R. Oliphant :: Page 54 :: Eye on Yavapai College

Yavapai Community College in Northern Arizona

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COMMUNITY COLLEGE CAREFULLY MOVING FORWARD ON DEVELOPING FOUR-YEAR BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMS

By R. Oliphant

Friday, February 25th, 2022

Anticipates first B.A. classes to be ready for student enrollment by the fall of 2023 | First programs will most likely be in Business and Nursing

Yavapai Community College president Dr. Lisa Rhine outlined to the District Governing Board at its February 22 meeting the progress being made toward eventually offering a limited number of Baccalaureate degree programs.

In her report, Dr. Rhine indicated that the College anticipates its first B.A. programs to be fully operational by the fall of 2023. The areas appearing to meet the twin criteria of need and student interest at the present time are Business and Nursing.

Dr. Rhine observed that there is clearly a need for a B.A. program in teaching but there is little student interest. She attributed the low interest to the low pay provided Arizona teachers. With such low interest, the Community College is hesitant to move into that field.

Maricopa College will also begin offering a number of B.A. programs in the fall of 2023. Dr. Rhine said that because its administrative colleges are individually accredited, Maricopa will be able to offer more B.A. programs of study than Yavapai.

The great competitive advantage that Yavapai will hold in this area is low cost. It is anticipated that a Yavapai Community College B.A. degree, when compared to a similar degree at another College or University, will cost much less while the quality will be comparable.

The video clip below from the Governing Board February 22 meeting has Dr. Rhine explaining the process of the development of the program in the first six minutes. The remaining eight minutes contains the Governing Board discussion with Dr. Rhine about the development of the program.

Categories : B.A. DEGREES

GOVERNING BOARD LAWYER QUICKLY CLAMPS DOWN ON “INVESTING IN THE VERDE” PUBLICATION KERFUFFLE

By R. Oliphant

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

College claims it intended to include Chevalier and other east side people in publication, but he rejected its efforts; Chevalier replied he “did not decline” to be in it; “that’s not the case,” he said

As the Yavapai District Governing Board was within a few seconds of adjourning its all-day meeting on February 22 in Prescott, Fourth District Board member Chris Kuknyo raised a question about the absence of any reference to Verde Valley Representative Paul Chevalier in the recent Community College publication, “Investing in The Verde.” Kuknyo asked, “Is there a reason he wasn’t asked to be in this magazine?” Dr Rhine quickly responded explaining: “Our original communication plan that we had with our marketing department in putting together this edition, particularly, we planned to include Mr. Chevalier and five other constituents from the east side and do a feature article. And we asked Mr. Chevalier to do that and he declined their request.”

Mr. Chevalier immediately responded that he did not “decline to be in it.” As Mr. Kuknyo began to further pursue the issue, Governing Board lawyer Lynn Adams stepped in saying “we, are way off topic now, we are supposed to be adjourning” and halted any further discussion. She said, “Paul, if you want to say that is not the case, that’s fine, but I do not want to get into a topic here that is not on the agenda”. Chevalier said, “that’s not the case.”

The Board adjourned and Ms. Adams avoided a potentially more lively kerfuffle from breaking out between the two representatives.

It is reported that Mr. Chevalier and a member of the staff who was in charge of the publication met shortly after the meeting adjourned. You may view the video of the brief back and forth on the video clip below.

Categories : GOVERNING BOARD, Politics

SEDONA RED ROCK NEWS REMINDS US THAT 10 YEARS AGO SEDONA CENTER FILM SCHOOL HAD FIVE FILMS CREATED BY STUDENTS AT SEDONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

By R. Oliphant

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

Yavapai Community College’s decision to completely abandon the thriving film school program in 2013 still has some Verde Valley residents scratching their heads

The Sedona Red Rock News on February 16, 2022, reminded us that it was just ten years ago, February 17, 2012, when Yavapai Community College students were turning out great student films at the Community College’s Sedona Center. That year, the Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) featured five films created by students attending the Sedona Center’s film school. Those films and nine others all had Arizona ties as either films shot in Arizona or films made by Arizona residents. “There are a lot of great films made right here in Sedona and around Arizona in this year’s festival. We’re so proud to have so many local filmmakers who won a spot in the festival. They went through the screening process, just like all of the other films,” said Sagan Lewis, program director for SIFF.

Here is a part of the Redrock News report of February, 2022 (in Blue), slightly edited, that recalled the accomplishments of some Yavapai Community College students studying film making at the Sedona Center ten years ago:

A five-member team screens every film submitted for consideration. This year they received more than 850 films, which they pared down to 145.

One of the . . . films by [Yavapai student] Susanne Barr is “Christel Clear” about a trauma nurse who discovers she has a special gift that changes people’s lives.

Bianca Luedeker [Yavapai Student] created a film about her dream to follow in the footsteps of her idol in “I Want to Be Tom Savini.” “It’s mostly about makeup special effects and my personal experience while on vacation without my parents for the first time,” Luedeker said.

“Symmetry” is a suspense between a homicide detective and a vigilante that turns deadly. Filmmaker [Yavapai student] Jeremy Naranjo said he plans to make a feature-length version of the 18-minute short fictional film. “I studied political science to be a lawyer but after serving an internship in Washington, D.C., I decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer,” Naranjo said. “I find filmmaking challenges you on every level, and that’s something I’m drawn to.”

Katja Torneman [Yavapai student] created a documentary around her passions: conservation and the environment. With “Anna, Emma and the Condors,” Torneman worked with a family dedicated to saving the large birds. “We worked together for a year to make this film. I want to spread the message we can make a change; we just have to do it,” Torneman said.

The final . . . student-made film [by Yavapai student Karin Kwaitkowski] is “The Stopwatch Gang” about the true story of three men from Canada who used a stopwatch when robbing banks during the 1970s and early 1980s.

