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Former chairman of Southwestern Illinois College becomes its new president

The Board of Trustees of Southwestern Illinois College has appointed Nick Mance as its new college president.

mance nick“I am honored and humbled to be chosen as the next president of Southwestern Illinois College,” Mance said. “I look forward to working with the outstanding faculty, staff, students and other community stakeholders to continue building SWIC’s excellent academic programs and services.”

Mance replaces Georgia Costello, who retired effective June 30. The appointment was made official on Tuesday.

Mance has 25 years of service in community college leadership as a SWIC trustee from 1993-2018, including two decades as chairman of the SWIC board of trustees, before recently resigning in order to participate in the College President selection process as a candidate. He was one of the creators of the Academic Quality Improvement Program at SWIC in 2001, which became a pilot for the Higher Learning Commission’s Vital Focus program in 2002.

A Certified Public Accountant, Mance’s professional career spans over 30 years of senior business management and leadership positions, including accounting and auditing at a major international SEC corporation, partnership at a public accounting firm, and serving as Chief Financial Officer of a private manufacturer and a large public elementary and secondary school district.

The SWIC Board of Trustees selected Mr. Mance as College President after publicly announcing/advertising the vacancy in the position, accepting applications and conducting interviews of all candidates.

On behalf of the SWIC Board of Trustees, its Vice-Chairman Richard Roehrkasse stated: “SWIC, like many Illinois community colleges, faces ongoing challenges concerning financial stability and enrollment decline. The Board determined that these exceptional circumstances warrant a nontraditional approach. Mr. Mance’s financial experience and educational insight make him uniquely qualified to lead SWIC’s daily operations during these trying times. His vision and focus for SWIC are consistent with our longtime strategic goal of increasing student enrollment and retention by developing and offering innovative programs and services for our community. Mr. Mance remains committed to SWIC and plans to work closely with faculty and staff in the coming years to improve educational opportunities for our students.”

Mance concluded: “Working collaboratively, we will set a strategic course, improve communication, align available resources with our academic priorities and focus on our primary purpose of providing quality education.”

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