Stefani Hicswa

Northwest College President Stefani Hicswa may be moving on, as a search committee at Montana State University-Billings announced Friday she is the sole finalist for a chancellor position at the university.

“It is a great opportunity to push myself professionally and continue to serve students,” Hicswa said.

Hicswa was the only candidate the MSU-B Search Advisory Committee chose to forward on the final process for selection, but no formal offer of employment has been extended.

On Friday, Oct. 16, Hicswa will engage in an all-day battery of interviews on the MSU-B campus with faculty, staff, alumni, students and MSU President Waded Cruzado.

Brock Tessman, who chairs the committee, said that due to health risks associated with large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, the “full and rigorous day” of interviews will be held virtually.

Tessman said the committee has been soliciting and assessing feedback on Hicswa before Friday’s campus interview, and that process would continue afterward. The committee’s thoughts will be forwarded to Cruzado, who will then submit her decision to the Montana University System Commissioner and Board of Regents for final approval. Only at that point would a formal offer of employment be extended.

“If the (Oct. 16) interview goes well, then I imagine President Cruzado could make a decision about extending a formal offer fairly quickly,” Tessman said. “Our hope is to have a new chancellor in place in Billings to start Jan. 1.”

NWC Board of Trustees President Dusty Spomer said the board has not met to discuss the process to recruit a new president; without knowing for sure that such a process will be needed, there’s nothing to act on at the moment, he said.

“It’ll be a major loss for the college and the community,” Spomer said of Hicswa’s potential departure. “And we’ll just have to see what the board’s desire is for a replacement, if we go down that path.”

Though it would have a strong impact on NWC, “anytime someone has the opportunity to advance or move on, we want to be supportive of them and their family,” Spomer said.

“She’s done us a great service all these years, and we’ve been darn lucky to have her for as long as we have,” he said.

Hicswa became NWC’s president in 2013.

In Friday’s announcement, Tessman said Hicswa is an “outstanding” finalist. The announcement cited the record-high completion rates Northwest College has achieved under Hicswa’s leadership, as well as the completion of significant capital projects and the launching of comprehensive strategic visioning, enrollment management and facilities master plans.

“She brings to the table a proven track record of stable and successful executive leadership, strong connections to Montana higher education, and a passion for connecting with students, employees and the community,” Tessman said.

Montana State University-Billings is significantly larger than Northwest College. Preliminary fall 2020 enrollment figures show there were 1,377 full- and part-time students at NWC. The 2019 fall semester headcount at MSU-B was 4,416 full- and part-time students.

Prior to coming to NWC, Hicswa received an M.Ed. in adult, community and higher education from Montana State University in Bozeman and a bachelor of arts in organizational communication from the University of Montana in Missoula.

She served for seven years as president of Miles Community College in Miles City, Montana, and prior to that, she owned and operated a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning and organizational development. The company’s clients included a few Montana colleges.

“My familiarity with higher education in Montana would allow me to hit the ground running,” Hicswa said.

The MSU-B advisory committee was formed in August, after the previous MSU-B chancellor, Dan Edelman, stepped down the previous month for health reasons. In September, the committee said it was reviewing applications from a “strong pool” of candidates.

In February 2013, Hicswa was selected as NWC president from three finalists for the position and took the helm at the college that July. She replaced Paul Prestwich, who served in the position for five years.

Hicswa is originally from Dillon, Montana, and is married to Scott Hicswa, a consulting forester. They have two sons.