NMC’s show-cause status lifted

From the most severe sanction of show-cause, the Northern Marianas College was placed yesterday under a less severe status—probation—which means the college’s accreditation remains in effect but it is not totally out of the woods yet.

Barbara A. Beno, president of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, announced the commission’s decision in a letter to interim president Lorraine T. Cabrera, who described the decision as “welcome news for the college.”

A probation is issued when the commission finds that an institution deviates significantly from the eligibility criteria, standards, or policies, or fails to respond to actions and conditions imposed by the commission.

NMC is required to submit a follow-up report by Oct. 15, 2011, explaining how it is addressing the 10 issues cited in the previous show cause-order. Most of the deficiencies were in three areas: institutional autonomy from outside interference, institutional financial management and integrity, and institutional governance and accountability.

Beno said the accredited status of the college continues during the probation period.

Besides the team recommendations, Beno also cited two specific concerns in her four-page letter to Cabrera: breaches of eligibility requirement 21; and the quality of the delivery systems used to provide education at Tinian and Rota which has previously been questioned by the commission in January 2007. Corrective actions for these two concerns must also be included in the follow-up report.

“The commission noted several breaches of Eligibility Requirement 21. For example, the college failed to comply with the commission directive to maintain the confidentiality of the contents of the show cause and special visit team report until the commission disclosed its decision in the action letter by making the outcome of the report public in an email from the president’s office,” stated Beno in her letter.

Beno also cited the Board of Regents for continually using the press to raise sensitive college matters, including naming short-listed applicants in the presidential search.

“The college [also] failed to bring to the evaluation team’s attention pending legislation that could impact the college autonomy, and to submit its annual report and annual fiscal report in a timely fashion,” added Beno.

She stressed that eligibility requirements must be met at all times and failure to comply with ER 21 in itself is sufficient for the commission to impose a sanction, or to deny or revoke accreditation.

Beno disclosed that in an action letter in January 2007, the commission recommended that NMC must take steps to ensure that the delivery system used to provide instruction to Tinian and Rota is completely reliable and works at all times. This has not been addressed and must be included in NMC’s follow-up report in October.

Interim president Lorraine Cabrera welcomed the lifting of NMC’s show-cause status but acknowledged that there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“Our focus now shifts to sustaining the accreditation efforts that our dedicated students, staff, and faculty have put forth. We’ll all be working closely with incoming president Dr. Sharon Hart to continue our accreditation momentum,” she said in a statement yesterday.

Cabrera, along with Board of Regents chair Juan Lizama and accreditation liaison officer Galvin Deleon Guerrero, attended the commission’s assembly in June during which NMC’s fate was discussed and decided.

Hart will assume the college presidency on Tuesday, July 5.