Previous Story
NMC qualifications bill is withdrawn
|
Posted on May 26 2006
A House bill seeking higher educational qualifications for Northern Marianas College officials and legislative appropriation of NMC revenues has been withdrawn, according to the bill’s author.
Vice Speaker Justo S. Quitugua said yesterday that he had taken back House Bill 15-134 because of some technicalities. It is no longer an official bill of the House of Representatives.
The bill was prefiled on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 and has not been formally introduced during a House session.
The measure sought to require at least four of the seven members of the NMC Board of Regents to have a master’s degree level of education, with the three other regents possessing at least a bachelor’s degree.
It also proposed to set a doctorate as a minimum qualification for a president of the college.
Furthermore, H.B. 15-134 also sought to address the misspending of funds allegedly committed by the college. According to the bill, NMC should be required to deposit all revenues from tuition, fees, grant monies and all other charges for college services, in the general fund for appropriation by the Legislature.
“[D]ue to NMC’s continuous fiscal problems and continuing claims of having no money, which is causing NMC’s cancellations and the removal of programs and services, it is necessary for the sake of students’ educational well being and the accreditation of NMC to modify the law to ensure better NMC fiscal responsibility,” stated a portion of the bill. (Agnes E. Donato)
