2 North Dakota interim college leaders to continue as presidents

The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education on Thursday named two interim college presidents to the long-term role.

Allen Burgad will lead Valley City State University and Lisa Karch will lead North Dakota State College of Science. 

Burgad was approved unanimously after the board met in a closed-door executive session. In the vote approving Karch as president, two board members – Curtis Biller and Michelle Kommer — voted no. 

They explained after the vote that they had confidence in Karch, but voted no because the board and North Dakota University System did not conduct a search, a departure from its usual process. 

“It is not a dispute over your exceptional performance in the last four months,” Kommer said. “My vote was just a matter of timing, and a sense that, from my perspective, that it was a premature decision.”

Karch has been interim president at NDSCS since July 1. She replaced Rod Flanigan who had announced plans to retire Dec. 31, but the board voted to place him on paid administrative leave through the end of the year.  

Karch is the former NDSCS executive vice president of academic affairs. 

Board President Kevin Black and University System Commissioner Brent Sanford praised her ability to collaborate with business and community partners around Wahpeton, where NDSCS has its main campus, and Fargo, home to its Career Innovation Center. 

“We recognize that traditional norms in higher education are to go through some sort of search process, but what we recognized … is that we have an absolutely exceptional leader,” Black said.

Burgad has been interim president at Valley City State University since December 2025. He had been dean of the college’s Department of Education. 

“Feedback from your own campus has been overwhelmingly positive,” Black said. “The faculty, the staff, and the students have acknowledged that you are a very humble and inclusive and collaborative leader.”

There was a presidential search at Valley City State but the search committee decided to pause its work in April after multiple semi‑finalist candidates withdrew.

Burgad is a 1989 graduate of Valley City State. He has previously served as an administrator in K-12 schools systems, including West Fargo, Stanley, Northern Cass and Napoleon.

He replaced Alan LaFave, who left to become president at  Northern State University  in Aberdeen, South Dakota. 

The board last year also appointed Sanford to lead the North Dakota University System without conducting a formal search. Sanford had been serving in an interim role before the long-term appointment.

The board also did not conduct a search before naming Carmen Simone as president of Lake Region State College in 2025. The board had interviewed Simone for the president’s role at Dickinson State University before she became interim president at Lake Region in Devils Lake. 

Before that, Simone had been CEO and dean at Dakota College at Bottineau.  

Reach North Dakota Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach at [email protected]