Author Archive for R. Oliphant – Page 104

COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESIDENT CONSIDERING CHANGES TO ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

By R. Oliphant
Saturday, September 21st, 2019

Goal is to achieve educational excellence

Yavapai Community College president Dr. Lisa Rhine has told her staff and faculty that there may be some organizational structure changes coming in the future.  She says that she believes that “reorganizing” will help “achieve service and learning excellence.”

No decisions have been made and there is a great deal of discussion expected before any formal re-organizational announcements are made.  Below is a note Dr. Rhine sent earlier this month to the faculty about the effort.  

 

Categories : ADMINISTRATION

COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT NURSES ASSOCIATION SPONSORS BLOOD DRIVE ON VERDE VALLEY CAMPUS AND SEDONA CENTER OCTOBER 2

By R. Oliphant
Friday, September 20th, 2019

Hours are from 10 a.m to 2 p.m and reservations should be made in advance

The Yavapai Community College Student Nurses Association is sponsoring a blood drive to be held on the Verde Valley Campus and Sedona  Center October 2. To set up an appointment to donate blood, the College provided  contacts:

 

Contact Dr. Stephanie Scovill at 928-771-4859,
Cynthia Schroder at 928-649-5470 or
Register to donate at BloodHero.com with code YCVERDE

For donating blood Acme pizza will give you a voucher for a FREE 10″ cheese pizza.

Categories : Event

YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE FILM AND MEDIA ARTS PROGRAM AMONG THE WORLDWIDE HOSTS OF THE 2019 MANHATTAN SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

By R. Oliphant
Friday, September 20th, 2019

Festival short movies can be seen on the Prescott Campus at the Performing Arts Center beginning at 6:30; Tuesday, October 1; General admission tickets $10; students with ID $5

The Yavapai Community College Film and Media Arts Program is among the worldwide hosts of the 2019 Manhattan Short Film Festival. Catch the festival at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1 in the YCPAC. Once in, you may  weigh in on your festival favorites. General admission tickets are $10 and YC students with an ID are admitted for $5.

The  The Mary D Fisher Theater in Sedona is also joining in the festival.  It has listed the following dates for showing the festival movies: Friday 9/27, Sunday 9/29, Monday 9/30, Tuesday 10/1 and Thursday 10/3.

The festival involves the showing of ten short films from around the world that are simultaneously screened in over 400 cities spanning six continents during a one-week period, with the Best Film and Best Actor awards determined by the total ballots cast by the audiences in this Oscar-qualified film festival.

The 10 Manhattan Short films hail from seven countries with films from Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, three films from the United Kingdom, and two films from the USA. These 10 represent the best short films from among 1,250 submissions to the festival  from 70 countries.

Festival organizers write that “the range of film genres includes intimate dramas; spine-tingling tales; a car that feels a part of a family; and a film about an apocalyptic future as part of the Manhattan Short program.”

Categories : Event

DOCUMENTARY FILM “WRENCHED” TO BE SHOWN FREE TO PUBLIC SEPT 24 AT 6:30 P.M. ON VERDE VALLEY CAMPUS

By R. Oliphant
Friday, September 20th, 2019

New edit of film produced and directed by Yavapai Community College film school graduate ML Lincoln to be shown in Building M, Room 137 Tuesday night

The Yavapai Community College Film and Media Arts Program brings a showing of ML. Lincoln’s documentary movie, “Wrenched, to the Verde Valley Campus, on Tuesday, September 24 at Building M, Room 137. The show begins at 6:30 p.m. It is the new edit, with footage of environmental activist Tim DeChristopher.

The Community Colleges describes the moving as showing how Edward Abbey’s conservationist novels influenced the emerging environmental movement of the 1970s and ‘80s. Even today, Abbey’s books, particularly The Monkey Wrench Gang, inspire radical action groups in their fight to protect wilderness.

The movie is described in part on the movie’s own website as follows: 

It “reveals how Edward Abbey’s anarchistic spirit and riotous novels influenced and helped guide the nascent environmental movement of the 1970s and ‘80s. Through interviews, archival footage and re-enactments, ML Lincoln captures the outrage of Abbey’s friends who were the original eco-warriors. In defense of wilderness, these early activists pioneered ”monkeywrenching” – a radical blueprint for “wrenching the system.” Exemplified by EarthFirst! in the early ‘80s, direct action and civil disobedience grew in popularity. With tree-spiking, forest occupation and high-profile publicity stunts such as the cracking at Glen Canyon Dam, this group became the eventual target of FBI infiltrators, leading to the arrest of various members.”

The movie is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

As noted above, “Wrenched” was produced and directed by YC film school graduate ML Lincoln.

Sources:  Yavapai Community College; “Wrenched” website.

 

Categories : Event

COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHES FIRE VICTIM NEAL BALTZ MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

By R. Oliphant
Wednesday, September 18th, 2019

Scholarship will benefit students enrolled in the Yavapai College Viticulture and Enology program

Yavapai Community College has established a memorial scholarship to honor Neal Baltz.  Mr. Baltz was one of the 34 victims who died in the deadly fire on a dive boat off the California coast several days ago.  Baltz, lived in Ahwatukee with his girlfriend Patricia Beitzinger, who also died in the fire.

In an interview with Fox10 News Phoenix, Michael Pierce said that “The tragedy is too hard to think about. I’d rather think about Neal and think about him being right here with us and having wet shoes with all of us and enjoying it and doing something goofy. That is what I’d rather be thinking about.”

The College Foundation wrote on its web site that Neal Baltz was  “an engineer from Phoenix, loved wine, and loved making it. After years of experimenting at home, fermenting grapes in his bathtub, he enrolled in the Enology program at Yavapai College in Northern Arizona’s Verde Valley wine region. He made the hour-and-a-half drive to Yavapai’s Clarkdale campus from his home in Ahwatukee, working in the vineyards and cellars, and sometimes sleeping overnight in his Ford F-150. Neal graduated from the Viticulture and Enology program in 2017.”

