NMC: 25 years and beyond

By ANTONIO V. DELEON GUERRERO

Editor’s Note: The following is the text of the remarks that Northern Marianas College president Antonio V. DeLeon Guerrero gave at the gala commemorating NMC’s 25th Silver Anniversary at the Fiesta Resort & Spa, Saipan last March 23, 2006.

Hafa adai, tirowami, yan buenas dias to you all!

At the outset, I will like to express our gratitude and appreciation to all of you present today for taking the time from your busy schedule to join our NMC community to commemorate the founding of Northern Marianas College. We are sincerely grateful for your presence this morning and thank you for joining us in this event.

I would like to use NMC’s 25th birthday to communicate to all our institutional stakeholders some historical data and key information that compares NMC at its beginning stages in the early 1980s with its status today—a “Then versus Now” comparison. Following a brief review of our college growth in major institutional areas, I will provide an overview of NMC’s current programs and services, and share how we are meeting our constitutionally-mandated mission.

In the early decades of the 20th century, junior colleges were created from equal parts of the university moving down and the high school moving up. Around the turn of the century, several prominent university presidents proposed that the first two years of undergraduate study—the 100- and 200-level general education courses—should be offered by “junior colleges.” Through this new educational concept, the “Transfer Education” mission of a junior college was established. Today, here at Northern Marianas College, we are meeting this community college mission of “Transfer Education” since many of our resident students (about 43 percent) choose the Liberal Arts associate degree as their major field of study.

As we recognize 25 years of educational services to our community, we should remember that the history of Northern Marianas College has not been one of smooth sailing. It took President Emerita Agnes McPhetres many years to “persuade” our elected officials then to provide the facilities and budget to build our college from what was literally a shoestring operation. She and the NMC Board of Regents faced many challenges then, but they were generally met successfully and were usually addressed without controversy.

Since her retirement in 1999, her successors and I have continued to be advocates for our NMC students and the role of higher education in our local community. As educators and “human-change agents,” we all are part of a never-ending quest to provide the best higher education institution for our Commonwealth. Northern Marianas College will always have institutional challenges that must be faced and dealt with in order to better serve our students. We have done so successfully in the past and, with the continued support of our CNMI community leaders, and hard work on our own part, we can continue to make significant progress.

Twenty-five years ago, the college began with a few people coordinating other institutions’ programs out of some classrooms at Marianas High School. Two years later in 1983, NMC had less than 200 students and even in 1985 you could fit the entire institution in a one and a half building of the old Trust Territory School of Nursing, today’s Buildings N, O & P. Only with the opening of the Commonwealth Health Center and associated closure of Dr. Torres Hospital in 1986, and some persuasive and effective lobbying from former NMC Boards of Regents members and President McPhetres did the real growth and development of the college occur.

Let us begin our comparison of NMC in its early days with today:

NORTHERN MARIANAS COLLEGE: THEN VS. NOW

– 172 students enrolled in the Fall of 1983. In the Fall of 2004, 1,285 students enrolled (647 percent increase).

– In 1986, nine certificates and 27 Associate Degrees were awarded. In 2005, 67 certificates (644 percent increase) and 119 Associate Degrees (341 percent increase) were awarded. A total of 186 awards were given (417 percent increase).

– In 1984, there were 9 faculty members and 41 total employees. This year, we have 47 faculty members (422 percent increase) and a total of 176 employees (329 percent increase).

NMC’S FINANCIAL CHALLENGES

As noted earlier, our NMC programs and services have grown significantly as well as our student enrollment. We will continuously strive to meet the growing demands of our students and the increasing needs of our CNMI community. NMC’s need for additional funding will also need to increase accordingly. The most recent budget passed by the CNMI government in FY2003 provided the college with funding of approximately $8 million dollars. Under continuing resolution levels, this was the same amount of funding the college received in FY2004 and FY2005 in spite of continued growth in the programs and services provided by the college. Recognizing the need for additional funding to support these programs, the 13th and 14th CNMI Legislature provided supplemental funding of $438,000 and $518,000 in FY2004 and FY2005, respectively, to the college.

As we are all aware, the CNMI government and our Commonwealth’s economy are going through difficult times with the shutting down of numerous garment factories and the dwindling numbers of visitor arrivals since the pullout of Japan Airlines. As a result of the downturn in the economy, the CNMI government and its agencies are faced with reduced levels of funding. The college was recently advised that its funding would be reduced by approximately 19 percent or $1.5 million from the funding level it would have received under Continuing Resolution. Considering the supplemental appropriations which were necessary in FY2004 and FY2005, this reduction is actually a $2-million cut in the college’s budget. This, needless to say, will have far reaching negative repercussions on the institution, our student programs and services. In spite of these financial challenges, the college’s Board of Regents, Foundation members, faculty and staff are committed to our NMC students and our CNMI community and we will continue to strive to meet their postsecondary educational needs.

NMC’S ACCREDITATION

Northern Marianas College received its initial accreditation in 1985 from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or WASC. That accreditation was reaffirmed in 1990, 1996, and 2001. Also in 2001, NMC received initial accreditation from WASC’s Senior Commission to offer a baccalaureate degree program in elementary education. To date, NMC’s dual accreditation status by both the Junior and Senior Commissions is unique in the western accreditation region, with the College being one of only a few two-year colleges in the nation to have been awarded this status.

