This month marks 22 years working at NCCC for me. I have now worked at NCCC longer than all my other jobs combined since I started working at 14 years old. That’s pretty remarkable.
This last year, something else remarkable happened to me that had never really happened to me before either. I went to a meeting of the 19 community college presidents, and as I looked around the room at the other 18 presidents, I realized that I was the longest-serving president in the room. None of the people who were presidents in 2010 when I was promoted to the post at NCCC were left. All had been replaced. I am currently the longest-serving president among the community colleges in Kansas.
It turns out, at 15 straight years, I am the currently longest- serving president of any of the 32 public institutions in Kansas still in the position. Many of the president’s positions, both at the college and university level, have turned over several times in that 15-year span. The average tenure of a college president is now 4-6 years, depending on who you ask. As the old saying goes, “I’ve seen ‘em come, and I’ve seen ‘em go.” Being the longest-tenured person is a new experience for me.
For the longest time in my life, I was the youngest or perhaps the least experienced in the room. My mom pulled some strings and got me into kindergarten months before I turned 5. I think she just needed a break from me for a few hours each day. As a result, I was able to graduate high school at 17 and didn’t turn 18 until mid-way through my freshman year. I graduated from college at 21 and completed my master’s degree at 23. I began working as a college instructor at the ripe old age of 24.
I was a college dean at 33, vice president at 35, and president at 42. I was the youngest among the presidents when I was promoted, but not the youngest ever, either before or since. Still, I moved from instructor to president in about 9 years. Not too bad. That was 15 years ago. I’m now the one asked the “history of a situation” question, or “what have we tried in the past to solve it?”
You may know the quote by Oscar Wilde, “With age comes wisdom,” but not many know the end of that quote; “With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.” Wilde was saying that just because you are older doesn’t mean you are wise. There is also the quote by John Heywood, “There’s no fool like an old fool.”
I agree more with the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus who said, “Not by age but by knowledge is wisdom acquired.” And boy, have I acquired a lot of knowledge over the past two decades at NCCC. Being president, you don’t have to be an expert on everything, but you need to understand a lot of things. Besides teaching and learning, I have — sometimes reluctantly — learned about crisis management, mud jacking, VRF heating and cooling systems, employment law, how health, dental, property, and liability insurance works, the average apex height of a foul ball, Kansas legislative processes, estate planning, investment strategies, building design, bonding processes, and on and on.
Every time I think I have seen it all, something new surprises me. For example, experience the decision-making skills of hundreds of 18–21-yearolds over a 35+ year career in higher education and you too will learn a great many things with new lessons every year. Here is something I learned. Students should not practice fly fishing in the hallways near the sprinkler heads. And if you do and the lure gets stuck on the sprinkler head, you should not yank on the fishing rod as hard as you can to free it. I feel like we should not have to clearly state these rules out loud as they seem pretty evident, but sometimes lessons are learned the hard way.
While I greatly value new ideas and the enthusiasm of fresh approaches, there is nothing quite like experience. That is why I am so proud that the core leadership team at Neosho County Community College has stayed for such a long time. The 17-member Executive Committee has a combined service at the college totaling 209 years! That’s an average of over 12 years each, with one member, Dr. Brenda Krumm, holding her leadership role for 28 years.
Likewise, our six-member Board of Trustees has served you for a combined 61 years, with David Peter on the board for over 26 years! Besides our leadership team, we have faculty and staff that have been with the college for an average of 8.6 years, with one case, LuAnn Hauser, who has been with us for 41 years!
That kind of longevity across the institution has led to amazing levels of stability at the college. They say when an employee leaves, it costs a full year’s salary to replace them, and I believe it. The time it takes to advertise, recruit, hire, and train a new employee is expensive, as are the honest mistakes new employees make in the process of learning. It’s a lot cheaper to keep your employees if you can.
With a stable team of employees, you can accomplish so much. You have heard me boast about the college and its accomplishments many times, so I won’t repeat all those accomplishments here. But asking me not to tell the college’s story is asking the sun not to shine.
Here’s a new piece of data that you haven’t heard yet. Of the 19 community colleges, NCCC now ranks No. 1 in the state in the Kansas Board of Regents’ student success index! Our students top the state with the fewest number of “stop-outs” of any community college. Our students either graduate or successfully transfer at a higher rate than any other peer institution in the state! I am so proud of everyone at NCCC that made this happen!
Think about all those wonderful employees devoting a large part, if not the entirety of their working lives, to NCCC and its mission to Enrich our Communities and our Students’ Lives. Year after year, our employees are picking up new ideas from professional development opportunities, having the courage to try new things, learning from their mistakes, trying again, and constantly improving the college for the students and the community.
This is a public thank you to all our employees and trustees, both new and experienced, for their many years of service and their successes. I am so fortunate to lead such an incredible group of educators who care so deeply for our students and for a board of trustees who move the college forward year after year.
If you have any questions about this column, mud jacking, or anything else please contact me at binbody@neosho. edu.
