Update from the President's Office - No. 184

May 09, 2001

MEMORANDUM

To:       All Regents, Faculty, Staff, and Students

From:     President

Subject:  Update from the President's Office-No.184

Fundraising Walk/Run and Raffle Drawing.    A walk/run and drawing for the 2001 raffle were held on Saturday, May 5, 2001, at Spanish Wall Park. A total of 288 faculty, staff, students, and community members participated, including groups of Upward Bound students and staff from Kosrae and Chuuk. A total of $1,440 was raised from the registration fees alone with pledges from students yet to be submitted. An additional amount of $16,600 was raised through the raffle ticket sales. A total of 183 tickets were sold @$200. Of the total amount of the ticket sales, $19,000 was reserved to cover the cash prizes. Special thanks go to the COM-FSM Board of Regents who covered the additional remaining cash prizes. Special recognition is also given to Mobil Oil, Micronesia for providing $500 worth of gas to two lucky winners. Winners of the raffle prizes are as follows: First prize ($10,000) - Maridell Actouka; Second prize ($5,000) - Joakim Peter, Education Culture Specialist at Chuuk Campus; Third prize ($3,000) - Jessica Montez & Ernie Cabral; Fourth prize ($2,000) - Association of Filipino Ladies in Pohnpei (AFLIP); Fifth prize ($1,000) - OZ&2 Syndicate c/o Brent Villiers; Sixth prize ($1,000) Sonny Padock & friends; Seventh prize ($1,000) - Fred Ramp; Eighth prize ($1,000) - Janice Yano; Ninth prize ($1,000) - Sinaly Peter; Tenth prize ($500 worth of gas) - Carol Duffy & Mellanie Lee; and Eleventh prize ($500 worth of gas) - David Panuelo. Congratulations to all winners!! And a big thank you to all who bought tickets. Your support is very much appreciated.

Special appreciation is expressed to members of the Fundraising Steering Committee for all their dedication and efforts to ensuring the success of these two events. Members are as follows: Iris Falcam, Jazmin Golzales, Arlene Dumantay, Lore Nena, Benina Ilon, Benson Moses, Ringlen Ringlen, Yasuo Yamada, Joseph Saimon, Regent Gardenia Walter, Penny Weilbacher, Jeffrey Arnold, Eddie Haleyalig, Spensin James, Brent Villiers, and Joe Habuchmai. I want to also thank Francisco Mendiola and all of the maintenance staff, Patricio Ramirez and the student activities staff, the MITC staff, and all of the volunteers for your support of the activities. Special appreciation goes to Board of Regents Chairman Podis Pedrus for starting the race and awarding the prizes and certificates. FSMNOC Jim Tobin and the NOC staff deserve recognition for all of the support they provided to the event. Thank you, also, to all staff and students who volunteered to help with the walk/run and the raffle drawing. Major sponsors of the events included: Ambros, Inc. (Guam) - t-shirts; FSMNOC - sponsorship of 100 students plus major assistance in organization; Palm Terrace - sodas, rice, ice, and cups; Bank of the FSM - banner; and Mobil Oil, Micronesia - two $500 worth of gas. Moylan's Insurance (FSM) was also recognized for the long-term support of the College's fundraising events. And last, but certainly not least, thank you to all staff and students who participated in Saturday's events. By participating in these events you have made a major contribution to the future of quality postsecondary education in the FSM.

Midterm accreditation visit.    As reported in Update 181, the College was visited by Mr. John Cruz of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) from April 30 - May 1, 2001. During his time here Mr. Cruz met with BOR Chairman Pedrus, Pohnpei Campus Acting Director Jeffrey Arnold, Director of Research and Planning/Accreditation Liaison Officer Greg Myers, Vice President for Support and Student Affairs Ringlen Ringlen, Director of Student Services Lore Nena, SBA officers and Dormitory Council, Director of Maintenance Francisco Mendiola, Director of Personnel Linda Maradol, Comptroller Bob Epstein, Staff Senate President Jonathan Gourlay, Vice President for Instructional Affairs Spensin James, and others as appropriate. A dinner in Mr. Cruz's honor was held at The Village on the evening of April 30, 2001. A draft report will be forwarded to me sometime this week for review and correction, if necessary. The final report will be submitted to the Accrediting Commission for action at its June, 2001, meeting. Appreciation is expressed to all who assisted with this visit in any way. A summary of Mr. Cruz's report will be shared in a later update.

