BISMARCK-North Dakota's universities are missing out on talented leaders who are worried about their name becoming public too soon in the hiring process, said the primary sponsor of a bill aiming to exempt applicants from the state's open records law.
But officials representing the state's news organizations said the proposal would be a blow to transparency.
House Bill 1333, which was discussed in the House Education Committee Monday, Jan. 23, would exempt a record that would identify somebody applying for chancellor of the state's university system, as well as candidates for president, vice president, provost, dean, athletic director or head coach at a North Dakota university. Once a "hiring authority" whittles the candidates down to three or fewer finalists, each applicant still under consideration would be notified that "any record relating to the applicant or candidate" will become an open record within 14 days unless they withdraw from consideration.
Rep. Rich S. Becker, R-Grand Forks, said the state's open records law has been a limitation in attracting the best talent for higher education jobs.
"People of a high-caliber nature are reluctant to open themselves up to open records and have the press either build them up or vilify them, whatever the case may be," he said. "And that certainly hurts them where they currently are, relative to their current institution finding out they're looking for a position."
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Forty people originally applied to become the newest president of the University of North Dakota, but three dropped out because their names would become public under the state's open records law. The State Board of Higher Education ultimately chose Mark Kennedy to lead the university in March 2016.
The bill was met with opposition from the North Dakota Newspaper Association, which counts Forum Communications Co. as among its members.
Jack McDonald, attorney for the NDNA and the North Dakota Broadcasters Association, called the legislation "the biggest anti-openness, anti-transparency bill that I have ever seen in my 30-some years of working in this area." He said the bill would apply to about 225 positions statewide, which would create more opportunities for meetings that are closed to the public.
"You're talking about some of the highest-profile in the state, the highest-paid people in the state," McDonald said. "I think that the taxpayer deserves to know who is applying for those positions, or sometimes just as important, who isn't applying for those positions."
Steve Andrist, the NDNA executive director, said the bill would be more palatable if it applied only to university presidents and if it increased the number of finalists whose names were open to the public.
Becker conceded that there needed to be some transparency to the process, but maintained that applicants needed some measure of privacy. His bill would direct the hiring authority to disclose the number of applicants or candidates for a position.
"If at some point, if you become a finalist, then the public, I believe, has the right to know who you are," Becker said.
Meanwhile, a similar bill introduced in the Senate with broader implications is scheduled for a hearing Friday. Senate Bill 2152, introduced by Sen. Lonnie Laffen, R-Grand Forks, would apply to all government jobs across the state. Under that bill, only records related to three or more designated finalists who applied for a vacant position with a "public entity" are open to the public.
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Laffen said Becker's bill is a "great idea" but is "too narrow." The Internet has dramatically changed how news about job applicants for public positions is spread, he said, adding that his bill wouldn't cut the public out from the process.
"It's not exempting the entire process," Laffen said. "It gives the freedom to people to not fear for their job when they apply for positions in North Dakota."
But McDonald, in testifying against Becker's bill, said it's natural for people to seek better job opportunities. He pointed to the example of Craig Bohl, the former North Dakota State University football coach who left for the University of Wyoming after success in North Dakota.
"If you're a coach at a small college, you want to be a coach at a big college; everybody knows that," he said. "If you're a president at a small college, you want to be a president at a big college ... That's just the way life goes."
Lisa Feldner, chief of staff for the North Dakota University System, said the State Board of Higher Education plans to take a formal position on both bills Thursday.
