Higher Ed Chancellor Controversy - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Higher Ed Chancellor Controversy

It's an attempt to push the man in charge of North Dakota's Higher Education system out the door.

State Senator Tony Grinberg has offered an amendment to a higher ed bill to provide

funding to buy out the contract of University System Chancellor Ham Shirvani.

It would amount to around $600-thousand dollars.

Shirvani heard about the amendment for the first time this morning.

He says it took him by complete surprise and he is shocked and disappointed.

I think there is certain very clear undercurrent effort to create this publicity and negative publicity and public outcry that because they don't want a system. They don't want a system to be built, they are not interested in a system and it's obvious," says Chancellor Ham Shirvani.

Senator Tony Grinberg says he's introducing the amendment because of what he calls grave concern statewide over Chancellor Shirvani's leadership.

Grinberg says the amendment allows lawmakers the chance to provide funds to the board to buy out the chancellors contract if they choose to do so.

"I can tell you that I have not sensed such a strong concern by so many people including the people who work in this capital and the people that I represent and folks that are around the state that are questioning the leadership style of chancellor Shirvani," says republican Senator Tony Grindberg of Fargo.

Shirvani says he'll just keep doing what the job he was hired to do: build a real system of higher education in North Dakota.

And as far as the controversial office in the IT building at UND, Shirvani says it's been overblown. And he says even if the project goes through, he will never use the office.