By CLAYTON PARK

When Dr. Kathleen Noble took over as president of North Seattle Community College on March 1, she became the school's fourth president in less than two years.

Following Dr. Constance Rice's departure as president in June 1997, North Seattle Community College (or "North," as its students and faculty call it) has seen two other presidents: Dr. Peter Ku, who left in June 1998 to become chancellor of the Seattle Community College District, and Dr. Raymond Needham, who served as interim president from July 1998 to February 1999.

With Noble - an award-winning college president and author of textbooks on business mathematics, whose career as an educator spans 20 years, from the classroom to administration - it appears the revolving door the president's post at North has been as of late has finally come to a halt.

"I'm going to be here for a LONG time," vows the soft-spoken Akron, Ohio, native whose readily apparent passion for education shows why she beat out a field of 80 candidates from across the country to be named North's 8th president.

Noble, who earned her bachelor's and master's of science degrees from the University of Akron and a doctorate from Florida Atlantic University, comes to North from Aiken Technical College in South Carolina, where she had been serving as president since 1994.

This fall, she will be joined at North by her oldest son, Ryan Miller, 18, who will be attending as a freshman. Her other son, Matthew Miller, 15, is currently a 10th grader at Bothell High School.

Noble said one reason for her interest in the North post was the fact that she has relatives out here and was already familiar with the area. Her aunt lives in Tacoma, whom she visited often as a kid ("I spent many summers here eating cornflakes and looking out the window at Mt. Rainier," she recalls). Noble's sister, Gail Noble Sanderson, lives in the town of Mount Vernon, with her family. In fact, Sanderson was the one who told Noble of the job opening at North.

The more Noble learned about North in researching the school, the stronger her interest became. "I found it was an outstanding institution that is known internationally," she said, pointing out the school's outstanding international business program as an example. She recently traveled to Japan to deliver a speech to North's sister college in Tokyo (Vantan International College). "Our electronics and high-tech programs are some of the best around," she added.

The school also has a brand new athletic center, called the Wellness Center, with two other buildings currently under construction: a childcare facility scheduled to open this fall, and a state-of-the-art technology center scheduled to open shortly thereafter.

This fall will also mark the debuts of North's men's and women's varsity basketball teams, which will be competing in league play against other community college teams from throughout the Pacific Northwest. "The students will be voting on what our mascot will be," said Noble.

Still, as good as North is, there is room for improvement - starting with revamping the school's image, says Noble.

When Noble informed her sister and brother-in-law that she had landed the North job, her brother-in-law exclaimed: "You mean that PRISON by I-5? You don't want to go there!" Noble promptly replied, "It's what's inside, not outside, that counts."

Nevertheless, Noble vows that sprucing up the school's drab concrete exterior is one of the things on her growing to-do list as North president.

Another agenda item is to step up the school's community outreach efforts. "As college administrator, I'm responsible to give to the community at-large," she said, adding that she looks forward to introducing herself to local neighborhood groups such as the Rotary, chambers of commerce and community councils.

"My goal is to have every citizen in our service area step foot on our campus at some point in the year," said Noble, noting that North offers a number of services that are available to the community, including its continuing education programs, music concert series, art gallery exhibits, plays and various cultural diversity events.

Noble says becoming a community college president is a goal she has had for many years - being able to do that in the beautiful Pacific Northwest makes her new job at North all the better. "I'm a college administrator at heart," she said. "I don't want to do anything else."

North Seattle Community College is located at 9600 College Way N, in the Licton Springs neighborhood.