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To recruit resident staff Lack of 4-year program holds back OPA’s efforts
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Posted on Mar 12 2001
Public Auditor Michael Sablan said the lack of a bachelor’s degree program in the CNMI is one of the reasons why past internship programs of the Office of the Public Auditor have been unsuccessful.
Since the enactment of Public Law 10-4 on March 6, 1996, OPA has had a total of just three interns. One of the interns left the agency, while the two others remained apprentices in the office.
“With the situation on the island, it would take interns 10 years to get a bachelor’s degree. In OPA’s case, one of our interns have been waiting to get into a bachelor’s degree program for three years,” Mr. Sablan said. “She has finished her associate degree course but everything hinges on what the college can offer.”
Currently, the Northern Marianas College offers a two-year associate degree program. The college only offers a four-year baccalaureate degree whenever visiting professors are available.
Without a four-year college diploma, OPA interns are not qualified to apply in the OPA’s auditor training program. Mr. Sablan noted that only graduates of a four-year college course are recruited as auditors by the OPA.
“If this were Guam or another city where there are universities that offer classes that would lead to a baccalaureate degree every semester, our interns would be able to graduate from our internship program sooner,” Mr. Sablan said.
PL 10-4 mandates OPA to develop a comprehensive manpower training and education plan.
The mandate also calls for the agency to come up with a management intern program that would equip employees the necessary job skills, training and education to eventually fill the positions currently occupied by nonresidents.
Under Mr. Sablan, OPA is set to embark on a new and aggressive internship and recruitment program. The twin efforts aim to attract and bring 10 new interns and three auditors to OPA on its first year.
According to Mr. Sablan, OPA is currently staffed by 39 full-time employees in four departments — legal, administrative, investigative and audit.
With the exception of the audit department, all are staffed by residents. The audit department, on the other hand, has 29 auditors, of which only six are residents.
