N.D. College Replaces Foundation Mired in Financial Woes

Dickinson State University in North Dakota has formed a new nonprofit alumni and fundraising affiliate pending the state-ordered dissolution of its former foundation, the Grand Forks Herald reports. The DSU Heritage Foundation will replace the DSU Foundation, which North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem ordered shuttered in September on the recommendation of a court-appointed receiver put in place last year.

The order followed months of wrangling over financial and ethical issues, including the use of scholarship money to cover the DSU Foundation’s operating costs. The receiver said the organization lost the ability to attract donors amid rising debt and a costly arbitration fight with a local developer. Interim Dickinson State President Jim Ozbun said the DSU Heritage Foundation will have a completely new board and its executive director will report to the university’s president rather than to the board as a measure to increase accountability.