ARTICLE VIII
EDUCATION
Section 1. A high degree of intelligence, patriotism, integrity and morality on the part of
every voter in a government by the people being necessary in order to insure the continuance
of that government and the prosperity and happiness of the people, the legislative assembly
shall make provision for the establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools
which shall be open to all children of the state of North Dakota and free from sectarian control.
This legislative requirement shall be irrevocable without the consent of the United States and
the people of North Dakota.
Section 2. The legislative assembly shall provide for a uniform system of free public
schools throughout the state, beginning with the primary and extending through all grades up
to and including schools of higher education, except that the legislative assembly may
authorize tuition, fees and service charges to assist in the financing of public schools of higher
education.
Section 3. In all schools instruction shall be given as far as practicable in those branches
of knowledge that tend to impress upon the mind the vital importance of truthfulness,
temperance, purity, public spirit, and respect for honest labor of every kind.
Section 4. The legislative assembly shall take such other steps as may be necessary to
prevent illiteracy, secure a reasonable degree of uniformity in course of study, and to promote
industrial, scientific, and agricultural improvements.
Section 5. All colleges, universities, and other educational institutions, for the support of
which lands have been granted to this state, or which are supported by a public tax, shall
remain under the absolute and exclusive control of the state. No money raised for the support
of the public schools of the state shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any
sectarian school.
Section 6.
1. A board of higher education, to be officially known as the state board of higher
education, is hereby created for the control and administration of the following state
educational institutions, to wit:
a. The state university and school of mines, at Grand Forks, with their substations.
b. The state agricultural college and experiment station, at Fargo, with their
substations.
c. The school of science, at Wahpeton.
d. The state normal schools and teachers colleges, at Valley City, Mayville, Minot,
and Dickinson.
e. The school of forestry, at Bottineau.
f. And such other state institutions of higher education as may hereafter be
established.
2. a. The state board of higher education consists of eight members. The governor
shall appoint seven members who are qualified electors and taxpayers of the
state, and who have resided in this state for not less than five years immediately
preceding their appointments. These seven appointments are subject to
confirmation by the senate.
The governor shall appoint as the eighth member of the board a full-time
resident student in good academic standing at an institution under the
jurisdiction of the state board. Except for the student member, no more than two
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persons holding a bachelor's degree from a particular institution under the
jurisdiction of the state board of higher education may serve on the board at any
one time. Except for the student member, no person employed by any institution
under the control of the board shall serve as a member of the board and no
employee of any such institution may be eligible for membership on the state
board of higher education for a period of two years following the termination of
employment.
The governor shall nominate from a list of three names for each position,
selected by action of four of the following five persons: the president of the North
Dakota education association, the chief justice of the supreme court, the
superintendent of public instruction, the president pro tempore of the senate,
and the speaker of the house of representatives and, with the consent of a
majority of the members-elect of the senate, shall appoint from the list to the
state board of higher education seven members. The governor shall ensure that
the board membership is maintained in a balanced and representative manner.
The term of office of members appointed to fill vacancies at the expiration of
said terms shall be for four years, and in the case of vacancies otherwise
arising, appointments shall be made only for the balance of the term of the
members whose places are to be filled. A member may not be appointed to
serve for more than two terms. If a member is appointed to fill a vacancy and
serves two or more years of that term, the member is deemed to have served
one full term.
b. In the event any nomination made by the governor is not consented to and
confirmed by the senate, the governor shall again nominate a candidate
selected from a new list. The nomination shall be submitted to the senate for
confirmation and the proceedings shall continue until an appointee has been
confirmed by the senate or the session of the legislature has adjourned.
c. If a term expires or a vacancy occurs when the legislature is not in session, the
governor may appoint from a list selected as provided, a member who shall
serve until the opening of the next session of the legislature, at which time the
appointment must be certified to the senate for confirmation. If the appointee is
not confirmed by the thirtieth legislative day of the session, the office shall be
deemed vacant and the governor shall nominate another candidate for the
office. The same proceedings shall be followed as are set forth in this section. If
the legislature is in session at any time within six months prior to the date of the
expiration of the term of any member, the governor shall nominate a successor
from a list selected as above set forth, within the first thirty days of the session
and upon confirmation by the senate the successor shall take office at the
expiration of the incumbent's term. No person who has been nominated and
whose nomination the senate has failed to confirm is eligible for an interim
appointment. On or before July first of each year, beginning in 1995, the
governor shall appoint a student member from a list of names recommended by
the executive board of the North Dakota student association for a term of one
year, beginning on July first. A student member may not serve more than two
consecutive terms.
