R. Oliphant :: Page 45 :: Eye on Yavapai College

Yavapai Community College in Northern Arizona

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UNABLE TO OBTAIN SUFFICIENT DATA SUPPORTING EXPENDING $10 MILLION IN VERDE VALLEY ON COMMERCIAL BREWERY, AS A LAST RESORT CHEVALIER FILES A FORMAL PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST WITH COLLEGE TO OBTAIN DATA, IF IT EXISTS

By R. Oliphant

Saturday, August 27th, 2022

Believes expenditure should focus on expanding facilities to train students in high-paying CTE jobs fearing Brewery/distilling courses will provide only a tiny number of such opportunities; says College provided Board insufficient data showing need for Brewery training when presenting budget; subsequent informal requests for data after Board meeting have not been answered

Third District Representative to the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board, Paul Chevalier, has been an outspoken opponent of spending $10 million on developing a commercial brewing/distilling program to replace the existing program in the Verde Valley. (See fall registration below.)

During the May Governing Board meeting where the $10 million expenditure was approved 4-1, he argued the Community College should focus on using the money to develop a wide variety of high-tech training opportunities for Verde Valley students that may pay as much as $75,000 upon receiving a two-year certificate. He questioned whether a brewing program had the same potential. (Hear his arguments during the May Governing Board meeting by clicking here.)

Chevalier also raised the question of whether the College had conducted a sufficient needs assessment. One that would show that there is a significant need for a brewing/distilling program in the Verde Valley. There was no answer to this question at the May meeting.

Since the Governing Board meeting in May, Chevalier, who was interviewed by the Blog, says he has tried to obtain data from the Community College that would support using the money for a brewing program rather than a high-tech program. Specifically, data that would show a need for such training that would lead to high paying jobs for numbers of Verde Valley residents. However, his requests for data directed to the Community College have been rejected. The College administration’s refusal to provide such information has been supported by the Governing Board Chair.

In a last ditch attempt to obtain reliable data from the College, if it exists, Chevalier has turned to the Arizona Public Records law in an effort to obtain the information used by the College administration to make the $10 million recommendation to the Board. He is now awaiting a reply from the College to his Public Records request.

FALL 2022 ENROLLMENT IN VERDE CAMPUS BREWING PROGRAM

Categories : Beer projects

QUESTIONS ABOUND REGARDING HOW CAPITAL BUDGET FOR 2022-23 WENT FROM $5 MILLION IN MARCH TO $10 MILLION IN MAY TO BUILD A COMMERCIAL BREWERY

By R. Oliphant

Friday, August 26th, 2022

VP Ewell tells Yavapai Community College Board at budget approval meeting College intends to use the $10 million to construct a 14,000 square foot commercial lab “to teach brewing and distilling”

Many unanswered questions surround the decision by Yavapai Community College to invest somewhere around $10 million to construct a 14,000 square foot commercial lab to teach brewing and distilling. The facility, when completed, will sell its product to the public. (Click here to review video explanation by Vice President Clint Ewell at May meeting.)

The puzzle began in March of 2022 when the College rolled out a tentative budget showing it was going to spend $5 million to expand its Career and Technical Education facility. (See tentative budget proposal below.)

Although in May the College seems to claim that the beer brewing facility was discussed in depth at the March Governing Board meeting, apparently by College consultants, a review of that meeting fails to show a discussion of a brewery taking place. Instead, a casual observer would conclude the capital discussion at the March meeting involved expanding the existing 10,000 square CTE facility on the Verde Campus.

The brewery expenditure, which was marked as such in the budget, first appeared in the April proposed final budget. There was no explanation for the change from $5 million to $8 million. (See April proposed final budget below.)

Finally, at the May budget hearing, the brewery once again appeared on the capital budget for 2022-23 with a figure of $10 million. At this meeting, it was the first time the public learned that the College now intended to build a 14,000 square foot facility. Once again, there was little explanation of the jump from the earlier $5 million rough estimate to $10 million 60 days later. (See May final budget below.)

Efforts to obtain more information about the need for such a facility, where the planning is at, whether there is a need, etc. have so far been futile as the College keeps a tight lid on its planning.

March Draft Capital budget below:

April propose budget below:

Categories : Budget

VRINDAVAN SILVA OF CORNVILLE AND HEIDI HOWDEN OF PRESCOTT AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS PHI THETA KAPPA (PTK) HONOR SOCIETY SCHOLARSHIPS

By R. Oliphant

Friday, August 26th, 2022

Future nurses receive $1,000 assistance each to encourage their continued leadership and participation in PTK programs

Vrindavan Silva of Cornville and Heidi Howden of Prescott were selected as 2022 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise scholars. The two Yavapai Community College Phi Theta Kappa members and Honors students were among a total of 207 Leaders of Promise selected from 1,300 applicants nationwide. Selection for these awards was based on academic achievement and demonstrated leadership potential.

