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Quichocho is NMC Foundation’s new president
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Posted on Feb 14 2012
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
The board of directors of the Northern Marianas College Foundation has elected Ivan Quichocho as its new president, succeeding long-time leader Ben Babauta who quit the post on Dec. 31.
Quichocho’s selection was made at a recent organizational meeting where they also took up their biggest fundraiser for the year-the annual golf tournament in April.
Quichocho had been the group’s vice president for a couple of years. He started serving the foundation in 2000 as one of its directors.
He said yesterday that the foundation will soon hire a new executive director to replace Frankie Elliptico, who is now the college director for institutional effectiveness.
When asked about the possibility of hiring a consultant for the foundation, Quichocho said the organization needs to evaluate its finances first. He said no proposal has been put forward to date with regards to consultancy work or application.
“There is no proposal being put forward and we haven’t received any. Since the departure of former president Ben Babauta, we’re very focused on the annual tournament,” he told Saipan Tribune.
What the foundation is really looking forward to is to hire an executive director and not a consultant, he added.
“We have to evaluate our finances. Secondly, the whole effort of the foundation now is in the annual golf tournament, which drives our finances. From there, we can decide what is our overall strategy,” he said.
The NMC Board of Regents established the NMC Foundation in 1999 for the purpose of acquiring funds from alternative sources to support the advancement of the college’s educational programs and services. It is a non-profit organization composed of community volunteers, primarily from the business sector, who are dedicated to improving higher education in the CNMI by encouraging private and public support for NMC.
According to Quichocho, the foundation has an estimated asset value of close to $5 million. The bulk of that portfolio is in stocks and other investments.
The golf tournament, Quichocho said, brings significant revenue for the group, ranging from $60,000 to over $100,000 a year.
