NMC staff complete software training

Staff of the Northern Marianas College recently completed a two-week training session to learn about a software upgrade that is designed to enhance student experience as well as improve the services provided by the college.

The PowerCAMPUS Unified Digital Campus program will afford NMC staff access to a more secure and user-friendly database. The upgrade is also aimed at providing students a quicker and more pleasant registration experience for the upcoming fall semester, as the software is expected to speed up the billing portion of registration. It also places NMC a step closer to providing online registration and affording students online access to grades and unofficial transcripts.

“The training is part of the college’s overall efforts to continuously build staff capacity to improve the services that we provide to our students,” said NMC president Dr. Carmen Fernandez. “This upgrade is instrumental to the college’s efforts to regain accreditation and optimizes the college’s ability to meet data and evidence requirements for program and review assessment.”

Attendees of the training finished the sessions with the knowledge and skills to operate the software upgrade, which will provide for better records management and processing and will enhance the college’s ability to keep track of students’ portfolios and alumni career patterns and changes.

“Reports that had to be produced manually before now require only the push of a button,” Fernandez said. “This is definitely a big plus for productivity.”

The training sessions, which were facilitated by software company SunGard Higher Education, occurred in two parts. SunGard’s Sue Tosh conducted training in the fields of admissions and records from July 16 to July 24 and Mary Grace Hendricks conducted training in the fields of billing and cash receipts from July 22 to July 25.

Elizabeth Holland, an independent contractor, was also available from July 24 to July 26 for training and the integration of PowerCampus to MIPS, a software program that NMC already uses for its financial transactions and reports.

All of the visiting consultants commended the staff and faculty who participated in the training for their enthusiasm and excitement. Sue Tosh indicated that the NMC participants were the friendliest and most motivated that she has ever encountered in her training career. [B][I](NMC)
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