Each student will receive a $1,000 scholarship.

You may read more about the awards and the two outstanding recipients in a Community College news release of August 25, 2022 authored by J.J. McCormack by clicking here.

Categories : Scholarships

THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES (ACCT) SELECTS THREE RECIPIENTS FROM YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR ANNUAL REGIONAL PACIFIC AWARDS

By R. Oliphant

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022

Board member Ray Sigafoos, English Professor and Faculty Senate President Dr. Karen Palmer, and Yvonne Martinez-Sandoval, executive assistant to President Rhine and the District Governing Board, were chosen for their outstanding work

The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) announced the recipients of its annual Regional Awards for community college trustees, equity programs, chief executive officers, faculty members, and professional board staff members on August 15. In the Pacific Region, Community College Board member Ray Sigafoos, English Professor and Faculty Senate President Dr. Karen Palmer, and Yvonne Martinez-Sandoval, the executive assistant to President Rhine and the District Governing Board, were recognized. They were among more than two dozen recipients of various awards from five regions made by ACCT this year.

To learn more about the awards and the reasons these people were selected, please read the Community College news article posted by reporter J.J. McCormick August 16, which can be found by clicking here.

Categories : ADMINISTRATION, Faculty, GOVERNING BOARD

YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE CONTINUES ITS FIGHT TO CREATE FREE OR ALMOST FREE TEXTBOOKS FOR STUDENTS

By R. Oliphant

Sunday, August 21st, 2022

Will share $2 million grant from U.S. Department of Education Fund with seven other community colleges as it leads the state in an effort begun in 2019 to reduce the amount of money students pay for textbooks

One of the major goals set by President Dr. Lisa Rhine when she arrived at Yavapai Community College was to significantly reduce the cost of student textbooks. This would help make post-secondary education available to everyone in the County at the lowest possible cost.

Dr. Diane Ryan

Rhine put newly hired Dr. Diane Ryan in charge of developing what was called the “Open Educational Resources” (OER) project back in 2019. She was familiar with OER as she had been involved in an OER program at Tidewater Community College in Virginia before coming to Yavapai.

The OER program was launched at Yavapai Community College in the fall of 2019 with Dr. Ryan setting a goal of reducing individual student textbook costs by $2,000 or more. (See November 8, 2019, Blog Post.) In February and March 2020 Ryan reported to the College Governing Board on her initial efforts, which included training the College faculty on how to use Open Educational Resource Material. On September 14, 2021, Dr. Rhine reported that the project had already saved students more than $300,000 since it began. (Blog post dated September 29, 2021.)

This week the College announced that it was now sharing a $2 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education with seven other community colleges to continue its OER program.

According to the August 19, 2022, College news release, in June 2021 the Open Textbooks for Rural Arizona project was awarded $801,218. Earlier this month (August 2022), the Department of Education announced that it was increasing the grant award by $1,198,782, to bring the total to $2 million. With these additional funds, Cochise College, the only rural Arizona Community College not originally included in the proposal, will be joining the consortium of eight community colleges involved in OER. Yavapai will share in this grant and is no doubt its recognized leader.

Congratulations are due to Dr. Diane Ryan for her outstanding efforts in developing this project. Kudos also must go to Dr. Rhine for here vision of finding a way to reduce student textbook costs and putting Dr. Ryan in charge of carrying out that vision.

Sources: Blog OER postings since 2019; News release authored by Tyler Rumsey dated August 19, 2022, which can be read in full by clicking here.

Categories : OER

COTTONWOOD-OAK CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT SAYS DROPOUT RATE ESTIMATE USED IN PRESENTATIONS BY HIS STAFF TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD WAS “INACCURATE”

By R. Oliphant

Saturday, August 20th, 2022

Apologizes during interview and takes complete responsibility for the mistake; says Mingus Superintendent was “absolutely correct” when stating the dropout rate used by the Cottonwood-Oak Creek District in the spring was inaccurate

The Blog interviewed Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Steve King earlier this week. He had earlier contacted the Blog editor about high school dropout rates in Sedona and the Verde Valley.

