Rates for NMC instructors, overload faculty to be revamped

Due to a huge budget shortfall this fiscal year, Northern Marianas College president Sharon Hart will be enforcing cost-effective measures to avert a “chaotic situation” at the college. Among the steps she plans to implement is a change in the rates of adjunct instructors and overload faculty members.

Hart told the Board of Regents yesterday that under the existing practice, NMC determines rates for adjunct instructors based on their educational credentials.

“We’re going to change that and we [have a number of reasons to] believe that it needs total revamp,” said Hart.

She also disclosed that permanent employees of the college will be asked to teach to save on hiring adjuncts and additional faculty.

“It’s time to really focus within the college and look at our current staff. We’re looking at absorbing the cost [budget shortfall] internally by re-using our personnel in areas where they are needed and I believe we have a very educated staff and employees. We may include the teaching service as part of their contractual obligation to the college,” Hart said.

For example, Students’ Services dean Leo Pangelinan, who must put in 40 hours weekly as program dean, can reduce this to 30 hours a week and render the remaining 10 hours by teaching students.

Saipan Tribune learned that because of the lack of instructors, some faculty members teach a number of classes above the allowed credit and this is classified as overload. In previous fiscal years, this expense would reach close to a million dollar. Payment is sourced from tuition collected from students.

Because NMC has been incurring such a huge cost for overloads, Hart said the new rates will minimize this cost.

According to Barbara Merfalen, dean of Academic Programs, NMC is projected to incur a $432,783 shortfall this fiscal year.

Based on the local budget of $5.1 million, she explained that $3.9 million will be used for personnel cost while $1.2 million is for all others and operation. However, because the average payroll is $216,224 for all employees, this brings to $5.6 million the estimated total payroll projection for 26 pay periods.

Merfalen said the total budget shortfall assumes that the entire budget of $5.1 million is used toward personnel, with no staffing changes.

NMC has two funding sources: local appropriation and tuition and fees from students.

As part of the cost-effective proposal to address the shortfall, Merfalen said that NMC should scout for cheaper airfare for official business trips.

Merfalen also recommended cutting legal fees by contracting a lawyer for the college instead of a yearly fixed contract.