UH NIMBA program launched at NMC

An MBA program offered via teleconferencing got off to an impressive start at the Northern Marianas College last week, with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior David Cohen himself attending the inaugural session.

Officials of the University of Hawaii at Manoa greeted the 12 CNMI students participating in the Neighbor Island Master of Business Administration program via live time video and congratulated them for being part of this historic tie-up between the college and the university.

Associate dean Dr. Hong-Mei Chen, representing College of Business Administration dean Dr. Vance Roley, and professor Dr. Elaine Bailey, department chair for Management and Industrial Relations, told the new UH MBA students from the CNMI that the university was extremely impressed with their credentials.

Of the local students participating, seven are from the public sector, four from the private sector, plus one full-time foreign student.

The director of the Pacific Business Center Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Dr. Failautusi Avegalio, better known as “Dr. Tusi”, was on Saipan to welcome the new UH students on behalf of the UH College of Business Administration and provide them with an orientation session and team building workshop.

Dr. Tusi also represented the university at the inaugural ceremonies for the Fitial administration.

While attending the Saipan Chamber of Commerce installation dinner, Dr. Tusi invited Cohen to attend the first NIMBA course at NMC so that he could witness the historic occasion of UH and NMC partnering to deliver higher education via new technology.

The Office of Insular Affairs provided the original funding for renovation and design of the distance education facility under then President Agnes McPhetres, whose vision of building capacity through regional collaboration via technology made this historic event possible.

During the class, Cohen took a few minutes to congratulate the students at all five sites in their participation. “Programs like this are critical to building local capacity and providing the foundation and tools for economic development in our island communities,” he said.

NMC president Antonio V. Deleon Guerrero expressed his appreciation to the University of Hawaii for including the CNMI in their Executive Neighbor Island MBA program and pledged to build upon this relationship by coordinating with UH Manoa to soon offer their Bachelor of Business Administration program in the CNMI, hopefully by Fall 2006.

NMC president emeritus McPhetres was recently hired by the University of Hawaii to represent them in the Western Pacific. McPhetres will work closely with the NMC Coordinator, Eric Plinske in facilitating and coordinating UH/NMC advising, admissions, registration and related needs for CNMI students and general public interested in participating in the UH NIMBA and future UH BBA programs.

Frank Eliptico, an NMC graduate and a current UH MBA graduate student attending the program in Hawaii, was also on Saipan to attend the initial NIMBA class. Eliptico was recently hired by UH to serve as the Oahu-based NIMBA coordinator for all five program sites.

The UH NIMBA program is unique because it is being offered through live video teleconferencing, which utilizes a Polycom Internet-based audio and video transmission system. There are actually five sites that have participating students, including the main lecture site, UH Manoa in Honolulu, and the Neighbor Island sites of Maui, Kauai, Kona (Big Island of Hawaii) and Saipan.

The students at each site are able to interact with the professor and any of the students at an alternate site in real time. The live lecture at UH Manoa is on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6pm to 8:45pm (Hawaii Standard Time), which translates to Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 2pm to 4:45pm (Saipan Standard Time).

The UH NIMBA program is a 2 _ year program where the students begin their coursework in the Spring 2006 semester, continue through the summer, fall and spring semesters each year until they graduate with their UH-Manoa MBA in the Summer of 2008.

The initial course that the students are taking (BUS 610) is analytical and involves six credits including three parts: Accounting, Statistics and Economics. Other courses that the students will take include Organization and External Environments of Asia-Pacific Business (BUS 613), Managerial Accounting (BUS 616), Managerial Finance (BUS 617), Marketing Management (BUS 618), Information Technology for Management (BUS 619), Business Policy and Strategy (BUS 660), Field Studies in an Enterprise (BUS 696B) and six elective courses yet to be determined.

The 48-credit hour UH NIMBA program is geared toward individuals who have shown leadership or management potential. The goal of the program is to provide participants with a competitive edge in analytical, human resource and decision-making skills for a managerial position within today’s dynamic global economy.

The UH Graduate Distance Programs for the Neighbor Islands, including Saipan, are the only business programs in the State of Hawaii and the Western Pacific that are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business—the premier national accrediting agency for schools of business and accounting. This prestigious accreditation assures that participants receive a quality, nationally recognized degree.

The UH College of Business was recently listed among the top 25 graduate schools in the nation for international business by U. S. News & World Report.

(Photo Caption: From left to right, NMC president Tony Guerrero; UH NIMBA coordinator Frank Eliptico; former NMC president and UH Western Pacific Representative Agnes McPhetres; director of the UH Pacific Business Center Program, Dr. Failautusi Avegalio; Laila Boyer; Nancy Gottfried; Raaj Kurapati; NMC acting dean of Community Programs and Services, Eric Plinske; Francine Sablan; Lulu Wang; Ty Izuka; Jesse Palacios; and Eric Lister.)