Accreditation:

The three (3) hard copies and an electronic copy of the Progress Report that addresses the Accrediting Commission's recommendation #2 which places the College of Micronesia-FSM on warning were send to the Executive Director for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges on October 28, 2004. The Commission will be reviewing this report at their meeting in January 2005. We hope the Commission will adopt the report and remove the College from the warning status.

Board of Regents:

The Board of Regents had a teleconference on the Progress Report on October 26, 2004, and adopted the report. The members of the Board of Regents were also briefed on the incident that took place at the National Campus on Friday, October 22, 2004, where two of the dormitory students were hospitalized due to injuries received from that incidence.

Fund Raising:

The College of Micronesia-FSM's kickoff dinner for the 2004-2005 fundraising campaign for the endowment fund, which was held on Saturday night, 10/23/04, was a huge success. We were able to raise over $4,000 from the dinner ticket sales, the auction, the karaoke challenge, and the $100 raffle and also provide an entertaining night.

On behalf of the Board of Regents, faculty, staff, and students I would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to all donors for their generosity and support. Appreciation and thanks also go to the faculty and staff who worked so hard in organizing and planning the kickoff dinner.

The next fundraising activity for the endowment fund has been scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 6, 2004. The College is inviting faculty, staff, students, and supporters from the communities in Pohnpei to join us at the COM-FSM 5 km Fun Run-Walk at 7:00 a.m. at the Palm Terrace Parking Lot.

Chuuk Star Hotel Project:

The College of Micronesia-FSM is working hard to secure funds for acquisition of the Chuuk Star Hotel as the permanent site for COM-FSM Chuuk Campus. According to Chuuk Campus Director Joakim Peter, Governor Ansito Walter of Chuuk State line item vetoed the $500,000.00 that Chuuk Legislature appropriated for COM-FSM Chuuk Campus. This is a big set back for the College as a whole since we have worked so hard with the Chuuk Legislature to appropriate this amount for our campus in Chuuk.

System Wide Budget:

After conducting budget hearings for a week during October 11-15, 2004, in order to reduce the deficit of $819,000, for fiscal year 2006, with the Campus Directors, Activity Heads, Division Chairs, and Offices, the Finance Committee is still struggling to balance the budget. As of November 1, 2004, the Finance Committee has to trim the submitted FY 2006 budgets by $352,000. The Finance Committee and Cabinet cannot submit an unbalanced budget to the BOR for review and action in December 2004.

The Business Office has completed the billing for FY 2004 appropriation from FSM Congress. However, FSM Finance has not paid a total of $1,445,000.00 as of Friday, October 29, 2004. Details are:

Appropriations:	Unpaid Balance:
From $3,000,000.00	$1,000,000.00
From $513,000.00 Supplemental Request	85,000.00
From $708,000.00 for FSM-FMI	194,000.00
From $475,000.00 Student Assistance	80,000.00
From $84,000.00 for BOR	84,000.00

The delays in receiving the draw down on these funds will impact the cash flow at the College. Let us all hope that FSM Finance will be able to release these funds to the College as soon as possible.

Presidential Search:

The Presidential Search Committee met on October 13th to review the responses to the questions that were emailed to the candidates. From that review it was determined that four candidates would be interviewed either by telephone or face to face by the committee. The interviews were conducted on October 19th and 20th. The Director of Personnel is now in the process of gathering the evaluations from the committee members and once she gathers them, she will prepare a summary report to the Board. She is also in the process of conducting reference checks on the candidates.

Salary Survey for the System:

The College has hired Andrus Associates to conduct a salary and benefits survey with other regional institutions. On October 8, 2004 the survey was sent to 22 regional colleges or other organizations. We have requested that the completed surveys be submitted no later than November 15, 2004. The Director of Personnel still needs to complete the survey for the COM-FSM.

Planning Council:

The Planning Council met on October 14th and reviewed the letter to the FSM President, sent in May of 2004, regarding his request for the College's long-term financial requirements over the next 10 to 20 years. The Council agreed that the copy of the letter will be sent to all standing committees for review and to have committees submit their recommendations and thoughts on some of the questions raised in the letter. The Council also decided that the chair of each standing committee reviews the COM-FSM Strategic Plan for 2001-2006 and determine where they are in regards to the objectives of the Plan.

Chuuk Campus:

There has been no new development on the missing boat that Mrs. Elina Mori and two of the Chuuk Campus students were on.

