President's Message to the Community

July 21, 2016

COM-FSM Mission Statement:

The College of Micronesia-FSM is a learner-centered institution of higher education that is committed to the success of the Federated States of Micronesia by providing academic, career and technical education programs characterized by continuous improvement and best practices.

Dear Colleagues and Fellow Members of the COM-FSM Community,

Accreditation:
The college has received an Action Letter from ACCJC announcing reaffirmation of accreditation for 18 months with a Follow-Up Report to address two recommendation and three standards. The Commission decision was informed by the college’s Self Evaluation Report and the External Evaluation Report of a March 2016 visiting team.

The college has already begun to address these Standards reported in a Supplemental Report to the Commission in May 2016, and the president’s Presentation to the Commission in June 2016. The Follow Up Report in 18 months will be an update to the Commission on work completed towards fully addressing the three standards.

ACCJC has also posted actions taken on 33 total institutions in the List of Institutional Actions Report.

Announcement from Vice Presidents:
Vice President for Administrative Services (VPAS): The final audit report was released on June 24, 2016, with Unmodified Opinion and no material audit findings.

Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Services (VPEMSS): VPEMSS shared the college wide Summer 2016 enrollment update. The institution registered 984 students (head counts), which is 98% of the college’s summer 2016 head count target. In terms of registered credits, we have exceeded our college wide summer 2016 credit target by 2% that is, total registered credits of 5,339 as against the 5,213 credits target.

National and Yap Campuses surpassed their summer 2016 targets in head count and credits. For details, the Fiscal Year 2016 Comparative Enrollment Data is provided.

Activities:

On June 13-15, 2016, Chairman of the Board of Regents, Dr. Tulensru Waguk, and myself attended the Association of Governing Boards (AFG) Institute for Board Leaders and Executives of Public Universities and Colleges Conference in Washington, D.C. The three-day conference is to help build the strong partnerships between the college board and its CEO for effective governance.

The college is collaborating with the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) in its UNESCO awareness project of Nan Madol’s nomination to become a World Heritage Site. Mr. Dan Lin, a photographer and journalist, will be hosting a free workshop for 15-20 students at National Campus from July 18-22, 2016.

Upcoming Events:

The college’s Visioning Summit will be held on August 2-3, 2016, at the National Campus Practice Gym. Invited National and Pohnpei Campus faculty and staff are expected to attend.
Schedule:
Day 1: 8AM-5PM (Employees; external Stakeholders will attend from 12PM-5PM)

• Case Study: Using data to develop action plans and strategies for an AANAPISI grant to improve student success
• Core Value Assessment
• Mission Evaluation

Day 2: 8:30AM-4:30PM (Employees and External Stakeholders)

• Institution-Set Standards
• Strategic Planning

Board of Regents’ meeting will be held on August 4-5, 2016, at the National Campus.

All Campus Meeting:

• Chuuk Campus-August 17, 2016
• FMI Campus- August 19, 2016
• Yap Campus-August 24, 2016
• Pohnpei Campus- August 26, 2016
• Kosrae and National Campuses- August 31, 2016

I convey my appreciation to you for all your work, effort and dedication to the students we serve. Each of us plays an important role in the successful implementation of the mission of COM-FSM.

It is a privilege for me to serve you as president.

Warm regards,

Joseph M. Daisy, EdD
President and CEO