NMC misses federal deadline

Northern Marianas College’s accreditation remains in the balance after it missed the Wednesday deadline set by the federal government for updates regarding the finalization of La Fiesta’s transfer to the CNMI government.

NMC Board of Regents chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds said that the memorandum of agreement between the college and the Executive Branch is still unofficial. The Governor’s Office has yet to give a definite date when the agreement will be signed, she added.

A three-member team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which is now preparing its report on its October visit to NMC, had given NMC until Dec. 8 to submit any updates or additional information on its finances.

NMC’s accreditation is currently under warning status. Any positive information regarding the financial standing of the college, particularly with regard to the La Fiesta shopping complex, is vital to NMC getting off warning status.

“Our accreditation liaison officers are in communication with the WASC visiting team. Hopefully, we can get something to them this week or the next. We hope it’s not too late,” King-Hinds said.

She also reported that the college received information that the Attorney General’s Office is done reviewing legal issues surrounding the MOA. “So it’s just a matter of sitting down and actually signing it. But right now, that hasn’t happened yet,” she said.

The college was placed this year on warning status by WASC’s two accrediting commissions—for Junior and Community Colleges and for Senior Colleges and Universities—due to its inability to correct finance-related problems and failure to comply with certain accreditation standards.

WASC’s Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges placed NMC on warning status last January and retained the same status despite NMC’s submission of needed reports last June. It expressed concern over NMC’s purchase of the La Fiesta complex, citing the college’s lack of resources to maintain two campuses.

Early in July this year, WASC’s Senior College Commission issued a warning to NMC for non-compliance with standards, as had been cited by ACCJC. The senior commission’s warning has put the college’s four-year elementary education program—its only baccalaureate program—at risk.

Last September, Gov. Juan N. Babauta and the NMC Board of Regents signed a memorandum of agreement transferring responsibility over La Fiesta to the CNMI Executive Branch. But the agreement could not be finalized right away because it needed the approval of the mall’s original sellers.

Hotel Nikko Saipan and Coco’s Lagoon Development Corp. gave their consent to the transfer last month.