COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho — Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) accreditors conducted their final site visit to North Idaho College (NIC) on October 14-15 as part of the wrap up to the review process. It quickly issued a draft report to the college, and President Nick Swayne maintains possession and control of the report in his capacity as the top administrator at NIC.
Despite the community’s vested interest in the accreditation review process and desire to see the matter resolved for the benefit of all, Swayne has yet to release the site visit draft report under Idaho’s public records disclosure laws. Furthermore, an email obtained by Kootenai Journal shows that Swayne has denied the governing body, accreditation attorney, and the Association of Community College Trustee (ACCT) consultants ease of access to the document. The lack of transparency by Swayne’s administration is raising concerns about how this conduct may be viewed by the NWCCU, faculty, staff, and members of the community.
As the crux of the issue surrounding accreditation has focused on communication and adherence to best practices and procedures between the governing board and the administration, Trustee Greg McKenzie sent Swayne a message requesting direct access. “Please help me understand why NIC has deviated from the standard past practice of providing trustees a direct link to where the report from NWCCU is for trustee inspection.”
My simple question is: Why are Trustees, our accreditation attorney, and our ACCT consultants being marginalized by not providing online access to the draft report received from NWCCU?
Trustee Greg McKenzie, email to NIC President Nick Swayne
“As an oversight Board, ensuring accuracy is provided to the accreditation agency is paramount to retaining accreditation,” wrote McKenzie who is concerned that the final submission from the college to NWCCU may occur without feedback and comprehensive review from the governing board. The trustees are ultimately responsible for ensuring the factual accuracy of the college’s response and to uphold their fiduciary duty they must be provided access in a timely manner. NIC only has seven days after receiving the draft report to respond. Once the response is received, NWCCU has seven days to assess the input and finalize the site visit report.
McKenzie noted that in May 2023, Accreditation Liaison Officer Dr. Steve Kurtz, who is part of the president’s cabinet, provided a direct link to a previous NWCCU draft report by web URL so that trustees could review and provide input before any response from the college was submitted to NWCCU.
Kootenai Journal has requested a digital copy of the site visit draft report, as well as an in-person review of the document per Idaho law, and will keep the community informed as things play out.
