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Kilili: $125K agricultural grant for NMC
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Ind-MP) announced yesterday that Northern Marianas College received a federal grant of $124,827 to develop distance learning courses in food and agriculture science.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Distance Learning Grant will allow NMC to expand its online offerings to include courses in food and agricultural science. In the fall of 2018, NMC will begin offering these types of courses for the first time in its history.
“NMC continues to expand its reach to provide quality education to students in the Northern Marianas,” said Sablan. “By expanding online courses to food and agricultural sciences, NMC will be able to provide wider educational opportunities to its students and may spark interest in further career-related study in this area.”
According to NMC president Dr. Carmen Fernandez, “Because of the flexibility that online courses offer to students pursuing their college degree, Northern Marianas College has been working to grow the number of courses that can be accessed from home or from any other place with internet connectivity.
“We are extremely grateful that the NIFA grant will allow the College to expand its online offerings to include food and agricultural science courses so that career and training opportunities in these areas can also grow,” Fernandez said.
The online courses will be available to students on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The two-year grant provides funding for course development, recruitment, and hiring of instructors, staff training, and procurement of necessary supplies, including laboratory kits for every student who registers and enrolls in an online food and agricultural science course.
The NMC grant is one of a series made to the Insular Areas to strengthen agricultural education. NIFA executive director Sonny Ramaswamy said that, “…these programs will help insular areas institutions meet their unique needs. NIFA Investments are helping to increase the number and diversity of students who will pursue food and agricultural science careers.”
“I salute NMC on securing additional federal funding to further their educational mission and will diversify their course offerings to students,” Sablan said. (PR)
