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    April 19 - Palikir, Pohnpei

M E M O R A N D U M

April 19 , 2006

To:           All Concerned 

From:       President, COM-FSM 

Subject: Update #273

Fundraising Activities for the Endowment Fund

One hundred twenty nine administrators, faculty, and staff at the College of Micronesia-FSM are allotting money to the COM-FSM Endowment on a bi-weekly basis. The amount generated annually from these generous faculty, staff, and administrators add up to over $8,500 annually. Some of these people have contributed over one hundred dollars ($100) to the Endowment Funds that have made them eligible for the Bronze Circle on the Donor's Wall. Forty three (43) administrators, faculty, and staff are now added to the Bronze Circle category of the donors for the Endowment Fund. The following are the names of the generous donors:

Marylene Bisalen Marcellino X. Jibemai Kalwin Kephas
V.K. Murukesan Flordeliza B. Javier Bastora Raymond
Ermine S. Walliby Ringlen Ringlen Asher E. Edward
Francisco Mendiola Mellyana Langinimes Iansin Johnson
Pelma J. Palik Morehna Rettin-Santos Dayle Dannis
Spensin James Juliana Waathan Norleen Oliver
Arbel D. Ben Alfred Olter Senolyn Syne
Akiko William Alica E. Ada Susan J. Moses
Norma J. Edwin Rencelly Nelson Mark Deorio
Lucia Donre-Sam Benson Moses Joseph Saimon
Anca Dema Martin Mingii Peter Pedrus
Sernida Eperiam Allain Bourgoin Joey Oducado
Jessica A. Stam Jeffery Arnold Timothy Franklin
Edwin Sione Penny Weilbacher Lourdes Roboman
Moses Faimau    

Many of the allotters will be eligible for the Bronze Circle on the donor's wall after few more pay periods.

Students and faculty/staff at the Pohnpei and National Campuses formed groups and competed on sports and fundraising activities during the Founding Day 2006. The groups competed in these activities were able to raise the following for the Endowment Fund during the Founding Day 2006:

Team Amount Collected Less 10% 90% for Endowment

Team Amount Collected Less 10% 90% for Endowment
       
Red Team $1,321.25 $132.13 $1,189.13
Green Team (Kosrae Students) 2,300.03 230.00 2,070.03
Orange Team (Staff) 2,427.55 242.76 2,184.80
White Team (Chuuk Students) 2,600.00 260.00 2,340.00
Blue Team (Pohnpei National) 6,792.97 679.30 6,113.67
Purple Team (Pohnpei Campus) 8,038.38 803.84 7,234.54
  $23,480.18 $2,348.02 $21,132.16

On behalf of the administration of the College, I would like to express our appreciation, gratitude, and thanks to all team members and supporters for their dedication, efforts, and hard work on raising the funds for Endowment Funds. All the efforts and hard work of the teams are for the future of the young people of the FSM.

The six teams shown above are all eligible for the Silver Circle on the donor's wall of the COM-FSM Endowment Funds. Kudos to all of you. Your efforts and hard work make the College a better place to work.

Sport Equipments Donated by FSM Softball Federation

The College of Micronesia-FSM National Campus was fortunate to receive the following sport equipments from the FSM:

  • One full set of bases
  • One home plate
  • One pitching plate
  • One equipment bag
  • One dozen softball
  • Two softball bats
  • One set of catcher chin guard
  • Fifteen regular gloves
  • Five left hand gloves

On behalf of the administration of the college and the students at the National Campus, I would like to express our appreciation and thanks to the FSM Softball Federation for donating the sports equipment for our students.

Updates from Institutional Research and Planning Office

The Director and staff of Institutional Research and Planning Office are conducting working sessions in Yap and Chuuk on the development of the College's Strategic Plan and background sessions on the institutional assessment plan. Working sessions were held at FMI on Monday, April 10, 2006 and Yap Campus on April 11, 2006 with similar sessions scheduled for Chuuk Campus on April 17-18, 2006.

As a starting point, discussions at the state campuses have covered the draft objectives, strategies and measures that came out of the strategic plan working sessions at the National Campus the last week of March and first week of April.

Key issues in the working sessions for the strategic plan have focused on continued movement of the College to be fully learning centered and identification of priority objectives, strategies, and measures for each of the strategic goals.

