April 10
Salem State administrator NSCC interim president finalist
The Salem News - 04/10/2020
By Dustin Luca, Staff Writer
An administrator with Salem State University is the lone candidate to serve as North Shore Community College’s interim president.
Nate Bryant, chief of staff to Salem State University President John Keenan, interviewed remotely with the community college’s Board of Trustees Thursday afternoon. He’s the lone finalist from a prior search for an interim leader, though it’s unclear how many applied.
NSCC President Pat Gentile announced in December she plans to retire this July. The hiring of an interim leader would be to provide leadership as the college searches for a permanent president.
The board didn’t take a vote at the end of the interview. Rather, it held off on voting until at least its next meeting -Tuesday, April 14 - after which the board could’ve pulled in comment from the public. About 125 were in attendance, including panelists, as the remotely held video conference was drawing to a close.
“We’ve had an impressive turnout of our community on this call,” said board chair-person J.D. LaRock, “and there’s an opportunity for us to hear feedback on what they’ve heard.”
Bryant’s role at Salem State frequently came up in the questions and answers. That included one asking about relationships between North Shore and other four-year schools like Salem State.
“To be totally honest with you, we rely heavily - we being Salem State - on transfer students,” Bryant said. “It’s intimately important to me, but at the same time, all four-year institutions are looking for transfer students.”
He also noted in another response that institutions like North Shore Community College “are in an envious position” in light of COVID-19.
“There are folks that are going to say, ‘I don’t know if I want to do a four-year degree. I want to go back and do some kind of certificate or accelerated program,” Bryant said.
“While I have no experience in that, I’ll tell you that’s something I’m very interested in learning about, because that’s how we distinguish ourselves from the four-year institutions.”
Bryant, when asked if he’d pursue the full president post after the interim term, also noted that he’s “happy at Salem State. They’ve been very good to me, and this president in particular has been very good to me.”
“But if the work I do at North Shore moves the needle in a positive way,” he said, “and I feel I had something to do with that, no doubt — I’d want the permanent position, for sure.”
Copyright (c)2020 The Salem News, Edition 04/10/2020