Bachelor’s in criminal justice now possible for Saipan students through UOG-NMC partnership

5/17/2019

UOG President Thomas W. Krise with NMC Interim President Frankie Eliptico in Saipan. — *UOG President Thomas W. Krise, right, with Northern Marianas College Interim President Frankie Eliptico on May 9 in Saipan.*

Students from the Northern Marianas College can now pursue a bachelor’s in criminal justice following a memorandum of agreement that was signed between NMC and the University of Guam on May 9. The agreement will allow NMC students to complete a four-year criminal justice degree in Saipan with three years of NMC coursework and one year of coursework from UOG instructors who will either teach in Saipan or via online classes.

“We at UOG are serious about serving people not only in Guam but in all of Micronesia and our neighboring regions,” said UOG President Thomas W. Krise. “We are excited to be able to help produce graduates in such a needed field in the Northern Marianas and look forward to more potential opportunities like this in the future.”

NMC offers a criminal justice degree program at the associate level, and many of its courses are transferrable to UOG’s bachelor’s program. This led Ronald McNinch, the division chair for public administration and legal studies with UOG’s School of Business & Public Administration, to have a conversation with NMC’s criminal justice program coordinator, Zerlyn Taimanao, about a possible collaboration between the schools.

“That conversation took place about two years ago,” said Annette T. Santos, dean of UOG’s School of Business & Public Administration. “Since then we’ve been identifying how we could collaborate to elevate opportunities for people at NMC and also elevate opportunities to grow the criminal justice workforce in Saipan and the Northern Marianas.”

Group picture of UOG and NMC officials — *(From left) Charles Cepeda, Frankie Eliptico, Gov. Ralph Torres, Thomas W. Krise, Cyndi Deleon Guerrero, Anita B. Enriquez, and Robert Guerrero,*

The University is exploring other potential collaborations on degree programs that would be possible between UOG and NMC and also with other colleges in the Micronesian region.

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Bachelor’s in criminal justice now possible for Saipan students through UOG-NMC partnership