The background sessions on institutional assessment planning have focused on what is the scope of an institutional plan, basic assumptions for an institutional assessment plan and developing a writing group and writing process for drafting the assessment plan.

Keynote Speaker for Spring Semester 2006 Graduation

The Student Services Committee and the Spring Semester 2006 graduates have selected the U.S Ambassador to the FSM, Her Excellency Suzanne Hale, as the keynote speaker for the Spring Semester 2006 Graduation. The Vice President for Support and Services Affairs has verbally communicated the Student Services Committee's decision to Ambassador Hale and she has accepted the invitation. The Spring Semester 2006 graduation is on May 24, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. at the FSM-China Friendship Convention/Sport Center.

Accreditation Team Visit

The accreditation team visit to the College of Micronesia-FSM is now upon us. One of the team members will be arriving in Chuuk on Wednesday, tomorrow, April 19, 2006, to verify the accomplishments the College made regarding communication, student learning outcome assessment, and facilities at Chuuk Campus. The team member that is visiting Chuuk Campus will travel to Pohnpei on Friday, April 21, 2006, to join the other team members who will be arriving in Pohnpei on Saturday, April 22, 2006. The team has scheduled an open exit meeting with the faculty, staff, and students on Tuesday, 4/25/06, afternoon. The exit meeting will take place after the team members meet with the administrators and key faculty and staff. The team members will depart Pohnpei on Wednesday, 4/26/06.

Supplemental Education Grant (SEG) for Work Study Program and Student Grant

The College of Micronesia-FSM has not received its Supplemental Education Grant funds for Work Study Program and Student Grant for fiscal year 2006. These funds were appropriated by FSM Congress as part of the College's fiscal year 2006 budget but has not been given to the College yet. Because of this the College’s Work Study account has been exhausted as of April 17, 2006.

The Student Grant of $300,000 from the SEG funds that was also appropriated by the FSM Congress has not been released to the College yet. The availability of these funds is critical as they are used in funding 80% of students' tuition and fees during Summer Sessions.

The President's Office is working closely with the FSM Government leaders on the release of these funds to the College.

Status of Construction of Facilities at Chuuk Campus

The three buildings under construction at Chuuk Campus are way ahead of schedule. It is likely that these buildings will be completed before the Summer Session 2006 begins at Chuuk Campus. The College has one more building to renovate to meet the facilities need at Chuuk Campus.

The following is a brief overview of the full report written by Dana Lee Ling. It is meant to help recruiting teams and state government leaders make sense of the COMET results. Please feel free to e-mail or call with questions or for further information (jgourlay@comfsm.fm phone 691-320-2480 ext. 229).

Results of the COM Entrance Test (COMET)

Admitted to degree programs (422 students)
Admitted to Intensive English Instruction (142 students)
Admitted to Certificate and Vocational Programs (1120)
Not admitted to any program (122 students)

COMET now features a composite cut-off score for easier reporting. This year, those who were admitted to degree programs scored a 700 or better combined score on the entrance test. This number is derived from the student's score on the essay (50%), grammar (25%), and math (25%) portions of the test. A score of 700 is significantly higher than the average of all 1806 who took the test. The top COMET score was 1000, the lowest score was 84. A score of 328 is no different from random.

Another new feature this year is that, in response to a Board of Regents' directive, the college now has a category of student who is "not admitted to any program." A score of 250 or less puts a student in this category. This score is significantly lower than the average and represents a score that is no different from (an in some cases worse than) random. The students in this category could not benefit from any program currently offered by COM-FSM and are might be said to be (in terms of the test) functionally illiterate.

Total who took the COMET by state:
Chuuk State: 741
Kosrae: 141
Pohnpei: 669
Yap: 255

Students Admitted into degree programs (score 700+) by state:
Chuuk: 75 students (18%)
Kosrae: 55 students (13%)
Pohnpei: 225 students (53%)
Yap: 67 students (16%)

It is important to note:

  • A score of 700 or above does mean that the student is "college level" in English and math. Historical trends indicated that between 70% and 90% of incoming students will need some remediation in English and Math.
  • The College has limited space. If all schools improve, the College can still only accept (at most) about 450 students to degree programs.

Thank you.