Update from the President's Office - No. 205

March 13, 2002MEMORANDUM

To:       All Regents, Faculty, Staff, and Students

From:     Acting Interim President
Subject:  Update from the President's Office-No.205

Corrections. Our apologies to Dr. Josekutty for the oversight in Update No. 204 for misstating some facts. The Update stated, "As of February 13, 2002, tissue cultured banana plants have been distributed to farmers." It should have said, "As of February, 13,000 tissue cultured banana plants have been distributed to farmers."

When we thanked the members of the Fundraising Steering Committee for their hard work on the Piano Concert, we inadvertently left out Benina Ilon's name. We apologize for the oversight. We also learned that Joseph Diaz, who is a member of the Staff Development Committee at Pohnpei Campus, assisted with the Staff Development Day activities. We apologize for the omission. Thank you both for your help.

6th Annual Fitness Run/Walk. The 6th Annual COM-FSM Fitness Run/Walk was held on Saturday, March 9, 2002, in Kolonia. On behalf of the COM-FSM Board of Regents, Faculty, Staff, and Students, I would like to express our gratitude to FSM National Olympic Committee, Palm Terrance, Pohnpei True Value Hardware, Moylan's Insurance, Best Buy, and Ambros, Inc (Guam) who sponsored the event. Thank you to members of the Fundraising Steering Committee for your time and commitment. Our appreciation is also extended to all the volunteers on Saturday. You all made the difference! The Fundraising Steering Committee wishes to announce that the extra t-shirts from the Annual COM-FSM Fitness Run/Walk are on sale for $5.00 each. Please see any member of the Fundraising Steering Committee to purchase your t-shirt. The winners for the Fitness Run/Walk were: Top 10 finishers: Daniel Sepety, Salvenino Delos Santos, Randy Germinaro, Chad Van Heemst, Jayceleen Pluhs, Elias Rodrigues, Sylvia, Sesario Sigam, Regina Rosario, and Gene Rochester. The overall male winner was Daniel Sepety and the overall female winner was Jayceleen Pluhs. COM-FSM Student Division winners were: Sesario Sigam and Kiomy Kapier. Under 12 years Division winners were: Decklet Daniel and Debra Daniel. And finally the oldest finisher was Paul Hougan and the youngest finisher was 7-year-old Amando Bloom. Congratulations!

Hand-Over Ceremony for the FSM-China Friendship Sports Center. The ceremony was held at the National Campus on Thursday, March 7, 2002, at 3:00 p.m. Several hundred people took part in the event where the FSM First Lady Iris Falcam and Mrs. Ambassador Xu cut the ribbon and FSM President Leo A. Falcam and Ambassador Xu Jun planted two coconut trees in front of the building. The Chairman of the COM-FSM Board of Regent, Podis Pedrus, accepted the keys for the College from President Falcam, who earlier received the keys from Ambassador Xu during the short ceremony. On behalf of the COM-FSM Board of Regents, faculty, staff, and students I would like to thank the members of the Organizing Committee for a job well done. Our appreciation is extended to the Maintenance, Landscaping, and Student Activities staff for all your hard work.

Pohnpei Campus. According to the February monthly report from Pohnpei Campus, GED and AEP Administrator Wehns Billen of the FSM Education met with Program Developer Patty Grandos and Assistant Director Jeff Arnold in regard to Pohnpei Campus' interest in applying for a grant to deliver GED courses to high school drop outs. If granted, the Pohnpei Campus will run an 18-week program and teach 20 students in English, Reading, Literature, Math, Science and Social Studies. At the end of the intensive program, the students can challenge the GED Examinations. Certificates equivalent to high school diplomas will be awarded if they pass the examinations.

Student Services and Activities: Seventy-two (72) students were identified in the Early Warning reports from instructors. According to the Counselor, only twenty-two (22) have responded to meet with their advisers. Poor attendance, incomplete assignments, and low scores were the causes of these students' deficient standing.

