Chuuk Campus recognizes its faculty and staff

The annual incentive award ceremony for Chuuk Campus was held last May 7, 2010 at the Student Services Center. Nine incentive awards and five years of service awards were given to deserving faculty and staff members of COM-FSM Chuuk Campus.The Incentive awards that were given are as follows:

Good Health Award:	Amy Choffat
Student's Choice Award:	Alton Higashi
Community Service Award:	Edson Asito
Teacher of the Year Award:	Myjolynne Kim and Gunaraj Walter John
Award of Recognition:	Sosiro Adolif
Staff of the Year:	Kersweet Eria
Professional Recognition:	Atkin Buliche for earning his Master of Information Systems , Richardson Chiwi for earning his Master of Education in Language and Literacy and Kind Kanto for earning his Master of Science in Environmental Science.

Years of service awards are as follows:

Five Years of Service award: Sosiro Adolif, Miuty Nokar, Marleen Ychiro and Arthur Ilon
Ten Years of Service award: Herner Braiel

COM-FSM holds Fun Walk on May 8

The 2010 COM-FSM fun walk/run was held on the Saturday of last May 8, 2010, at Palm Terrace shopping Center. More than 90 participants joined the event. The participants gathered in front of Palm Terrace shopping center to participate in this activity that promotes health.

Spearheaded by the College’s very own Castro Joab from the recreation division, the event was considered a success. The activity raised an amount of $830.00 which will go directly to college’s endowment fund.

Awards and door prizes were given away to the winners including a cell phone, bicycle, calling cards, cash power cards and other items. This event was not possible without the help of our avid sponsors.

COM-FSM would like to extend its appreciation to the following major sponsors: Ace Hardware, Ace Office Supplies, Bank of FSM, Bank of Guam, Best Buy, Caroline Fisheries Corporation, Do It Best, E.H. Rogue, FSM Telecommunication Corporation, Isamu Nakasone's Store, Moylan's Insurance, Nihco, Palm Terrace, Panuelo Gas Station, Pohnpei Utilities Corporation, Ray & Dor's, Scoobies, Tuna Commission, Visual Impact and Western Union/CTSI.

Members of the public and the College communities
participated during this year’s fun walk/run event.

The overall results of the fun run/walk are as follows:

Ages 12 and under division

• male: Joshua Kapriel - 24minutes & 30 seconds
• female: Mary Alexander - 23minutes & 56seconds

Masters division (50 years and Up)

• male - Genichi Terasawa - 23minutes & 29seconds
• female - Elena Yamada - 32minutes & 24seconds

Students division

• male - Brian Kapriel - 22minutes & 24seconds
• female - Debra Daniel - 37minutes & 24seconds

Staff division

• male - Tom Maui - 37minutes & 19seconds
• female - Jean Thoulag - 1hour: 3minutes: 46seconds

Faculty division

• male - Dana Lee Ling - 29minutes & 50 seconds
• female - Jazmine Gonzales - 55minutes & 9seconds

Overall Winners

• male - Rendy Germinaro - 19minutes & 22seconds
• female - Reloliza Saimon - 22minutes & 47seconds

Our Top Finishers

• Rendy Germinaro - 19minutes & 22seconds
• Miky Laurdine - 21minutes & 19seconds
• Hudson Dadius - 21minutes & 40seconds
• Alifanster Ifamilik - 21minutes & 43seconds
• Rico Joab - 22minutes & 15seconds

COM-FSM students attend Experiential Learning Trip to Palau and Guam

Nine students and three instructors from the College participated in an experiential and entrepreneurial learning trip to Palau and Guam last March 27 – April 1, 2010. The instructors include Tara Tara of Kosrae Campus, Toa Currie of Pohnpei Campus and Kiyoshi Phillip of National Campus. The students include Kenye Lisa Ittu, Pedro Nena and Salik David from Kosrae Campus, Nelson Fredrick, Delson Luke and Monaliza Barnabas of Pohnpei Campus and Rosalinda Silbanuz, Berson Elias and Elfred Alfred from National Campus.

