The main entry area of FNUC's Regina campus. (CBC)

Saskatchewan's advanced education minister wants to know more about who is running the troubled First Nations University of Canada.

"I've been asking some key questions and expressing some caution," Rob Norris, Saskatchewan's minister of advanced education, employment and labour, said Tuesday. "One of those questions is: 'Who's in charge?'

"It's not a rhetorical question," Norris added. "It's actually very real. And so, in this instance, I'm still trying to get a better understanding [of] who is in charge [and] what are the governance structures that will be or are in place now?"

There were several announcements from the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations on Tuesday about the makeup of an interim board of governors at FNUC.

One appointee, Don Worme, said he could not sit because he is the lawyer for the board.

Another appointee, George LaFond, said he declined the invitation. That changed on Wednesday when LaFond said he would sit on the board after all.

He said there was a miscommunication on Tuesday that generated some confusion over his status.

'Focusing on school work right now is very difficult.'—Jesse Robson, fourth-year student at FNUC

LaFond has an extensive business background and has provided advice to the University of Saskatchewan about aboriginal matters.

He is from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation.

Students at FNUC said the turmoil of the last week has been a distraction.

"Focusing on school work right now is very difficult." Jesse Robson, a fourth-year political science student, said. "And to think that all of this comes about right in the middle of the semester makes me question why they say they are right alongside the students and helping the students because it really doesn't feel that way."

Controversies surrounding FNUC have plagued the institution for several years.

Since 2005 there have been allegations of financial impropriety among some administrators. A recent internal report also questioned some spending at the school.

FNUC has also been criticized for having an overly politicized governance structure. In 2006 there were 32 board members overseeing the school, most of them local chiefs.

In the last week, ongoing funding from the provincial and federal governments was cut.

A total of about $12.5 million, or half of the school's annual budget, will be lost effective April 1, although the provincial government and the University of Regina have promised that students currently in classes will get to finish this year's courses.