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The accreditation saga at North Idaho College continues: last week the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities sent the community college a show cause letter.
The letter—which requires an institution to demonstrate why its accreditation should not be revoked—is the latest in a series of warnings from NWCCU, the college’s accreditor, over actions taken by a majority of NIC’s Board of Trustees. The board has violated open meetings laws repeatedly, pushed out the president and replaced him with an interim, and hired an attorney with financial ties to three board members without undergoing a formal bid process.
Both the college’s accreditor and local community members have raised concerns about the actions of the five-member board, which have been driven by a three-member majority.
“Convinced that the NIC Board of Trustees has not shown sufficient responsiveness to previous Commission action and, thus, fails to sufficiently appreciate the jeopardy it is placing the institution in with respect to the welfare and viability of the institution—much less its membership status with NWCCU—the Commission at its most recent regular meeting voted to issue NIC a Sanction of Show Cause as to why the institution’s accreditation should not be withdrawn,” read a copy of the NWCCU warning letter obtained by The Coeur d’Alene Press.
The letter also notes “numerous complaints from members of the NIC and Coeur d’Alene communities have continued to be received by NWCCU; ongoing actions of the NIC Board—some documented in the press—continue to place the institution at risk for viability.”
The college’s interim president, Greg South, has previously downplayed accreditation concerns. NIC board chair Greg McKenzie did not respond to a request for comment.
