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NMC presses ahead with 4-year degree in business management
With its accreditation now with the WASC Senior College and University Commission, the Northern Marianas College’s plan to offer a bachelor’s degree in business management is now full speed ahead.
“The program is going, is starting. There is no if, ands, or buts about it,” Richard Waldo, NMC’s Instructor of Accounting, said in a news briefing on Wednesday.
NMC’s Board of Regents approved the plan to offer the business management degree in March.
NMC was previously under the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and offered just a bachelor’s degree in education. The college could not offer a second bachelor’s degree until it had transitioned to the Senior Commission.
According to acting NMC president Jacqueline Che, NMC decided to offer a bachelor’s degree in business management because of the workforce needs.
“The private sector identified business as a major that they wanted the college to offer,” Che said.
Manny Castro, NMC’s Registrar and director of Admissions and Records, said it is premature to assess the exact number of students expected to enroll in the new program. But, based on the number of previous associate degree graduates, he said probably more than 100 students can benefit in continuing to the new program.
Che said the business degree program currently has five faculty members and two more may possibly be hired.
Amanda Allen, NMC’s director of Distance Learning, said the college did a survey on current students and alumni to gauge the interest in the degree. Out of 400 students, 90 were interested in starting right away and even more were interested in gradually getting into the program.
Waldo said classes have already been scheduled for students to start with. He expressed optimism in the possibility of adding more concentrations, like accounting, to other four-year degrees in the future.
Che said it is too premature to say what the college expects to offer next.
“We need to make sure we have a successful program with our business [degree], before we take the next big step,” said Allen.
