Newhouse: From student to ILCC's new CEO

Photo submitted Valerie Newhouse

But unlike her predecessors, Newhouse, a native of West Bend, has strong roots throughout ILCC's five-county area. The Emmetsburg resident, who will be based on the Estherville campus of ILCC, has also worked for four of the community college's last six presidents: Dick Blacker, Jim Billings, Mike Hupfer and Dr. Harold Prior, who announced his retirement intentions in mid-February.

Following a several-hour closed session interview, Newhouse was appointed ILCC's incoming president by the ILCC Board of Trustees on Feb. 17.

"They talked about the different challenges we have ahead of us and felt that it would be important to name a president right away, rather than doing a search and maybe -- or maybe not -- being successful in their search. They also felt I was qualified for the job," she said. "I appreciate that our board is very supportive and dedicated as well."

Newhouse noted how Board President Jack Tatman, an original ILCC board member from the 1960s, and several others have longevity around the board table. She also suggested strength in a few of the newer faces around ILCC's board table, including Susan Zulk of Spencer and Pat Kibbie of Emmetsburg.

"Having been through the cycles of the community college and the cycles of the economy, I think we're in a good position for getting through the challenges of this current situation," she said.

Newhouse's academic course, ILCC duration

A "typical" high school student, Newhouse couldn't wait to graduate and start living life.

She and her high school sweetheart-turned-husband reared three children in under five years. Newhouse, who chose to remain a stay-at-home mother until all three of their children had entered school, started her 17-year stint with ILCC when she was named to fill a part-time adult basic education recruiter position.

"When I started working at the college part-time, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I also knew it was Iowa Lakes where I wanted to work," she recalled. "The people here are so dedicated to what they're doing and so positive. ... Plus, it's so much fun to see the students grow and mature as they come through the doors."

Newhouse also became an ILCC non-traditional student herself shortly after being hired.

After graduating from ILCC in 1990 and Buena Vista University in 1992, Newhouse chose to leave the community college's employ because there were no full-time positions open. While she worked as the child care services director for Upper Des Moines Opportunity until 1998, she began working on her master's degree in higher education and continuing education from the University of Iowa.

When ILCC ran an advertisement for a secondary programs coordinator position, Newhouse was named to fill it.

She became the associate dean at the Emmetsburg campus of ILCC shortly after.

Newhouse, who is marking her 17th year as an ILCC employee, served the last seven as its executive vice president.

She has completed doctorate coursework in community college leadership and is currently working on a dissertation from Colorado State University.

Incoming president's vision

Proud of the northwest Iowa community college's family atmosphere, Newhouse said the group of dedicated people who work for ILCC all want the same thing: Success for the students who pass through the institution's doorways.

Newhouse's first priority as president will be getting ILCC's budget in-line. She acknowledges this will not be an easy task, especially considering the state pulled back 1 1/2 percent of its funding in December. ILCC's coffers are also anticipating another 6 1/2 percent decline in state aid for next year.

"That's over $700,000 from our budget -- and we were already pretty tight anyway because we've had flat enrollment for a couple years," she said. "We've put some money into funding new initiatives at the college and those are working."

A soccer program scheduled to start in Spencer this fall, a wind energy program with a prospective student waiting list, and a wrestling program initiated on the Estherville campus this past fall are among the new initiatives Newhouse deems as "working."

"But in the same breath," she said, "our arts and science numbers have declined. We need to do some target marketing and target goal setting for the programs that aren't at capacity, also with the arts and science area. That's going to be another primary goal: To build the enrollment in some of these programs that need some assistance."

The incoming president is also quick to point out that ILCC parallels other educational institutions in how it's dealing with the national economic downturn, flat student enrollment numbers and the current state budget deficit situation: Employees are being asked to do more.

"People are rising to the challenge," she said. "I know it's a lot of work for folks, but they're all doing what they need to do to continue with services. And, that's the one thing we will not diminish anywhere -- service to our students. That's the goal. We'll just have to find out what we're doing now that maybe doesn't need to be done in the manner we're doing it, and pick up the other things that need to be done."

Focusing on a few of the lessons learned from recent initiatives undertaken on the Spencer campus of ILCC, including the expansion of several courses and programs, Newhouse said, "Spencer is growing. Spencer is our one campus that is really showing a lot of growth and a lot of potential growth. I have good visions of what could -- and will -- happen here, between the soccer program and expansion of other courses.

"The other thing that has been really good is our partnership with the Spencer Community School District for dual-credit classes for high school students. That continues to grow each year."

In regard to the campus' recent establishment of two four-plex housing units, which sat dormant for a while, she predicted not having enough room this fall based on the number of soccer students coming in.

The college's recent unproductive partnership with the Spencer Area Activity Center on its kitchen area also had Newhouse conveying beneficial lessons learned.

"I think our partnership with the senior center was a great idea. And, I think that everybody tried hard to make that be a win-win for everyone. But in the end, there's a whole lot of other factors that factored into that maybe not working out quite as well as we had hoped," she said. "We still have to feed our students in the fall, though. We are looking at a variety of ways in which we can feed our soccer students and the other ones coming in this fall."

* Outside of work, Newhouse likes to spend time with her family. She and her husband Glen will celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary on April 1. The couple have three children: Josh lives in Storm Lake and works as a Thrivent Financial for Lutheran representative. Daughter Dacia, an attorney, and her husband, Richard Bruns, live in Naples, Italy. Son Nate serves as the vice president and branch manager of Farmers State Bank in West Bend.

When time permits, the Newhouses also like to spend time with Logan, their grandson, who lives in Estherville. They also follow their youngest son's bands: Chrome Union and the Scott Larsen Band.