Five North Dakotans have applied for a pending vacancy on the state Board of Higher Education, which oversees the 11 institutions in the state’s university system.

The candidates are:

• Carma Hanson, Grand Forks, registered nurse and coordinator of Safe Kids Grand Forks;
• Michelle Kommer, chief executive officer of HighRoad Partners LLC, a human resources and employee benefits consultancy. She is a former state commerce and labor commissioner and director of Job Service North Dakota;
• Alyssa Martin, Bismarck, state director, North Dakota Center for Distance Education;
• Stan Schauer, Bismarck, director of assessments, North Dakota Department of Public Instruction; and
• Darin Scherr, Bismarck, business and operations manager for the Bismarck public schools.

One of the five will be in line to succeed Levi Bachmeier, of West Fargo, who resigned from the SBHE to succeed Kirsten Baesler as North Dakota’s superintendent of public instruction. The application deadline passed at 5 p.m. Friday. Bachmeier’s successor on the Board of Higher Education will serve out his four-year term, which ends June 30, 2029.

Bachmeier is chairman of a nominating committee that will recommend three finalists to Gov. Kelly Armstrong to succeed him on the Board of Higher Education.

The nominating committee is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13. Aside from Bachmeier, the committee members are: Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United, which represents educators and public employees; Supreme Court Chief Justice Lisa Fair McEvers; state Sen. Kyle Davison, R-Fargo, the Senate’s president pro tempore; and North Dakota House Speaker Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield. The committee’s membership is outlined in the North Dakota Constitution.

Once Armstrong chooses Bachmeier’s successor on the Board of Higher Education, his pick will be forwarded to the North Dakota Senate for confirmation.

The Board of Higher Education has eight voting members. Seven are chosen for four-year terms, while the eighth represents North Dakota University System students and is appointed for one year. The board also has two nonvoting advisory members who represent the university system’s faculty and staff.