April 10, 2015 at 4:23 p.m.
Nelson ready to take the reins at Nicolet College
Nelson ready to take the reins at Nicolet College
Nelson, who currently serves as provost at Paul Smith's College in New York, will begin his duties July 1. He replaces Elizabeth Burmaster who left in June 2014 to serve as president of Frederick Community College in Frederick, Md., her hometown. Kenneth Urban, vice president of Teaching, Learning and Student Success at Nicolet, is serving as interim president during the transition.
In an interview, Nelson said he was delighted to hear he was chosen as the next president.
"It was thrilling," he said. "My visit there during the interview process was so good. I really enjoyed the people and the students and the campus, so finding out that I get the opportunity to come there on a full-time basis is pretty cool."
There are many aspects to the job of president of a college. The part Nelson said he is most looking forward to is interacting with the students.
"I look forward to working with the students. That's what I really like to do," he said. "The students that we serve here (at Paul Smith's College) are not very much different than the students who go to Nicolet. They are students looking for an opportunity to make a good life for themselves. They may not be the class valedictorians, but they need access to affordable education."
It's that belief that led Nelson to Nicolet.
"The technical and community colleges, especially the ones that are well-connected locally, provide that kind of education, I think, better than anyone else. That's why I wanted to get into that part of higher education," he said. "In particular, Nicolet was attractive not only because it's in a beautiful spot, but it seems like the college has a good sense of purpose - why it's there and the good that it does."
In terms of expanding that purpose, Nelson said he'll take some time to work with the stakeholders of the college to work out the specifics of the best path forward.
"I need to spend more time with the board of trustees and the senior leadership that's already in place, plus the other stakeholders - members of the community and the local nonprofits and citizens and the students - to make sure that I have a good grasp of what the expectations and the aspirations are," he said. "Then we can formulate a more specific plan of action."
That doesn't mean he doesn't have ideas, however. Nelson said he hopes to figure out ways to best deliver a valuable education to students within and outside the Nicolet district.
"In general, and particularly in rural areas, the number of college-bound high school graduates is going down and we have to figure out a sustainable budget model that will allow us to deliver the kind of educational services that we need to deliver for our students and for our community," he said.
"That means looking at what programs are offered and how we can perhaps attract more of the college-bound high school graduates from the 11 high schools in the district, or offer different programs that are attractive to people who are already in the workforce - perhaps they're looking for opportunities for advancement or career changes and we need to look at what we can do to help provide the valuable education that will help them achieve their goals."
"At some point, I think we'll have to think about what are the pluses and minuses of looking at programs that have potential to attract students from outside the district," he added. "We'll have to spend time making sure we learn what the markets are as well as we can - not only demand from the student side, but demand from the employer side, too."
There'll be some time for fun in there, as well.
"My wife and I like the outdoors," Nelson said. "My wife and I have kayaks and you'll be able to tell when we get there as they'll be strapped to my Toyota when we show up."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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