The groups’ first destination was Palau to attend an entrepreneurial opportunities program at Palau Community College, where they were introduced to new agricultural techniques, and other agriculture sciences such as fruit farming, fish feeding, rabbit fish and milk fish farming and many others.

The students concluded their Palau educational trip by visiting places like Jelly Fish Lake, Milky Way (or better known as Rock Island), and Palau Coral Aquarium.

After their four-day stay in Palau, the group headed to Guam for the final four day stretch of their experiential learning trip. The students attended an agri-tourism and aqua-tourism program at University of Guam were they were taken to the Guam flee market and toured a fruit farm through the help of Mr. Hamamoto of the University of Gaum.

On April 30, 2010, the National Campus students who participated in the experiential learning trip gave presentations to the community at National Campus about their trip.

According to Jim Currie, Vice President for Cooperative Research and Extension (VPCRE), based on the report by the students, the trip had a positive impact. “The students are pumped up and more focused on their major, they are now more eager to finish their education and start their own business in agriculture,” he said.

The same group of students will be representing COM-FSM in recruitment efforts at schools and villages around the island as well as promoting Agriculture and Food Technology programs at the College.

Early Registration for Summer 2010

Early Registration for the Summer 2010 session will begin on April 5-9, 2010. After this period, students wanting to take courses during the summer session will have to register during the regular registration period in May. Get the classes you need and want today!

Steps One to Three of the Early Registration Process will begin March 24, 2010. As such, beginning March 24, 2010, students who want to early register for Summer 2010 may:

• Come to Office of Admissions, Records and Retention (OARR) to have their 2010.2 term records activated.
• Pay their registration fees with the Business Office.
• Check their financial aid status or receive financial aid advices at Financial Aid Office.

For inquiries, please see or call:
Office of Admissions, Records and Retention
College of Micronesia-FSM
National Campus
P.O. Box 159
Palikir, Pohnpei, FM 96941
Phone: (691) 320-2480 extensions 150, 136, 171, and 172

National and Pohnpei Campuses Raise over $40K

Palikir, Pohnpei - April 05, 2010 –– Student groups from the National and Pohnpei campuses raised $40,161.64 during this year’s Founding Day fundraising activities.

This fundraising scheme is tied to the College’s Mr and Miss Founding Day bi-annual competitions. The Pohnpeian Students at the National Campus won this year’s Mr and Miss Founding Day titles when they fundraised over $15 K.

According to the College’s common practice for Mr and Miss competitions, all groups that raised at least $1,000 retain 10 per cent of the total amount they raised. The remaining 90 per cent is donated to the College’s Endowment Fund, a fund that the College has created to ensure the long term financial viability of the college in future.

The following are the amounts raised by the student groups:

Student Group	Ranking	Amount Raised
Green Team (Kosraen Students at the National Campus)	4th runner up	$3,006.60
White Team (Chuuk Students at the National Campus)	3rd runner up	$3,134.75
Red Team (Yap Students at the National Campus)	2nd runner up	$3,421.51
Purple Team (Pohnpei Campus Students)	1st runner up	$15,199.05
Blue Team (Pohnpei Students at the National Campus)	Mr & Miss Founding Day	$15, 399.73

WASC Team Visits all COM-FSM Campuses

Palikir, Pohnpei - March 11, 2010 –– The WASC visiting team commenced their official visit at all the College’s six sites on the Monday of March 8, 2010.

Sandra Serrano, Chair of the Visiting Team, is the Chancellor of the Kern Community College District

National and Pohnpei campuses were visited by Team Chair Sandra Serrano, Team Assistant Kate Pluta, team members Douglas Dykstra, Ricardo Navarrette, Sean James, Carolyn Bloch and Mary Ann Laun. Martha Tillman visited Kosrae campus and joined the Pohnpei team members on March 9. David Barney, who visited Yap and FSM-FMI campuses, and Dave Clarke, who visited Chuuk Campus, joined the rest of the team in Pohnpei on March 10.

