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NIC leaders step up to advance regional, national education priorities

NWCCU CONFERENCE: Speakers at last month’s Northwest Commission on Community Colleges and Universities’ Annual Conference in Seattle included, from left, North Idaho College Board of Trustees Chair Tarie Zimmerman, NIC President Nick Swayne and Association of Community College Trustees Consultant Debbie DiThomas. They spoke about best practices in community college board governance.

Trustee Tarie Zimmerman, unanimously voted as the new board chair at the last NIC board meeting, has been appointed to another year on the Association of Community College Trustees’ (ACCT) Public Policy and Advocacy Committee. 

 Zimmerman said her committee work centers on bringing the voices of local governing boards into national policy discussions on access, affordability and workforce development.

 “With several education programs facing significant budget cuts or potential elimination, the committee is focused on advocating for at-risk programs such as Adult Basic Education to ensure students and communities continue to have access to those essential educational opportunities,” Zimmerman said.

The ACCT is a nonprofit educational organization of governing boards, representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who serve on more than 500 governing boards of community, technical and junior colleges in the United States. The organization brings community college leaders together to address challenges. 

NIC President Nick Swayne is a member of ACCT’s Advisory Committee of Presidents, a group that incorporates the insights of campus executives into educational program recommendations. 

Zimmerman and Swayne, along with ACCT Consultant Debbie DiThomas, were invited to speak on best practices in community college board governance at last month’s Northwest Commission on Community Colleges and Universities’ (NWCCU) Annual Conference in Seattle. 

Zimmerman, a financial advisor who has lived in Coeur d’Alene since 2012, replaces Brad Corkhill as the NIC Board chair. Mary Havercroft, a retired teacher and principal who spent most of her 40-year career with the Lakeland Joint School District in Rathdrum, is the new vice-chair.

Havercroft said she looks forward to listening to the community’s needs and input.

“NIC will continue to be successful and grow if it works with our shareholders and community members,” said Havercroft, who presented with Zimmerman at the recent ACCT Leadership Congress in New Orleans on college boards’ role in setting and using policy. 

At the same meeting officers were elected, trustees signed an annual affirmation outlining their commitment to ethical standards and the mission of NIC, which received a clean external financial audit for fiscal year 2025 from the Boise firm of Eide Bailly, LLP. 

“From hands-on learning through X-Labs to the Cardinal Classical Pathway launching next fall, NIC is focused on serving our community while expanding into emerging technologies such as the regional aerospace tech hub,” Zimmerman said. “This work is about our community having access to education that is relevant, affordable and forward-thinking.”