North Idaho College Releases NWCCU Report: Slams President Swayne’s Ineffective Leadership — Alleges “Conspiracy” And Unethical Behavior On The Part Of “Save NIC” Trustees
Here’s What The Coeur d’Alene Press Is Refusing To Report. Again.
(Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) — The long awaited NWCCU Peer-Evaluation Report from their on-site visit in April 2023 is finally online, and some of the questions raised by the Idaho Tribune have finally been answered, while others remain…
The report does in fact lobby heavy criticism against North Idaho College’s current president Nick Swayne, and if you guessed that the recent Coeur d’Alene Press article about the report completely ignored these passages, you would be correct!
The third paragraph of the report states:
Of concern to the evaluation team, however, was the college leadership’s lack of engagement with the Board in the production of their report. The evaluation team queried Board members as to their knowledge of the report, their opportunity to provide input and feedback, and ultimately their agreement with the report’s content and conclusions. Some Board members reported concern that they were not given sufficient time to adequately read and review the document, receiving it with approximately 48 hours turn-around time. Two Board members provided written feedback, which in one case resulted in minor adjustments to the report, while another’s was summarily dismissed. In meetings with the President, the team was concerned that the President did not seem to know how to effectively engage Board members in a way that would provide constructive input. The lack of trust and productive working relations between the President and the Board influenced the development and implementation of a process that did not engage Board members in a meaningful way, even though the report focused on them. This lack of coordination between the President and Board on something as important as the institutional response to a Show Cause determination highlights the governance challenges facing North Idaho College.
So, the President in his response to the “Show Cause” letter ignored certain trustees comments. I bet you can guess which trustees he’s ignoring. This one paragraph at the beginning of the report states 3 times that President Nick Swayne is not working with or “engaging the board members in a meaningful way.” Imagine if a private corporation had a CEO that totally ignored the majority of the board of directors. You’d think he’d get fired, right?
The report continues stating:
In preparation for its visit, the evaluation team viewed several publicly available videos of Board meetings held over the past several months and years. In general, the environment exhibited during those Board meetings (with multiple different iterations/constitutions of Board membership) could not have been described as respectful; and the lack of civility, decorum, and professionalism shown by all parties — all Board members, college counsel, the President, and attendees included—prevented meaningful discourse. Should future Board meetings continue in this manner, the ability of the institution to function effectively would be in question.
What? You mean that pulling fire alarms at meetings “prevented meaningful discourse?”
Screaming at trustees isn’t “meaningful discourse?”
Who would have thought that throwing temper tantrums at board meetings was un-productive? After all, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy by Antifa & SPLC linked Non-Profits like “Save NIC,” and apocalyptic reporting from the Coeur d’Alene Press. I thought they were “here to help?”
The report goes on, stating:
As noted in earlier subsections under section “IV. Governance,” actions and behaviors exhibited by the Board, college counsel, and the President over recent months have limited the effectiveness of the institution, particularly in the areas of institutional planning and decision-making.
But I was told that Nick Swayne was without spot? He was sinless in this whole affair. Were we being mislead by crony trustees and selectively reported news?
The report notes that Board members are supposed to engage in “board orientation” sessions as per NIC Policy, but none of them had done this. Why? The report tells us:
“it is the President’s responsibility to adopt procedures to administer the policy. Creating a strong new board member on-boarding program as well as ongoing development as it relates to board governance, roles and responsibilities, effective participation, and ethics would clearly benefit the current Board as well as any future Board members. However, when asked, the President indicated that he did not have a plan for administering this policy and the evaluation team was unclear as to whether the President understood that this was his responsibility as per policy.
The report also criticizes trustees, saying:
The Board has not spoken with one voice once a decision or policy is made, nor respected majority decisions of the Board as evidenced by action taken…
Oh, you mean like going behind the board’s back and “as a trustee” BEGGING the Idaho State Board of Education to illegally step in and assume control of college governance, like what Tarie Zimmerman did earlier this month?
