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M E M O R A N D U M

December 14 , 2005

MEMORANDUM 

To:           All Concerned 

From:       President, COM-FSM 

Subject:     President’s Update #265

Board of Regents

The Board of Regents concluded its second regular meeting in Pohnpei during the week of December 5-9, 2005. The meeting was a productive one as the Regents deliberated on a number of important matters for the College. For example, the Board of Regents approved the operational budget for our five campuses and the FSM-FMI, selected Chuuk High School site as the future permanent site for the COM-FSM Chuuk Campus with conditions, and required the administration to submit data from program evaluation for BOR review and action at its May meeting. Attached for your information are the actions and directives from the Regents’ meeting in Pohnpei.

Accreditation

Many of the actions and directives from the Board meeting will help the College in writing its Progress Report which will be submitted to the Accrediting Commission on March 15, 2006. The College hopes that the conditions attached to the Regents directives to Chuuk Government can be accommodated by the end of 2008.

System-Wide Workshop on Program Evaluation

A workshop on a system-wide program evaluation has been scheduled to take place during the early part of Spring Semester 2006, for campus directors, vice presidents, division chairs, instructional coordinators, student services coordinators, faculty, and selected staff. The purpose of the workshop is to standardize the indicators for program/services evaluations. The workshop will also be selecting 5 indicators that could be used as institutional effectiveness indicators. Part of the workshop will be spent on calculating indicators like completion rate for program courses, retention rate, and others.

The programs/services as well as the institution as a whole can determine how effective programs/services and institutions are and allocations of resources can be determined, etc. Program merging and realignment may also take place after the Board of Regents and administrators review the collected data on the program/services evaluations.

FSM-FMI Being Evaluated by JICA/FSM Evaluation Team

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) along with representatives from the National Government and the College of Micronesia-FSM conducted an end of the project evaluation at the FSM Fisheries and Maritime Institute during the week of December 7-12, 2005. The end of the project evaluation was conducted for the last two years that JICA provided technical assistances at the FMI. The joint evaluation team found that 73 students enrolled in the programs at the FSM FMI and 65 graduated. The graduation rate is at a high rate of 89%. The joint evaluation team also found that 20 graduates are been placed on government vessels and three are currently working in government offices. This gives an employment rate for the graduates at 35%.

The joint evaluation team found that proposed activities at the FMI have been conducted normally and several numerical indicators have been at successful levels. The student seat cost or cost for educating one student at the FSM-FMI is at $10,000 per year as compared to about $1,900 at 5 campuses at the COM-FSM.

The College of Micronesia-FSM would like to express its gratitude and thanks to JICA for providing the technical assistance at the FSM-FMI. The collaborations between JICA and the FSM-FMI have established an infrastructure that will help train young FSM citizens in fisheries and merchant marine.

Important Dates to Remember

 

December 13, 2005 Last Day of Instruction for Fall Semester 2005
December 14-16, 2005 Final Exams
December 23, 2005 Mid-Year Graduation/Fall Semester Ends
December 23, 2005 Christmas Break Starts for Instructors
January 9, 2006 Spring Semester 2006 Begins
January 9-12, 2006 Faculty Workshops
January 10-12, 2006 Registration for Spring Semester 2006
January 13, 2006 First Day of Instruction
January 13-19, 2006 Late Registration
January 19, 2006 Faculty Meeting

Holidays to be observed by College’s Faculty and Staff

December 25, 2005 and January 1, 2006 are legal holidays for the College faculty and staff. Since these two days fall on Sundays the College will be observing them on Mondays, December 26, 2005 and January 2, 2006 respectively. In recognition of your dedication and accomplishments during the past year, the President is also declaring Friday afternoons of December 23, 2005, and December 30, 2005, as part of the season’s holidays to be observed by faculty and staff at the COM-FSM Campuses. Employees who by the nature of their responsibilities are required to work during the period of administrative leave and holidays will be compensated with holiday pay.

President’s Christmas and New Year Message

Christmas is a time of the year when people get together and wish each other well. It is a time people give gifts and exchange greeting cards. It is also a time when people must sit and re-evaluate their lives. Re-evaluation is a very important principle that promote growth. It gives us the opportunity to examine our lives. Regular examination of ones life leads to maturity.

How was your relationship with your boss this year?

Were you at loggerhead with your boss?

What about with your co-workers?

Did you talk and insult them behind their backs?

How was your attitude to work this year?

Did you work very hard?

Were you late to work almost all the time?

Did you meet your deadlines?

Did you cheat in the exams?

What about your homework?

Were you regular and punctual in your classes?

If your answer to any of these questions is not favorable, then there is a problem. You should however not give up. Try to identify the causes. Look carefully and try to remove the causes.

Always remind yourself never to repeat those mistakes.

What are you planning to do this Christmas?

Go fishing? Eat lots of good food? Drink sakau? Visit friends?

What ever it is that you are planning to do, think of the purpose of Christmas.

Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Thank you.

Board of Regents Actions and Directives