Some NMC staff were improperly terminated

Rep. Heinz Hofschneider disclosed yesterday the names of personnel who, according to him, were improperly terminated by the Northern Marianas College, resulting in the institution settling cases for thousands of dollars.

Hofschneider, in a letter to NMC president Dr. Carmen Fernandez on Friday, said that serious management issues threaten to undermine NMC’s ability to provide education according to the guidelines provided by a formal accreditation process.

Although these issues stem from several years ago, he said it does not appear that the college administrators are making any headway to eliminate the problems.

Instead, Hofschneider said, new problems are cropping up, adding to the uncertainty of whether full accreditation will be granted any time soon.

The lawmaker disclosed that the college improperly terminated or forced to resign seven employees, resulting in expensive settlements. The list includes Danny Wyatt, former acting president and dean of Academic Programs and Services; Patricia Taylor, former nursing instructor; Bernie Sablan, former bookstore manager; Daisy Villagomez-Bier, former dean of student services; Dr. Elena Alexandrova, former science instructor; Sachiko Adachi, adjunct Japanese instructor; and Robert Churney, former Office of Institutional Effectiveness director.

Besides these individuals, Hofschneider said five others were found improperly hired by the NMC management in a clear violation of CNMI law and board policies.

Persons who were hired under unbudgeted limited term appointments were John Quitugua of the IT department, Octavius Palacios, OIE; David John Apatang, bookstore; David P. Apatang, bookstore; and former chief financial officer Marylou S. Ada. The first four hires were either sons or brothers of lawmakers.

Hofschneder, in his letter to Fernandez, pointed out that these limited term appointees were converted to full-time employees without going through proper procedures such as vacancy announcement, certification of qualifications, and employment interviews.

The lawmaker added that five others were hired based on personal political agenda and were not the most qualified applicants as determined by the interview committees. He identified them as Tee Abraham, dean of COMPASS; Janice Tenorio, director of SSS; Roger Madriaga, CFAO; Marian Tudela, director of Upward Bound; and David John Apatang, bookstore manager.

Reckless spending

The lawmaker said that reckless spending at NMC has resulted in a projected $800,000 deficit in Fiscal Year 2009, as presented during last week’s academic council meeting on campus.

Hofschneider said these included the plan of NMC to sponsor college-wide workshops with lunch provided at Saipan World Resort; excessive wining and dining; costly cash settlements as a result of failure to follow human resources policies; hiring unbudgeted limited term appointees; hiring a local firm to conduct background checks on applicants; excessive and frequent travels; more than $10,000 paid to a management team member for per diem; and travels and consultancy contract with Key Trio.

NMC could do more

Despite funding limitations, Hofschneider admitted that NMC functioned quite well and tried to hire dedicated and competent faculty to provide a solid foundation for further education.

“There are many in the community who believe that NMC could do more. Still, there is general agreement that it did satisfy its basic mandate,” Hofschneider told Fernandez.

Generally, the lawmaker said that NMC is free to direct its own affairs, and this is as it should be.

“However, the government provides funding for the college operations, and the community has made an investment in its operations and this gives members of the Legislature an interest in making sure that students and the community are well-served by college administrators and adequately protected by sound governing policies,” Hofschneider added.

The lawmaker is expecting a response from the president. Saipan Tribune tried several times to obtain a response from Fernandez but she has yet to give a statement as of press time.