IT’S TIME FOR AN INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR THE 70,000 RESIDENTS LIVING ON THE EAST SIDE OF YAVAPAI COUNTY

Thirty-two reasons supporting an independent community college encompassing Sedona, Camp Verde, Cottonwood, and the remainder of the Verde Valley

Over the past 50 years, West Yavapai County politicians have maintained iron-fisted political control over the nature and scope of development of a community college that would encompass Sedona, Camp Verde, Cottonwood and the Verde Valley.  The time has come for the 70,000 citizens living on the East side of Yavapai County to remove the political yoke of control exercised by the West County politicians over community college development. It is time to create an Administrative College or ask the State Legislature to create an independent community college district or a new county.

Philosophically, there are few virtues more important than independence. Independence is a requirement for building a strong Community College on the East side of the County that reflects the values and culture of its residents. How can citizens effectively make decisions about the future of post-secondary education on the East side of the County if every action they recommend has to be filtered through the Prescott based and Prescott influenced Yavapai College Administration? And then have the Administration’s recommendation submitted to a five member Community College Governing Board with three members from the west side of the County who are likely to vote as a bloc on any recommendation that favors them?

Without independence, East County citizens can’t be the captain of their own Community College ship. At best, they must be satisfied scrubbing the decks while the powerful West-County Voting Bloc sets the direction they must follow. The following is a list of benefits, in no particular order, that would flow to the residents on the East side of Yavapai County were an independent and/or Administrative College be allowed to form.  The benefits to the East County residents of independence are overwhelming. 

THE BENEFITS OF INDEPENDENCE

1. Independence will stimulate bringing the various communities together in a common cause. With a Verde Valley Community College controlled by East side residents, the small communities and towns that make up a total of more than 70,000 residents who reside on that side of the County will have a common cause, which is to develop the East County’s own community college. Independence will bring the communities together in a positive way and reduce the sometimes competitive nature they sometimes exhibit.
2. Independence will encourage the school districts on the East side of the County to work together in a common cause. Experience has shown that the school districts on the East side of the County are not sometimes united in a way that is helpful. For example, it has taken more than a decade to get the school districts to jointly agree to consider sending high school students to a tiny centralized career and technical education center as a part of the Joint Education District (JTED). By comparison, the school districts on the West side of the County have embraced the Mountain Institute JTED and centralization of major learning programs at facilities constructed and paid for by Yavapai College from property taxes paid by all County residents.
3. Independence will allow citizens to apply property tax revenue raised in the Verde Valley to the Verde Valley. Today, a conservative estimate is that Verde Valley citizens pay a total of $14 to $15 million a year in primary and secondary property taxes to support Yavapai Community College. The College estimates it costs about $7 million annually to operate the Verde Campus and Sedona Center. In addition to primary property taxes, another estimated $1.5 million or more is used to pay off the College’s General Obligation Bond debt using secondary taxes. The excess tax revenue over operational costs is at least $5.5 million and probably much more. Usually, that excess revenue goes to the West side of the County where it supports West County projects. With independence, East County residents can apply all of their tax revenue to enhance post-secondary educational learning opportunities solely to their side of the County.
4. Independence allows tuition payments, state aid, grants, and fees paid by or because of Sedona/Verde Valley students to remain on the East side of the County. Today, Sedona/Verde Valley students enrolled at Yavapai Community College pay tuition. All tuition revenue, State aid, and student fees go to support programs on the West side of the County. (Recall that primary taxes paid by citizens fully support current operations at the Verde Campus and Sedona Center.) It is estimated that the total collected from East County students in these categories is about $1.6 million. With independence, East County residents can control this revenue and apply it to the Verde Valley Community College in Clarkdale and the Sedona Center. It can improve facilities and learning opportunities in Camp Verde and in the other rural areas of East Yavapai County.
5. Independence will allow Sedona and the Verde Valley to share in the “new construction” tax collected from throughout the County but usually all goes toward community college projects on the West side of the County. Each year the College receives from $500,000 to $800,000 in revenue because of a County tax on new construction. With independence, Sedona/Verde Valley residents can apply all of their share of the County new construction tax revenue to enhance post-secondary education on the East side of Yavapai County.
6. Independence will encourage serious consideration of the development of a centralized College Career and Technical Education Center. Today, the College operates one of the finest Career and Technical Education Centers (CTEC) in the nation at the Prescott airport. It was opened in 2007 and has continued to grow since then. Unfortunately, the East side of the County has been ignored.

