A plan for the future of student housing at Northwest College has been tabled so the board of trustees can get more community input.

The NWC Board of Trustees recently decided to take up the master housing plan at its May meeting.

Even if the plan would have been accepted at the board’s March 9 meeting, none of the projects proposed in the document — which include demolishing one dorm, renovating other facilities and selling off one set of apartments — would have immediately moved forward.

Board President Dustin Spomer explained the plan is meant to be a broad guideline to focus executive actions in the future, which could be adjusted as needed based on enrollment outcomes and other factors.

“It’s a plan, purely a plan,” Spomer said. “It has no execution aspect to it.”

One of the more controversial proposals in the document — which was initially presented to the board in February — calls for selling Trapper West. The sale is intended to adjust housing options to better fit projections of student need in the future.

However, “this plan, if we approve it, does not sell Trapper West,” noted Trustee Luke Anderson.

Stefani Hicswa, NWC president, likened the document to the school’s facility master plan, which was approved six years ago. That plan, among other things, identified the student center and visual and performing arts building as priorities for replacement or improvements. Though the board approved the plan, Hicswa explained, that decision didn’t grant approval to tear down DeWitt Student Center, and it didn’t approve funding for the conceptual drawings. Parts of the plan called for improvements to Johnson Fitness Center and the Moyer Building, which have already been completed; they went through a separate process of consideration before the board.

So, Hicswa said, if the master housing plan is approved, the next step might be gathering information on the sale of Trapper West — such as determining how much revenue would be raised. The board might decide to hold town hall meetings about it before any sale is approved, she said.

Prior to the discussion of the housing plan, two area residents raised objections during the public comment portion of the meeting, mainly over the proposed divestment of Trapper West.

“It’s a great asset I’d hate to see go away from the college,” said Karl Bear, who formerly worked in NWC’s admissions office.

The master plan projects 0% to 2% growth and contains options to increase housing stock should growth exceed those estimations. Bear disputed these estimations based on colleges in Montana and Sheridan, which have seen growth in the past few years.

“They are growing all around us,” he said.

Bear encouraged the board to consult with current and former faculty members, as well as other community members and continue pursuing recruitment efforts.

While the plan in its current form was introduced in February, the college has been working on developing a plan for student housing, ever since Cody Hall was closed.

However, trustee John Housel said that much of the discussion took place in committees, which the public did not attend. Housel moved to table the master plan in order to hold public forums where the plan’s intent could be explained and the college could get more input from the community.

“I think one of the reasons there’s so much concern over this is because there is a perception among several and among many that this is actually not a kind of a guideline or a set of options,” he said.

The motion to table the plan passed, with Anderson voting against it.

Anderson argued that selling Trapper West and taking other action on the housing plan would require a lot of further analysis and consideration. To move toward answering those questions and gathering the information the board needs to take action, he said a plan has to be in place.

The college planned to hold a public forum between now and the May meeting to present the plan to the public and gather comments from the community, but the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down public meetings. As a result, the board will consider at its April 6 meeting a proposal to postpone the town hall indefinitely.