as a benchmark for resource management.

The Board of Regents is grateful for the support we have received from Governor William J. Janklow, members of the South Dakota Legislature, and the students, faculty and staff of the regental universities and special schools.

It is with great pleasure that I offer you this accounting of the Regents’ efforts to manage the statewide educational institutions. And for the Board, I renew our pledge to continue to respond to the needs of South Dakota and its people. The vision will become a reality.

Sincerely,

James O. Hansen
President