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The Northwest College Board of Trustees voted Monday to extend the contract of Interim President Lisa Watson, effectively delaying the search for a permanent president.
Watson’s …
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The Northwest College Board of Trustees voted Monday to extend the contract of Interim President Lisa Watson, effectively delaying the search for a permanent president.
Watson’s contract was extended to June 30, 2022. The previous contract term was until November 2021. Watson’s contract stipulates a salary of $194,000 and includes a $10,000 retention bonus, to be paid if Watson serves in the position until the end of the contract.
Watson was offered the interim position in November, after the previous president, Stefani Hicswa, announced she’d be taking a chancellor position at the University of Montana-Billings.
Originally, the board had planned to begin a nationwide search for a candidate to permanently fill the position.
A presidential search committee was formed, composed of trustees and representatives of various constituencies on campus and in the community. The committee met in February to finalize the search criteria the college would use to recruit a permanent president, but the consensus among the members was that it really wasn’t the best time to be doing the search.
The college is undergoing the development of a transformational plan, which will be completed this spring and implemented after, as well as budgetary challenges that may result in reductions in faculty.
With all the uncertainty surrounding the college’s finances and future vision, the committee felt the college would be better served by someone who was familiar with the organization’s challenges and plans. The recommendation they made to the board of trustees was to offer Watson a contract extension.
During that February meeting, the committee decided, if Watson agreed to a contract extension, the college would resume the search for a permanent president in the fall 2021, with the goal of extending an offer to the preferred candidate in summer 2022.
Watson previously served as the college’s vice president for administrative services and finance from 2014. Prior to that, she was interim president at Miles Community College in Montana, from May 2013 to January 2014.