The team met with members college community and held interviews with the president, vice presidents, directors, coordinators and division chairs, individual faculty groups and students. They also conducted two open forums where the College community and the public were invited to present their questions to the team. According to the College’s accreditation liaison officer, over 60 interviews were conducted with members of the College community.

Most of the interviews were conducted on March 8 and 9. The College has organized a reception for the visitors on the evening of March 11.

The team will conclude their visit on Friday with a meeting between Sandra Serrano and College of Micronesia-FSM President Spensin James. Their meeting will be followed by an exit meeting with President James and with members of the college to share brief observations, comments, and major findings based on the team’s evaluation. The team’s confidential recommendation to the accrediting commission regarding the status of the College will not be disclosed at this time.

Team Assistant Kate Pluta with team members Sean James, Ricardo Navarrette, Mary Ann Laun and Carolyn Bloch at the National Campus open forum.

According to the accrediting commission guidelines, a draft of the team report will be sent to President James for correction of only factual errors. This will take place approximately two weeks after the visit. After the report has been reviewed by team members and submitted by Team Chair Serrano to the accrediting commission office, a copy of the final report will be sent to President James before the commission meets and decides on the status of the College’s accreditation. This will enable the College to be made aware of the team’s recommendations on the standards before the final report is received from the Commission.

The team will conclude their visit with an exit meeting at the National Campus on the morning of Friday, March 12, and will depart Pohnpei in the afternoon.

WASC Visitors to Arrive in the FSM by March 6th

Palikir, Pohnpei - March 3, 2010 –– The members of the WASC team to the College will arrive in the FSM before the official visit to all the College’s six sites. The official visit is scheduled to commence on the 8th of March, 2010.

Three members of the visiting team will begin their visits at Kosrae, Chuuk, Yap and FSM-FMI campuses. The three will arrive at their destinations on March 6, 2010. Dave Clarke will visit Chuuk Campus and will depart for Pohnpei on Wednesday of March 10; Martha Tilmann will visit Kosrae and will depart for Pohnpei on Tuesday of March 9; and David Barney will visit Yap and FSM-FMI campuses and will depart for Pohnpei on the Wednesday of March 10.

The rest of the team members, who will also be arriving on the 6th of March, will visit Pohnpei and National campuses. They include:

• Sandra Serrano, Team Chair
• Kate Pluta, Team Assistant
• Douglas Dykstra
• Ricardo D. Navarrette
• Sean James
• Carolyn Bloch
• Mary Ann Laun

The team will conclude their visit with an exit meeting at the National Campus on the morning of Friday, March 12, and will depart Pohnpei in the afternoon.

The following are the visitors along with short biographical information for each of them:

Sandra Serrano, Team Chair, is the Chancellor of the Kern Community College District, a California Community College three-college district. The district's service area spans 26,000 square miles, across parts of five counties. Student enrollment is 30,000 headcount. There are 374 full time faculty and an equal number of adjunct faculty, 476 classified staff and 78 administrators. Sandra has 30 years of higher education experience that includes serving as a student services director, dean and vice president, adjunct faculty, and college president. She has a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctorate. She has served on five accreditation teams. This is the fourth team she has chaired.

Kate Pluta, Team Assistant, has taught English at Bakersfield College for over twenty-five years. She has served as Division Chair for Modern Languages, Academic Senate President, and Faculty Association President (CCA). COM-FSM will be her third site visit, her second as assistant.

Douglas Dykstra has been Chancellor of Windward Community College since July 1, 2009. Prior to that he served as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Hawai‘i Community College for five years. He began his career in the University of Hawai‘i Community College System as an Instructor in History in 1975 also working as a grant writer and at various mid-level academic administrative posts at Leeward Community College. He has served on one ACCJC visitation team in 2004. His research interests have been in the fields Hawai‘i immigration history and in other state and local history topics.