One consequence of ignoring the East side of the County is that for the past ten years no high school students in Sedona/Verde Valley have been able to take any courses at the CTEC. CTEC is also too distant for many residents to attend who are not high school students. By comparison, high school students at the Mountain Institute on the West side of the County have been attending CTEC for years and have gained an estimated 9,000 college credits while doing so. Furthermore, there is no mountain chain that blocks non-high school residents on the West side of the County from easily driving to CTEC. That chain makes a drive to CTEC from the east side of the County over Mingus Mountain at times dangerous, if not impossible. With an independent college, the East side residents can effectively focus on resolving the unfair CTE issue and potentially build a smaller version of the current CTEC facility. Independence will allow them to create equal learning opportunities, so they can have access to the same type of CTE training now offered on the west side of the County.

7. Independence will encourage closer coordination by the College with the Valley Academy and Career Technical Education (V’ACTE) JTED. An independent college on the east side of Yavapai County will be able to effectively concentrate on, work with, and coordinate career and technical education training programs offered by V’ACTE. This is something the Community College Administrations based in Prescott have not been able to do for 16 years. In fact, the Mountain Institute has located headquarters at CTEC and fully participates in the Allied Health program at the Allied Health Center in Prescott Valley. By comparison, there has been close and supportive development between the Mountain Institute on the West side of the County and Yavapai Community College since the Mountain Institute began in 2008. The East side CTE training has been left to its own devices.
8. Independence encourages closer and better coordination of dual enrollment programs. All three high schools on the East side of the County have dual enrollment programs with the Community College. These programs allow qualified high school students to simultaneously obtain high school and college credit for certain courses. The courses are taught at the high schools by qualified high school faculty and require a high degree of cooperation from the Community College. Those courses can be much more carefully monitored by the College for quality and more closely coordinated with an independent college located in the Verde Valley working with the three high school superintendents and faculty. The East side of the County has also expressed a unanimous view that dual enrollment high school students should not be charged a fee by the College. Despite the opposition, the Governing Board ignored the East side residents and imposed a student per credit fee in March 2016. The fee was approved by the three-member West-County Voting Bloc on the District Governing Board. With independence, the views of the 70,000 plus citizens living in the East side of the County will be respected; not disregarded as illustrated by the dual enrollment vote (among many others).
9. Independence allows development of local athletic programs. There are no organized Community College athletic programs on the East side of the County. It is troubling that all major facilities and all major athletic programs exist only on the West side of the County. Just as troubling is the fact that the College ignores most County high school athletes when it comes to recruiting for the athletic teams. The College recruits its athletes almost entirely from out-of-county, out-of-state, and out-of-country.

One alternative an East side Community College could consider is a well-organized small athletic program made up of local talent and holding local matches and games, which will serve that training purpose on the East side of Yavapai County. It will also increase student enrollment and enhance community interests on the Verde Campus and Sedona Center. Without independence, there will never be any kind of organized athletic programs on the East side of Yavapai County.

