Out Of The Box

Higher education has been touted as a potential new industry in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas for some years. While Northern Marianas College has discarded its short-lived "Pacific Gateway Project," it has been replaced with what's been called the "Global Education Initiative." College President Tony V. Deleon Guerrero says the difference now is that the initiative will target students from other island nations as well as international students from Asia. The NMC Web site says the downturn in the commonwealth's tourism industry in the late 1990s led to reduced funding to the college, and "with little hope of increased government support, and the political reluctance to adversely affect the delivery of services through reductions in force, the current CNMI government administration and college leaders are exploring a long held interest marketing NMC to Asian students as an easily accessible, accredited, quality site for English language instruction, associate degree studies, and a bridge to U.S. universities."

The Bank of Hawaii identified this potential in its October 2003 economic report when it said that the principle advantages the CNMI education industry has are proximity to Asia, climate, an already multicultural labor market and society, and English language.

University of the South Pacific students at their graduation ceremony in Suva, Fiji. Photos: Courtesy USP

Interest in such programs is not limited to the North Pacific. Now the new vice chancellor of the Fiji-headquartered University of the South Pacific (USP), Professor Anthony Tarr, has expressed interest in targeting international students. (The vice chancellor is the title given to the University of the South Pacific's chief executive officer.)

That's something the Fiji campus of the University of Central Queensland pursued during its initial period. It has since been subject to scrutiny following allegations that-predominantly Asian- students involved in prostitution and drugs were using the campus as a route into Australia. However, no hard evidence has been provided and CQU Suva Campus Manager, Mark Skinner, has told Radio Australia that Fiji police gave the campus the all-clear.

At USP, Tarr says international students would aid diversity at the university, help regional students learn from their peers, and generate fees.

"We have extensive plans to develop USP's international profile and to increase the number of international students studying in the Pacific region- through semester-length study abroad programs, summer programs and intensive courses and seminars," he says.

"From a revenue perspective our international student fees are significantly higher than fees chargeable to regional students and so there is a level of fee generation that assists in managing our budget and in keeping regional fees at the lowest level we can sustain," he says.

Tarr says while international students would pay more than regional students, the fees charged by USP would in many cases, still be lower than what they would pay at home, making the university an attractive option. USP will initially focus its marketing and energy on attracting international students to specific courses.

USP Vice Chancellor Anthony Tarr

Tarr's other plans for USP include getting a fourth campus up and running in the Solomon Islands and establishment of a Marine and Sustainable Development faculty.

He also sees opportunities in such ventures as the Fiji Technology Park, just down the road from the Suva USP campus, and for the university playing a facilitation role in some sectors of economic activity.

"As a tangible example, I arranged for two individuals with a terrific track record in the information technology industry to visit USP and to meet with leaders in government and the commercial community in mid-March to explore whether they would be willing to relocate their software development business from the U.S. to Fiji. They were very impressed with the level of support and encouragement they received ... and they had approximately 20 really positive meetings with leading businesses and technology companies in Fiji. As a result they have decided that it is viable to relocate their company to Fiji.

"A company like this will form a bridge from the university and its new ICT development through the employment of large numbers of computer science graduates and it will be very helpful to have the advice and guidance of the business and IT community as we develop graduates who should be well equipped to join this rapidly evolving field," says Tarr.