He said he will propose the relocation of the SHEFA office from Garapan to Northern Marianas College.
Relocating to NMC campus will make the office very accessible to students who are also recipients of SHEFA programs, he told Variety.
NMC, moreover, is a safer place for storing records and other documents.
In a recent meeting, Hofschneider told the SHEFA board that their office needs energy-efficient glass windows, new flooring, painting, and plumbing work.
“The office now may not be a healthy environment. Sunlight does not enter the windows. The old, dusty and dirty carpet is a health hazard, trapping dust and particles that circulate in the unventilated office air. This is a perfect environment for mold, which potentially could cause respiratory illness,” he said.
In addition, the rooms where student records are stored need to be secured, he said.
The current SHEFA office, he added, has no fire extinguishers or water sprinklers and student records are kept in regular office filing cabinets, which are not fireproof.
He said student records are at risk of being lost as the filing cabinets are designed for storing non-sensitive documents.
According to Hofschneider, SHEFA must store records in safe, secured filing cabinets, and the rooms in which they are stored need to be better secured to restrict access to those who are only authorized to inspect student files.
He told Variety that they have also started working with the Department of Finance to trace the record of SHEFA scholars who have already graduated but have not returned to Saipan to work here, as required by SHEFA rules.
The department’s record showed that $13,577 has been paid by “default” scholars from May 30, 2006 to Dec. 23, 2010, he said.
Finance has no accounts receivable ledger for each former recipient of financial assistance who is currently making payments under the terms of a promissory note or memorandum of agreement, Hofschneider said.
He said they will check SHEFA records on collectibles from scholars who failed to return to and work on Saipan.
