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McPhetres’ fate hinges on board
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Posted on Mar 08 1999
Northern Marianas College president Agnes McPhetres can be removed from her post in seven days as long as the Board of Regents can show cause, according to NMC legal counsel Jesus Borja.
However, the College can remove the 20 ungraded employees as long as they are served with 60 or 90-day notice.
“I don’t know if there is a legal cause at this point,” according to Board Chairman Manuel Sablan after the State of the NMC report last Friday.
Although he denied earlier reports that he is out to fire NMC President Agnes McPhetres, there is no question that the Board will reorganize the present set-up.
“What I said was that I want to look at the entire management – from the president all the way down. My job is to look at these things within the context on what’s happening with respect to the financial situation, the austerity measure the need to reorganize,” he said.
The Chairman believed that 90-day notice is a reasonable period for the ungraded employees. He also assured NMC personnel and the entire community that the Board will approach and resolve these issues with the help of an independent body to ensure fairness.
“Whatever we do, we stay professional on these things,” he said.
However, even with these restructure plans that will soon take effect, he cannot assure the public that NMC will be out from the yearly cash shortfall.
“Right now, it is very hard to tell because the economy continues to decline,” he said.
Sablan welcomes the on-going oversight hearing being conducted by the Committee on Health, Education and Welfare over the financial affairs of the college. Even if it brought NMC to the center stage of discussion, it kept him abreast with certain issues.
“I received some information that I didn’t know. It allows me to zero in to some of these things and we can do something about it now,” he said.
