NMC approves retraining program for former students

The Northern Marianas College Board of Regents has adopted a new policy that will provide free education and training to former students who still need further education and training related to their courses-as determined by their employers.

Under the new “program guarantee” policy, the college will offer education and training designed to enable students to acquire entry-level vocational/technical skills necessary to enter the workforce.

NMC will guarantee free tuition for up to eight credits of retraining under the condition that the employer certifies that the student lacks the target job skills normally expected of an entry-level employee who has graduated from an equivalent vocational/technical program.

To be eligible for retraining, a student must have graduated from NMC with an associate in science or associate in applied science degree, or baccalaureate degree in education.

Bobbie Merfalen, dean of Academic Programs and Services, told Saipan Tribune that the new policy will take effect in the spring 2012 semester and that the academic council will finalize the procedures and mechanisms soon.

She said this is a first time for the college to implement such a policy. “It’s our way of creating a positive image of our college and to tell people that we stand by for what we produced,” she said.

She said the policy could be likened to a product that, when bought by a consumer, contains specific guarantees from the manufacturer.

“If defective products and items have a return policy, NMC has its own program guarantee policy,” she said.

In order to be eligible for the program, the employer must justify that its employee lacks some basic training in the field he or she is working on.

Because the policy covers free education and training for up to eight credits, the savings will be substantial for beneficiaries, Merfalen said. NMC charges students $95 per credit.

NMC president Sharon Y. Hart is pleased with the policy’s adoption. “I am very pleased that NMC is now offering a program guarantee. This guarantee speaks highly of the fact that the college is publicly endorsing the quality of all of our courses that lead to a degree,” she said, adding that both students and employers will benefit from this new venture.