Terminated NIC instructors receive cash settlements

Two former North Idaho College instructors, whose positions were eliminated last spring, have each received a settlement of nearly $50,000.

The settlements were paid out by the college’s insurer, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, on Aug. 23. According to ICRMP, former instructor Susan Andrews received $47,808 and Janet Anderson-Kluss $46,489.

Both were tenured instructors in NIC’s Computer Information Technology program. In March, NIC announced it was eliminating two degree options in the CITE program due to declining enrollment.

As a result, Andrews and Anderson-Kluss were terminated. The Idaho Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors contend that the college violated its own tenure policy and denied the instructors due process.

According to the federation, which provided a lawyer for the instructors, the NIC administration agreed to settle with the instructors in May. The organization describes it as the “fastest grievance settlement ever for the IFT.”

Neither instructor could be reached for comment Wednesday.

The claim was listed under the category of “errors and omissions” by ICRMP, but NIC attorney Marc Lyons said that was just a general description that insurance companies use and not an indication of wrongdoing.

“I don’t think that has anything to do with the facts related to this situation,” Lyons said.

Since the college made the decision to cut programs and eliminated the instructors’ positions, the college’s Faculty Assembly unanimously approved a resolution stating that “recent events that appear to erode the status of tenure have raised sincere concerns.”

The assembly called on the administration to work with the faculty to allow due process when jobs or programs are reduced. At that meeting in May, the Faculty Assembly also voted to contribute $200 to the instructors’ legal expenses.

College spokesman Kent Propst said NIC will look into any concerns the Faculty Assembly brings to the administration.

“If it is a concern of theirs, it becomes a concern of ours,” Propst said.

ICRMP provides insurance for public entities throughout the state. This year, ICRMP has paid out two large settlements on behalf of Kootenai County, including $70,000 to the administrator of the county’s failed juvenile drug court and $267,000 to a former Kootenai County sheriff’s captain.