3. The members of the state board of higher education may only be removed by
impeachment for the offenses and in the manner and according to the procedure
provided for the removal of the governor by impeachment proceedings.
4. Each appointive member of the state board of higher education, except the student
member, shall receive compensation set by the legislative assembly for the time
actually spent devoted to the duties of the member's office. All members shall receive
necessary expenses in the same manner and amounts as other state officials for
attending meetings and performing other functions of their office.
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5. The legislature shall provide adequate funds for the proper carrying out of the
functions and duties of the state board of higher education.
6. a. The state board of higher education shall hold its first meeting at the office of the
state board of administration at Bismarck, on the 6th day of July, 1939, and shall
organize and elect one of its members as president of such board for a term of
one year. It shall also at said meeting, or as soon thereafter as may be
practicable, elect a competent person as secretary, who shall reside during his
term of office in the city of Bismarck, North Dakota. Said secretary shall hold
office at the will of the board. As soon as said board is established and
organized, it shall assume all the powers and perform all the duties now
conferred by law upon the board of administration in connection with the several
institutions hereinbefore mentioned, and the said board of administration shall
immediately upon the organization of said state board of higher education,
surrender and transfer to said state board of higher education all duties, rights,
and powers granted to it under the existing laws of this state concerning the
institutions hereinbefore mentioned, together with all property, deeds, records,
reports, and appurtenances of every kind belonging or appertaining to said
institutions.
b. The said state board of higher education shall have full authority over the
institutions under its control with the right, among its other powers, to prescribe,
limit, or modify the courses offered at the several institutions. In furtherance of
its powers, the state board of higher education shall have the power to delegate
to its employees details of the administration of the institutions under its control.
The said state board of higher education shall have full authority to organize or
reorganize within constitutional and statutory limitations, the work of each
institution under its control, and do each and everything necessary and proper
for the efficient and economic administration of said state educational
institutions.
c. Said board shall prescribe for all of said institutions standard systems of
accounts and records and shall biennially, and within six (6) months immediately
preceding the regular session of the legislature, make a report to the governor,
covering in detail the operations of the educational institutions under its control.
d. It shall be the duty of the heads of the several state institutions hereinbefore
mentioned, to submit the budget requests for the biennial appropriations for said
institutions to said state board of higher education; and said state board of
higher education shall consider said budgets and shall revise the same as in its
judgment shall be for the best interests of the educational system of the state;
and thereafter the state board of higher education shall prepare and present to
the state budget board and to the legislature a single unified budget covering the
needs of all the institutions under its control. "Said budget shall be prepared and
presented by the board of administration until the state board of higher
education organizes as provided in subsection 6a." The appropriations for all of
said institutions shall be contained in one legislative measure. The budgets and
appropriation measures for the agricultural experiment stations and their
substations and the extension division of the North Dakota state university of
agriculture and applied science may be separate from those of state educational
institutions.
e. The said state board of higher education shall have the control of the
expenditure of the funds belonging to, and allocated to such institutions and also
those appropriated by the legislature, for the institutions of higher education in
this state; provided, however, that funds appropriated by the legislature and
specifically designated for any one or more of such institutions, shall not be
used for any other institution.
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7. a. The state board of higher education shall, as soon as practicable, appoint for a
term of not to exceed three (3) years, a state commissioner of higher education,
whose principal office shall be at the state capitol, in the city of Bismarck. Said
commissioner of higher education shall be responsible to the state board of
higher education and shall be removable by said board for cause.
b. The state commissioner of higher education shall be a graduate of some
reputable college or university, and who by training and experience is familiar
with the problems peculiar to higher education.
c. Such commissioner of higher education shall be the chief executive officer of
said state board of higher education, and shall perform such duties as shall be
prescribed by the board.
8. This constitutional provision shall be self-executing and shall become effective
without the necessity of legislative action.
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