COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – April 1 marked the two-year anniversary of North Idaho College being placed on show cause by the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities (NWCCU).
The U.S. Department of Education requires the college to be in good standing within three years, making April 1, 2025 the college’s deadline to return to good standing.
Between then and now, the college has three key dates in mind. By September, they have to have their final written plan presented to the NWCCU. In October, the NWCCU will make one final visit to campus. In January 2025, the NWCCU will meet for the final time before the April 1 deadline, the last chance to either affirm or reject the college’s request to stay accredited.
On April 18, Board Chair Mike Waggoner called for an emergency meeting to hire Stanley Freeman, an attorney out of the D.C.-based firm Eversheds Sutherland, to help with the accreditation process.
Despite the hiring being the only agenda item, the meeting took nearly an hour as the board minority, consisting of trustees Tarie Zimmerman and Brad Corkill, took exception to being left in the dark on the hiring of the $895 an hour attorney until the day before.
They then pushed through a vote without putting it in writing that College President Nick Swayne, who the board once unsuccessfully tried to fire, would have unfettered access to Freeman.
“You guys say that you’re doing this to get accreditation,” President Swayne said at the April 18 meeting, “But accreditation guys are looking at this and saying you guys are freaking crazy. You guys are doing things that exactly demonstrates bad governance.”
The NWCCU has consistently stated the relationship between the board and the college president, including an atmosphere of distrust, has been one of the college’s biggest obstacles towards earning accreditation.
At April 24’s regular meeting, the first three hours were peaceful, until another debate arose surrounding Chair Waggoner’s proposal to give himself oversight over presidential expenses and attorney fees.
Waggoner and the board majority, consisting of trustees Greg McKenzie and Todd Banducci, saw this as another level of reasonable oversight, while the board minority and President Swayne saw this as an encroachment on the president’s power.
“Everything that I do is above board, my expenses are probably lower than any of the last five Presidents we’ve had in the last two years,” President Swayne said. “I have no problem with making them public, sharing them with (the board). It’s the attorney fees that add an extra step to my work, that I have a responsibility to ensure those are accurate.”
Trustee Zimmerman proposed to take the proposal to a committee, and for a while Chair Waggoner looked like he might support the idea. But, in typical fashion, Chair Waggoner said he didn’t see the reason this was contentious in the first place, and pushed through a 3-to-2 vote on ideological lines.
