For Release January 17
Board of Regents Addresses Issues Related to Unified System and SDSU President Search
PIERRE-In a conference call today, the Board of Regents approved policy recommendations on tuition and fee standardization, as well as the initiation of a cooperative French major. Also, the Board of Regents appointed a Regental committee to begin the search for a replacement of retiring President Robert Wagner of South Dakota State University who announced his retirement January 9.
Regents James Hart, Miller; Jason Glodt, Spearfish; and Pat Lebrun, Rapid City have been appointed to the SDSU Presidential Search Committee, Regent James Hansen of Pierre will chair the committee. It is customary for the Regents to seek input from campus and community representatives. Wagner's retirement is effective 1 January 1998 and Hansen said that, "We hope to have a new president named by then for a smooth transition."
Wagner has served as SDSU president for the last 12 years and is an alumni of the university, earning a Ph.D. in Sociology from SDSU in 1972. Regents President Karl Wegner said, "President Wagner has brought positive and innovative change to SDSU during his years as president. The Regents are sorry to see him leave, he has had a profound effect on the Board's decisions and implementation of its policies and we are grateful for his insight and leadership." Wagner cited wanting to spend more time with his family as the reason for retiring at the end of the year, just after of his 65th birthday. While president, Wagner has seen and brought many changes at the university. Twenty-two new facilities have been opened to expand opportunities for students and the state, doctoral programs have been expanded, and over 18,000 students have been graduated. Most recently, in its 1996 rankings of colleges and universities U.S. New and World Report ranked SDSU as number one in efficiency and number two for quality and value of education among four-year mid-western institutions.
Also today, the Regents moved further to develop a unified approach to off-campus delivery of higher education services:
Other tuition and fee issues included approval to combine the Student Health Fee into the General Activity Fee and a revision to the HEPI (Higher Education Price Index) policy which states that the HEPI shall be used as a guide to limit annual inflationary increases on the total cost of tuition and the University Support Fee. The percentage increases attributed to inflation for tuition and the USF shall not normally exceed the prior year's HEPI. The adopted change allows increases in certain fees, which are not inflationary in nature, based on justification of need by the universities.
State-support tuition rates apply to courses eligible for state appropriation support and self-support tuition applies to courses not eligible for state appropriation support. The USF supports the instructional and administrative functions of the universities such as libraries, financial aid offices, and computer centers. The GAF supports student functions related to co-curricular activities and operations of the student union buildings, such as student government, student publications, and sports activities. Delivery fees are designed to defray or cover the costs associated with delivering off-campus courses.
Board President Karl Wegner said of the changes, "This is the right move for the university system to make. It not only simplifies the tuition and fee structure, but also makes it fair to all students." Under the current system students taking courses at the same location may be charged different rates depending on which university is providing the course. Regents Executive Director Robert T. Tad Perry said, "It is confusing and unfair for students to be charged different rates when taking courses at particular locations." This arises from differing delivery fees among the universities, and that some universities offer off-campus courses at the state-support rates and other courses at the self-support rates. We also have a situation where new technology requires new policies, the universities are now engaged in offering courses via the Internet, and the Board has clarified how student taking those courses will be charged."
The Board also approved a cooperative French major proposed by faculty and administrators who identified the system-wide lack of an active French program following termination of low-enrolled programs. Under the new cooperative program, Northern State University, South Dakota State University, and the University of South Dakota will pool resources to provide a common curriculum for a French major (Bachelor of Arts) and a minor. Each of the universities will teach the beginning and intermediate level courses beginning with the Fall 1997 semester. The three universities will collaborate to provide the advanced level courses which will be provided to students via distance education technology. Black Hills State University, Dakota State University, and the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology could take part in the cooperative program in the future.
Wegner stated that, "It is very exciting to see the universities cooperating in such as way, which means better service to students and effective use of resources for the universities." Perry added that, "This shows initiative on the part of our faculty who identified a need in the system and worked together to develop appropriate ways to provide quality programs for students within resource limitations."
The Board meets again March 26-27 at Dakota State University in Madison.