The NWCCU also gave President Swayne a laundury list of directives on page 13. Some key points that they highlighted say that the President must:
Respect the Board and its role
Listen
Engage the board in policy level discussions
Make recommendations that include analysis and options
Publicly support the board
Adhere to board policy
Facilitate trustee involvement in community and college
Do not ask to make decisions without advance preparation
Provide all board members with same information
Treat all equally
Respect time
Stay out of board politics
Keep Board informed of financial condition of college
Manage/administer all aspects of the operations of the college within policy framework
It would stand to reason that if the NWCCU had to point all of these things out to Presidnet Swayne it is because he is NOT doing them currently…
The report even gives us an “example of poor governance” from the President on that exact same page, saying:
An example poor governance was noted with the quest to obtain new legal counsel in the meeting of April 26, 2023 (material information on the counsel’s costs nor context for how the firm or lead attorney were selected were not included in the board packet). This issue was pointed out to the President in a meeting the morning of April 27. He stated that he not know why he didn’t include those materials for the board. Items like this cause continued question in adherence to this Eligibility Requirement, though the rest of the meeting showed progress in both operational and relational implementation of ethical standards.
Oh really?
So, President Swayne, without giving any information to the board essentially unilaterally presented the board with (essentially) one option for new legal counsel: Holland and Heart. They were asked to vote on it without having had pertinent information made available to them, like for example the cost of this new law firm.
For the past 6 months, the extremist liberal factions around town have complained that Art Macomber costs $325 an hour. What’s going to happen when they find out that Holland and Heart will cost $500/hour?
“Fiscal conservatism?” They don’t care, because this firm is owned and controlled by Idaho’s establishment. It’s the same firm that is persecuting Ammon Bundy on behalf of St. Luke’s Hospital down in Boise.
It also appears as though Presidnet Swayne selectively witheld information from certain trustees when choosing Holland and Heart. The NWCCU report says:
Members of the board noted that some individuals had an opportunity to review the proposed budget and to ask questions prior to the April 26, 2023 meeting; however, this information was inconsistent across board members. […] The board meeting’s materials did not include information regarding the qualification and rates for the identified firm. Some board members indicated they had been contacted by the College regarding specifics, while others were not. The team urges consistent information to be shared with board members in accordance with ACCT’s training module.
The NWCCU report also alleges that board members have acted unethically, without declaring conflicts of interest, stating:
The team notes that Board Policy 2.01.10 claims that board members should “Declare any conflict of interest. A trustee will not participate in, vote on, or exert influence on, any decision in which the trustee has any interest.” One of the trustees claimed to have an in-law employed by the college, yet that trustee voted on the college’s first reading of the budget on April 26, 2023— without acknowledging the potential conflict, refraining from the vote, or seeking the board’s guidance.
Lets play a game: If one of the conservative trustees had done something like this, do you think we would ever hear the end of it? No.
Trustee Banducci who has been on the board for 10 years has never had allegations regarding having an “in-law employed at the college.” Neither has McKenzie, and he’s been on the board for 3 years now. So that leaves the three new trustees elected last year. After speaking to sources with relevant information, we have determined that the trustee named in the report is not Trustee Waggoner. This leaves two possibilites: Corkill or Zimmerman.
Chair Mckenzie (left) Brad Corkill (center) Theresa “Tarie” Zimmerman (right)
Will either of them recuse themselves from the budget vote at tomorrow’s meeting? That remains to be seen…
The report also states that “NIC policy 2.02.02 states that the Board should evaluate the President annually. However, NIC does not have a procedure for evaluating the President.”
Isn’t that lovely? The Board literally has no procedure for evaluating the president. So if he’s messing up, and putting accreditation in jeopardy, how would we ever know? Well, if this letter hadn’t been made public, we would have no idea.
The NWCCU’s Report closes with a shocking statement saying:
“the institution must overcome its current environment of distrust, poor communication, conspiracy, and the debilitating undercurrent of placing other priorities above those that are in the best interest of the institution.”
The report doesn’t say “conspiracy theories.” The report alleges that there is a conspiracy taking place at the college that places “other priorities above those that are in the best interest of the institution.”
Could it be, that perhaps Trustee Banducci was RIGHT when he alleged that he was “battling the NIC Deep State on a daily basis?”
Unlike the CDA Press and the “non-profit” organizations that are hell bent on stoking violence, fear, and the destruction of our beloved community college, we urge all of our readers to read the document for yourselves. Click Here, or read below.
It would be a good idea to read this document, in full, prior to tomorrow evening’s Public Comment at the Board of Trustees meeting. The community here in North Idaho deserves answers, and action.
