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OIA awards NMC $375,000
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Posted on Apr 11 2008
Lt. Gov. Tim Villagomez has inked his signature on a $375,000 grant award approved by the Office of Insular Affairs for the Northern Marianas College to help it come into full compliance for its October 2008 report to the Western Association of Schools & Colleges.
“This is a little of the big pot that we need, but this serves as an assurance that we will, in fact, get all of the work done so that, by our October report, we will have proof that we will be able to get our accreditation reaffirmed,” said NMC president Carmen Fernandez.
NMC needs up to $3 million as soon as possible to address the concerns raised by WASC.
Among the WASC concerns are “inadequate and unstable administrative leadership, inadequate faculty and staff, cuts in public funding, inadequate planning and resource allocation in conformity with NMC’s mission, serious deficiencies in the quality of education and services offered to students at off-campus sites as well as continuing failure to institutionalize program review, systematically assess student learning, or develop programs in relation to the needs of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands labor market.”
WASC also noted the “lack of institutional autonomy vis a vis the Commonwealth government, an inexperienced and thus far untrained board of (regents), financial instability, drops in enrollment and completion rates.”
Fernandez told the Saipan Tribune that the college “sincerely appreciates the Office of Insular Affairs’ quick response to our request, which demonstrates their strong support for the CNMI’s only public higher education institution.”
NMC was placed on show-cause in January 2008.
In January 2009, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges will decide whether or not to reaffirm the college’s accreditation based on the college’s October 2008 report.
Loss of accreditation may result in NMC’s shutdown.
