NMC board must report on ‘independence’ to WASC Senior

Existing policies may need changing for the Northern Marianas College board to fully comply with WASC Senior’s call for an “independent” governing board.

As stressed by board members and college president Dr. Sharon Hart recently, an accreditation report due in less than two years will ask that the NMC Board of Regents prove its steps to “independence” as a governing body.

Right now, the board lacks a nominating committee for its members and does not follow staggered terms of office as set by law. These policies or the lack thereof appear to fail the “characteristics of an independent governing board” as set by WASC Senior—the commission in charge of the college’s status as an accredited institution.

Notably, the University of Guam, another WASC Senior institution, employs staggered term dates for its term members. The University of Guam also has a committee that nominates members for the Guam governor’s approval.

It has been the practice in the Commonwealth, though, that CNMI governors directly nominate board members for approval by the Senate.

It has also been the practice, as CNMI Attorney General Edward Manibusan notes in an April letter to the governor, that NMC uses the confirmation dates of new appointees to determine the beginning and end dates for their four-year terms, versus staggered dates set by law.

The board
In their most recent meeting, BOR chair Juan T. Lizama called it “critical” to address concerns set out by WASC Senior.

He was commenting on discussion led by Amanda Allen, director of Distance Learning, on the “bare-bones” strategy college regents could take to comply with WASC standards.

Lizama agreed with regent William Torres on the  “need to create an ad-hoc” to “follow through on concerns” from the commission.

“The board needs to report on itself,” Torres had said.

WASC has asked that boards across the nation look at qualification, conflicts of interests, the size, and responsibilities of their board, among others.

According to Allen, a first report to WASC is expected in 2017. A full report is due in 2019.

The 2017 report would show the “first steps to full compliance” with WASC standards and the 2019 report must show full compliance.

Policy
WASC Senior will determine the “issue of independence” through extensive review.

“All governing boards are bound by this policy,” WASC states.

This review would include the methods by which the board members are elected, removed, and the degree to which the decisions of the governing board are reviewed by another body before they may be implemented, WASC policy states.

Asked to explain this Tuesday, Hart said, “The college will have to demonstrate to WASC Senior that it has in fact—because it is bound by this policy—that it is following the guidelines of what is written.”

“When NMC submits its mid-term report, the college must at that point provide a self-study report on how we meet all WASC Senior policies and eligibility” requirements,” she said.

For nominating procedures, WASC states that governing boards need a committee with a majority of independent members that nominate and recommend members for election to the full board.

“A nominating committee should not be controlled by a single person, another entity, or majority of employees,” WASC further states.

By law, the University of Guam fills vacancies on its board through a committee made up by its board chair, the president of it’s mayor’s council, and several other education leaders.

The Guam governor will then appoint, on the “advice and consent” of their legislature, the most qualified candidate from the committee’s list of nominees.

‘Characteristics of independence’
In describing “characteristics of an independent board,” WASC states “terms of board service are staggered to promote continuity and independence.”
WASC states that terms should be staggered. Very short terms and long terms are inadvisable.

WASC states that, “staggering terms promotes stability and independence.”

Further, WASC describes an independent board as one with “clear procedures to select, nominate, remove and replace board members, conforming to the principles of independence.”

WASC notes that governing board members have relevant expertise that qualifies them to serve on the board.

WASC further urges, among others, that boards to have clear, published conflict of interest policies signed by each board member annually and followed.

WASC also asks that governing boards “reflect…expertise in governance, finance, and higher education” and diversity in terms of gender and racial-ethnic background, among other factors.

Policy call
When asked if Gov. Eloy S. Inos would be open to a change in policy to help NMC further comply with WASC, press secretary Ivan Blanco said, “Of course.”

“When it comes to policies that are outdated, or don’t work anymore—given light what we went through a very tough accreditation process—yes, the administration is open to looking at what policies can be changed in accordance with [current] laws and the requirements” for accreditation, Blanco told Saipan Tribune.

On Manibusan’s letter to the governor, Blanco said it was his understanding that the AG’s opinion should precede.

“What’s in the best interest of the college?” Blanco said are the questions that will be asked.

“If we have to come up with new policies then we’ll do that. But as of now, there was a question posed to the AG and all the AG did was provide his opinion on the existing policies. If that does not work for NMC, the lines of communication are open. We can sit down and see what we can do to accommodate the college to ensure…that education is not interrupted for the students,” he said.

Manibusan had said the purported expiration dates for the NMC BOR were “erroneous and must be corrected.”

He said the terms of regent Elaine Orilla and William Torres had since expired per staggered dates.