Thus said former Speaker Oscar C. Rasa to Northern Marianas College’s board of regents on Friday as he presented an eight-page paper regarding proposals that he said NMC should consider.
The CNMI’s controversial first House speaker was given an opportunity to address the regents during their meeting.
“We cannot run this simply because we’ve been appointed. This college would go down the drain if you are not able to get together and make a policy on how management is run here,” he said.
According to Rasa leadership and management issues have plagued NMC for a very long period of time now because of the board’s failure in ensuring the participation of the faculty.
“I’m here today because I was responsible in the initial transition of the college from the termination of [former NMC President] Carmen Fernandez,” he said. “We have identified issues that were never made public…. It appears that some of the board members are making decisions that they do not understand.”
Rasa said the current NMC presidential search process does not always support the hiring of the best candidate.
He said staff members with little knowledge of academic qualifications are making key decisions, and hiring decisions are often made with little input from those most affected by the hiring.
The searches are poorly advertised and are often stretched out for an unreasonable time, he added.
NMC board members, he said, have outstanding qualifications but do not have proper training for their positions.
“Board education and development is a primary responsibility of the [NMC] president and should be a continual process, not limited to crisis situations such as potential loss of accreditation,” he said.
Rasa said board members do not appear to receive the information that will assist them in making unified, strategic decisions in support of the institution and the commonwealth.
Board members need to be mentored to better understand the nature of higher education, which is distinctly different from government, business or the military, he added.
“NMC has not yet identified peer and aspirant institutions for comparison which does not help the board better understand data and key assessment information,” he said.
Rasa believes that faculty members should control academics to support program advocacy, quality curriculum, and faculty retention.
NMC, however, does not have the proper governance structure and the instructional faculty is poorly represented as a group, he said.
Rasa at the same time urged board members to read the articles “Searching for Higher Education Leadership,” “Advise for Candidates and Search Committee by the Council of American Education,” “Board Strategic Plans,” copies of which he provided them.
Rasa noted that although the NMC board chairman is a former judge, “he hasn’t taken education courses,” referring to Juan T. Lizama.
Opposition to Adams
Former NMC President Agnes McPhetres, for her part, expressed her concern about the delay in the hiring of a new NMC president.
She said the board should be very diligent in the selection process and in looking into the background of the candidate being considered.
McPhetres noted that 98 percent of faculty members are opposed to the selection of the leading candidate.
Dr. Christa Adams, former president of Owens Community College in Ohio, has been offered by the regents the NMC presidency.
“To me this is really bothersome,” McPhetres said. “I hope the board will take their responsibility very seriously and select someone appropriate for this community.”
Lizama said a committee will evaluate and study Rasa’s recommendations.
New regent William S. Torres said the board should welcome more comments from the community.
“I hate to be placed in a situation where there’s a hidden agenda coming,” the former education commissioner added. He did not elaborate but said there should be a forum where all parties are allowed to speak “so that there will be no misunderstanding.”
Regent Maria T. Peter said she appreciates public comments that allow NMC to be aware of relevant issues.
“We would like to ask representatives from the faculty, students and staff to come in and tell the board what it needs to know so we can work together,” she said.
Dr. John Griffin, NMC faculty senate president and an honorary board member, said the interim NMC president and representatives of the faculty and staff should be given an opportunity to participate in the board’s closed-door meetings.
He said the regents are conducting too many executive or closed-door sessions, which should only be for personnel issues.
“You’ve been going into it with just the board members and not with people who have been here working day and night in the college knowing everything that’s going on, and will be best to answer questions but they can’t because they’re not here,” he said.
