NIC's final accreditation report says the board has improved, but concerns remain
Nov. 4—North Idaho College's board of trustees has improved its governance in recent months, but it is not a long enough track record to prove the changes are permanent, the latest report to the college's accreditor says.
The embattled Coeur d'Alene college has faced leadership conflicts and turnover causing its standing to be in jeopardy as its accreditor mulls its fate.
In January, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities will use this final report to decide whether NIC will remain on the "show cause" sanction or improve to a lesser one. Federal regulations require that the college resolve remaining issues by April 2025, or it will lose accreditation.
The remaining issues deal with board governance rather than the college's academics.
The 14-page report was released late last week ahead of Tuesday's election for three trustee seats. Some constituents hope a change in leadership will signal to the commission a renewed seriousness about retaining accreditation and sustain the college in the long term.
A team of four peer evaluators visited the campus in Coeur d'Alene Oct. 14-15 to verify the college's progress. The team interviewed board members, administration, faculty, staff and students.
The good news is that many of the risks outlined in earlier reports have been resolved.
For example, the board allowed the contract for interim President Greg South to expire at the end of June. This resolved uncertainty about who the chief executive officer of the college is, the report said. South had remained employed on administrative leave for 18 months at the same time Nick Swayne was president. In addition to governance concerns, continuing to pay South was considered a financial liability.
Three lawsuits against the college related to contracts with the former, current and interim presidents have been resolved. The report said NIC officials indicated that a fourth lawsuit filed against the board earlier this year by a former employee "did not pose a significant material threat to the institution."
A recent uptick in enrollment is another good sign after years of decline, the report said.
Finally, the board has improved its decision-making processes and efficiency in board meetings by following new policies defining roles and conduct.
The evaluation team said they heard "many compliments" of the leadership of NIC Board Chair Mike Waggoner, who has been in the role for the last year but declined to run for re-election.
"Despite uncertainties expressed related to the chair's motivation, progress has resulted to an extent because he has led in a respectful and a professional manner," the report said.
However, the evaluation team was cautious about the durability of these changes. Most improvements in board behavior were only observed in the months since May.
"The old patterns of operational overreach, occasional incivility, off-agenda topics, and muddled document-handling are evident in meetings as recent as January, February, March, and April," the report said.
The campus community appreciates the changes, but only have a "tentative faith" that they will last.
"In interviews onsite, no one expressed high confidence in the sustainability of the board's current trajectory," the report said.
The report concluded that the board will need to continue good behaviors to return to good standing.
"Only a sustained record of good practice can decisively heal the distrust and dysfunction of prior years," the report said.
A few more areas remain a concern.
While enrollment has improved, employee retention has not. Fiscal year 2023 had a departure rate of 18% — nearly double the national average. "Employer reputation" remains one of three top concerns cited in exit surveys.
Financial concerns also persist around NIC's decision to change athletic conferences last year to rejoin the National Junior College Athletic Association. That increased the athletic budget from $2.2 million to $6.2 million.
"NIC's current budget model, with athletics at the center, remains a risk to the college and is not sustainable in terms of governance, finance, and personnel," the report said.
NIC officials declined to comment on the report Monday. Spokesman Tom Greene said the college has 10 days to respond to the report with any corrections of fact, but a response is optional.
Greene said NIC plans to submit additional evidence ahead of the commission's meeting Jan. 28-31.
The new NIC trustees are expected to join the board at the next meeting Nov. 20.
James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