10. Independence allows consideration of creating small multi-use indoor performing arts theatre. The largest classroom on the Verde Campus holds 125 persons and acts as a sort of auditorium. For years East side citizens have asked that a small 350 seat auditorium be built. This will accommodate student plays, theatre and dance curriculum, concerts, etc. (A fairly primitive outdoor pavilion that exists on the Verde Campus can be used for some gatherings a few months of the year.) Today, there is no adequate indoor community college auditorium or gathering place for a large crowd on the East side of the County. Only with independence can such a facility be considered and possibly constructed. With the facility will come development of strong music and theatre programs that can complement the music and theatre programs that already exist at the three high schools on the East side of the County.
11. Independence provides “own identity and traditions.” Students attending an educational institution like to feel that it has its own traditions, its own plan, and its own programs. They don’t like to feel that their community college is just an off-shoot or a branch of another controlling institution. A separate East side Administrative or independent campus will respond to these feelings by generating its own identify and own traditions.
12. Independence allows selection of “own” campus president. Under the present College presidential selection process, a large presidential selection committee dominated in representative numbers by the West side of the County interviews the candidates for the presidency. The committee usually meets in Prescott and the Chair is often selected from the West side of the County. (West side Board representative was appointed by West side Governing Board Chair Ray Sigafoos to chair the 2018-19 presidential search committee.) With independence, the East side of the County would be able to effectively participate in the determination of the Community College president. That president becomes “their” choice and East side citizens will naturally see themselves as owners and participants in the life of the Verde Campus and Sedona Center (and hopefully a Camp Verde CTEC facility).
13. Independence provides “real” East Side Advocate. With independence, the President of the East side Community College becomes the independent “voice” of East side citizens. Today, there is no independent “voice” speaking for them. The Executive Dean on the Verde Campus is second in the College chain of command. He reports to the College President and must bow to his or her policies and wishes. He is considered by many as more of a manager, accountable to the College President. He cannot function as an independent “voice” because the “voice” might displease his boss, the College president. Only with independence will the Verde Valley gain the kind of advocate’s voice that is needed.
14. Independence gives the President of the Verde Valley College employment protection. Former President Penelope Wills was fond of telling listeners that the current administrative scheme is similar to that of an independent Administrative College. There are, of course, many differences. For example, today an Executive Dean of the Verde Campus is selected by the College President and must worry about being fired should he or she publicly advocate for programs and projects for the Verde Valley that do not agree with the perspective of College President. It would be employment suicide to publicly disagree with the President. Only with independence does the president of the Verde Valley Community College have protection from the Prescott based College president.
15. Independence provides for fair competition for scarce resources. With independence, the East side of the County will be rid of the West side of the County robbing the East side of its revenue without a voice in opposition. With the president of an Administrative College in place representing the East side, that person could compete annually on a level financial playing field for educational dollars with the Prescott President who would then represent only the interests of the West side of the County.
16. Independence reduces chances of dramatic alterations of programs when there is a College President changeover. When the Sedona Center was built, it had a strong supporter in then College President Doreen Daily. She also championed the nationally recognized Film School. When she resigned in 2004, the presidents who followed her were less and less supportive of the Center and the Film School. Finally, in 2013 President Penelope Wills stunned the Verde Valley by announcing she was shutting down the famous Film School and potentially putting the Center up for sale. It was an astonishing turn of events.

Daily also was a champion of bringing Career and Technical Education training to Northern Arizona. She promoted and began developing the Northern Arizona Regional Training program on the Verde Campus, which was intended to teach career and technical education (CTE) skills to students in at least three counties. Three years after Daily resigned, the “new” College President shut down the Northern Arizona Regional Training program that she had promoted. He moved major CTE development almost entirely to the Prescott airport. There, the College began building a state-of-the-art CTE facility. Verde Valley citizens were essentially left out of the decision. Only with independence can these kinds of dramatic changes in programming and local development be avoided.

