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NMTI Sept. opening still tentative
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Posted on Aug 21 2020
The planned reopening of the Northern Marianas Technical Institute in September remains tentative as it still has no funding, and has only been allotted a token $1 from the general fund, which means that they will be able to get funding only when it’s available.
At the same time, Agnes McPhetres, NMTI chief executive officer, said at the budget hearing of the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs that, despite an earlier recommendation by the NMTI board of trustees not to furlough four people at NMTI, everybody still got furloughed since there were no funds coming in. Still, McPhetres said, NMTI’s staff have still been coming in to volunteer and prepare for the upcoming semester—should there be one.
NMTI had hoped to obtain funds from a portion of the fees that CNMI employers pay when they petition a foreign worker—called CW funds—but McPhetres said she found out a month ago that Gov. Ralph DLG Torres appointed Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente to be the expenditure authority over that funding, which McPhetres said she was not “made aware of that actio” and failed to bring it up with Benavente.
“I will meet with Vicky again [and see] if she could give us $200,000. …We’re preparing everything, people are volunteering, coming to work, just to get things moving. …As soon as we have the money, we may have to give at least two weeks for the instructor to get themselves ready,” said McPhetres.
As for when the school will be opening, McPhetres said that, until they get any money from Benavente, that’s only when they can definitively state when NMTI will be up and running. Additionally, she said that they are still taking applications from students, but advising them that they are not sure when NMTI will open back up.
As for the $1 budget that the NMTI has, Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz (R-Tinian), says that he’s “pretty sure” that the Senate will “put more in there.”
