Update from the President's Office - No. 188

July 04, 2001

MEMORANDUM

To:       All Regents, Faculty, Staff, and Students

From:     President

Subject:  Update from the President's Office-No.188

Meeting with UOG officials.    In response to concerns expressed by COM-FSM Board of Regents Chairman Podis Pedrus in a May 28, 2001 letter to UOG Acting President Roy Tsuda, a team comprised of UOG Regent John Beamer, Acting Academic Vice President Helen Whippy, and Director of the Center for Continuing Education and Outreach Programs Maria Pangelinan traveled to Pohnpei on June 20, 2001, to meet with Chairman Pedrus, Vice President for Instructional Affairs Spensin James, Director of Academic Programs Joe Habuchmai, myself, and others to review IDP's of students in the fourth-year program and various MOU's and agreements that had been established between UOG and COM-FSM. In his June 26, 2001, letter to Acting President Tsuda, Chairman Pedrus states,

The exit report signed by Dr. Whippy and Spensin contains agreements regarding students who will be student teaching in fall 2001, confirmation that the fourth-year agreement does not expire until spring 2003, procedures for course articulation, and plans for the development of a Masters program (a fifth-year program) to be in place by AY 2003 among others. A copy of this report can be obtained from Spensin.

During her time at COM-FSM, Dr. Whippy took advantage of the opportunity to sit in on EN/CO 205 Speech Communication being taught by an instructor as part of her research to determine if EN/CO 205 could be articulated with UOG's course in fulfillment of the General Education requirement. In her June 28, 2001, e-mail message to Spensin, Dr. Whippy states,

Board teleconference meeting.    As of this writing a teleconference meeting of the COM-FSM Board of Regents is tentatively scheduled to be held Tuesday, July 3, 2001, at 10:00 a.m. Pohnpei time. Items on the agenda include: requests to use additional revenue for Chuuk Campus ($43,229 for shortfalls in the areas of utilities, printing, communication, and office/classroom rental and $30,000 for a shortfall in the area of salaries for part-time summer session instructors) and the National Campus ($20,000 for a shortfall in the area of student travel) and a proposed revision of the Honor Roll section of the Academic Standards policy. The outcomes of this meeting will be reported in the next Update.

Summer session enrollment.    According to information received from the Office of Admissions and Records and the State Campus Directors, summer session enrollment is as follows: National Campus - 463; Pohnpei Campus - 124; Kosrae Campus - 183. Enrollment figures for Chuuk and Yap will be reported in the next Update.

Kosrae Campus update.    According to the May/June monthly report from Kosrae Campus Director Kalwin Kephas, two students - Brocula Ned and Almarinda D. Talley - completed course requirements for their A.S. Degrees in Teacher Education - Elementary this past spring. Congratulations to Brocula and Almarinda!

Kosrae Campus math instructor, Rhoda Velasques, is currently in Kona, Hawaii, participating in a DELTA math/science seminar sponsored by PREL. It is hoped that by participating in this seminar, Rhoda will be in a better position to facilitate the articulation of courses from elementary to high school to college level.

This summer Kosrae Campus is offering 15 courses for 183 students in the following degree/certificate programs: Teacher Education - 125; Trial Counselors - 13; Agriculture - 10; Carpentry - 9; Liberal Arts - 9; Business - 6; Marine Science - 2; Nursing - 1; Accounting - 1; and Undecided - 7.

The Kosrae GEAR UP program launched its summer program with a staff comprised of 22 teachers and 10 mentors conducting classes from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday. Fridays are set aside as a recreation/resource person day.

Land Grant youth and agriculture extension agents actively participated in an island-wide activity for youth (9th graders) promoting drug-free communities. Dr. Josecutty from MPPRC conducted a session at the Science Congress held at UOG in the early part of June.

The Upward Bound Program is in the middle of its summer session. Classes being offered this summer include English literature, communication skills, study skills, introduction to computers, biology, physical science, earth science, algebra I, algebra II, pre-calculus, and geometry. Physical education classes are held on Mondays and Wednesdays, club and committee work is done on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Fridays are set aside for field trips and cultural and career activities.

FSM Fisheries and Maritime Institute.    According to the May monthly report from FSM FMI Director Matthias Ewarmai, a total of 23 students were enrolled in the Restricted Class 6 Master/Engineer course including 4 students from Chuuk, 1 from Kosrae, and 18 from Yap. At the end of May the class had completed all of the theory subjects and were concentrating on the practical part of the course which included setting of long lines and the weaving and mending of nets. Graduation was scheduled for June 21, 2001.

FSM FMI Practical Instructor in Marine Engineering, Alex Raiuklur, returned to Yap on May 12th after successfully completing a 4-month training program in "Maintenance for Small Scale Fisheries" in Japan.

Work on renovation of the FSM FMI facilities has resumed. Efforts are being made to thoroughly clean the roof in preparation for its repair. Once the roof is repaired, the contractor has indicated that all remaining renovation work could be completed in approximately 4 weeks time.

A visit by the Assistant Director of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) has been tentatively scheduled for October as a follow up to the submission of a Substantive Change report approximately a year ago.This visit is a requirement of the Commission.

FSM Congress.    Word has been received that the FSM Congress is scheduled to hold a session beginning on July 10, 2001, for seven (7) days. The primary focus of this session will be the FY 2002 budget.

FSM Fisheries and Maritime Institute.    According to the May monthly report from FSM FMI Director Matthias Ewarmai, a total of 23 students were enrolled in the Restricted Class 6 Master/Engineer course including 4 students from Chuuk, 1 from Kosrae, and 18 from Yap. At the end of May the class had completed all of the theory subjects and were concentrating on the practical part of the course which included setting of long lines and the weaving and mending of nets. Graduation was scheduled for June 21, 2001.

CCLDI Board meeting.    I will be traveling to Oakland, California on Wednesday, July 4th to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Community College Leadership Development Initiative (CCLDI) on which I represent the Western Pacific institutions. Vice President Spensin James has been asked to act in my stead until my return on Monday, July 9th. All expenses for my attendance at this meeting are being covered by CCLDI.

Personnel.   A warm welcome is extended to Edsin Asito who has joined Chuuk Campus as the media technician. Edsin began work on June 26, 2001. Welcome to COM-FSM!