In 1985, Dr. William Merwin became the college's sixth president. Merwin came to Northern from the University of North Florida where he was Vice President for Academic Affairs. Merwin expanded the recognition of NMC as offering "middle technology" courses that include academic as well as technical training to meet the changing demands of the job market. He yielded to Regents' demands for operational cuts within the college and received commendations for doing so. He left NMC in early 1989 for the presidency at the State University of New York at Potsdam.