17. Independence provides opportunity for President and staff to gain intimate knowledge of the East side of Yavapai County and its culture. A Verde Valley College President would be in a much better position to understand the East side of the County than an Executive Dean who lives in Chino Valley on the West side of the County. (Or a President who lives in Prescott.) A Verde Valley President by living and communicating with Verde Valley residents would gain an intimate knowledge of the culture of the Verde Valley–its strengths and weaknesses. With that knowledge, a President can respond to the cultural diversity of the Valley in a way that an administration located in Prescott, no matter how it tries, will find extremely challenging.
18. Independence means regular availability in Verde Valley. Currently, Verde Valley staff and administrators spend significant amounts of travel time going back and forth to Prescott for a variety of meetings. With a Verde Valley President and administration located on the East side of the County, most of the time away from the Verde Campus to attend those meetings is eliminated.
19. Independence means returning College student government to the Verde Valley. Student government is now concentrated on the Prescott Campus. Student government is a part of the essential fabric of a vibrant College. An independent college on the East side of the County would restore student government with a local flavor.
20. Independence means the opportunity to work more closely with the Yavapai-Apache nation. The Yavapai-Apache Nation is located in the Verde Valley. It is comprised of five tribal communities: Tonally, Middle Verde, Rimrock, Camp Verde and Clarkdale. There are 2,440 total enrolled tribal members (December 2014 numbers) with over 750 residents living in the five tribal communities. There is a need for serious attention to the post-secondary needs of the Nation. An independent East County College can work more closely with the Nation than an Administration located in Prescott.
21. Independence provides access to post-secondary education for the poor, working mothers and fathers, and part-time employees seeking training for new job opportunities. Currently, the absence of many good roads, public or college transportation, and distance prevents those out-of-work, working mothers and fathers, full and part-time employees seeking new CTE skills from having reasonable access to those opportunities. With independence the Verde Campus can focus effectively on addressing this access issue.
22. Independence means appropriate consideration of “left out” pockets of the population in the Verde Valley. For years the Community College has all but left out certain areas of the Northeast section of the East side of Yavapai County in terms of educational and economic development. These areas include the Village of Oak Creek, Beaver Creek, Lake Montezuma and Rimrock. Only with independence will the Verde Valley be able to adequately focus on addressing all population areas within the East side of the County with post-secondary educational opportunities.
23. Independence means accurate gathering of data regarding costs associated with operating Verde Campus and Sedona Center. The College Administration is unable to provide anyone with the exact costs of operating the Verde Campus and Sedona Center (it provides estimates). With independence, the citizens will be able to obtain accurate data regarding the total costs associated with operating those facilities.
24. Independence means less College spin. Dan Engler, editor, Verde Independent, wrote on May 11, 2016 of his chagrin over the inability of the College to provide the answers to the following two questions: “How many graduates this year at the Verde Valley Campus of Yavapai College? And, how does that number compare with recent years?” The Administration was not able to provide those numbers. Instead, it responded: “We do not assign students a primary campus in Banner (internal data tracking etc. app), so when we report graduates they are Yavapai College grads. That said, we could breakout Verde students, but we would need to define a methodology.” Engler commented that “the college is clueless about how to serve the Verde Valley. Our campus does not have local administrators and getting an answer to questions specific about the Verde Campus will not get answered until the college routes it through a research department to find the best possible spin.” Independence will eliminate the current spin by the College on everything related to the Verde Valley.
25. Independence means quickly addressing local issues such as adequate signage, proper care of buildings and grounds. With independence, the problems associated with operational issues will be quickly addressed. For example, for many years, residents, faculty and staff of Yavapai Community College have urged the College administration to significantly improve signage on the Verde Campus. To some extent the Administration has responded, but most agree that it is too little and much more needs to be done. For example, there is a need for a decent trail on the campus, similar to the one built on the Prescott Campus. However, the Administration refuses to invest in such an endeavor on the Verde Campus. For another example, the grounds on the Verde Campus have been extensively improved. However, it appears insufficient attention is being paid to the grounds following the improvement. Local control over operations will allow the College to deal effectively with the above issues and many others.
26. Independence will help reduce historic distrust of West County. With their own Verde Valley College, the historic distrust by East County residents of “everything from Prescott” may be reduced. It should at least encourage citizens from both sides of the mountain chain to work jointly and more closely with each other.
27. Independence means the citizen voices of the Verde Valley will be heard and respected. The best example of how little the East County is respected by the current Administration and three-member voting block on the West side of the County is the record of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee. Repeatedly over a two-year period (2014-2016) recommendations were made to the Governing Board by the Verde Valley Board Advisory Board. Repeatedly those recommendations were ignored by the West-County Voting Bloc controlling majority. For example, Mr. Paul Chevalier, speaking for the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee (VVBAC), suggested at the November 9, 2015 Governing Board meeting that the Governing Board, College administrators, and the VVBAC hold a series of joint meetings to work out solutions to the VVBAC’s 16 recommendations for improving post-secondary education in the Verde Valley. Mr. Chevalier stated that to resolve the post-secondary educational issues raised by the VVBAC, it would take cooperation among everyone to solve them–the Board, the administration, and the VVBAC. The Administration and the Governing Board rejected the recommendation.

