COM-FSM Seal College of Micronesia-FSM
Federated States of Micronesia
 
 
Computing · Directory · Home · Jobs · Library · News
  July - Palikir, Pohnpei  

M E M O R A N D U M

 

July 23, 2008

 

MEMORANDUM

To : All Concerned

From : President

Subject: President’s Update #313

COM-FSM Hosted PPEC’s 2008 Third Quarter Meeting at National Campus

The College of Micronesia-FSM hosted the Pacific Postsecondary Education Council (PPEC) Third Quarter Meeting at the National Campus during the week of July 9-11, 2008 . PPEC was established in 1981 as a nonprofit, public benefit corporation to address the concerns and needs of Pacific island Postsecondary institutions. The council consists of chief executive officers (or their representatives) of public colleges and universities in the American-Affiliated Pacific Islands .

The following PPEC members attended the recently concluded meeting in Pohnpei: Dr. Patrick Tellei, President of Palau Community College; Ms. Mary Okaga, President of Guam Community College; Dr. Leon Richard, Chancellor of Kapiolani Community College; Mr. Mike Rota, Chancellor of Honolulu Community College; Dr. Wilson Hess, President of the College of Marshall Islands, Dr. Robert Underwood, President of University of Guam, and Mr. Spensin James, President of the College of Micronesia-FSM. Mr. Larry Gamboa, Executive Director of PPEC also attended the meeting. Four of the PPEC members did not attend the recently concluded meeting in Pohnpei. The next PPEC meeting will be in Saipan during the latter part of October 2008.

Some purposes of PPEC include:

  • Encourage and develop regional planning of postsecondary education throughout the Pacific;
  • Serve as a forum to address common educational issues and to foster cooperation in solving common problems facing Pacific people and their environment;
  • Encourage and sponsors sharing of resources and expertise among member institutions to promote the wise utilization of limited resources and discourage unhealthy and wasteful duplication of effort;
  • Work as a unit in promoting the uniqueness of the region in such areas as communications, alternative energy, human resource development, and planning;
  • Articulate compatibility of education programs to facilitate transferability of academic credits among member institutions;
  • Serve as a coordinating agency for external organizations interested in assisting with postsecondary and continuing education needs of the Pacific, and act as an information clearinghouse for Pacific postsecondary educational institutions.

The agenda items discussed and adopted during the PPEC meeting at the COM-FSM included the following:

  • Military Build up on Guam and Roles of PPEC on the matter;
  • Regional Workforce Development Council updates;
  • Updates on Western Micronesia Chief Executive Summit
  • UOG Initiatives
  • Pohnpei Accord (Articulation of courses at UOG)
  • Updates on US DOI/OIA Year One Implementation Grant of $500,000 and activities.
  • Future Collaborations among PPEC institutions;
  • Partners in Nursing Training/Health Education Grant;
  • PPEC By-Laws;
  • PEACESAT – Next Generation of Users;
  • Boardmanship Training;
  • CCLDI – Moving to Hawaii ;
  • CFO Training at UOG during the week of July 28- August 2, 2008 , and
  • Updates on other programs that PPEC is collaborating on.

The PPEC members also paid a courtesy visit to the FSM President’s Office where the group met with His Excellency Manny Mori, President of the FSM and Honorable Casiano Shoniber, Secretary for Department of Education, FSM.

Schedule of Activities for Pacific Postsecondary Education Council (PPEC) First Year of the Multi-Year Grant:

The Pacific Postsecondary Education Council (PPEC) submitted a multi-year Technical Grant to US Department of Interior earlier this year for possible funding and was informed that year one of the technical grant has been funded at $500,000. Some of the activities that will be funded under the Year I grant included the following:

  • Boardmanship Training for PPEC Board members;
  • Chief Fiscal Officer Training;
  • Annual Regional Student Learning Outcome and Assessment Training;
  • ESL Training for Faculty;
  • Employment of the Executive Director;
  • Grant Writing and Administration Training;
  • Recruit and Hire Regional Research and assessment Professional for PPEC;
  • Attendance of Chancellors/Presidents at quarterly meeting, and
  • Administration of the Grant.

The College of Micronesia-FSM has been given the responsibility from the DOI to administer the PPEC Year I funds. All certification and management of the funds will be happening at the COM-FSM.

Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA) Consultants Had Site Visits to the COM-FSM National and Pohnpei Campuses

Dr. Marcella Gallen and Mr. Dwight Edward of the Pohnpei State Department of Health Services accompanied two Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA) consultants (Drs. Ohnmar Tut and Peter Milgrom) on Friday, 7/18/08 , on a site visit and consultation meeting with the College of Micronesia-FSM key staff from National and Pohnpei Campuses. COM-FSM’s key faculty and staff at the meeting included the following: Mrs. Penny Weilbacher, Director of Pohnpei Campus; Mrs. Maria Dision, Instructional Coordinator, Pohnpei Campus; Mrs. Karen Simion, Acting Vice President for Instructional Affairs, Dr. Cuboni, Coordinator for Public Health Program at COM-FSM; Mr. Asher Edward, Division Chair of Math/Sciece, and Spensin James.

The consultants plan to conduct similar site visit at the Palau Community College and the College of Marshall Islands . The purposes of the site visits and consultation meetings are to determine which of the three institutions will be the host for the Associate Degree Program in Dental Para-Professional Training.

The consultants asked COM-FSM representatives questions regarding capacity of the College to accommodate the AS Degree Program. The consultants also toured the COM-FSM LRC and students dormitory. COM-FSM representatives tried their best to present the College as the best host institution for the AS Degree Program in Dental Para-Professional, however, there are other factors outside of the College like funding and support from the Pohnpei Department of the Health Services that would also be taken into consideration in determining which of the three institutions will host the training program.

The consultants will be contacting the President of the College at a later date regarding their decision.

FSM Project Management Unit Meeting

The Director of Facilities, Maintenance, and Security, Mr. Francisco Mendiola and President Spensin James met with the FSM Project Management Unit Staff on Wednesday, July 16, 2008, to get more specific information on College’s IDP Projects that have been supported by PMU and approved by the OIA staff in Honolulu, Hawaii. The representatives of the College also wanted to know what the College has to do in order to advance our pending projects. The PMU staff informed the representatives of the College that the following IDPs for the College have been approved by OIA and construction on these facilities will start sometimes at the end of August 2008: The LRC and Student Center for Kosrae Campus, LRC for Pohnpei Campus, Computer Labs and Regular Classrooms Building, Student Services Building and Vocational Building for Yap Campus. The following IDP are still on hold and needs inputs from Education Department in Korase and Pohnpei State as well as the College on what vocational programs, if any, can be shared between the departments and the College: Vocational Buildings at Kosrae and Pohnpei Campuses. The project on access road to Nandaku site has also not been approved by OIA.

Outcomes of the President’s Trip to Chuuk State

The following are the outcomes of President James’ trip to Chuuk Campus during the week of June 23-27, 2008 :

1. Established collaborations with Governor Simina’s Office on securing the easement and also construction of access road to Nandaku Site. Governor Simina supports the College working with Chuuk State Department of Education on the access road.

2. Established collaborations with stakeholders (Education Department) on teacher training programs for Chuuk State Teachers by meeting with Director Sanfio Sony and key staff. Also signed a MOU on Teacher Training with the Chuuk State Department of Education for Summer 2008, Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 for diversifying the fiscal resources at the College to maintain fiscal stability.

3. Meeting with members of private sector (TTC Board of Directors) on securing facilities for improving the instructional and student services programs at Chuuk Campus.

4. Secured Chuuk Leaders support on in service teacher training programs for Faichuk District through a meeting with Senator Twiter Aritos.

5. Met with key staff at Chuuk Campus for continuous improvement on programs and services.

6. Met number of faculty members regarding staff development initiatives for increasing the number of qualified faculty and staff at Chuuk Campus.

7. Met with Director Joakim Peter, Instructional Program Coordinator, and Vocational Instructor and discussed ways of improving the delivery of vocational programs at Chuuk Campus.

8. Monitored the quality of programs and services at Chuuk Campus.

President James Requested assistance of SBOC to Release $350,000 appropriated by the FSM Congress for Construction of Chuuk Campus Facilities

A letter has been sent to Director of SBOC for his assistance in releasing the $350,000 that was appropriated under compact I IDP funds for the renovation of Chuuk Campus. The College also raised the same issue with the OIA staff during the budget consultation meetings on May 29, 2008 , in Pohnpei. The OIA staffs are in support of the College getting the money as reimbursement for its funds that were used in construction of the facilities at Chuuk Campus based on the Accrediting Commissions Recommendations.

The COM-FSM Third Quarter Report for FY 2008 submitted to SBOC

The College of Micronesia-FSM submitted its FY 2008 Third Quarter Report to the Director of SBOC on Friday, July 18, 2008 . The College is required to submit this report to the FSM.

I would like to take this opportunity and express my appreciation and thanks to all managers, vice presidents, campus directors, and all who submitted their reports on time enabling the College to send its report to the FSM National Government on time. I also would like to express my appreciation and thanks to Mr. Willy Edwin and Mr. Jimmy Hicks for compiling and organizing the report.

