October 24, 2014 at 4:45 p.m.
Nicolet gathering input on search for new president
Nicolet gathering input on search for new president
The college's board of trustees held an input gathering session Monday to hear from stakeholders regarding what attributes it should be looking for when choosing the new president.
Former president Elizabeth Burmaster left in June to serve as president of Frederick Community College in Frederick, Md., her hometown. Kenneth Urban, who joined the college in 2010 as vice president of teaching, learning and student success, is serving as interim president.
"The intent of this meeting is to basically listen to any public input for the criteria of the new president," explained Ron Zimmerman, board chairman.
"What would you like to see as the next president comes into the college?"
When that question was met with silence, Zimmerman tried to jump-start the conversation by sharing his notes from a similar meeting between the board and Nicolet staff.
"We had a very good meeting with the staff. I guess something we would have liked to see is have more participation in it, but the participation was good that we did get," he said.
Zimmerman said he took a few bullet points away from that meeting.
For starters, Nicolet should be looking for someone with experience in higher education, the staff recommended.
"They want someone who is either presently a president, or at minimum a vice president," Zimmerman said.
Staff also wants someone who understands the uniqueness of the district.
"It's a lot different here than in the southern part of the state. They want someone that understands that uniqueness," Zimmerman said.
Going along with that, the new president should to understand the importance of workforce development, according to those surveyed.
"We need to develop the workforce so that the people in the area will stay in the area," Zimmerman said.
Staff also said the new president should be someone who doesn't view Nicolet as a steppingstone.
"(We don't want someone) to be president of Nicolet College for two or three years and then move on," Zimmerman said. "You can't control it but we would like someone that has a vested interest in the college and the community and wants to be here."
That means the new president should be an advocate for the college.
"I think we want somebody that's going to talk a lot and become an advocate for the college in the community, in the state and all over," Zimmerman said.
The new president should have new ideas to introduce, Zimmerman noted.
"We heard a lot about an innovator. Not totally from the top but (someone who) is an innovator throughout the whole organization and listens to people," he noted.
From a financial viewpoint, Zimmerman said staff wants someone who is able to develop revenue streams.
"With the changes in the budgeting and so forth, maybe we need to look at what are some other ways that we can increase the revenue for the college through program development or whatever it might have to be," he said.
Along those same lines, staff said the new president must understand funding and changing financial structures.
"With what's going on in the state of Wisconsin and the switching of the taxes and stuff, to me it's changing the right hand to the left hand, but (the new president needs to) understand how that works. You need somebody that is politically savvy. They need to understand how things work, and we may need somebody that has the ear of people in Madison," Zimmerman said.
One thing Zimmerman said staff doesn't want is a micromanager.
"We've heard on more than one occasion (that the new president should not be) a micromanager. We've got experts here. Let the experts do their job and not try to micromanage every single detail of the college," he said.
Above all else, Zimmerman said staff feels the new president must be able to come in and continue the success of the college.
"We've got a good thing going here," he said. "We've got some darn good people on this campus - good instructors, good staff, good support staff. Everything's good and moving in the right direction, and this person needs to step back and say, 'OK, this is good, maybe we can do some tweaking here,' but let's not come in ... and make all these changes. We need to look at what's good first."
Those comments kick-started the audience into participating, however the first comment was a question instead of a suggestion. The panel was asked how they will ensure a candidate coming in with experience at another higher education institution won't try to alter the culture of Nicolet into the image of their previous employer.
Board vice chairman Bob Martini said that could actually be a positive for Nicolet, but it is something the board will need to be cognizant of when making its choice.
"It could be a positive if they're bringing in the right legacy. I think it's part of the job of the board to interview individuals from that background to see if it is a positive or a negative," he said.
Zimmerman agreed.
"I think it's a direct question. How much do you think you're going to need to change? How much research have you done on the college and are you coming in planning on making a lot of changes? How would you do that?" he said.
"I think that's a direct question I would ask."
A second question was then asked. An audience member wanted to know how the board would ensure a candidate was not following the beginning of the search process - meaning he or she would know exactly what the board was looking for - and formulating their responses in interviews to match the board's vision of a perfect candidate.
Martini said the board would have to speak with each candidate's previous employer to get a better read on what they stand for.
"I think it's important to have a visit to that person's place of employment and talk to people that didn't necessarily report to them," he said. "That's pretty standard."
Zimmerman said he has a lot of experience conducting interviews and would use those skills during the search.
"I've interviewed a lot of people and I'm not the greatest at it, but I think I can see some things when they're blowing smoke at me," he said.
Paul Ehers, geography/geology instructor and faculty association president, suggested the board speak to the faculty association president at any given candidate's institution.
"I would suggest you talk to the faculty association president if they come from another place," he said. "I think that would be a good perspective ... because you'd have a pretty good opportunity to know what their style is really like."
Sandy Bishop, director of workforce development at Nicolet, took Ehler's thought a step further and said the college should reach out to previous employers instead of just talking to a candidate's current employer.
"Maybe you could go to not that person's current place of employment, but the place they worked previously," she said.
"I think there is a risk of people not being as truthful as they might be otherwise if the person is either going to stay there or not."
Zimmerman said the board will speak to a number of references before making a decision.
"I'd probably ask somebody on the staff, who do they work closely with in the community. I might try to get ahold of somebody in that community ... and try to get a couple opinions from their community."
A question was also asked regarding student participation in the search.
Zimmerman said the board is reaching out to students for input.
"We've asked for input from students," he said. "I don't know if the students have participated in the interview process."
Martini said that could happen.
"They didn't last time, but it's a possibility," he said.
For those who were unable to attend the meeting, Zimmerman said the board's contact information is on Nicolet's website. He encourages anyone with input on the process to contact board members.
Zimmerman can be reached at (715) 453-2535, or by email at [email protected]. Martini can be reached at (715) 282-5896 or via email at [email protected].
The board plans to post the job opening after its Nov. 17 board meeting and will be accepting applications through the end of the year.
Interviews will be conducted in January and February with the goal of extending an offer in March.
If all goes according to plan, the new president will start July 1.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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