Applicants Sought for Seat on North Dakota State Board of Higher Education

Levi Bachmeier, left, Gov. Armstrong, right.  ((Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction is seeking applications to fill a pending vacancy on the State Board of Higher Education left by Levi Bachmeier, who was appointed to be the next state superintendent.

Gov. Kelly Armstrong appointed Bachmeier during a press conference last week, but he will not assume the role until current Superintendent Kirsten Baesler officially resigns and is sworn into her new position as an assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of Education. Baesler is expected to be sworn-in as soon as the federal government shutdown ends.

Candidates for the State Board of Higher Education need to have lived in North Dakota for the previous five years and not have been employed by the North Dakota University System within the last two years, according to a Department of Public Instruction news release on Wednesday.

The governor appoints members to the board, but the state superintendent chairs a five-member committee that screens the applicants and advances three names to Armstrong for his consideration.