Robin Helms, the vice president for membership and educational services of the Association of Community College Trustees, listens to a question from a Rotarian during the Rotary Club of Saipan’s general membership meeting at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
ROBIN Helms, the vice president for membership and educational services at the Association of Community College Trustees, or ACCT, was the special guest of the Rotary Club of Saipan during its general membership meeting at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
She was the guest of Frankie Eliptico, a Rotarian and Northern Marianas College’s vice president for administration and advancement.
The ACCT is a non-profit educational organization that includes members of community colleges, junior colleges and technical colleges around the United States. It advocates for the nation’s community colleges in Washington, D.C.
Helms said she was on island as part of the ACCT board’s mandate to “meet our members where they’re at,” referring to NMC.
She said during her meeting with local college officials, she learned how the college has rebounded from Super Typhoon Yutu and continued to hold graduations, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Helms said such stories are helpful in ACCT’s advocacy in Washington, D.C.
“This is exactly what [our federal policy advocates] need — these stories,” she said. “These are the sort of individual stories form colleges that really make a difference to [U.S.] legislators. Our public policy team can bring these together … and bring them forward to their contacts [in D.C.] and also summarize them and use them to influence [national] policy, priorities, and messages going forward.”
Helms said she was impressed by NMC’s resiliency.
“From the minute I walked on campus I could tell it’s just a very special place. With everything the college has been through in the last few years just seeing that resilience … just how the community pitched in — they’ve accomplished amazing things. Not just getting through but getting accreditation, and they had graduations throughout [the pandemic. They were] able to persevere and move forward and grow despite all these difficulties. It was really incredible.”
