The meeting of the North Idaho College Board of Trustees on March 22 was calmer than some of the more recent meetings.
The meeting began with the presentation of eleven public comments related to accreditation and the recent memo filed by the board. On commenter said that declining enrollment was a national problem, and so to be related to the school’s accreditation problems.
Some comments were more fiery, some being directed against the board and others against recently reinstated President Swayne.
The board also recognized the North Idaho College wrestling team for taking home 5th place in a recent tournament at Council Bluffs. Although not as high as a rank as they would have liked, the team took solace in the fact that they did not have a full team roster.
Although they are in the midst of litigation, President Swayne said that they were working together to protect the college’s accreditation status: “The board is actually working very hard to work together with me to support the the students faculty and staff. And so, I would just welcome a round of applause for their work and their commitment to NIC.”
The board also heard several reports ranging from the status of certain grants to current enrollment numbers. According to a graph presented by Steve Kurtz–Director of Planning, Strategy & Effectiveness at NIC–enrollment is down 193 from last springs total of 4,152 enrollees. This is down from a high of 4,919 in the spring of 2019.
Crowd managers were also present in addition to police and NIC Security staff.
