Wood seeks second term on NIC Board of Trustees
COEUR d'ALENE - Christie Wood is seeking a second term on North Idaho College's Board of Trustees because she believes strongly that it is a community college's mission to serve as a threshold to opportunity for every student.
"Our doors are open to everyone that wants to pursue a career path, or build a good foundation for academic transfer programs," Wood said. "I attended NIC, and I've experienced those opened doors. I know firsthand what the community college can mean in a person's endeavors."
Wood's opponent in the nonpartisan race is Robert Ketchum.
The election will be on the ballot Nov. 2, during Idaho's general election.
Trustees are elected at large from within Kootenai County, and serve as volunteers with no compensation.
Wood was elected in 2004 to the six-year term she is completing on NIC's five-member governing board. Since then, legislation became effective that reduced the term-lengths of Idaho community college trustees. If elected, Wood would serve another four years.
"Community colleges are the workhorse in higher education. We are the key to economic development and job training," Wood said. "I enjoy being part of the mechanism that brings these opportunities to our constituents in the five northern counties."
She sees herself as an effective board member because, "I understand what it means to be a comprehensive community college, and I work toward that balance all the time. We serve the needs of all the people."
Wood pointed to NIC's more than 80 degrees and certificates available in academic transfer, professional-technical or general education programs.
A Coeur d'Alene police sergeant, Wood is a supervisor in the department's detective division and serves as the agency's public information officer. She has 22 years of law enforcement experience.
Wood believes her professional work, and as a member of two other boards - an eight-year stint from 2000 to 2008 as a trustee for the Coeur d'Alene School District, and a current position, for more than two years, on the Kootenai County Task Force for Human Relations - keep her plugged in and aware of the needs of those served by NIC.
"I feel very immersed in the educational opportunities in this community, and I get a lot of opportunities to listen to people," Wood said.
She views the NIC board's management, during her term, of resources during tough economic times as an accomplishment.
"No educational programs have been cut. Instead, we tightened our belt and reduced our overall budget by $1.2 million," Wood said. "Faculty and staff took on more work with less funding."
At the same time, Wood said enrollment grew by 37 percent.
"We are bursting at the seams with students, but still functioning well due to our continued focus on the budget," she said.
Her vision is for NIC to continue helping students adapt to an ever-changing labor market.
"We have many opportunities in the area of professional-technical education with the prairie property, and our partnership with KTEC (Kootenai Technical Education Campus)," Wood said. "We are also planning for a joint use building on the Ed Corridor site with our sister institutions of U of I and LCSC. The prospects for collaboration and sharing of resources are infinite."
Wood is a graduate of Lakeland High School. She took general studies, law enforcement and communications classes at NIC, and graduated from Lewis-Clark State College with a bachelor's of science degree.
She has served as the Pacific Northwest Regional representative for the Association of Community College Trustees, and is the author of several children's books.
Wood lives in Coeur d'Alene with her husband, David, and has one grown son.