Former Bismarck mayor appointed to State Board of Higher Education
John Warford will serve out the unexpired term of former board member Joseph Wetch Jr., who resigned from the board, shortly after being appointed to the position, in August. 12:20 pm, Dec. 17, 2020 ×
State Board of Higher Education members Nick Hacker and Casey Ryan listen during a meeting in this 2019 photo. Sydney Mook / Grand Forks Herald
BISMARCK – Gov. Doug Burgum has appointed Dr. John Warford of Bismarck to the State Board of Higher Education.
Warford founded Warford Orthodontics in 1973 and served as mayor of Bismarck from 2002 to 2014. He then served as dean of the Gary Tharaldson School of Business at the University of Mary in Bismarck from 2014 to 2017.
No easy answers for a COVID-19 vaccine requirement at North Dakota schools
A vaccine will be critical for getting campuses back to normal operations and events, UND President Andrew Armacost said. 7:00 am, Dec. 15, 2020 ×
Lake Region Health unit public health nurse Annette Groves changes her gloves during a COVID-19 mass testing event in Devils Lake in September. Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
A coronavirus vaccine may help North Dakota colleges return to some form of normalcy next fall, but could students one day be required to get vaccinated for COVID-19 before entering school?
The answer isn’t so simple.
Karol Riedman, chief compliance officer for the North Dakota University System, said, while the State Board of Higher Education requires certain vaccinations for college students, it’s limited to the list of childhood vaccinations included in state law.
Rapid tests could play a role in testing for universities next semester. 2:00 pm, Dec. 11, 2020 ×
UND graduate student Alisha Parisien participates in a mass testing event at the UND High Performance Center in early September. Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
While total cases of coronavirus across North Dakota’s higher education system are significantly lower than they were prior to Thanksgiving, leaders in the system say they already are planning for the next semester.
Dr. Joshua Wynne, the dean of the UND medical school and the person leading the university system’s COVID-19 response, said the system and UND are headed in the “right direction” for now because people have been wearing masks, social distancing and taking other measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. But, he said, there is still some concern about what numbers could look like next semester, when students return from holiday break.