M E M O R A N D U M

March 08 , 2007

To:         All Concerned 

From:     President, COM-FSM 

Subject: Update #290

President James and Regent Enlet Attended PPEC Board Development Workshop

 

President James and Regent Enlet attended the Board Development Workshop sponsored by the Pacific Postsecondary Education Council (PPEC) in Honolulu, Hawaii during March 2, 2007. The major topics of discussions included the following:

• Governing board responsibilities
• Overall governing board responsibilities
• Governing board responsibilities for a "dual bottom line"
• Academic quality
• Fiscal integrity
• Board and president relations
• What boards should expect from their presidents
• What presidents should expect from their boards
• Things to avoid
• The board's policy role and administration
• Authority and responsibility
• Shared governance
• Preserving institutional independence

President James also attended the Economic Development Seminar sponsored by UH Business Center for Hawaii and the Pacific.

Board of Regents' Meeting

The next COM-FSM Board of Regents' meeting will be held in Chuuk during the week of March 26-27, 2007. Major agenda items to be discussed at the meeting included:

• Approval of minutes
• Communication
• Regent's reports
• President's reports
• Action Items:

• Cash management services proposal
• Establishment of bank account
• Revised teacher education program
• Revised Non-credit Policy

• Meeting with students

Accreditation

The Accreditation Liaison Officer, Mr. Joseph Saimon, had worked hard and diligently with the Accreditation Working group during the past 4 months on the writing of the Focused Mid-Term Report. The report was to be submitted to the Accrediting Commission for Junior and Community Colleges (ACJCC) of Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) on March 15, 2007. The final draft report was done and forwarded to the Regents for comments and endorsement before an electronic copy was sent to President Barbara Beno. Information has not been received from WASC regarding the composition of the visiting team that will be visiting the College sometimes in April 2007 to verify the contents of the Mid-Term Report.

The College also recently received communication from WASC informing the administration and Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) that College's Annual Fiscal Report is due on April 2, 2007. The communication also indicated that College's annual report is due on April 16, 2006.

The WASC Senior Commission's representatives that visited the College of Micronesia-FSM's National Campus during the early part of February 2007, has released their report regarding their findings. The two member team was impressed with both the need for the new Bachelor of Elementary Education in collaboration with the University of Guam and with plans to make this new bachelor's degree a reality. They were also impressed with good meetings with the faculty, students, and administrators. The implementation of the UOG 4 th Year Program at the COM-FSM National Campus will commence during Summer Session 2007.

Permanent Site for Chuuk Campus

The College has been working closely with Chuuk State Leadership regarding securing the permanent site for Chuuk Campus. The Legal Counsel for the College has written separate letters to Attorney General's Office regarding the status of work done on the site but has not received any response to his letters. The administration of the College will continue to work closely with Chuuk State Leadership on this matter and plans to schedule a meeting with Chuuk State Leadership during the week of the Board's meeting in Chuuk.

President's Retreat

The College of Micronesia-FSM held a President's Retreat workshop during the week of March 19-23, 2007, at the FSM-China Friendship Sports Center. The College invited about 80 faculty, staff, and administrators from the College as well as major clients and supporters to this retreat. The participants of the retreat sought

to answer the following questions: Where are we? Where are we going? How do we get there? The draft agenda for the President's Retreat is attached for your information.

 

College of Micronesia - FSM

President's Retreat

March 19 - 23, 2007

FSM - China Friendship Sports Center

 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Morning 8:00 - 9:00 AM Refreshments 9:00 AM - Noon	Welcoming Environmental scan presentations on trends impacting the college	Environmental scan presentations on trends impacting the college	Where are we?	Where are we going?	How do we get there?
Afternoon 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM	Environmental scan presentations on trends impacting the college	Where are we?	Where are we going?	Where are we going? /How do we get there?	Reception 6:00 PM Nantehlik (PCR)

Environmental scans presentations on trends affecting the college

Internal - Monday morning ( March 19, 2007)

• College data & Environment (Jimmy Hicks & IRPO staff)
• Teaching and Learning (Jean Thoulag & Benson Moses)
• Tutoring, Retention & student support (Ringlen Ringlen)
• Image of the college (Joseph Saimon)
• Role of CRE ( Jim Currie)
• Infrastructure ( Francisco Mendiola)
• Available financial & support resources (Penselyn Etse, Faustino Yarofaisug)
• Funding trends (Danny Dumantay)
• Technology trends ( Gordon Segal)

External (Within FSM) Monday afternoon ( March 19, 2007)

• Economics (Charles Musana)
• World Park ( Howard Rice)
• Political (Spensin James & John Haglelgam
• Migration & Demographics (Jimmy Hicks)
• Data on FSM Education System (Burnis Danis, FSM NDOE)
• FSM State Issues (Panel - Jojo Peter, Kalwin Kephas, Penny Weilbacher, Lourdes Roboman, Matthias Ewarmai)

Tuesday Morning ( March 20, 2007)

External (Outside FSM)

• Accreditation (Joseph Saimon, Sue Moses)
• Reauthorization of Higher Education Act (Ringlen Ringlen, Jim Currie, Dayle Dannis)
• Comparison of college with peer institutions (William Mailpiy & Willy Edwin)

President's Retreat - College of Micronesia - FSM March 19 - 23, 2007 FSM - China Friendship Sports Center   Concurrent & Breakout Sessions
Where are we?	Where are we going?	How do we get there?
Session 1 Concurrent sessions How do trends in teaching and learning impact the college? (2 groups) How do trends in tutoring, retention & student support affect the college? (2 groups) What is the attitude of the college? (What stories do we tell each other?) (2 groups) Session 2 Concurrent sessions How does accreditation impact the college? How do different stakeholders view the college? (National & state leaders, students, parents, employers, etc.) (2 groups) How do we interact with the FSM Education Sector (elementary & secondary; public & private)? What are factors affecting quality of incoming and outgoing students? What is the role and current level of assessment activities at the college? (course, program & institutional) Session 3 Concurrent sessions How is the new organizational structure affecting the college? 2 groups (1 - focus on IC & SSC; 2 nd general) Where are we in terms of equity of facilities and development of the facilities master plan? Understanding the World Park concept and how it can assist the college with development of the FSM and meeting the college's mission? Understanding CRE's role in assisting the college in development of the FSM and meeting the college's mission? Session 4 - Retreat wide activities What steps is the college taking to meet its mission? (3 groups) SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) exercise for the college (3 groups)	Prioritize issues & challenges   Based on the results of the sessions (Where are we?) sessions will be conducted to answer the question of (Where are we going?) and development institutional priorities and strategies and address the following areas:   Where are we going? College's role in development of the FSM Internal improvement challenges External relations Within the FSM Outside the FSM Image the college wants to emphasize Each functional area Instruction Student services Administrative services CRE Facilities Master Plan Institutional priorities & resource allocation   Strategies for exploring options: Systems thinking concepts The problem is... 5 Whys? Keep multiple options open as long as possible Separate information into Known Assumed Not known	Action (implementation) plan to address priorities   By Department & Campus Goals Objectives Strategies Timelines Identify resources needed Human Financial Physical Implementation barriers Role of monitoring & reporting Resource allocation linked to institutional priorities Programs (new, revised, etc.) Positions (new, reallocated, etc.) Facilities Update of Strategic Plan 2006 0 2011