NMC hires vice president from within its ranks
Oct. 16—TRAVERSE CITY — The director of Northwestern Michigan College's technical division will step into a new role created to lead the college into the future.
Jason Slade, who has been with NMC since 2014, will start in his new position as vice president for strategic initiatives at the end of November.
Slade was given a 19-month contract that ends on June 30, 2023 and automatically renews every year, unless terminated in March of the previous year. He will be paid $133,760 per year.
The Traverse City resident was one of 90 applicants in a nationwide search.
"I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to strengthen and expand the ways our college serves our students and communities," Slade said in a press release. "NMC has a proud history and I know our future holds many more exciting successes."
The new position was created after the announcement that Marguerite Cotto, vice president for lifelong and professional learning, would retire at the end of this year after 40 years with the college. The position does not add another administrator, but rewrites Cotto's job description, including some of her duties, but also creates some new ones.
One of Slade's main responsibilities will be to execute NMC's strategic plan, which is in the process of being updated. A Florida company, CampusWorks Inc., was hired in February and is being paid $90,000 to create a plan to identify program offerings and priorities for NMC's future.
Slade is also charged with generating new revenue for the college, managing innovation and expanding on partnerships NMC has with area businesses and industries.
"The search process was thorough and inclusive," said NMC President Nick Nissley said in a press release. "I can now say with confidence that the college is poised to build upon our strong past and develop new ways to meet the evolving needs of our diverse stakeholder groups."
Slade will work with Cotto until her retirement at the end of this year.
The task of generating revenue may be a difficult one in light of the continued decrease in the number of students filling colleges.
According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, higher education enrollment fell overall by 3.5 percent compared to last year, with enrollment at community colleges feeling the most impact, falling 9.5 percent — or 476,000 students — in one year.
The decline was the steepest in 18- to 24-year-olds, with 13.2 percent fewer students in that age category enrolling in community colleges.
The enrollment slide has been going on for several years after colleges across the nation hit their peak in 2010 during the recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis. Community colleges took a hit during the pandemic, with NMC seeing a 15 percent drop in students in spring 2020 and a 9 percent drop in fall 2020, compared to 2019.
This fall numbers are up slightly, with 20 more students and 162 more contact hours compared to fall 2020, though those numbers are still down from pre-COVID counts.
Slade, an electrical engineer, started at NMC teaching in the engineering technology program.
Four years later he became the director of the college's technical division, which includes more than 15 programs and specialty areas.
He has worked with area industry and business partners on apprenticeships, training and hiring of NMC graduates, and more recently worked to transition the division to online learning during the pandemic and on the development of online and hybrid options for students for this year.
Before coming to NMC Slade worked at Mott Community College in Flint, as well as in the automotive industry.
He is a graduate of Michigan State University and has won several awards, including the NISOD Teaching and Leadership Excellence Award in 2016.
