Leadership turnover at NMC’s Faculty Senate

CNMI Archivist John Cook officially ended his term as Faculty Senate president of the Northern Marianas College yesterday.

Cook assumed the post in February after it was vacated by Dr. John Griffin, NMC’s former business department chair who retired after two years at the college.

As Faculty Senate president, Cook served as an honorary member of the Board of Regents.

During yesterday’s board meeting, chair Juan T. Lizama presented Cook a plaque of appreciation for his three-month work with the board.

“I thank this body for its leadership and kindness and serving with you is one of the highlights of my career at NMC,” said Cook, adding that he has great faith in the new Faculty Senate leadership.

Cook was replaced by Roy Greenland as president after an election among the faculty staff on May 8. Other new officers are vice president Amanda Angel-Diaz and secretary James Kline.

In his final report to the board, Cook noted that work continues on faculty policy review and that the faculty remains “very concerned” about faculty ranks and contracts.

Cook disclosed that faculty hiring remains “virtually unchanged,” although this may change soon or upon submission of the next Faculty Senate report.

According to Cook, the non-instructional faculty has grown and is far-reaching—from library to counseling and even some of the staff at NMC-CREES.

NMC president Sharon Y. Hart disclosed yesterday that seven faculty positions are currently being routed internally and will be advertised externally if they remain unfilled.

Hart said the board was informed late last year that the college is low on faculty staff but high on administrative and non-instructional personnel.

“So we’re trying to do some shifts,” Hart explained. “We’re trying to advertise internally to see if some of these support staff have the qualifications and may be interested to switching to the faculty side so we can have equilibrium there.”

With the college not receiving enough funds from the Legislature, Hart said that a shift from non-instructional to faculty staff may be deemed as an incentive at this point.

Hart also stressed that for this year alone, the college lost about four to five faculty members and is now relying on adjuncts and giving added responsibilities to other instructors.

She added that keeping the faculty staff has also been a challenge given that they have not received any increase for several years now, prompting a number of them to accept opportunities elsewhere.

Staff Senate president Marie Coleman noted that even if some staff may be interested in becoming faculty members, they may not be qualified as there are certain requirements that need to be met to become a part of the faculty.