WASC most concerned about La Fiesta, NMC leadership turnover

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges is most concerned about the Northern Marianas College’ financial standing in relation to its acquisition of La Fiesta complex.

In an interview Wednesday, NMC Board of Regents chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds, who just arrived from a meeting with WASC officials last week, said most of the questions asked were about La Fiesta.

“Their main concern is NMC’s finances. They query on our ability to operate two campuses,” she said.

At the same time, WASC has also expressed concern over the seeming leadership instability at the college as reflected in the frequent turnover of college presidents. “They asked about the turnover. It’s also a concern,” she said.

As a result, King-Hinds said the college will soon announce a vacancy for the president. She said a job vacancy announcement will be out for fall semester. The college came out with an ad for a president on the Friday edition of the Saipan Tribune.

The board earlier thought of keeping an interim president up to the end of the year.

Following the resignation of then NMC president Kenneth Wright in February this year, the board appointed Tony Deleon Guerrero as interim president.

Wright took over the presidency in Aug. 2002. Prior to his entry, two other presidents had served in an acting capacity: Joaquin Sablan and Barbara Moir. These turnovers happened after the college’s founding president, Agnes McPhetres, left the office over four years ago.

King-Hinds said that, while she is optimistic about NMC’s overall standing now, she cannot tell whether the accrediting commission would soon lift the college’s status warning.

“They won’t tell you that. There’s no feedback. So there’s no assurance that the warning would be removed soon,” said the board chair.

The college was placed on warning status in January this year due to its failure to submit annual audit reports on time in the past few years.

King-Hinds said that Barbara Beno, WASC’s executive director for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, was “personally impressed with the progress” at NMC.

King-Hinds and Deleon Guerrero flew to California the other week to meet with WASC commissioners on NMC’s compliance with accreditation standards.

“One thing that I realized is that WASC is not out to get you. They are actually willing to help you. They want to work with you,” the board chair said.

During the meeting, the two college officials reported that NMC received over $600,000 in new funding from the CNMI Legislature and the Governor’s Office.

As authorized by the Legislature, the Governor’s Office had reprogrammed $438,251 to cover the payroll needs of NMC personnel up to September this year.

At the same time, Gov. Juan N. Babauta approved the release of $228,383 to fund NMC’s operations of its newly acquired facility, the La Fiesta complex in San Roque.

The NMC earlier projected to incur a budget shortfall of at least $250,000 by end of the fiscal year.

The board reported to WASC its decision to put on hold its Pacific Gateway program and to temporarily shut down its operation of La Fiesta.