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SHEFA: Most beneficiaries fail to follow compliance rules
Majority of the beneficiaries of the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance fail to follow compliance rules.
Scholarship administrator Rose Pangelinan told lawmakers Thursday that currently, as high as 60 percent of beneficiaries failed to respond back to SHEFA.
A beneficiary is required to inform SHEFA of his or her status as part of a “compliance” clause in the beneficiary’s contract.
Those who did not complete their education must also return the funds to SHEFA.
But according to Pangelinan, SHEFA is saddled with issues regarding the ways to get in touch with SHEFA “resources” or those who benefit from the program.
She said currently, the SHEFA has issued 230 notices for compliance but only 40 responded. “Some graduates do not report,” she said.
Tracking down these “resources” is the big challenge that SHEFA is facing, the administrator said.
She said she is in the process of hiring a dedicated staff to specifically address this concern.
Sen. Sixto Igisomar (R-Saipan), in the meeting with SHEFA officials, said he wanted to know of the real role of SHEFA if “it is just issuing checks.”
Pangelinan said it has been three years that SHEFA has been struggling with the concern, and its lack of dedicated resources to address this concern is the main challenge.
When asked of more details, Pangelinan said about 50 percent of SHEFA beneficiaries are in the CNMI. The rest are elsewhere, either in the mainland or in other universities abroad.
Pangelinan said once the hiring of dedicated personnel is completed, the SHEFA will hopefully be able to address this major concern.
