Does our college need more community?

POST FALLS - The four candidates for two North Idaho College board seats differ on whether more "community" needs to be put into the community college.

The candidates in next Tuesday's general election spoke on Monday night during a forum sponsored by the Kootenai County Young Professionals at Post Falls City Hall.

Christie Wood, Seat B incumbent and a Coeur d'Alene police sergeant, said NIC is already doing a good job of offering a variety of programs throughout North Idaho.

"We're very entrenched in this community," said Wood, who has served on the board for the past six years. "I'm happy to tell you what we're doing (including flexible scheduling, e-learning and outreach programs)."

Her challenger, Robert Ketchum, who led NIC's Workforce Training Center in Post Falls for 19 years, said there needs to be more partnerships between the colleges and businesses to ensure the students stay or come back here after graduation.

The candidates for Seat A being vacated by the retiring Rolly Williams also have varying opinions whether community needs to be restored at NIC.

"I'm not sure community is not in the community college now," said Coeur d'Alene attorney Ken Howard.

Howard said making sure that the public is in tune with the work of review committees can be improved, however.

"We need to make sure those (meetings) are open to the community," said Howard. "I sense one of the difficulties for the community is to have input."

Howard's opponent, Post Falls business owner Ron Nilson, said he believes there's a "disconnect" between NIC and many employers in the area, including some of those in a manufacturing consortium he oversees.

Nilson said some businesses have foreseen jobs coming open, but NIC has lacked on training to fill many of them.

The four candidates bring different skillsets to the table.

Ken Howard touted his skills as a mediator, arbitrator and problem solver.

Nilson has led the effort to build a professional-technical high school on the Rathdrum Prairie called the Kootenai Technical Education Campus (KTEC). A levy to construct the school was approved this summer by voters in the Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and Lakeland school districts.

"He (Howard) wants to get engaged in this community; I am," Nilson said, adding that he serves on several local boards.

Wood said her experience on the board, including the past two as the chairperson, is critical, particularly in this day of declining resources and increasing enrollment.

"We've made our programs affordable and accessible to students," she said.

Ketchum said his background of 35 years in education and service to the Jobs Plus board would be an important link to connecting NIC with jobs so that students' resources are spent wisely. He's interested in revitalizing NIC's career placement program.

"The entire model of 'Go to college and get a job' is broken," Ketchum said. "Students are desperate for career guidance ... so they're just not caught up in general education classes."