Your contribution to the Neal Baltz Memorial Scholarship will benefit students enrolled in the Yavapai College Viticulture and Enology program. The permanently endowed scholarship fund will honor Neal’s memory in perpetuity at Yavapai College.

Categories : Scholarships

OLLI NEEDS SOME HELP IN CLARKDALE AT 1 P.M. FRIDAY, SEPT 20

By R. Oliphant
Saturday, September 14th, 2019

Volunteers needed at the Clubhouse to set up tables and chairs for 3 p.m. program

 

Categories : OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning)

NO FALL STUDENT ENROLLMENT DATA RELEASED YET BY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

By R. Oliphant
Friday, September 13th, 2019

Regular semester classes began August 19

Yavapai Community College has yet to provide the District Governing Board or the public with information regarding fall enrollment.  Nothing was mentioned about enrollment during the President’s report to the Governing Board at the Tuesday, September 10 general meeting.

Regular classes began at the two campuses and four centers August 19.

The College made its first fall enrollment report in 2018 in the middle of August  when speaking to the Sedona City Council.  At that time the College indicated that enrollment was “about flat” when compared to 2017.

 

Categories : Enrollment data

FIRST AMENDMENT, COMMUNICATION, AND WHO MAY TALK WITH WHOM BIG ISSUE DURING BOARD RETREAT

By R. Oliphant
Friday, September 13th, 2019

Questions about first amendment freedom of speech and College policy stopping Board members from talking with staff and faculty appear to clash; faculty and Board have no way to interact in a meaningful way

There was a lot of discussion during Monday’s Board retreat about the ability of Governing Board members to obtain information of any kind from the College faculty and staff.  Governing Board member Paul Chevalier argued there should be greater freedom among Board members to obtain information from sources other than the president.  His view received at best a mild reception.

Although not always that clear, it appears that the bottom line is that under Governing Board policy its members may not talk about the college, ever, with a member of the staff or faculty outside a Board meeting.               The result is that information received by a Board member is tightly controlled and very formal. Direct communication between the faculty and the governing board is typically ritualized, infrequent, and limited to specific agenda items during a Board meeting.

Under existing policy, it appears that any and all information must come to the Board from the President’s office.  This means that at informal gatherings of any kind, even minor questions about the College may not be asked when a Board member is chatting with a member of staff or faculty.

It appears possible that a staff or faculty member could be disciplined by the Administration if he or she engaged in discussion with a Governing Board member about the College.

In 2013, an article by Hans-Joerg Tiede of the American Association of University Professors observed the following:

“College and university governance works best when every constituency within the institution has a clear understanding of its role with respect to the other constituencies. It works best when communication among the governing board, the administration, and the faculty (not to mention the staff and students) is regular, open, and honest. Too often the president serves as the sole conduit for the governing board and the faculty to communicate with each other. While this practice may be efficient, it rarely enhances understanding between governing boards and faculties.”

He goes on to write that:

“A report on faculty-board communication issued by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) in 2009, Faculty, Governing Boards, and Institutional Governance, recommends that, in order to `enhance mutual understanding and respect,’ institutions should provide `opportunities for faculty and trustees to interact in meaningful ways, in formal as well as informal settings.’”

It is clear that the policy on the Yavapai Community College Governing Board is not going in that direction.

Categories : ADMINISTRATION, GOVERNING BOARD

IF ELECTED AS SUPERVISOR, YC GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER IRWIN MUST LEAVE COLLEGE BOARD

By R. Oliphant
Friday, September 13th, 2019

Irwin currently  running for County Supervisor while sitting on YC Governing Board

A question was raised about whether current Yavapai Community College Board member Steve Irwin could simultaneously hold the positions of both a County Supervisor and a Yavapai Community College Board member. However,  It is clear that under current law he could not hold both positions. 

Under A.RS. § 15-1441(G), a county officer as provided in section ARS 11-401 is not eligible to serve as a member of a community college district governing board during his or her term of office. A.R.S. § 11-401(A) lists the county officers as follows:

  1. Sheriff.
  2. Recorder.
  3. Treasurer.
  4. School superintendent.
  5. County attorney.
  6. Assessor.
  7. Supervisors.
  8. Clerk of the board of supervisors.
  9.  Tax collector.

Source:  Yavapai County Education Superintendent.

Categories : Politics

PATRICIA BEITZINGER AND NEAL BALTZ DIE IN CALIFORNIA BOATING ACCIDENT

By R. Oliphant
Sunday, September 8th, 2019

Strong supporters and Founders of the Yavapai Community College Southwest Wine Center

In an email to students and faculty, Dr. Lisa Rhine lamented the deaths of Patricia Beitzinger and Neal Baltz, who died in a California boating accident September 2. They were on the boat “Conception,” which burned killing 34 people in California’s worst maritime fire in recent history.

Dr. Rhine wrote:

 “The Community College family and the Southwest Wine Center community lost two very important supporters, Patricia Beitzinger and Neal Baltz. Early Monday morning the couple was a part of a dive team on a boat that caught on fire killing at least 20 people. The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for the remaining 14 passengers who have not been found.

“Patricia and Neal, were strong supporters and Founders of the Southwest Wine Center. Although they lived in the Valley, they were both frequent visitors to Yavapai College and the Southwest Wine Center. Neal was a 2017 YC Viticulture and Enology program Alumnus and also had endowed a Viticulture scholarship in his name

“Our thoughts and prayers are with both of their families during this tragic time. As soon as we learn of any funeral arraignments we will communicate that information to the college community.”

 

Categories : ADMINISTRATION
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