FSM-FMI:

The work on the Substantive Change Report for the FSM-FMI still continues, hinging of course on the Accrediting Commission meeting in January 2005 on the College of Micronesia-FSM Progress Report on recommendation #2 that was submitted to the Executive Director of WASC on October 28, 2004. Issues like the courses to be offered under the degree programs need to be added, the narratives that had been written in response to particular requirements for all the standards need to be reviewed carefully and edited where needed.

The FSM-FMI had the honor to entertain some visitors that visited the Institute. The Charge de Affairs of the Japanese Embassy in Kolonia, Pohnpei, Mr. Toshiro Omura paid a courtesy visit to the Institute during this reporting period in order to have a first hand information on the JICA project that is winding down at the FSM-FMI.

On October 8, 2004, all second year students embarked on the MS Micro Spirit for a three day on-board training. The deck students were given chances to practice steering and stand watch with the ship's personnel on the bridge while the engine students took their share of standing watch and working with the engine personnel. The students were able to conduct a fire drill on board the ship under the supervision of their instructors, Captain Tioti Teburea and Engineer Joseph Falmed.

Kosrae Campus:

The election for the Student Body Association Officers was conducted during the month of October 2004, and the following were the results of the election:

 

President	Yamado Noda
Vice President	Rodney Palsis
Secretary	Sueleen Abraham
Treasures	Joycelyn Sigrah

 

Congratulations to all SBA Officers at Kosrae State Campus.

Rhoda Velasquez, Math Instructor, has been admitted into the University of Hawaii at Manoa Graduate School to work on her Master Degree in Mathematics. Congratulations to Rhoda.

Pohnpei Campus:

The School Year 2004-2005 Student Body Association Officers are as follow:

President	Tony Edwin
Vice President	Francis Celestine
Secretary	Leilani Rosario
Treasures	EmyRose Route

Congratulations to all SBA Officers at Pohnpei State Campus.

Elvis Maruame, a student in IEI/ESL program, passed away at the hospital in the Philipines. Pohnpei Campus students and staff joined the family members in greeting the remains, which arrived at the Pohnpei International Airport on October 27, 2004. Students and staff also attended the funeral services the next day at Maruame's residence in Pohnrakied, Kolonia.

A congratulatory letter was received by Mr. Howard Rice from FSM Vice President Redley Killion congratulating Mr. Rice and his colleagues from Michigan State University for their visionary in coming up with the World Park concept as an option for economic development for the FSM.

National Campus:

A fight broke out at one of the stores across the street which resulted in two of the dormitory students being hospitalized. The ensuing events after the fight between three of the dorm students and some boys from the nearby communities resulted in over 30 outsiders entering the National Campus and breaking the glass door at the men's dorm. This incident has led to the establishment of curfew for all dorm students to be pushed up to 9:30 p.m. on all nights. The College has restricted all National Campus students from visiting the stores across the street as a temporary measure for the security and safety of the students.

The following have been established and taken by the administration to ensure the safety and security of students:

The administration has also put out a directive to both Pohnpei and National Campuses to cancel any activities that will bring crowds together at nights until further notice.

Those two students that were hospitalized due to the incident has been released from the Pohnpei State Hospital.

A public hearing with the Health, Education, and Social Affairs Committee of the FSM Congress has been re-scheduled from Monday, 11/l/04, at 3 p.m. to Wednesday same time on this incident. The following staff of the College have been asked to attend this hearing: Interim President, Vice President for Support and Student Affairs, Staff Senate Representative, Student Body Association President, and Director of Maintenance.

Congratulations to Dr. Doug Kelly, Media Instructor, and Media Students for their efforts in setting up the radio station for the College. Dial your radio to FM 89.1 and listen to music and announcements relating to College's activities from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the working days. You can send announcements via e-mail to radio@comfsm.fm. at 4 p.m. of the preceding day.

Yap Campus:

The Yap Campus OMIP $200,000 Project has been approved by the Army Corp of Engineer in Hawaii for funding. The Yap State Government will be providing the matching funds of $100,000.00 for this project. Congratulation goes to the Director of Yap Campus and the faculty and staff for developing this project proposal.

Board of Regents Approved Organizational Chart:

Attached to this update is the organizational chart that was approved by the BOR on September 8, 2004. This chart was an attachment to the Progress Report that COM-FSM submitted to Executive Director of WASC as a response to Accrediting Commission's recommendation #2.

Thank you.