VP of Administrative Services set to retire in June
Jurgens calls it quits after serving NIC for 25 years
Mike McCall
Issue date: 2/1/10 Section: News
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"I trust Rolly implicitly," said Pres. Priscilla Bell. "He is one of my key advisers, and that is going to be a big loss to me."
Jurgens came to NIC in 1984 from Madison, S.D., where his financial skills secured him a few jobs at different educational institutions. He worked at two four-year colleges and as budget officer for the state Board of Education in Pierre, S.D.
"I worked in South Dakota in higher education for 15 years," Jurgens said.
While employed at NIC, Jurgens has witnessed many accomplishments of which he's very proud, although he is cautious as to not attribute any one success to himself.
"I can't say I have any great accomplishment myself," Jurgens said. "It doesn't matter your position here; you're really just a cog in a bigger wheel. Most of what we do here is not just the responsibility of one person."
Some of the most rewarding achievements Jurgens has been a part of include the purchase of the mill site to house the future Education Corridor.
"President Barry Schuler and I talked with the then owner of it 25 years ago about acquiring that mill site," Jurgens said.
Another achievement he takes pride in is the acquisition of the Rathdrum Prairie property for construction of a future professional/technical campus which he and then NIC Pres. Michael Burke worked on 12 years ago.
"I played a little part in that," Jurgens said.
Perhaps the accomplishment that Jurgens played the largest part in is the annual construction of the NIC Raffle House. Will Carlson, carpentry instructor at the time, spoke to Jurgens one day of being overwhelmed with the many processes of constructing the house such as placing bids, designing the interior and exterior, landscaping, selecting color schemes and carpet, among several others.
Jurgens suggested he do this all through the NIC Foundation.
"They have bankers, realtors, developers, architects, lawyers, engineers, looking for projects all the time," Jurgens said.
He suggested that Carlson have them do all the planning so the carpentry students are only responsible with the construction of the home.
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