If they want the budget to be in line year in and year out, my vote would go to someone who is not affiliated with UND now or ever was. We have seen how that goes when the AD knows everyone in the department. Just like we saw how it went when we brought in a outsider and the budget was in the black every year.
Sometime they need to be an asshole and tell the people no, your taking a bus and no, your not staying over that extra night.