During its annual planning meeting in Pierre this week, the South Dakota Board of Regents asked Governor Dennis Daugaard to make a tuition freeze for resident students the highest priority for the next fiscal year. The goal is to bring the funding ratio from student and government back to 50/50 over three years. Governor Daugaard's support two years ago led lawmakers to approve a freeze during the 2014 session. A similar request was made last year, but wasn’t recommended by the governor or considered by the state legislature.
The South Dakota Board of Regents executive director and chief executive officer is Michael Rush. He replaced Jack Warner at the end of June. Rush came from Idaho where he served as the executive director of the State Board of Education-Board of Regents. Rush joined Dakota Midday and discussed the budget requests and shared his thoughts after a month and a half on the job.