Since its beginning, NMC has focused on meeting the higher education and human resource development needs of the CNMI. From the time of its first program in teacher education, NMC has strived to develop a comprehensive set of educational programs and services to meet the social, cultural, occupational, and economic development needs of our island communities on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

NMC’S MISSION

NMC’s mission is “to provide the best quality and meaningful postsecondary and adult educational opportunities for the purpose of improving the quality of life for the individual and the Commonwealth as a whole.” Its constitutional mandate is to provide education in the areas of adult and continuing education, postsecondary and adult vocational education and professional development for the people of the Commonwealth.

PURPOSE AND ROLE OF NORTHERN MARIANAS COLLEGE

As we develop into a more comprehensive community college, NMC’s role as a community resource center for the CNMI is expanding considerably to meet the increasingly diversified HRD needs of the Commonwealth, and the continuing changes in our island economy. Today, NMC’s offers 17 associate degree programs, 18 certificate of achievement programs, 18 certificate of completion programs, and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. As the only public postsecondary institution in the CNMI, NMC strives to ensure that our educational programs reflect the complexity and diversity of the CNMI’s growth and development.

NMC AS THE CNMI’S ADULT BASIC EDUCATION CENTER

For more than 20 years, Adult Basic Education has offered federally funded programs focused on meeting the educational needs of adult learners in the CNMI. The mission of the ABE program at NMC is to provide educationally disadvantaged adults the opportunity to acquire basic skills necessary to function more effectively and productively, to gain upward mobility, and to enable them to pursue further education. In accordance with the varying needs of adult learners, the goals of the ABE program are to develop the competency levels in reading, writing, and mathematics so as to empower adult learners to participate more fully in community life, enable them to assist their children and serve as their first teachers and equip them with skills needed to pass the General Education Development tests and earn a high school equivalency diploma. Our developmental education goals are met through the implementation of a variety of programs including Adult Basic Education, English as a Second Language, Adult Secondary Education, Family Literacy and Life Skills workshops.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

The college further serves the CNMI community through a variety of outreach, community service and continuing education programs. Workforce and community development programs offer training to upgrade public and private employee skills, and to provide enrichment courses for the general public in a wide variety of programs.

Our Cooperative Research, Extension, and Education Service Program provides research and technical assistance services to farmers and homemakers, and introduces new varieties of crops and continuously improves the quality of livestock for the CNMI’s agricultural industry.

The Community Development Institute provides opportunities for academic degrees beyond the associate level, including career education and training in collaboration with off-island postsecondary educational institutions, professional organizations, and targeted federal programs.

The NMC Small Business Development Center provides training and technical assistance services to our local business sector, thus aiding in the economic development of the Commonwealth.

In addition, KRNM, the only public radio station in the Northern Marianas, provides educational, informative, and entertaining programming that enlightens, broadens, and enriches our local community.

In addition, our NMC students, faculty, and staff members are actively involved with many different community projects, activities, and non-profit organizations on the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota. For example, our PHI THETA KAPPA Chapter has included roughly 200 students and continues to promote scholarship, leadership, and service to NMC and the CNMI community. These high-achieving NMC students augment their classroom learning experiences with valuable community volunteer projects to enhance their leadership development and promote the value of having a postsecondary institution in the Commonwealth. Moreover, promoting community service also emphasizes the importance of civic engagement in the communities where our students, faculty, staff and alumni live, learn, work, relax and thrive.

Today, Northern Marianas College is a rich and expansive community resource for adult, continuing, and higher education, and it is playing an ever-increasing role in improving the quality of life in the Commonwealth. Moreover, NMC is positively impacting economic development by addressing the training and educational needs of our most vital, our most enduring, and our most treasured resource—our people—i taotao tano!

Certainly, as a community of educators and learners, we readily recognize that an essential requirement for long-term sustainable economic development is having a well-educated and highly-trained population. It has become increasingly clear in today’s complex society that the most crucial variable in economic development is the knowledge embedded in the minds of the people of a nation. It is not the natural resources of a country that will determine the quality of life, but rather, the knowledge supply and professional workforce that exists in a country. As a learning organization, NMC in the future will continue to create value as a community resource center and expand opportunities by focusing on learning for the long-term sustainable development of the CNMI.

Now that times are uncertain and the demands for accountability are increasing, I call upon all our NMC faculty, staff, and students—and our friends in the administration, Legislature, and community—to work collaboratively in transforming Northern Marianas College into a quality higher education institution for the people of the CNMI. Our NMC Board of Regents and the entire college community need your support and assistance to continuously improve NMC’s educational programs and services. Only by working together and taking ownership can we enable NMC to be a more “student-focused” and “community- centered” learning institution.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation yan un sen dangkulu na si yu’us ma’ase to all the planning committee members who coordinated today’s 25th Anniversary Commemoration Event. And to all our dignitaries, special guests, relatives, NMC family members, we thank you all for being here today. Please visit our various program exhibits and displays in the hallway.

Thank you yan buenas para todus hamyo!

(Antonio V. DeLeon Guerrero is the president of the Northern Marianas College.)