NMC’s Hart appeals budget revision for NMC

Northern Marianas College president Sharon Y. Hart appealed to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial on Thursday to revise the budget submission for the college, saying the $4 million being proposed for the college next fiscal year would result in a potential loss of $6 million in federal assistance.

Hart said the $4 million budget plan for the college’s personnel and operation is short by $1.2 million of the $5.2 million that is mandated for NMC under the maintenance-of-effort requirement of the U.S. Department of Education. NMC gets $1.5 million every year for four years for its College Access Challenge Grant Program, which helps the college increase enrollment numbers and boost student success.

“I respectfully submit to you this appeal for a $5.2 million budget floor under appropriations to the college for fiscal year 2012,” stated Hart in her letter to the governor on Thursday.

Hart said she fully understands the need for NMC to share in the burden of a reduced budget for 2012 but NMC is the one institution that can help recharge and revitalize the economy. Any cuts to the college budget, she said, will diminish the multiplier effect on the economy.

According to Hart, NMC has responded to the decrease in legislative funding by leveraging federal resources to sustain operations.

“Funding made available through SFSF [state fiscal stabilization fund] and the College Access Challenge Grant Program, for example, have allowed the college to fill or maintain 23 positions of priority over the past year which are now at risk, due in part, to the level of appropriations to NMC recommended for 2012,” said Hart.

Without weighing in the increasing challenges of running the college at a smaller budget in 2012, Hart said the loss of $6 million in federal funding alone over the next four years to support scholarship awards, student learning, and student success will affect NMC’s ability to meet the standards of accreditation for a higher education institution in the region.

Accreditation may also be jeopardized by any further funding cuts because the commission standards require that “financial resources are sufficient to support student learning programs and services and to improve institutional effectiveness,” and that the “level of financial resources provides reasonable expectation of both short-term and long-term financial solvency.”

Hart disclosed that accreditation qualifies NMC and its students for $7.8 million each year in federal financial aid and federal program. Further cuts in the college’s budget would mean jeopardizing the ability of students and the college to avail of these funds.