Lake Superior College President Kathleen Nelson announces retirement

November 13, 2009 by Howie · Leave a Comment

Dr. Kathleen Nelson (pictured), President of Lake Superior College (LSC), has announced her intent to retire after 13 years as the college’s CEO and after 30 total years as a leader in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Her retirement will be effective June 30, 2010.

Nelson became the second president of LSC in 1997, two years after the legislatively driven merger of Duluth Technical College and Duluth Community College Center created Lake Superior College. The college, under Nelson’s leadership, has become one of the premier colleges in the state and a leading partner in education and training in Duluth and northeastern Minnesota.

Nelson exudes tremendous pride in the work of the college’s learning community.

“The college’s employees are tremendously talented, creative, and compassionate,” Nelson said in a prepared statement. “They have, together, created a college culture which speaks clearly to our students and to our community partners about the value of the human spirit and the importance of higher education.”

Lake Superior College has seen sizeable enrollment growth and change throughout Nelson’s tenure. LSC has nearly doubled in size, from the full-time equivalent of 1,900 students in 1997 to more than 3,500 today. More than 8,200 individual students are touched by the college’s programs and services each year.

“In her years as president, Lake Superior College has become a national leader in providing online courses and using cutting-edge technologies,” said Chancellor James McCormick, head of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. “President Nelson has a passion for excellence and student success.”

McCormick also noted that she has achieved national recognition for her work on the Higher Learning Commission, the agency that accredits colleges in the Midwest, where she served as chair of the commission’s board.

Nelson’s entrepreneurial spirit undergirds much of the college’s progress during the past 12 years. The college’s leadership in e-learning has led the state and much of the nation in offering students an opportunity to complete courses and entire educational programs online. LSC was the first public higher education institution in the state of Minnesota to receive permission from its regional accreditor to offer all of its programs through online learning. Nelson herself took a major leadership role in this endeavor by being the founding chair of the Minnesota Online Council, the state’s online consortium of 32 colleges and universities. Governor Pawlenty visited LSC a year ago to announce his initiative to have all public higher education institutions offer at least 25 percent of their enrollment online by 2015. LSC surpassed that goal last year and currently offers approximately 27 percent of its enrollment online.

“Connections” has been a key concept during Nelson’s administration at LSC. Connecting to and serving the community has been fundamental to LSC’s success as an education and training partner in the City of Duluth, the region, and the state. Nelson’s energy and enthusiasm for community engagement has been the cornerstone to the college’s development of its highly successful Workforce and Community Development division. Her belief in the importance of serving public education in true partnership has helped the college develop an outstanding High School Connections program. Working with more than 30 high schools in northeastern Minnesota, the college has established successful programs to meet the learning needs of nearly 800 high school students each year, students who enroll in college-level classes on their high school campuses, online, or on site at LSC.

“The concept of community and community development is very important to me,” said Nelson. “We serve others by being open and responsive to them. We listen, and we act. To engage in community learning and community work is one of the highest ideals to which we strive. Civic engagement is clearly the reflection of democracy in action,” Nelson explains.

David Ross, President and CEO of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, offered the following assessment of Nelson’s contributions: “Our community experienced an energy surge when Kathleen Nelson arrived in Duluth to become the Lake Superior College president in 1997. It was my good fortune to immediately develop a close working relationship with Kathleen. Her leadership enabled LSC to quickly become a leader within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Beyond providing LSC exceptionally strong leadership, Kathleen has shared her time and abundant talent to move our community forward. LSC, and our community, are far better places because of Kathleen.“

Nelson has been an active community leader, a leader in state higher education and a leader in national higher education accreditation circles. She is ending her term on the Higher Learning Commission’s Board of Trustees, having served two years ago as the board’s chair. The Commission accredits all public, private, for-profit, and not-for profit colleges and universities within a 19 state region. Nelson’s leadership has helped to shape the new policies and practices engaged in by higher education institutions, including an emphasis upon quality improvement and outcomes assessment.

True to her nature as an outdoors woman who loves to kayak and still camps in a tent, Nelson finds not only her most reflective moments on still waters and within the wilderness, but she derives a strong sense of professional pride in LSC’s commitment to environmental stewardship as well. She is a signatory on the national President’s Climate Commitment, a national movement to commit LSC to reducing personal and institutional carbon footprints. The college is a leader in its sustainability initiatives, supported by Nelson’s strong sense of the importance of environmental issues.

When Nelson speaks, you can see the pride she feels in the people, the programs, and the services she has helped to develop at Lake Superior College. “A dear friend reminds me often that I said, 12 years ago, as I became LSC’s president, that our most important work is not about building new buildings but, rather about what goes on inside those buildings. I still believe that today. People create community. Community creates a place where learning takes place. LSC is the most wonderful learning community I know, and I have been honored to serve as the college’s president,” Nelson reflects.

What’s next for LSC’s president? “New adventures, new challenges, and, no doubt, more kayaking,” she said.

LSC is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. With more than 4,500 students enrolled this fall semester, LSC is northeastern Minnesota’s largest two-year college. LSC provides a wide range of programs and services, including liberal arts and science courses for transfer, technical programs intended to provide occupational skills, continuing education, and customized training for business and industry. LSC is also a leader in Internet-delivered courses and programs in Minnesota.

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Lake Superior College President Kathleen Nelson announces retirement

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