Dear Editor:

I believe our beloved Northwest College is worth our determined efforts so the college continues to serve our youth.

Maybe we in the community can offer more assistance to the administration.

After reading what the Tribune recently published about NWC, I first read an article: “Community Colleges are Changing Strategies to Increase Enrollment” by Kate Barrington.

The editorial and this other source made a lot of sense. Furthermore, it appears that other colleges have faced similar issues and worked hard until they found great solutions. So I totally believe that we can too.

Maybe the board and we community members can brainstorm a little more and think outside the box a little longer — and that certainly doesn’t infer that the board and administration at NWC isn’t already capable of finding solutions. Maybe they are already on the verge of a breakthrough.

It would certainly be a huge triumph for all of us to find a workable solution. What is the next best step in this process?

Some of us may be wrestling with how we can best use incentives to retain reputable, experienced instructors and professors at Northwest College.

Is it true that the board recently decided to make it easier to fire the NWC teachers and staff? Have they removed due process rights? Have they eliminated step increases in pay?

Has the board decided to save money and take a risk of losing excellent educators who might decide to seek advancement or better employment options elsewhere?

Then again, maybe teachers at NWC are happy and willing to live with the board’s decisions; no questions asked.

Should we accept this latest decision or should we consider other, more workable alternatives? Or maybe there is another path to resolving the funding challenges.

Hopefully things work out and Northwest College prevails, despite all the many perceived and real challenges they presently face. I believe it is definitely in our best interest to do an even better job of tackling these obstacles, and do it together.

Edward Morrow

Powell