Eucon asks BOR to hasten regulation policies

The Eucon International School is pressing the Board of Regents not to rule out the admission of non-accredited institutions seeking to apply for license to operate as a postsecondary school in the Northern Marianas, citing the inclusion of such policy could impede the school’s plans to set up a private college on island.

Eucon president Dr. Christian Wei said that while it is part of EIS’ long-term objective to gain full accreditation, new institutions cannot be expected to be ready with such credentials upon its first few years of operation.

“I think this is common sense that if you are going to start a college, you will never get accredited immediately. Accreditation agencies will only conduct an evaluation of your institution a few years after you started,” Dr. Wei told an interview.

The Northern Marianas College, which was founded in 1981, did not gain accreditation until 1985.

The Eucon president, however, assured his school is a member of reputable educational institutions in the mainland United States such as the Association of American Christian Schools and South Carolina Association of Christian Schools.

The organizations, according to Dr. Wei, only admits members who have reached and maintained certain high academic standards based on national norms.

Eucon is also currently processing its application to enter the Association of Christian Schools International.

“These organizations are going to help us provide information regarding the standards that we’re supposed to follow. All the credits that we offer in our proposed college will be recognized by all the member schools in these organizations,” he said.

The private school is also reportedly close-linked with the Columbia International University, which is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Pacific Association of Colleges and Schools.

“Even if we wanted to, accreditation agencies will not accredit us unless we start our school, follow certain standards, and maintain those standards. We need a couple of years to prove that we are a good school. But we’re already members of good associations in the states. We are not afraid to compete and best of all, we want to provide good education…that’s the reason why we’re here,” he added.

With this, Dr. Wei said it would be unfair for BOR to consider only accredited school applicants, citing the establishment of postsecondary schools should be, in the first place, a free market enterprise.

“Let the market decide which school is the best school. Let parents, students, and the community decide who provides the best education,” he said.