The COM-FSM Single Audit Report for FY 2007 Distributed

The copies of the College of Micronesia-FSM Single Audit Report for FY 2007 had been mailed out to the FSM President’s Office, Speaker of the FSM Congress, all Governors, Speakers of State Legislators of the FSM states, Secretary Finley Perman, Secretary Casiano Shoniber, Director Fabian Nimea, and Honorable Haser Hainrick, Public Auditor for FSM.

The College Community should be proud of the team efforts put into the report. The financial statement for the College for fiscal year 2007 was given an unqualified opinion with no findings. For the third year in a row the College was also given the status of low risk audittee. This is also the 9 th year in a row that the financial statement for the College has been given unqualified opinion. Kudos to all of you for helping to show the public that we are accountable for every penny that we are given to operate the College. Special thanks goes to Mr. Danny Dumantay and the staff at the Business Office for their hard work on the Audit Report . Your hard work enabled the College to submit its report on time to the Federal Government and the Accrediting Commission.

Important Dates to Remember for Fall Semester 2008

June 30 - Deadline for 2008 Fall Semester Applications

June 14 - Deadline for 2008 Fall Semester Readmissions

August 4 - Fall Semester Begins

August 4-7 - Freshmen Orientation

August 4-7 - Faculty Workshops

August 8 - Freshmen Course Selection

August 11-13 - Registration

August 13 Faculty - Meeting

August 14 - First Day of Instruction

Status of Staff Development Program at the College

The following are the updates on faculty and staff who are(were) supported by the staff development program at the College.

Employees completed programs:

  • Faustino Yarofaisug- on-line Master’s Degree from SDSU
  • Shirly Jano – on-line Master’s Degree from SDSU.
  • Resida Keller-on-line Master’s Degree SDSU
  • Roger Arnold-educational leave- Professional Master’s Degree UOG
  • Joey Oducado-on-line Master’s Degree SDSU (paid own program)
  • Kalwin Kephas-on-line Master’s Degree Walden University

In Progress :

  • Robert Yangerlou-educational leave for Master’s degree UOG (ABD)
  • Debra Perman –online Master’s Degree Program at Capella.
  • Deeleeann Daniel – educational leave-Master’s Degree UH Manoa
  • Stanly Etse –online Master’s Program at Capella University .
  • Atkins Buliche –online Master’s Degree Program at University of Phoenix .
  • Abraham Rayphand –online Master’s Degree Program at UH Manoa.
  • Joyce Roby – educational leave Bachelor’s Degree Program Michigan State University .

Only two faculty members have not started working on their Master Degree Programs at the College. All faculty members in the academic areas are required to have Master Degrees to teach at the COM-FSM effective Fall Semester 2008.

Kudos to Summer Session 2008 Faculty Members

I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to Summer Session 2008 faculty members for completing another successful summer session. Your dedication and hard work will be remembered by students and teachers who attended the Summer Session 2008. I would like to encourage each of you to take some time off for R and R before Fall Semester 2008 begins on August 2008.

First Aid/CPR Training

As of July 2, 2008 a total of 13 personnel from the campus security and 2 from the maintenance division who attended the First Aid/CPR training conducted by the Micronesian Red Cross received official certification of passing the First Aid/CPR course. From the campus security office are Warren Ching, Isack Roby, Eugene Aldis, Simiai Manuel, Justin Route , Saramea Phichiol, Kelly Choay, James Kimel, Bonster Fredrick, Perry Tewasmal, Adelino Seiola, Dickson Loney, and Fred Lipai. From the maintenance division office are Lihno Panuelo, and Thomas Gonzaga

A big congratulations to all of you for your dedication and hard work. Keep up the good job.

Institutional Eligibility Decision for COM-FSM to Participate in the Title IV, HEA Program

The San Francisco/Seattle School Participation Team was tasked with the responsibility of reviewing the College of Micronesia-FSM ’s application to participate in the Title IV-HEA Program (Pell Grant Program). Based on the analysis of materials submitted by the College, these determined that the COM-FSM meets the minimum requirements of the institution eligibility, administrative capability, and financial responsibility as set by the US Department of Education to participate in the Pell Grant Program for another six years. This means that the COM-FSM is eligible to participate in the Pell Grant program from school years 2008-2014.

National Campus’ Utility/Electricity Usage

Attached is a compiled data on the kilo watt per hour usage of electricity at the National Campus from March 2007 to May 2008 for everyone’s information and perusal. The Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Security uses this chart as a basis to monitor energy usage and conservation.

Let us all please work together to monitor and find ways to conserve energy to off set the rising cost of fuel and utility bills.

Thank you.