Dear NMC family,
Jason Slade
It is my pleasure to announce Jason Slade as the college’s inaugural Vice President for Strategic Initiatives starting November 29, 2021. I am excited for what this new role will offer our college and community and believe Jason’s unique strengths and experiences will position us all for great success!
To find the best candidate, we partnered with search firm Spelman Johnson to undertake a nationwide search that resulted in more than 90 applicants. The search process was thorough and inclusive. I appreciate all of you who contributed by serving on the search team or attending the candidate forums. 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. The new VP’s primary focus areas will include:
- strategic plan implementation
- innovation management
- revenue generation
- business partnerships.
As many of you have shared with me, and the vast majority of comments from the candidate forum indicate, Jason has a well respected history of demonstrated success as a collaborator, innovator and servant leader. His mission-driven optimism fuels his inspiration, while his organized engineer mindset keeps him grounded to see the work through to success. Jason joined the college as a faculty member in 2014 after working in both private industry and higher education downstate. He has continued to grow here, leading the robust Technical Division for the last two years. Now Jason will work closely with Marguerite Cotto as she prepares for retirement after serving the college for 40 years. They will also work together to plan for future leadership of the Technical Division.
While many of you know Jason from his time at NMC, through the recent interview process it became clear to us Jason has much more to offer our college and community. He exceeded our expectations at every turn. I am excited to re-introduce Jason to our NMC community in his new role and know his success will be our shared success, and ultimately our learners’ success. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Jason Slade as NMC’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives. Congratulations Jason!
Nick
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Nick Nissley, Ed.D. | President | Northwestern Michigan College
