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JOB TITLE: Trustee, Zone 5, North Idaho College

JOB DESCRIPTION: Serve as one-fifth of the governing board of the region’s community college, including preparing for and attending meetings, maintaining relationships with stakeholders, communicating with media, making difficult decisions, ducking substantial crap thrown your way after making difficult decisions but then standing up and being accountable after crap-throwers’ arms get sore.

QUALIFICATIONS: Should be intelligent, diligent, budget literate, committed to student learning, apolitical, numb to criticism, and a really and truly actual resident of Zone 5.

COMPENSATION: You kidding? Other than feeling good about doing something positive for college and community between longer periods of crap-ducking and numb-feeling, not a damn cent.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: 5 p.m. Feb. 9

APPLICATION DETAILS: Send letters of interest, including your street address, to:

Chair of the Board of Trustees

North Idaho College

1000 W. Garden Ave.

Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814

FINE PRINT: While holding at least one degree from a legitimate institution of higher learning is desired, it is not required. In fact, the most sought-after degree is a degree of insanity.

Who in their right mind would volunteer for a demanding, stressful, unpaid and underappreciated job like this? A job where your vote amounts to a tie-breaker between two groups of trustees who not only share few common viewpoints, but struggle not to hate each others’ guts?

The silver lining is that whoever is appointed need only serve the remainder of the year. If that’s you and you for some crazy reason wish to continue, you can run in the November general election, which will cost you bucketloads of the money you didn’t make while serving the college and community, unmitigated abuse from whomever you’ve pissed off over the previous nine or 10 months, valued friendships and potential future earnings.

Good luck, and Go Cardinals!