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NMC eyes return to As Terlaje campus in early 2019
The Northern Marianas College is looking at going back to holding classes at its As Terlaje campus in early 2019 once temporary structures are erected in the campus.
NMC interim president Frankie Eliptico told Saipan Tribune that the college aims to move back to the As Terlaje campus on Saipan on Feb. 11, 2019. That would also mark the continuation of NMC’s morning classes.
Right now, NMC is temporarily holding classes at the Saipan Southern High School campus.
Eliptico noted that, once classes resume at the new temporary structures in the As Terlaje campus, NMC would be in full operation onwards.
Right now, NMC classes are on holiday break. NMC would resume classes at the SSHS campus every weekday afternoon on Jan. 7, 2019. Right now, only afternoon, evening, and Saturday classes are being held at SSHS.
Twenty-four temporary classrooms are expected to be set up at the As Terlaje campus by late January 2019. Each structure can reportedly accommodate 30 students, complete with air conditioning and insulation.
“We are also repairing some existing classrooms on campus so that we can have all of our classrooms here at NMC,” Eliptico told Saipan Tribune over the weekend.
The tents will be from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are also on-site, installing walkways, fencing, and lights, among others.
“It’s not just the temporary classroom structures they are putting up. They are putting in almost a whole infrastructure to make sure that the classrooms are safe and to make sure…the temporary structures work,” he said.
In the meantime, Eliptico said the college is looking at where to get funding in order to build new structures and minimize the use of temporary structures.
“We want to make sure our permanent structures are also moving full speed in terms of architectural plans as well as pursuing funding opportunities,” he said, adding that he has already pitched this idea to the incoming 21st Legislature. They reportedly gave him their verbal approval. He said a formal proposal would be ready “in the next few weeks.”
