NMC plans to offer IT courses

Northern Marianas College is taking an aggressive step aimed at producing local graduates with extensive knowledge in information technology as the government intensifies efforts in establishing software production industry on the island.

Newly-appointed NMC President Jack Sablan on Saturday disclosed the College currently provides specialized information technology instruction to students of the Schools of Education, of Business, Hospitality and Computer Technology.

Mr. Sablan, however, admitted more should be done by the NMC administration aside from the inclusion of education and business students in the College’s practically new technology-based courses.

The absence of strong computer courses in the CNMI’s lone higher learning institution may hinder economic growth due to the increasing use of information technology knowledge and skills in the workplace.

According to Mr. Sablan, the increasing sophistication of the information technology both within and outside Northern Marianas have created a strong demand for individuals familiar with its design and use.

“It is in the interest of our students that NMC place increased emphasis on developing its own capabilities in information technology,” he said during the celebration of the College’s Charter Day last Saturday.

As a community college, NMC must provide instructional options in the field of computer technology both for full-time students and workers who are interested in upgrading their skills and employability.

Mr. Sablan earlier disclosed that discussions are already underway for the proposed institution of an Information Technology course at the College, pointing out that Northern Marianas is currently without sufficient educational programs focused at computer technology.

Officials from the College and the CNMI government are now discussing the possibility of establishing computer programming and technical courses with technology experts from Guam.

Presently, CNMI does not have sufficient number of local manpower who will do the required technical work, like computer maintenance and repair, required by thousands of companies in the Northern Marianas who rely heavily on computers.

At the same time, Mr. Sablan revealed that NMC recently bought major new software packages, ABT Power Campus and NPS for the institution’s financial, admission and student record systems.

He said the financial software system is already in place while the systems for admission and student records is expected to be installed this summer.