The interview by the Blog with Mr. King focused on the issue of an apparent discrepancy between high school dropout estimates used by his staff in two presentations to the Yavapai Community College Governing Board in March and May of this year and those of Mingus Superintendent Mike Westcott. Superintendent Westcott, in a letter to the Blog, put the historic high school dropout rate at from three to seven percent. (See earlier Blog story with Superintendent’s letter explaining dropout rate.) That conflicted with the estimates used by Superintendent King’s staff.

During the interview with the Blog, Superintendent King made it clear he was apologizing saying it was a mistake to use the 20 to 25 percent dropout rate. He took complete responsibility for the incorrect estimates. He emphasized during the interview that he wanted to correct the public record and let the public know that he agreed with Superintendent Westcott’s dropout rate assessment.

King also noted his concern that while any dropout of high school students is a loss to the community, that the statistics may not reflect the true nature of the educational issues facing the community. Regardless, he said that Superintendent Westcott was “absolutely correct” when he commented that the numbers used by the Cottonwood-Oak Creed District when making the dropout estimates were not accurate.

Categories : Dropout rate

YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM WILL HAVE FOUR YAVAPAI COUNTY PLAYERS

By R. Oliphant

Friday, August 19th, 2022

Roster of 15 players so far has a strong Arizona flavor with 11 from the Grand Canyon state

Head Yavapai Community College Women’s Basketball Coach Gerrard Carmichael has almost completed building his roster for the new basketball program launched this year. It will have a strong Arizona flavor with at least 11 athletes from Arizona and four of the total 15 student athletes from Yavapai County.

The first student athlete to be recruited was a Prescott High School outstanding player, Hollie Dalton. She signed her NJCAA Letter of Intent to continue her athletic and academic career at Yavapai College back in March. The roster of student athletes with the locations of their high schools looks like this so far:

Abbigail Colquitt, Mayer, Arizona

Abigail Polacek, Chino Valley, Arizona

Brooklyn Wiltbank, Lehi, Utah

Chloe Lobmeyer, Surprise, Arizona

Holly Dalton, Prescott, Arizona

Jaiden Renne, Surprise, Arizona

Kacie Clinton, Prescott, Arizona

Keyla Cervantes, Avondale, Arizona

Mackenzie Irving, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Megan Kirchhardt, Tempe, Arizona

Melissa Soto, Chino Valley, Arizona

Saydee Allred, Pima, Arizona

Shyah Anderson, Paradise Valley, Arizona

Tanniya Uchida, Konawaena, Hawaii

Terazina Smith, Lehi, Utah

Wynter Huskie, Flagstaff, Arizona

Categories : Athletics, Basketball program

TWO SEDONA CENTER VOICE CLASSES ARE PROVIDED VIA WEBLIVE RATHER THAN IN PERSON

By R. Oliphant

Friday, August 19th, 2022

Nine persons enrolled in two classes that could accommodate 20 students; minor mystery of “zero enrollment” showing on registration site when changing from face-to-face to online classes solved

It was thought that there would be five adult face-to-face classes for college credit offered at the Sedona Center this semester. However, it turns out that there will be only the three face-to-face classes, all in culinary, when the semester opens. (See earlier Blog posting for more information.) The courses labeled Voice I and Voice II were changed from face-to-face to Weblive by the College.

Weblive classes are online and open to anyone but have specific times scheduled for classes. According to the College, a total of nine students are enrolled in these two classes (Voice I and Voice II).

There was a minor amount of confusion when the College’s registration web page listing Sedona Center classes initially indicated that no one had signed up for either voice course, when in fact nine students had enrolled. The College later explained that the classes were changed from face-to-face to Weblive. This accounted for the inaccurate zero registration number temporarily showing up in its registration portal. Here is the College’s response to the Blog query about these two classes and the initial showing of zero enrollment and change:

When a class is in the process of being cancelled it shows zero enrolled until those students have been contacted. Then the classes disappear from the registration site (if you search now for the Sedona Campus, you won’t see the Voice classes because they were moved to WebLive).

We always contact students if we are changing the modality of a class or cancelling the class. While we are in the process of contacting them, we drop the class capacity to zero so that students can’t register for a class that is being changed or cancelled. We let the students know about the change in modality and the new class number so that they can change their registration, or we let them know about other class options if the class is being cancelled. Then the class is cancelled and disappears from the registration site.

The minor mystery of zero enrollment has been solved. While the number of students in each class remains limited to 10, anyone anywhere may take the classes online but at specific scheduled times.

