Retiring NIACC President Sees Growing Demand for Skills, Not 4-Year Degrees

After leading North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City for over a decade, President Steve Schulz retired on Friday (06.28).

Schulz says he’s enjoyed his long career in education.

He predicts enrollment at community colleges will grow in the years ahead. 

Still, Schulz worries about the future for students in rural areas of the state.

Schulz, a native of Geneva in Franklin County, leaves a lasting legacy at the NIACC Center in Charles City with the completion earlier this year of the Career Academy, which will begin offering area high school students career technical education courses in healthcare, construction, IT and advanced manufacturing when the new school year starts in August.

The Academy is a partnership with Charles City, Clarksville, North Butler. Nashua-Plainfield, Osage, Riceville, and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock school districts. 

Joel Pedersen replaces Schulz as NIACC president effective Monday (07.01). Pedersen previously served as the Chief Administrator of Central Rivers Area Education Agency and as Superintendent of Cardinal Community School District in Eldon, Iowa, where he was named the 2020 Iowa Superintendent of the Year.