Advisory Council: Members of the Pohnpei Campus Advisory Council were asked during the February 21st meeting to assist the campus in securing the $50,000 which Pohnpei State Legislative appropriated for the Pohnpei Campus Gym floor. According to the February activity report, Pohnpei State is hesitant to release the money because of technical wording problem. Director and Assistant Director met the Pohnpei State Legislature Finance Committee about changing the wording.

Pohnpei Cooperative Extension Service (CES): CES assisted 84 farmers and homemakers during the month of February.

Crop Production and Marketing Information System: Seven different crop production surveys were made on the following farms: Makesy Max (Lukop, Madolenihmw), Elsihda Johnny (Lukop), Chinese Pilot Farm (Pohnlangas), Susan's Farm (Wone, Kitti), James Santos (Nanmand, Kitti and Nanponmal, Sokehs), and Kosasky Phillip (Nanmal, Sokehs).

Swine Improvement: Twenty-nine (29) hog growers were assisted in the following activities: antibiotic, ivomec (for internal and external parasites), iron dosage and teeth clipping, and castration demonstration.

Home Garden: Thirty-five (35) individuals were presented with ideas and tips on home gardening during a presentation conducted to homemakers and other individuals at Pohnrakiet village.

Black Pepper: Nine (9) new backyard pepper gardens were visited during the month. All of these are located in U municipality. Each of the farms or gardens has 50 vines. This is an effort started by Senator Peter Christian.

False Sakau: Four (4) sites with both large and small plants were sprayed to eradicate intrusion of these pests.

Nutrition staff completed a one-week training workshop for homemakers in Pohnrakiet, Kolonia.

Four veterinarians visited Pohnpei and assisted more than 30 hog growers. They also conducted clinics for dogs and cats. Extension agents participated in the field visits, clinics, and presentation conducted by these doctors.

Student Support Services Program (SSSP): Coordinator Francisco Simram started recruiting students at the beginning of this semester. A list of 45 students has been finalized and 4 tutors have been hired to start the program. Bernie Timalawat is tutoring students in higher math (Algebra II and Calculus), Egi Tikoi in most of the English courses, Kenneth Wellis in Business and Vira Edwin is assisting students in Hotel and Restaurant Management. The Coordinator also conducted meetings with members of the faculty to educate them about the SSSP.

Upward Bound Most of the staff went to Palau for the Professional Development Seminar that took place on February 1-8, 2002, at the Palau Community College. The Director Churchill Edward, Counselor Diaz Joseph, and Assistant Dernita Iehsi attended the informative seminar. They also stopped in Guam to visit with the staff of the TRIO program at the University of Guam and to look into the possibility of buying additional computers and instructional books for the program.

Academic Instructions: Student report cards were made available to parents during the second week of February. According to the February report from Director Edward, 9 students had 4.00 GPAs. More than 97% of participants achieved above the average 2.5 GPA. There has been a slight drop of the average overall GPA. The report also indicated that students are skipping tutorials and not taking advantage of the services offered to them.

Student Affairs: Upward Bound had a couple of workshops during the reporting period on "taking the SAT" and "taking the COM-FSM entrance test." Additionally, seniors are planning a cultural trip to Mwoakilloa during April this year. Upward Bound is also working on student exchange programs with University of Nevada Upward Bound, University of Guam Upward Bound, and Kosrae Upward Bound. More than 90% of female participants participated in the Mother/Daughter Workshop. This workshop focused on Adolescent Reproductive Health with the following theme: "Sharing is Caring". There were about 70 people in attendance. Senator Nancy Solomon was the guest speaker for the workshop. The Director wishes to express his appreciation to all participants and Senator Solomon for their invaluable contribution to this workshop. Director Edward felt that the workshop was a success because it brought the mothers and daughters together to discuss some of the pertinent issues affecting the health of our young female population and explored ways to deal with these problems.

Parental Affairs: Invitations were extended to parents for a school visit during the instructional sessions to give parents a chance to witness first hand what students are doing during supplemental instructions. About 60% of the parents participated.

More next time!!