Karla Mongeon-Stewart to be chief financial and administrative officer, deputy commissioner in NDUS office

May 22—GRAND FORKS — The University of North Dakota’s vice president for finance and operations and chief operating officer will be leaving in July to take the role of chief financial and administrative officer and deputy commissioner of the North Dakota University System office, based in Bismarck.

Karla Mongeon-Stewart’s last day at the university will be July 3. An interim will be named in the coming weeks and a national search to find her replacement is expected. In a release announcing the move, President Andrew Armacost commended Mongeon-Stewart’s work at the university since she arrived in 2015 to serve as associate vice president for finance.

“Her foresight and counsel on finance and operations matters combined with her decades of statewide experience working in higher education and with the North Dakota Legislature have been a huge asset to UND and to me personally as president,” he said. “I will miss Karla’s humor and kindness here on campus, but I also look forward to continuing to work with her in her new role with the NDUS.”

Mongeon-Stewart was selected to be UND’s vice president for finance and operations and COO in July 2022, succeeding Jed Shivers. In her role, she has provided leadership for UND’s financial and operational divisions. That includes human resources, public safety, parking and transportation, facilities, policy, civil rights and Title IX, records management and the Chester Fritz Performing Arts Center.

“The past 11 years at UND have been some of the most rewarding of my career,” she said in the UND release. “I am so grateful for my colleagues and friends that have made my experience at UND so impactful. I am also extraordinarily proud of my finance and operations teams and all they have done to make UND what it is today. I’m excited to bring my knowledge and experience to the entire North Dakota University System.”

During her time at UND, Mongeon-Stewart sought public-private partnerships and led the university through the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions. During those sessions, UND secured state support for salaries and research funding, as well as support for projects like the STEM Complex, new Flight Operations Center and other space and national security initiatives, the release said.

During the 2025 session, the Legislature also increased state-appropriated matching money for the Challenge Grant — used by UND and North Dakota State University to leverage philanthropic contributions for higher education — by $5 million, raising it to $25 million.

Mongeon-Stewart also oversaw the revamping of UND’s parking system and associated funding structure, as well as the renaming and renovation of UND’s Chester Fritz Performing Arts Center, the release said.

“I am truly grateful for my time at UND,” she said. “It’s a place that has allowed me to use my talents and abilities in a supportive environment for the betterment of UND. I am so proud of the work we have accomplished during my tenure, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with UND in my new role at the system office.”