BLINN PRESIDENT HAROLD NOLTE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Dr. Harold Nolte, Blinn College district president, announced his retirement today effective January 31, 2015.
“I am very proud of what has been accomplished at Blinn and treasure my time here; however, after 35 years in Texas higher education there are opportunities that make this the best time for me to retire,” said Dr. Nolte. “With preparation for our reaffirmation complete, I am confident the College is poised for great success in the future.”
Dr. Nolte began his career at Blinn College in November 2011. Two of his goals at that time were to increase distance education course offerings and expand workforce education. Since his arrival, distance education enrollment has nearly doubled and with the restructuring of the workforce education department, Blinn has experienced an increase in workforce contact hours reported to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Upon his arrival at Blinn, there were issues with campus safety and decorum. With students being his primary focus, he immediately addressed these issues by implementing a plan to bring in a judicial officer that resulted in a safer and cleaner environment.
“It is a difficult decision to retire because there are many things left to accomplish at Blinn; however, Blinn is fortunate to have many capable and competent administrators to lead the College in the future.”
Dr. Nolte’s most recent accomplishment is a Memorandum of Understanding with Baylor University that will result in guaranteed admission and transfer scholarships to Baylor for Blinn students. This partnership is in addition to the Texas A&M Blinn TEAM program. This type of partnership can be duplicated with other universities to provide students transfer options.
“Dr. Nolte has been a great asset to Blinn College and we appreciate all he has done for the district,” said Douglas Borchardt, Blinn College Board of Trustees President. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Dr. Nolte and his family have enjoyed their time at Blinn College and look forward to continuing their commitment to the community and to higher education. He will be working with the district and the Board of Trustees with the transition to a new District President. Story courtesy of Blinn College.
I wish Dr. Nolte and his family all the best.
I wish the Blinn Board of Trustees all the best in searching for a new president. It is interesting that all of the current Vice Presidents and Brazos Valley President were essentially hired by Nolte. So promotion might be a mistake. I would suggest that the new District President be 1. Someone who has worked at Blinn as a faculty member and has proven to have a positive view on the future of Blinn College; 2. Someone who is in her/his (yes, “her”) mid-career with management experience, so that the new president might fill this post for many, many years; 3. Maybe someone who is from Brenham, grew up in Brenham schools, devoted her or his time to charitable opportunities or even governmental duties that benefited Brenham; 4. Someone who is willing to be honest, ethical, and moral; 5. Someone who is willing to straighten out the mess created by the re-organization. 6. Someone who wants to build Blinn College in Bryan AND Brenham, Schulenberg, and Sealy. 7. And most of all, someone who loves Blinn College, whether it is a Brenham, Bryan, Schulenberg, or Sealy campus.
Good luck, Trustees! Who knows, maybe the new president is right here in Brenham!