For example, at the August 5, 2015 Board meeting the question of the future of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee to the District Governing Board came up during discussion. When Verde Valley Board representative Al Filardo moved to continue the Committee for two years, the motion was met with strong opposition from the West County majority voting block and if facial expressions are any indication, also by the College President. It was sidelined.

At the District Governing Board’s May 19, 2015 meeting, four recommendations came from the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee. They included: (1) Delay approval of the capital improvement portion of the 2015-2016 budget until the District Governing Board has the recommendations of the Verde Valley strategic plan currently being developed. (2) Increase the marketing and recruitment efforts in the Verde Valley by implementing a program of continuous and direct interaction with students and their parents to seek students’ wants and aptitudes. (3) Amend the Campus Master Plan to remove all language about divesting of the Sedona Campus. (4) Do not raise property taxes this year. Three of the four motions were rejected by the Board on a 3-2 vote with the West side representative voting together to oppose them. Only the request to formally remove the Sedona Campus from the 10-year-plan was approved.

On March 1, 2016 the three-member West-County Voting Bloc voted to once again increase student tuition. The two members of the Board from the Verde Valley opposed the increase. Previously, in 2015, the Board had increased tuition by a 3-2 vote. The dissenters were the Verde Valley representatives.

The Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee strongly recommended that the Community College not charge a per credit fee for high school students enrolled in the dual enrollment program. That recommendation was rejected and a $10 per credit per student fee was adopted by the District Governing Board on a 3-2 vote. The West side majority once again voted as a block in support of the Administration’s request. Repeatedly, the voices of the citizens of the Verde Valley are not listened to by the District Governing Board. The voices are not respected.

On September 11, 2016 during its almost secret retreat, the West County Voting Bloc voted to shutter the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee with both Verde Valley representatives opposing the motion. This was a direct insult to the 70,000 plus residents of the Verde Valley.

28. Independence means becoming a local economic engine. With independence, the Community College on the East side of the County will have the future opportunity to become the kind of economic engine now existing in Prescott. Recall that a Community with a strong Community College economic engine benefits because of the following: (a) Employee payroll, (b) increased demand for housing caused by employees, (c) having programs that stimulate a local economy, (d) attracting new residents thus bringing new revenue to a community, (e) attracting new employers with a well-educated work pool, and (f) helping sell an area as a welcome tourist destination.
29. Independence means development of a residence hall for the Culinary Institute, Fire training program, Winery program, music, theatre and other programs. It would mean the beginning of serious development of a community college on the East side of Yavapai County for the 70,000 plus residents who live there.
30. Independence means returning dozens of programs removed from the East side of the County and developing others. Over the past 10 years, the Community College has removed dozens of programs from the Verde Campus.  Development of music, theater and the arts have been almost exclusively focused in Prescott.  With return of control of the Community College to the east side of the County, those programs and many others can be returned and fully developed.
31. Independence means that local residents make location and development decisions. With independence, the 70,000 residents on the East side of the County will chart the course for developing their community college. For example, when the question of where to locate a career and technical education Center arises, the final decision will be in the hands of local East County residents and not made by Prescott administrators.
32. Residents can afford their own community college. The College estimates that the Verde Campus and Sedona Center cost a little more than $7 million to operate. Annually, property taxes, tuition, state aid, etc. generates an estimated minimal amount of $15 million dollars.  Clearly, there is no problem from a financial standpoint of east county residents operating an independent community college.

The above reasons explain why independence is so important to the East side residents of Yavapai County. Recall, the East side consists of 70,000 plus citizens who would support and control their own post-secondary educational future with independence.