NMC asked to disclose turnover rate of personnel

A local activist group is urging the Northern Marianas College to disclose the turnover rate of the college’s faculty and personnel in the last four years and has filed an Open Government Act and Freedom of Information request to obtain it.

Taotao Tano CNMI Inc. president Greg Cruz Jr. said they are making the request to shed light on allegations that NMC president Carmen Fernandez terminates employees without due process or retaliates against them.

The Open Government Act was filed last Friday.

Cruz said Taotao Tano is concerned about the issues besieging the college, especially at this critical time when NMC’s accreditation is in jeopardy.

“We have always supported NMC on matters pertaining to student education and funding issues to include political interference from the outside world…but instilling fear and retaliation upon faculty or employees is a serious concern for us. We are disappointed in these issues,” Cruz told Fernandez.

The Taotao Tano leader included a long list of concerns in his request, mostly pertaining to personnel issues. However, most are exempted from the Open Government Act because of confidentiality issues.

On top of the list are the names of new hires and their salaries and the employees and faculty who were terminated, forced to resign, or voluntarily resigned from the college from calendar year 2006 up to the present.

To make a better judgment and analysis of personnel data, Cruz also asked to be furnished all the names of NMC employees, faculty, as well as the existing board members.

Taotao Tano also seemed interested in knowing more about the operation of the Board of Regents, past and present, as it added to the list questions about their compensations and reimbursements.

Fernandez’s salary and other benefits received from the college were also asked by the group as well as the president’s travel expenditures since 2006.

In his request, the Taotao Tano leader also want to know of payments made to staff or faculty who are not actually reporting to the college but are home under an administrative leave and receiving compensations.

Without elaborating, Cruz wants NMC to disclose the amount it paid to the service of Claudio Norita, a former lawmaker and ex-executive director at the Commonwealth Ports Authority.

Cruz described the issues at the college “serious and critical concerns.”

“Serious and critical concerns have risen internally and I would like to remind [the president] and the constituents that NMC is no place for politics. The stability and integrity of NMC is now tainted and compromised and reports of abuse of authority and gross negligence is surfacing under [the president’s] watch,” Cruz said, adding that the group will be closely monitoring any form of retribution or retaliation upon any employee or faculty and “such attempts will certainly validate concerns.”

Saipan Tribune learned that Fernandez had called for a meeting with the Taotao Tano group yesterday at 3pm to discuss the matter.

In a separate letter addressed to Board of Regents chair Charles V. Cepeda yesterday, the Taotao Tano leader labeled the official’s earlier remarks as unprofessional and biased.

He said it is improper for Cepeda to take sides.

“Allegations, complaints, concerns—true or not—you never take sides, you stay neutral. You look, listen, and understand the situation and evaluate the problem before you act on anything,” Cruz told Cepeda in his letter.

By doing so, Cruz said, this will show some respect and sensitivity to the true nature of the situation.

“Find a positive and sound solution to the situation for both parties involved,” he said.

Cruz says Cepeda seemed threatening when he said that “everybody is going to be in a difficult situation if they favor indirect and hidden agenda.”