Community college trustee candidates vie for votes

College trustee candidates Jerry Elwood and Michael Hebert vied for votes Thursday at a lightly attended candidates forum sponsored by the Faculty Senate.

Hebert, Elwood and incumbent Ralene Sliter are competing for Flathead Valley Community College’s trustee position representing the Flathead/Glacier high school districts.

Sliter missed the forum due to the death of her brother but sent a statement addressing her candidacy. Sliter was first elected to the board in 2006 and was re-elected in 2009.

Elwood said he had an abiding interest in education as the beneficiary throughout his career of the education he received at public institutions.

“So I want to play a role and give back to the community and the educational system,” he said. “I think with my background and experience I can do that. I’m a scientist. I’ve taught at universities. I have supervised students, both at the master’s and Ph.D. level.”

He said he had implemented budgets in excess of $100 million and done performance appraisals, policy analysis and strategic planning that relate to board duties.

“I think students need to be excited about enhancing their education when they come out of high school,” he said. “I think the quality of instruction in community colleges and all colleges is a paramount factor.”

He credited a Flathead High School biology teacher with instilling his interest in science.

Retired since 2008, Elwood earned a doctorate in environmental science and was the director of Climate Change Research with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Hebert said he knew best how to run the college because he is a former student and a graduate of FVCC.

“I love this school,” he said. “I have a great passion for education and the opportunity that FVCC gave me in a time in my life and countless thousands of other men’s lives when they were losing their jobs as the construction market was falling apart.”

He said the college allowed him to retrain and create a small business. Hebert said he wants to focus on the college’s mission of providing a good, low cost education for degree-seeking students and for vocation retraining.

A Farmers Insurance Group agent, Hebert listed the skills and experience he had running a small business such as budgeting, marketing and setting employee policy as his qualification for the trustee position.

Hebert said others may have more advanced degrees, but he had “the heart, commitment and vision to get things done” in the areas of excellence, entrepreneurship and enhancement of core subjects of science, engineering, technology and math.

A friend of Sliter’s who served with her on the college’s fundraising foundation, Nancy Gordley read the statement Sliter wrote before she left town to attend her brother’s services.

Her statement said she and her husband had raised four children who benefited from scholarships and financial help to graduate from college and become self-supporting.

A graduate of Valparaiso University, Sliter said in her statement that she was part of a longtime Flathead Valley family and business. During her 33 years living here, she said she has witnessed the value of the college to the people during swings in the economy.

“I feel privileged to have been involved with Flathead Valley Community College for the past 10 years,” Sliter said.

She said the assets of the college grew during her four years working with the foundation. As a trustee, she said she worked diligently with other trustees to fulfill the college’s mission to promote excellence, lifetime learning, student success and the community’s needs and wants to continue moving the college forward.

Sliter said trustees were responsible for setting policy and planning the long-term direction of the college with the president, staff and faculty.

“The responsibility of the trustees is not to micromanage the college,” Sliter said.

 Elwood and Hebert agreed with Sliter that trustees should not micromanage but should set policy, implement the mission and define the broad vision. They addressed numerous other issues and concerns during the hour-and-a-half forum.

Hebert criticized tuition increases and said the state needs to develop its energy resources to support education. He said he wants to reduce the backlog of students waiting for nursing programs and add veterans programs.

Elwood said he was amazed that the president kept tuition increases below the rate of inflation and hoped she could continue to do so while seeking more grant funding. He advocated trying to excite students about science, engineering and technology and adding more direct criteria for measuring educational output such as problem-solving ability along with indirect measures like graduation rates.

After the forum, President Jane Karas said the college has direct measures of student performance. She also pointed out that the college has veterans programs and was named among the most “veteran-friendly” schools.

Asked to set themselves apart from their opponents, Elwood pointed to his decades of professional experience in the board’s major areas of responsibility such as budget, strategic planning and performance evaluation.

“I have the background and training in education,” he said. “I interact well with people and I can serve the board well.”

Hebert said he would bring leadership and the younger generation’s perspective to the board while working cooperatively with other trustees.

“If you look back at my personal experience in my life, whether college football or in the military, I am a good team player,” he said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.