Categories : Enrollment data, Sedona Campus

YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE’S SEDONA CENTER WILL RUN THREE ADULT CULINARY COURSES AND FOUR VACTE SECTIONS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BEGINNING AUGUST 2022

By R. Oliphant

Thursday, August 18th, 2022

So far, adults have filled 29 of 48 available seats; additional three 8 week adult classes also scheduled for October

Yavapai Community College has offered three adult culinary classes for the fall 2022 at the Sedona Center to begin in August. As of the first day of class, the College reported that it had filled 29 of 48 available seats for these classes. Enrollment, as reported by the College, indicates the following:

Culinary Principles: 12 out of 16 seats filled

Culinary Fundamentals Hot Foods: 10 out of 16 seats filled

Culinary Fundamentals Baking & Pastry (8-week class): 7 out of 16 seats filled

In October, an additional three eight-week classes are currently scheduled for adults, including:

Cake Decorating Basics

Food Purchasing/Cost Control (WebLive)

Culinary Arts Practicum

VACTE: The fall enrollment data for high school students enrolled in culinary training at the Center through the Valley Academy for Career and Technology Education (VACTE) as of August 18, 2022, show that 40 students have signed up for the available 64 open spots. All of the high school students will be taught at the Sedona Center. The student enrollment was:

Culinary Principles: 13 out of 16 seats filled

Culinary Principles: 7 out of 16 seats filled

Culinary Fundamentals Hot Foods: 13 out of 16 seats filled

Culinary Fundamentals Hot Foods: 7 out of 16 seats filled

Note that Camp Verde High School students are eligible to enroll in VACTE culinary classes at the Sedona Center. However, because of travel time and schedules, it is currently not feasible for them to take classes there. Also, Camp Verde High School has a culinary facility on its campus. VACTE is working with a new teacher with the goal of qualifying the programs for dual enrollment. If successful, dual enrollment will give the students upon successful completion of the courses Yavapai Community College Credit.

Categories : Enrollment data

MINGUS UNION SUPERINTENDENT SAYS CLAIMING HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE IN SEDONA AND VERDE VALLEY IS 20 TO 25% IS BASED ON “FAULTY PREMISE”

By R. Oliphant

Saturday, August 13th, 2022

In a letter to the Blog he explains that the high school dropout rate has ranged from 3 to 7% over the years

Mingus Union School District Superintendent Mike Wescott

In a letter to the Blog dated August 12, 2022 Mingus Union High School District Superintendent Mike Wescott expressed disappointment after reading the articles in the Blog reporting that there was a 20-25% drop out rate among high school students in Sedona and the Verde Valley. Those figures were contained in Blog stories posted July 10, July 7^th and March 29. The information was given to the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board members by administrators from Cottonwood-Oak Creek school district during public meetings held in March and May of this year. The Blog backed up its sources for the stories by including video links to the May and March meetings where the figures were again unequivocally used. (The College has yet to publish the links on the Board website to the May meeting where these figures were used.) Because of the Blog’s concern with accuracy, Superintendent Westcott was able to view the actual presentations by the administrators to the Governing Board using the Blog provided links.

In his letter to the Blog, Superintendent Westcott explained that the use of the 20-25% figure was based on a faulty premise. With the Superintendent’s permission, the Blog is reprinting his letter in full below explaining that the actual dropout rate for years has ranged from 3% to 7% in Sedona and the Verde Valley.

[Friday, August 12, 2022]

Message:

Mr. Oliphant,

I would like to express my disappointment having just viewed the recordings and read the articles detailing the meeting between COCSD’s Verde Tech representatives and the Yavapai College Governing Board regarding the rationale behind the creation of Verde Tech High School.

During the presentation, the dropout rate in the Verde Valley was repeatedly stated to be 20-25%. It appears that the presenters mistakenly confused dropout rate with the result of subtracting graduation rate from 100%, unless they have access to statistics which differ from those produced by ADE or have adopted a different definition of the term.

For your information, the high school dropout rate for us, Camp Verde, and Sedona has been between about 3-7% for several years, sometimes a bit lower, seldom higher. This is typically very similar to the county and state dropout rate, often smaller. The reason the sum of graduation and dropout rate does not equal 100% is that when a student withdraws from high school and graduates from another, they don’t count against our dropout rate, but they do count against our graduation rate. Hence, we often see an annual graduation rate of about 80% with a dropout rate of 5-6%, not 20%.

Of course, we would prefer a higher graduation rate and do all we can to improve it, but the increasingly transient nature of our families makes it difficult to retain each student who enrolls as a freshman until they graduate. We take a bit of comfort knowing that a large majority of those who do withdraw end up graduating from other high schools.

I would submit that your description of local dropout rates as “huge” and “outrageous” confirms the impression left with those in attendance or viewing the video segment but is based upon a faulty premise.

Mike Westcott

Superintendent

Mingus Union High School

Categories : Mingus Union High School