More than 1.4K full-time students register with NMC
Northern Marianas College could end up with its highest enrollment number ever, with 1,430 full-time students already enrolled so far for the upcoming fall semester, according to Frank Eliptico, the college’s director for external relations.
Citing data provided by NMC dean of Student Services Leo Pangelinan, Eliptico said the 1,430 count is just a preliminary number since registration for new students is still ongoing this week and next week.
A full-time student is calculated by taking the total number of credits a student has registered for and dividing that figure by 12, the minimum number of credits needed to be a full time student.
Compared to the same semester last year, the enrollment of 1,430 FTE students represents an increase of 13 percent, Eliptico said.
“In fact, this 1,430 FTE enrollment is the highest ever in the college’s history,” he added.
NMC president Dr. Sharon Hart said the growing enrollment numbers show that more and more students are looking to the Northern Marianas College for their education and training needs.
“They also reflect the positive impression our community has for our great institution. The college continues to play a central role in educating and training thousands of individuals each year, and this has been accomplished through our academic programs and other community programs that focus on training and development,” Hart said.
While it is important that NMC looks at the number of students served under their credit programs, Hart said it is equally important to look at the numbers served in their extension and non-credit programs like NMC CREES, the NMC Community Development Institute, and the Adult Basic Education Program.
“The college continues to serve thousands of students, farmers, and other community members in these programs” she said.
Because of the ongoing recovery efforts post-Typhoon Soudelor, the dates for the fall 2015 semester have been rearranged. The first day of classes is now on Sept. 28, 2015. All other relevant dates (including orientation, placement tests, etc.) for the semester are indicated on the NMC website.
As for teachers, the college currently has 31 full-time faculty members, according to Barbara Merfalen, NMC dean of Academic Programs and Services.
“Furthermore, there are many adjunct instructors that also teach classes at NMC. Our instructors teach more than 230 course sections,” Merfalen said.
Rebuilding
Hart said that Typhoon Soudelor devastated NMC campus facilities.
“All of our buildings were affected; some have been rendered unusable. For example, the offices used by NMC-CREES were completely destroyed. The college is currently looking for space to temporarily house CREES employees off campus. Buildings that house other student services, including the student center, the student cafeteria, and the gym, will require major renovations and repair that may take several months to complete,” Hart said.
“Nonetheless, I am proud of the progress of recovery efforts led by our employees. Many of our team members have been working extremely hard to prepare our campus for the opening of the fall semester on Sept. 28,” she added.
