North Idaho College has chosen a new president.
The Board of Trustees will approve Joe Dunlap’s contract on April 30th at an open meeting.
Dunlap will assume the presidency on July 1, the first official day of the 2012-2013 academic year.
“I truly appreciate the trustees’ confidence in selecting me as president of North Idaho College,” Dunlap said. “Though I will miss all the good people at SCC [Spokane Community College] and Community Colleges of Spokane, I look forward to working with NIC’s faculty, staff and trustees to support the college’s already high level of instructional excellence while exploring ways to bring new, dynamic and responsive educational opportunities to North Idaho.”
Dunlap, a Ph.D, participated in forums with the other presidential candidates, where he answered questions from faculty, students and community members, as well showcase what he would bring to the college.
“For me, working with students is what it’s about,” Dunlap said at the forum, while he told a story about a fundraiser he volunteered for at SCC that involved him taking pies to the face.
Dunlap faced an onslaught of different questions, ranging from how he would deal with an unflattering story running in the student paper to questions about his experience dealing with professional development funds and staff sabbaticals.
According to Dunlap, he was a part of the group that established a professional development fund at SCC.
The search for the new president was conducted by a 22-person search committee over the course of several months.
The committee sifted through a slew of applicants in early April before settling on the five candidates that spoke at the forums held on campus.
One candidate dropped out, leaving a group of four, and shortly afterward the committee chose Dunlap.
“The entire community and college engaged in an impressive procedure whereby everyone was able to contribute to our selection of a top-notch candidate,” said NIC Presidential Search Committee Co-Chair and NIC Trustee Ken Howard. “We had an outstanding array of applicants, many of whom had very impressive credentials. Our challenge in this search was to select the candidate who was going to be the best fit for our community and our college and we have accomplished that.”
Dunlap is currently president of Spokane Community College.