Martha J. Tilmann, Dean of Special Projects, College of San Mateo. Her responsibilities have included launching an extension of the college and overseeing Study Abroad, Distance Education, and Community Education. Previously she was Dean of Technology, which held a wild range of programs including the Police and Fire Academy, Building Inspection, Electronics, Welding, Multimedia, and others. Before going into administration she taught Computer Science for 16 years.

Ricardo D. Navarrette’s professional career in university and community colleges has spanned over 37 years in three universities and three community colleges. Ricardo has taught composition, creative writing, literature and various counseling courses at the college level. He has been a college counselor, EOPS Director, Upward Bound Director, English instructor, Assistant Dean of Student Development, Dean of Admissions & Records and is presently the Vice President, Student Services at Santa Rosa Junior College.

An active leader in various community organizations, Ricardo has served as President of the Sonoma County "Social Advocates for Youth", was formerly on the executive board of the Community College Chief Student Services Officer Association, now serving on the editor board of the "I-Journal" and was the founding president of the Sonoma County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Sean James, Vice Chancellor of Operations Management at the Kern Community College District (KCCD). In his six years with the Kern Community College District his assignments have included Internal Auditor, Interim Director of Fiscal Services, and Vice Chancellor of Operations Management. The duties of the Vice Chancellor of Operations Management include development, design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the District’s services. As Internal Auditor Mr. James was responsible for overseeing compliance with the laws and regulations that apply to the Kern Community College District.

Mr. James is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of California and has over 15 years experience auditing California Public School Districts.

Dave Clarke has taught biology at College of the Siskiyous in Northern California for fourteen years. He has been the president of both the Academic Senate and the Faculty Association/CTA. He has been the College’s Self-Study Standard IV Co-Chair in both 2003 and 2009. He will be participating in his third site visit.

David Barney, of De Anza College in Cupertino, California, is on his third accreditation team. Barney came to De Anza as telecommunications dean from Maui Community College, where he was media director from 1980-88. He has experience in organizing distance learning programs and related technology at both institutions and now teaches courses in the film/television department at De Anza, including scriptwriting, television production, and media and society courses. He holds a master's degree from the University of Hawaii and a bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware. He has directed news and public affairs programs for ABC Hawaii, public stations in Ohio and Washington D.C., and for the U.S. Army.

Mary Ann Laun, Dean of Library Services at Pasadena City College,
has extensive experience in public, special and academic libraries. She holds a master's degree in Library Science from UCLA and a master's degree in Education with an emphasis in Instructional Technology from California State University, Los Angeles. She is extensively involved in her campus's planning and technology agendas and serves on state, national, and international library committees. In 2008, Pasadena City College won a national award for Excellence in Academic Libraries. She has participated in nine site visits.

Carolyn Bloch is a Registered Nurse certified as Transcultural Nurse Specialist and in Diversity Management/Customer Service. She holds a certificate in California from the Board of Registered Nursing as Clinical Nurse Specialist. In addition to numerous other achievements, she received her diploma in Nursing from Queen of Angels School of Nursing, a B.A. at Pepperdine University and from Azusa Pacific University received both an M.A. in Education and an M.S. in Nursing. Carolyn Bloch has worked internationally in both the private and public sectors. Her experiences included educational and advisory roles in Mexico and Venezuela. She has lectured extensively on cultural issues for health care providers. Former Certified Transcultural Nurse Specialist and Transcultural / Diversity Consultant for the County of Los Angeles-Department of Health Services. Carolyn Bloch is a faculty at Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health. She is currently assigned to staff development for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Human Resource Department. On January 16, 2009, she was recognized as the 2009 La Opinion’s Mujer Destacada for the Health Category (La Opinion is America’s #1 Spanish-language Daily Newspaper). This is her second accreditation visit.

The College was also notified to expect five more additional members to be named before the March 8 – 11, 2010, visit. More information about the visit will be available later.