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NMC hoping to enroll more students as school starts
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Posted on Aug 25 2008
Northern Marianas College is still hoping to reach their goal of enrolling close to 1,000 students even as the school year began yesterday.
As of yesterday, approximately 800 students had enrolled.
Mark Mendiola, spokesman for NMC, said registration would continue through Friday. This is currently the students’ add and drop period.
“We’re doing our best to get the students in the door,” he said.
NMC has been on probation since February 2007 and was put on show-cause in February this year because, according to Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, the school did not address previous concerns.
“We braced ourselves for this type of situation, and we’re ready,” Mendiola said.
He said the administration has worked hard improve training and work on the problems that were highlighted.
“All these pieces of the puzzle are coming together,” he said.
The College is trying to keep the students and community members up to date on the accreditation status, he said.
Ivan Mereb, president of the Associated Students of NMC, said the accreditation is just a bump in the road.
“We’re not alone in this,” he said. “Lots of schools were given warnings. The College is moving forward.”
Jerome Chinen, a business student, said he was initially concerned about the accreditation status but his concerns have subsided.
“There’s nothing we can really do but go to school,” he added.
The current power situation is also affecting the College. Yesterday morning the power was out at the College as students began their first day of classes.
Although there are generators in some areas of the school, most classrooms do not have one, Mendiola said.
“By September we’re hoping the blackouts will be a thing of the past,” he added referring to the Aggreko generators, which are expected to be up and running by mid-September.
