Rick Berg, Interim President at North Dakota State University
FARGO (KFGO) – Former Congressman and businessman Rick Berg starts his job as Interim President for North Dakota State University in less than a week.
Berg is taking over for outgoing President David Cook, who is taking a position in Iowa.
While introducing Berg on Feb. 3, Cook said Berg has deep connections with NDSU as an alumni and brings a unique perspective through his experience as a lawmaker and in the private sector.
“His background as a business leader in the state and the region and even beyond is absolutely critical. I think those are skills we need in higher education and we know Rick will do an amazing job,” Cook said.
The Presidential Selection Committee hopes to narrow the list of candidates to three by the end of March. Those candidates will then tour campus and meet with faculty, staff and students.
In the anticipated four months on the job, Berg says he hopes to help set the stage so the new president can hit the ground running.
“I don’t know if I’m going to have a mark. My goal is that everything is going smooth, there’s no crisis, there’s no emergency and that the new president steps in and that person, him or her, is able to move ahead right away. So I think my mark will be to kind of gather a lot of data and information and find out what we need to do to move forward as a university.”
Berg praised President David Cook for being available, easy to engage with, and staying connected with agriculture throughout the state. He said “my goal is to make sure the new president is David Cook 2.0 or 3.0 to take us to the next level.”
Although the businessman and former lawmaker doesn’t have experience in higher education, he says that could benefit the university.
“I haven’t worked in higher ed, but as I thought about that I think it’s a strength. It will allow me to take a fresh look at what’s going on, maybe a private sector look at higher ed. And I think I’m going to learn a lot. The other thing is leadership, I mean leadership is kind of the same through all organizations and one of the things that got me excited about taking this job or accepting it is they have really strong leadership here,” Berg said. “I just saw a tremendous team here at NDSU and I met faculty and I’ve met staff, I’ve met students and it’s exciting to have this group from top to bottom they care about NDSU, they care about the future and it’ll be fun to be part of that.”
Berg also said his experience in the private sector could be good for prospective students and businesses in North Dakota.
“We need to encourage students to really know what we have going here. But on the other side, we need to encourage those people looking for graduates to help grow their businesses that you can come here and not only are you going to have students that are prepared to start, but they also have the character, the work ethic and the resilience to really be leaders in those companies or great employees for those companies.”
Dr. David Cook, outgoing NDSU President
Berg will earn the same salary as outgoing President David Cook, which would be more than $177,000 for the anticipated four months on the job. He hopes to give that money back to students in the form of scholarships.
“I’ve been a donator to NDSU for 30 to 40 years, so I did not apply for this for the compensation. So part of my thinking as I go through the next four months, I’m going to look for where are the areas that I’m most passionate about that I can help support from a donation standpoint. I don’t have all the details worked out, but that’s my objective.”
The Interim President laid out three goals for his time at NDSU; Continue the momentum, work with legislative leaders and legislative committees to update the funding formula for higher education, and get prepared for the new president.
“Learning about what the university is doing well and where improvements can be made. Trying to set the stage for the new president to take NDSU to the next level,” Berg said.
The application window for candidates closes on Feb. 16. The State Board of Higher Education anticipates making the final decision by late spring.
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