Four Finalists Named For Nic Presidency They Come From Bellevue, Texas And Colorado

North Idaho College’s presidential search committee narrowed the field of candidates for the school’s top post to four Wednesday.

All four candidates began academic careers in liberal arts fields - two in English, one in political science and one in music - and later pursued doctoral degrees in higher education administration.

Bellevue Community College Dean Kae Hutchison has ties to Spokane. She studied music and German at Whitworth College during the early 1960s.

She received her master’s degree in music from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. In 1966, Hutchison became chair of the music department. From there she worked her way up to chair of the creative arts division, director of continuing education, associate dean and dean of continuing education.

While dean, Hutchison pursued a master’s degree in organizational development and then a Ph.D. in human and organization systems from The Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., a distance learning school for midcareer professionals.

As dean of instruction, Hutchison oversees continuing education and international programs at the school with an enrollment of 10,000. She monitors the divisions’ combined $4.5 million budgets. She also serves as special assistant to the president for institutional effectiveness, a position created to coordinate instructional improvement efforts collegewide. Her areas of expertise include computer technology, faculty development, continuing education programs and interdisciplinary studies.

Michael Burke is vice president of finance and planning at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas. One of seven campuses in the Dallas County Community College District, Eastfield enrolls 8,458 students. Burke received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Houston. He taught English at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville for six years before pursuing his Ph.D in the community college leadership program at the University of Texas at Austin. From 1984-1994, Burke taught English at Eastfield while chairing the communications/developmental studies division, serving as dean of educational resources and eventually interim dean of career and continuing education.

He took his current position in 1993 and coordinated construction of a $10 million new technology building, a student services center and library expansion. He monitors a $19.2 million budget, overseas seven support departments, and directly supervises one dean, four directors and two managers.

Joe Forrester is dean of the Timberline Campus in Leadville, Colo., a branch of Colorado Mountain College. Located an hour from eight ski areas, the community college is known for its recreation programs, including the Environmental Technology and Ski Area Operations programs. Forrester received an associate degree from Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, and then bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from East Texas State University. He received his education doctorate in supervision, curriculum and instruction in secondary and higher education from East Texas State University.

From 1975-1988 he held a variety of administrative positions at El Paso County Community College District in El Paso, Texas. He became dean at Leadville in 1989.

Since his arrival, the Timberline Campus enrollment increased more than 52 percent, while instructional costs per student went down. He initiated joint initiatives with area high schools, led a $6.5 million building program for new residence halls and academic facilities, and helped create the Central Rockies Leadership Institute for leadership training in a nine-county area.

Eric Reno serves as vice president of Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colo.

He received his bachelor’s degree in English from Florida Atlantic University and his master’s in English from San Francisco State University. For 10 years, Reno taught high school and college English in California and Florida. In 1981, he took a position as division chairman of humanities/communications/social and behavioral science at Broward Community College-South, near Ft. Lauderdale. He later became provost and dean of academic affairs there. From 1987-1990 he was provost at BCC’s central campus. The Ft. Lauderdale campus covers 154 acres and 25 buildings, including a 1,200-seat performing arts complex, planetarium and aquatic complex. He was interim vice president for academic affairs there for two years before taking his current position in 1992.

Front Range Community College’s Larimer Campus serves 12,015 students and is the newest campus in Colorado. Reno helped develop the newly established campus by forming partnerships with Colorado State University and local school districts. He coordinated construction of a science building, a joint-use library with the City of Fort Collins, and a student center.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT Candidates for the North Idaho College president’s position will be on campus Feb. 9-10 for interviews. A new president is expected to be chosen by March 18.