NORTHERN Marianas College President Galvin Deleon Guerrero, EdD said that infrastructure projects at the college will help create the “new NMC” in a facilities master plan status update he gave during the Saipan Chamber of Commerce general membership meeting held Wednesday at Saipan World Resort.
Deleon Guerrero said Proa Union, commonly called the student center, is on track for completion by Sept. 30 of this year.
He said, the three-story building adjacent to As Terlaje Hill will house all student support services, including the library, the offices of admission and records, counseling, and financial aid.
It will also feature “a nice, big dining hall on the first floor that goes up two stories.” The dining hall will accommodate around 400 people, with space for three food vendors. Two of the vendor spaces will have their own kitchen to facilitate on-site meal preparation.
Deleon Guerrero said the third floor will house the Office of Student Activities and Leadership. There will be a “mini-conference room” with a patio that can accommodate 250 to 300 people.
Deleon Guerrero shared how excited he is about the project.
“This is going to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the entire Pacific, and it’s going to be housed right here in the Northern Marianas on As Terlaje Hill,” he said. “And it is remarkably — for a public project — on schedule.”
According to Deleon Guerrero, NMC’s facilities master plan has set fall 2026 as the target completion date of three additional buildings: the Center for Research and Extension Development or CRED, the Workforce Development and Training Center, and classroom buildings for the humanities and sciences.
Deleon Guerrero said NMC recognizes the CNMI’s need for agricultural lab work, and the CRED building will help fill that gap.
“For far too long, the research capacity of the Northern Marianas has been very limited,” he said. “Oftentimes, when we need lab samples or lab work done, we have to send it off-island or bring in special researchers — and even then, they’re often limited by the kind of lab capacity we have. So, working with CREES, we are building a brand-new Center for Research and Extension Development.”
He added that the invitation to bid for the construction will be issued next month. The plan includes ventilation, fire suppression, a biohazard incinerator and biohazard disposal, among other features.
Deleon Guerrero said the design of the CRED building will ensure it “blends into the landscape.” Visitors will walk along a “journey” featuring flowers and flora native to the Marianas.
The Workforce Development and Training Center, on the other hand, will house a variety of programs, including the School of Business, the Small Business Development Center, the School of Nursing, and the Community Development Institute. It will also serve as a venue for events.
“We’re designing it so that it can basically be like a transformer building — not only housing our programs but also accommodating events. When SBDC hosts its Small Business Night, they can host it there,” Deleon Guerrero said.
The classroom buildings for the humanities and sciences are also expected to be completed by fall 2026, he said. These buildings will feature computer labs, tech labs, science laboratories, and more.
Supporting the “new NMC” is the infrastructure recently completed beneath College Lane, the road adjacent to the college that was formerly known as Fina Sisu Lane.
Deleon Guerrero said the project — supported by the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation and the Commonwealth Economic Development Authority — installed new water, power, and telecommunications infrastructure.
He added that a gymnasium and additional projects are in the pipeline.
Touting the progress of NMC’s facilities master plan, Deleon Guerrero asserted that the problem of plans going to waste was not besetting the college.
“In the Marianas — and in the Pacific in general — we are all too familiar with the problem of plans going to waste. Plans sitting on some shelf, on some desk, in some office, collecting dust. That is not happening at NMC,” he said.
“We said we were going to build a student center — we’re doing it. We said we were going to build a research building — we’re doing it. We said we were going to build a workforce development center — we’re doing it. We said we were going to build classroom buildings — we’re doing it.
“This is just the start of our facilities master plan,” he added.
Northern Marianas College President Galvin Deleon Guerrero, EdD speaks at the July general membership meeting of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce. Behind him is a photo of the facilities master plan projects coming down the construction pipeline.
The Center for Research and Extension Development will “blend” into the surrounding area and will be a place for agricultural lab work and more.
The classroom buildings of the “new NMC” are scheduled to be completed in fall of 2026
The Workforce Development and Training Center will host events and professional development sessions.
