Board Chairman Charles V. Cepeda said the amount will allow NMC to continue serving the community.
The budget request allots 48 percent of the total amount for NMC’s academic programs and services — 43 percent is for instructional faculty and 5 percent for other academic programs and services.
Seventeen percent of the proposed budget is for the offices of the president, institutional advancement, institutional effectiveness, and Tinian and Rota.
Sixteen percent goes to student services; 15 percent , financial and administrative support; and 4 percent, community programs and services.
Student services cover library services, admissions and records, counseling, and student activities.
“NMC plays a central role in providing higher educational opportunities, the general and specialized training of our local workforce, and the overall economic health of the CNMI,” Cepeda said.
NMC President Carmen Fernandez said the budget proposal was based on an in-depth and critical review of the financial needs of the college.
“The budget that we have presented to the board represents the bare minimum that the college needs to maintain the quality of educational services we offer and to meet accreditation requirements,” Fernandez said.
She said the budget was reviewed and approved through the college’s shared governance process before it was submitted to the Regents.
The budget, she added, reflects the collective input of students, faculty, and staff, and was also reviewed by the board’s fiscal committee chairwoman Janet Han King, regents Agnes M. McPhetres and Dr. Rita H. Inos.
Fernandez said they had to consider the accreditation requirements.
Some of the positions that the college wants to fund are those that have been identified as critical during NMC’s program review and assessment process.
NMC, which has 134 employees, earlier said that its operations budget for FY 2009 was $3.1 million.
