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SHEFA enforces regulations on grievances, appeals
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Posted on Dec 05 2011
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
The days of only one or two persons acting on grievances and appeals of scholarship applicants are gone, with the decision of the Saipan Higher Educational Financial Assistance to enforce regulations during a special meeting Thursday at the Saipan Mayor’s Office.
In the past, grievances and student appeals were taken cared of by agency’s consultants, who received, reviewed, and decided all cases, according to SHEFA administrator Henry Hofschneider.
This practice, he said, existed for many years despite the clear mandate in the agency’s regulation that a committee on appeals should be established to take care of students’ complaints, grievances, and appeals to the board.
Under the current setup, the SHEFA administrator initially reviews and decides on student applications. In case of denials, the aggrieved party can file an appeal with the SHEFA board within 10 days. Hofschneider said that denied students are usually provided the reason why their applications are rejected.
SHEFA board chair Jose Mafnas said Thursday that he has received numerous calls and emails, all appealing the denial of student applications. This practice, he said, is an indication that there was no clear mechanism on how students could appeal their case.
“My concern is, there are many appeals that are coming directly to me as chairman of the board. We need to revisit our policy because there is confusion on how an appeal is being addressed. We need to look at what is mandated in our regulation-if they can directly go to the chairman of the board or to the standing committee,” said Mafnas.
To provide due process to all denied applicants, Mafnas delegated the task of hearing all these appeals to the standing committee on appeal, which is tasked to recommend actions to the full board.
Mafnas appointed three members to the panel: John Tenorio as chairman and Vina Saures and Ursula Aldan as committee members.
After the committee’s review, they may recommend either to affirm or reverse the administrator’s decision.
