Del Anaquod, a professor at FNUC, has been assigned chief operating officer of the school. (CBC)

Del Anaquod, a professor at First Nations University of Canada, has been assigned as chief operating officer to oversee day-to-day operations at the troubled institution.

The school faces an uncertain future as over $12 million in annual funding has been cut, effective April 1. That amount represents almost half of FNUC's budget.

The funds, from the provincial and federal governments, were cut following expressions of dissatisfaction with how FNUC was structured and coincided with allegations of financial impropriety directed at its top administrators.

Several officials at FNUC, including President Charles Pratt and a vice-president of finance, Al Ducharme, have been put on an administrative leave.

As well, the board of governors at FNUC was dissolved and interim appointments were announced.

'We've got to separate politics from education.'—Del Anaquod, COO at FNUC

Those moves were implemented following a resolution of chiefs of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, which controls FNUC.

The fate of the institution remains unclear, but discussions and meetings — among various groups, including officials at the University of Regina — are planned to determine next steps.

"I think we need some sort of normalcy and stability," Anaquod said to reporters at the campus on Tuesday. He said his main priority will be to "protect the academic integrity of the institution."

"It's a great institution," he added. "It's too valuable for all of us in Saskatchewan to lose. We all lose."

Of its current problems, Anaquod said he believes the school should have links to First Nations communities, but not at the political level.

"That's where it kind of went wrong," Anaquod said. "Somehow, chiefs put themselves on the board [of governors]."

Prior to its dissolution, there were 11 chiefs and one band councillor on FNUC's board.

"We've got to separate politics from education," Anaquod said.

Students at FNUC have been promised they will be able to finish this year's courses.

Anaquod steps into the role of chief operating officer of FNUC with an extensive background in academia and administration.

Anaquod has played a leadership role at FNUC in the past, in the school's previous incarnation as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. Anaquod was president of SIFC from 1983 to 1986.