NIC names finalists for president’s position

North Idaho College will look beyond campus — and outside the state — for its next president.

Five finalists will begin touring the Coeur d’Alene campus this week, meeting with constituent groups and holding public forums.

Here’s the list of the five finalists, and their schedule for open forums. The public forums will be held in the Coeur d’Alene Room at NIC’s Edminister Student Union Building; click on the links to watch over Zoom.

  • Samuel “Todd” Brand, chief academic officer, Ashland Community & Technical College, Ashland, Ky. Open forums at 10:30 a.m.and 1:45 p.m. PDT Thursday.
  • Steve Condon, chancellor, Carolina University, Winston-Salem, N.C. Open forums at 10:30 a.m.and 1:45 p.m. PDT on June 15.
  • Chad Crumbaker, provost and executive vice president for student affairs, West Virginia University-Parkersburg, Parkersburg, W.Va. Open forums at 10:30 a.m.and 1:45 p.m. on June 16.
  • Nick Swayne, executive director, 4-Virginia, Harrisonburg, Va. Open forums at 10:30 a.m.and 1:45 p.m. on June 13.
  • James Y. Taylor, senior associate vice president, Utah State University, Vernal, Utah. Open forums at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. PDT Friday.

Candidate biographies are available at NIC’s presidential search website. On the website, the public can also fill out anonymous surveys about the finalists; comments must be turned in by noon PDT on June 20.

The finalists come from a field of 59 applicants. A 27-member presidential search committee winnowed down the field of applicants.

The decision on a new president falls to NIC’s five-member board of trustees, including three trustees recently appointed by the State Board of Education.

The new president will succeed Michael Sebaaly, NIC’s wrestling coach, who was promoted to the interim president’s post in October. In September, a divided board of trustees fired President Rick MacLennan, without explanation.

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]

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