Change aplenty at NIC

There are two ways to look at the dramatic change occurring in leadership at North Idaho College.

One way: Superb administrators are getting promoted, showing that NIC had assembled a nucleus of highly competent, much sought-after personnel.

Another: All hell is breaking loose.

Or maybe the most accurate view is somewhere in between.

As President Priscilla Bell heads into the homestretch of her final few months at the helm before retirement, a 20-member search committee is in place and prepared to winnow down what's expected to be a hefty list of applicants. Deadline for presidential applications is next Thursday, and NIC's trustees say they expect the next college president to be announced by mid-April.

In the meantime, change is in the late winter wind.

John Martin, vice president for community relations, retired Jan. 1. Mark Browning replaced him and has hit the ground running, giving every indication of a superb hire.

In late January, Jay Lee, vice president for instruction, announced that he accepted the job as president of Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., starting March 12.

And earlier this month, Sheldon Nord, NIC's vice president for student services, accepted the job as president of Corban University, his alma mater, in Salem, Ore. By the time he takes over at Corban on July 1, Nord will have been at NIC just two years, replacing Eric Murray in 2010. Murray left NIC for the president's job at Cascadia Community College in Bothell, Wash.

Before anybody concludes that a bunch of well-educated rats are jumping a burning ship, let's take a closer look.

Counting Murray, three of the four VP departures are clear promotions - all three are taking the top job at other institutions of higher learning. And it could be said that Martin accepted the ultimate promotion: Well-earned, true retirement.

In our view, while the tenures of Murray, Nord and Lee all were too short - none was here for more than three and a half years - they reflect something good. The process by which these men were selected, which included community input, recommendations by President Bell and acceptance by the NIC Board of Trustees, did what it was supposed to do. It also indicates that one of Bell's strengths has been recognizing talent and surrounding herself with competent educators and administrators - perhaps the greatest compliment a president can be paid.

But it also raises legitimate questions. If Murray, Nord and Lee all were ready for presidencies, and the NIC vacancy was announced long before Lee and Nord decided to leave, why did none of them pursue this job? Knowing more about the job, the college and the community than any outsider possibly could, why did all three young professionals pick presumably greener pastures elsewhere?

That's something trustees should investigate and be prepared to explain to top presidential applicants. A certain level of turnover is natural, even healthy. But too much at the top hints that something fundamental might be amiss.