By CLAYTON PARK

When North Seattle Community College students returned to campus on Sept. 25 to start the new school year, they were greeted by a new interim president, Dr. James Ford.

The former president of Skagit Valley Community College came out of a five-year retirement to guide NSCC in its search for a new "permanent president," according to a statement issued by the school.

Of course, when it comes to NSCC presidents, "permanent" seems to have become something of an overrated term.

The departure of NSCC president Dr. Kathleen Noble comes just 18 months after she took the "permanent" post, exuberantly declaring that "I'm going to be here for a LONG time" in an interview with the Jet City Maven published in July 1999.

Ford becomes NSCC's fifth president in four years: Dr. Constance Rice (wife of former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice) left in June 1997. Her successor, Dr. Peter Ku, left in June 1998 to become chancellor of the Seattle Community College District. Dr. Raymond Needham served as interim president until Noble's hiring in March 1999.

Noble left NSCC to take a position as vice chancellor of corporate training at the Seattle Community Colleges District office. In her new position, she will be responsible for overseeing corporate training programs made available to Seattle area businesses who wish to utilize community college facilities and instruction for their employees.

NSCC spokeswoman Jeanne Rickey said Noble's appointment was made by district chancellor Ku and was not something that Noble had applied for.

Noble made a positive impression on community members during her brief stint as NSCC president. She arrived at NSCC with impressive credentials. The Akron, Ohio, native was an award-winning college president from Aiken Technical College in South Carolina, where she worked from 1994-97. She had also authored textbooks on business mathematics. Her career as an educator spans more than 20 years, starting out as an instructor before becoming an administrator. Prior to coming to NSCC, she was president of Aiken Technical College in South Carolina, from 1994-97. She beat out of field of 80 candidates from across the country to be named NSCC's 8th president.

NSCC is now conducting a national search for candidates to become the school's 10th president.

Hopefully, "permanent" will last a little longer next time.

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In other NSCC-related news, the school announced that it has become "the first community college in the Northwest to support a single minority population through the Middle College concept" with the opening of the Native American Heritage Middle College on Sept. 29. Sixty-five Native American students have enrolled in regular high school classes (grades 9-12) taught by Seattle Public School teachers on location at the college.

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NSCC also announced that it is continuing its efforts to "expand its reputation as a leader in technology in Washington's higher education circles." The school has increased the bandwidth for internal computing and has almost unlimited external bandwidth by way of connectivity to fiber optic cable networks belonging to the University of Washington, city and county. The school reported that its students now have access to over 2,100 computers and 43 computer labs or classrooms with computers. Eight new classrooms have opened this fall with computers located around the perimeter of the classroom, enabling individual students to access the Internet or to work in teams to research a project.

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NSCC students are also having to compete for parking spaces on campus, according to a press release issued by the school. The neighborhood around the college implemented a Residential Parking Zone system just before students left last spring, which only lets residents with special City-issued parking permits to park along the streets within designated RPZ areas, the press release explained. "Faculty and administration have worked hard to spread the class schedule throughout the day and the week to ease parking problems," the press release stated. North Seattle Community College is located at 9600 College Way N. in the Licton Springs neighborhood.