Nic Trustees Choose Texan As President Michael Burke To Take Helm On June 30
Dr. Michael Burke, a vice president at Eastfield College in Texas, was named president of North Idaho College on Wednesday night.
Burke takes over nearly a year after the NIC board of trustees ousted President Robert Bennett, giving him $142,000 to keep quiet about the circumstances surrounding his forced resignation.
Trustees, some with tears in their eyes after the long selection process, passed a cellular phone around the table so Burke could hear them unanimously approve his appointment as president.
He will come to campus June 15 and officially will take over the post from interim President Ronald Bell on June 30.
Burke has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and a Ph.D. in community college leadership from the University of Texas at Austin.
“He not only has the intellectual and leadership abilities; he has the heart,” trustee Sheila Wood said. “He’s very genuine. He’s a strong, quiet, sensitive person who leads by consensus. He’s obviously in touch with all the people he serves.”
Burke, 46, has been affiliated with Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas, for a decade, most recently serving as vice president of finance and planning. He was responsible for developing and monitoring the college’s $19.2 million budget and coordinated a $10 million building program to construct a technology center, student services center and expanded library.
“We are thrilled with the decision,” said Burke, who is married and has a 4-year-old daughter.
“I hope to get to know the staff, faculty, administration and students better to understand their vision for the college.”
Burke will have to contend with some weighty issues at NIC. In addition to healing the wounds caused by Bennett’s forced resignation, he will face a campus on which many employees distrust administrators and many women believe there is rampant sexual discrimination, according to a campus survey released in January.
“I appreciate that willingness for self-reflection,” he said of the survey. “I don’t see a lot of bad news there. I see a lot of opportunity.”
Dr. Eric Reno, a vice president at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colo., also was a finalist for the NIC presidency.
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