By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

THE Western Association of Schools and Colleges had placed Northern Marianas College on probation, but said its accreditation is not threatened as long as it complies with WASC’s recommendations within a two-year period.
This is the first time that NMC has been placed on probation.
“This probation sanction comes because of an accumulation of organizational problems going back as far as 1990,” WASC said in a letter to NMC.
According to a statement from the college, “NMC…has already taken steps to begin addressing most of the recommendations.”
WASC said NMC needs to
• Conduct regular and cyclical program review and institutional assessment, and effectively integrate these activities into the organizational decision-making processes.
• Ensure wide participation by college faculty and staff in institutional governance and decision-making processes that are integrated, well-documented and driven by the college’s mission and goals. This refers to the need for the college to move forward with a shared vision with regard to its budgeting, planning, evaluation and resource allocation.
• Ensure the quality of both classroom and distance instruction at the Tinian and Rota instructional sites.
• Acquire the financial resources necessary to upgrade and renovate the Saipan campus. Renovations don’t have to be done all at once with a large amount of money — the college can do them little by little as long as it makes continuous progress and has a plan for doing so.
• Effectively implement the college’s existing employee evaluation processes so that NMC always has effective human resources and is always working to improve them. The employee evaluation process should not be seen as threatening and punitive but as an opportunity for improvement.
• Ensure a qualified board of regents that undergoes sufficient and ongoing training about their roles and responsibilities, especially with regard to accreditation requirements.