The Northern Marianas Technical Institute board of trustees is scheduled to have its first board meeting today, March 8, 2021, at 10am at the NMTI campus in Lower Base.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The board hopes this meeting will give it the momentum in officially moving forward as a technical institute. As the trustees continue to work in completing the remaining items from the Transition Committee, board chair Mario Valentino made it very clear to the current \u201cTrades Institute\u201d employees and staff that they remain committed to them and the progression of NMTI for the community.<\/p>\n
Valentino, along with trustees Catherine Attao and Rick Kautz, met with some of the NMTI staff and instructors on Friday to address the false information they received on\u00a0Thursday that the NMTI campus will be closed down. The board of trustees clarified that NMTI is not closing down and that the goal for everyone involved is to move forward as a public technical institute.<\/p>\n
Valentino provided an overview of the transition process for employees and staff on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not here to point fingers. What\u2019s done is done. We need to move forward. This is a time where we need everybody\u2019s support. We understand that this time is very sensitive to the current \u201cTrades\u201d employees and the students. Let\u2019s be part of the solution. We need everybody. This is not about you against me. We are all NMTI. We are here for the students, and you are our commitment. Now that we are a government entity, there are more legal and procedural steps to it. We just can\u2019t sign things and push things around. There is a process. We don\u2019t have to like it or agree with it. We just have to get through it and comply,\u201d Valentino told employees.<\/p>\n
As the transition continues, the board of trustees was notified that the land where the current \u201cTrades\u201d campus is located has now been officially turned over to the \u201cTechnical Institute\u201d and the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trustees are grateful [to Public Lands Secretary] Marianne Teregeyo\u00a0and her team at the Department of Public Lands.\u00a0This is one\u00a0more item from the\u00a0\u2018unfinished tasks\u2019 of the Transition Committee. We also met with Secretary of Labor Vicky Benavente and had a very positive meeting in establishing a timeline with CW funds. We would like to thank them for their support in helping the Technical Institute with these critical elements to help momentum moving forward,\u201d Valentino said.<\/p>\n
The Technical Institute board noted that support from the entire community is important in moving NMTI in the right direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need all the support we can get because this Technical Institute is for our students and our community. We definitely look forward to further partnerships with all stakeholders as we strive to give our islands a world-class technical institute with successful students who will bring skills needed for our economy to thrive. Our goal is to be transparent with all our processes, while upholding a high standard of integrity and professionalism in all we do. We are here for the community and our students need to always be in the center of our priority. We look forward to having our next meeting at the Northern Marianas Technical Institute\u00a0Campus and continue the positive\u00a0momentum,\u201d said Valentino. (PR)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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