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NMC told: Learn from your accreditation experience
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Posted on Feb 04 2005
Northern Marianas College should learn from experience and try not to repeat the problems that put its accreditation at risk, the chairman of the House Committee on Education said yesterday.
“I’m very happy that NMC’s accreditation has been lifted off warning status. I just hope that the college learned a big lesson and make sure that its accreditation will not be in peril again,” Rep. Justo Quitugua said.
He also expressed hope that the college will be placed back on advance status with the Pell Grant, a federal scholarship program benefiting about half of NMC’s student population. The college is currently under reimbursement status.
Quitugua maintained that more than anyone at the college, the students suffer from these institutional problems.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges lifted the warning after a meeting last Jan. 12-14.
The ACCJC placed NMC’s accreditation on warning status in January 2004, due to the college’s failure to correct finance-related problems and inability to comply with certain accreditation standards.
The ACCJC retained the warning in June, citing concerns over NMC’s lack of resources to maintain two campuses: its existing campus in As Terlaje and the former La Fiesta shopping complex.
To address the agency’s concern, the NMC Board of Regents entered into an agreement with Gov. Juan N. Babauta to transfer the college’s responsibility over La Fiesta to the CNMI Executive Branch. (Agnes E. Donato)
