NMTI hires McPhetres as CEO

The Northern Marianas Trades Institute now has a chief executive officer tasked to oversee the institution’s management and operation following the approval yesterday of the hiring of Agnes McPhetres for the post.

McPhetres’ one-year renewable contract as CEO of the institution was ratified during yesterday’s NMTI board of directors meeting.

The board expressed confidence in McPhetres’ leadership, citing her extensive knowledge, vast experience, and credentials and her status as president emeritus of the Northern Marianas College

Members of the Northern Marianas Technical Institute board of directors gather for a group photo with NMTI’s newly hired CEO Agnes McPhetres after yesterday’s board meeting in Lower Base. (Moneth G. Deposa)

According to NMTI board chair John Oliver Gonzales, getting McPhetres on board is a “great deal” for the institute. He refused to disclose the salary offered to McPhetres but described it as a reasonable “stipend” compared to the knowledge and expertise she could bring to the school.

“We’re so delighted to have her onboard,” Gonzales told Saipan Tribune.

McPhetres expressed her full desire to help NMTI and promised to move it into a “more organized system” by instituting vital transformations. She also vowed full transparency and accountability to the board.

Kicking things off on an upbeat note, McPhetres disclosed plans to make NMTI a charter school, which will make it eligible to receive funding both from local and federal sources. A charter school is a public school but is run as a private institution.

In order to do this, the Legislature needs to pass a bill that will designate the institute as a charter school. The NMTI board expressed confidence yesterday that this has a very good chance of being acted upon.

McPhetres said that moving to a public charter institute will legitimize the funding the NMTI gets from the Legislature. It will be recalled that when the institute was given $400,000 in CW fees last fiscal year, there were contentions that public funds are being given to a “private school.”

The charter school idea will also enable the NMTI to receive federal funds. It can also facilitate communications with the U.S. Department of Education for further opportunities.

Additionally, NMTI—as a charter public school—will fill the “missing gap” in the CNMI’s educational system.

“The CNMI has established a school system (PSS) and a college (NMC) but both are not delivering fully or addressing the labor needs of the CNMI. With the creation of the institute, the CNMI completes the cycle of the education needs for its citizens,” McPhetres said.

A seamless articulation of programs will reduce the dropout rates in the CNMI. NMTI can become a receiving institution for students who are not college bound; can provide for those students with the necessary skills that are needed in the job market; and will assist students to complete their high school through alternative approaches to learning.

Next up for McPhetres is the development of a strategic plan for NMTI. “We need to have a strategic plan because we cannot move to a direction without it.”

McPhetres also endorsed to the board the adoption of an “interim personnel policy” pending the establishment of a final policy.

Board chair Oliver Gonzales also disclosed yesterday that NMTI’s name has been modified to become the “Northern Marianas Technical Institute” to reflect its broader scope.

Besides Gonzales, other members of the board are vice chair Joseph Torres, secretary/treasurer Velma Palacios, directors Rip Stephanson, and Herman Cabrera.