NMC braces for accreditation

By Marian A. Maraya

Staff Reporter

An accreditation team from the Western Accreditation for Schools and Colleges will arrive on Saipan early next week to conduct a four-day evaluation of CNMI’s lone public postsecondary institution.

All eyes are on the Northern Marianas College as it undergoes a two-fold accreditation process unique for an institution of its size.

NMC Accreditation Liaison Officer and Dean of Instruction Dr. Barbara G. Moir said yesterday it is the first time any community college in the whole western region has attempted to secure a license to offer four-year degree programs as a two-year accredited institution.

NMC has submitted an application to establish a four-year baccalaureate program in Elementary Education in efforts to produce CNMI’s very own teachers.

Under the present setup, the college is only authorized to offer 100 to 300 level courses in Education and students are required to complete their 400 level courses at the University of Guam.

“There are only a few other mainland institutions that have applied to do this. This is our first big push. We’ll break ground. We will be pioneers in the whole western region,” said Dr. Moir.

Aside from this fresh goal, the college is also seeking to reaffirm its two-year accreditation from WASC, having achieved the maximum accreditation length of six years since 1990.

The college which has been accredited by the WASC Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior College will also be undergoing simultaneous accreditation under the Senior Colleges Commission, convinced of its readiness to produce teachers at CNMI’s lone center for higher learning.

In an effort to ease the pressure off the college community as it faces a week-long scrutiny, Dr. Moir said the accreditation process is merely a formal evaluation toward the college’s self-development.

“The team members are people from other colleges and universities. It’s like talking to a colleague who wants to help you rise above your weakest points through constructive recommendations,” Dr. Moir explained.

The WASC team will conduct a college-wide evaluation from Tuesday until Friday.

Commission representatives will conduct a thorough assessment based on NMC’s self-study and is expected to mainly look at the college’s standards on the qualification of its staff members (for four-year degree courses), NMC’s learning resources (library), and the curriculum (for four-year degree courses).

Dr. Moir expressed optimism the college will secure another full-accreditation as well as gain approval to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees on Education.

“It’s been a trying task preparing for this evaluation for the past year and more. But we’re very proud of the work we’ve done. We’re extremely proud of this institution. We’ve worked very hard and we think we have a chance in succeeding with both applications,” she said.