Upward Bound visitors.    The College is pleased to welcome groups of students and staff from the Chuuk and Kosrae Upward Bound Programs who are making their annual college visit. During their time here they will be staying in the dormitories and eating most of their meals in the cafeteria. Presentations by Student Services, Office of Admissions and Records, Financial Aid Office, Business Office, Advising, Health Services, Housing, Library, and Academic Affairs were provided on Monday. Students attended classes on Tuesday and are scheduled to visit FSM National Government Offices on Wednesday, May 9th. Other activities include visits to Micronesian Seminar, Pohnpei Family Health Clinic, Nan Madol, and the theater among others. Let's all do what we can to make our visitors feel welcome.

Health Fair.    College Nurse Benina Ilon, Counselor Morehna Santos, and Peer Counseling Center Coordinator Mary E. (Goldi) Myers organized the first COM-FSM Health Fair which was held on campus April 30, 2001. Activities included the following presentations: Dental Health by Dr. Than Aye; Suicide/Suicide Prevention by Dr. Annette Zimmern; Alcohol Abuse and Its Effects by Samuel Pretrick, Jr. (student); Tobacco Smoking/Prevention by Midion Iohp; Family Planning by Lois Santos; and STI's/HIV/AIDS by Dr. Mayleen Ekiek. Other activities included aerobic demonstrations, raffle drawings, and community booth highlighting a variety of health, safety, and wellness topics. Community booth presenters include the following: Sylvia Kalau (PMA) -eye/vision screening; Captain Scott Nicloy (Salvation Army) - substance abuse and counseling; Dr. Rally Jim and staff - diabetes & hypertension screening; Dr. Mayleen Ekiek and staff - STI's/HIV/AIDS; Marcy Lorrin and staff - family planning; Humiko Paul - nutrition; Midion Iohp and staff - tobacco control; Dr. Annette Zimmern and staff - suicide/suicide prevention; Lt. Amor and staff (FSM National Police) - drugs/hard drugs; Bethany Black and staff (EPA, Pohnpei State) - healthy islands; Jane Elymore (FSM Health Services) - nutrition; and Meriam Abraham and Welsiter Hagilami (CES) - nutrition and food preparation.

Appreciation is expressed to Benina, Morehna, Goldi and to all who helped make this fair a very successful event. Thanks for a job well done!

National Campus facilities update.    Work is being done on the temporary gymnasium to make it a safe place to play and work. Repairs include painting of the rusted steel frame and securing of the roof insulation panels.

Designs and estimates are being solicited for construction of small patios to be constructed outside of the Bookstore and Dispensary. These patios would provide additional space for students to hang out and study and also help accommodate the influx of students during and immediately after registration.

A contract for architectural and engineering services for the additional faculty office building has been awarded to Efren H. Roque Architects in the amount of $7,006 for a duration of 60 days. The contract is currently being routed to the FSM AG and FSM Finance for signatures.

Regarding the landscaping project, approximately 70% of the storm drainage pipes have been installed, and grading and lawn installation around the buildings are approximately 60% complete. It is anticipated that there will be a need to extend the project for an additional six months for maintenance of the trees and lawn.

Regarding the multipurpose gymnasium, the electrical design and plans for the gymnasium were sent to PUC for review in early April. Efforts to work with PUC for the installation of the electrical hook-up are still being made. The hook-up of the electrical supply by PUC may cause some delay in the completion of the project as PUC is requiring full compliance to NEC Codes. November, 2001, still remains as the targeted completion date of this project. Finishing work has begun in the building, while the roofing work is still in progress. The parking area on the east side of the building has been completed.

Chuuk Campus construction.    The draft program and facilities master plan have been submitted for the College's review and comments. The design for the access road to the site is currently in progress and scheduled to be completed by August at which time the project will be advertised for bidding. Construction of the access road and related site preparation is tentatively scheduled for October, 2001. The estimated cost for construction of the access road and installation of utilities is approximately $500,000 - the amount of the appropriation provided by the FSM Congress. This does not include any actual construction of buildings. The amount of $1 million has been included in the FSM Government's proposed FY 2002 budget for construction of phase I of Chuuk Campus.

Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology program.    In a May 2, 2001, e-mail message from Dr. Michael G. Hadfield, Director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, I was informed that three COM-FSM students have been accepted to the Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) program for this summer. These students are Robert Churney, Jr., Abraham Rayphand, and Chestwood Nelber. Lori Reuney has been selected as an alternate. Each of the selected students will be traveling to intern with one of the UMEB faculty members at the University of Guam, University of Hawaii, or University of California at Berkley. Congratulations to all of you on this achievement!

Personnel.    Nothing to report this time.