The reader might recall that the Sedona Film School, was the successor to the internationally acclaimed Zaki Gordon Film School, which had partnered with Yavapai Community College beginning in 2000. The Institute severed its relationship in 2011 with the College after a dust-up of some sort over control between then College president Penelope Wills and Dan Gordon. The Zaki Gordon Institute moved to Liberty University where today it is recognized as providing one of the better college film training programs in the nation.

Two years following the breakdown of the Community College’s relationship with Dan Gordon, in October 2013, Sedona and Verde Valley residents were taken totally by surprise and stunned by the College’s Administration’s sudden decision to completely abandon the film making program in Sedona. The abandonment was a part of the ten-year $103 million College development plan, which anticipated spending over 95% of development funds on west county community college improvement. The original plan contemplated entirely closing the Sedona facility and putting it up for sale. Once the Sedona Center was shuttered and sold, Wills promised to lease other facilities in the area for OLLI and any other programs.

The plans to shutter the Sedona Center completely were thwarted by local Sedona politicians and residents throughout the Verde Valley. However, the College refused to return the film school to Sedona.

Although the Community College has some involvement this year with the Sedona International Film Festival, it is pretty clear that emphasis in the College’s film training is now primarily located on the Prescott Campus as evidenced by the Yavapai College Film and Media Arts Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/YCFilmandMediaArts/. There is no film school training at the Sedona Center.

Categories : Film School, Sedona Campus

YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE DEFIES NATIONAL ENROLLMENT DOWNWARD TREND WITH ROBUST REPORT

By R. Oliphant

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022

Fall 2021 enrollment 1.6% over fall 2019 and 25.6% over fall 2020 | Spring enrollment so far down from 2019 by 9.8% but eight-week class enrollment not completed | Spring enrollment already up 11.6% over 2021

Yavapai Community College president Dr. Lisa Rhine reported to the District Governing Board at its February 22, 2022, meeting on the robust enrollment in the fall and spring. It came as a welcome surprise to the Governing Board because community colleges in Arizona and elsewhere are showing dramatic declines in enrollment.

For example, the Arizona Republic reported December 1, 2020 in an article by Rachel Leingang that “enrollment plumets at Maricopa Community Colleges for fall semester” and was down 14.5% in fall 2021 compared to fall 2020. In another article in the Arizona Republic on February 19, 2022, Ms. Leingang reported that “overall enrollment [at Maricopa Community Colleges] at the start of this spring [2022] semester was 23% below spring 2020 and 11% below spring 2021.” She also reported that Maricopa County Community Colleges District “is teetering on the edge of a fiscal cliff as enrollment continues to drop.”

On October 1, 2021 Ms. Leingang reported in a story in the Arizona Republic that “At Maricopa Community Colleges and Pima Community College, current numbers show enrollment is down 17% and 19% respectively from fall 2019. In those districts, which combined include over a dozen separate campuses, that amounts to over 23,000 fewer students enrolled now than before the pandemic.”

In her report to the District Governing Board, Dr. Rhine said Fall 2021 enrollment was 1.6% over fall 2019 and 25.6% over fall 2020 . She also said that spring enrollment so far was down from 2019 by 9.8% noting she anticipates that figure will go down once the data for the spring 2022 eight-week class enrollment is compiled. The Spring enrollment for 2020 is already up 11.6% over 2021.

You may view the short four minute video clip of Dr. Rhine’s enrollment report to the District Governing Board below.

Sources: District Governing Board meeting February 22, 2022; You may read all of Ms. Leingang’s articles in the Arizona Republic at https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2022/02/19/enrollment-falls-maricopa-community-colleges-face-ongoing-deficits/6830881001/ (fiscal problems for Maricopa); https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2021/10/01/student-enrollment-arizonas-community-colleges-continues-fall/5815511001/ (Maricopa and Pima); https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2020/12/01/maricopa-community-colleges-see-big-enrollment-drop-fall-semester/6468854002/ (enrollment plummets at Maricopa).

Categories : Enrollment data

SLICK PR/MARKETING COMMUNITY COLLEGE PUBLICATION BOASTING OF “INVESTING IN THE VERDE” ODDLY EXCLUDES REPRESENTATIVE CHEVALIER

By R. Oliphant

Friday, February 18th, 2022

Omits the one person who for the last several years has been a constant public voice and elected leader urging greater Community College investment in the Verde Valley

Robert Oliphant, Editor

Opinion. Yavapai Community College has just issued a slick public relations/marketing publication boasting about how it is “Investing in The Verde” Valley.” You may read the entire “Special Verde” Spring 2022 publication by clicking here.

One assumes that the persons prominently pictured on the front cover (see below) and featured throughout the publication of the “Special Edition” (see below) were carefully selected to show Verde Valley citizens the faces of those who have been and are the driving political and administrative forces behind investing in the Verde Valley. Otherwise, why were they chosen?

There is, however, one person who is conspicuous by his absence from the publication. That person is Yavapai Community College District Three Representative, Paul Chevalier. In truth, Chevalier has been a vocal driving force behind efforts to persuade the Community College to invest in the Valley for at least the last seven years.

When interviewed about his conspicuous absence from the publication, Chevalier said he was not contacted to participate and was not involved in any way with it.

Chevalier’s omission is all the more puzzling because his District makes up most of the Verde Valley including Jerome, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Sedona, and the Verde Villages. Governing Board Representative and Chair Deb McCasland’s District encompasses only a portion of the Verde Valley, which includes Cornville, Beaver Creek, and Camp Verde. She also represents a portion of the west side of her District, which includes the Prescott Country Club, Stoneridge, Sugarloaf, and Verde Lakes.

Chevalier’s vocal and political efforts directed at encouraging the College to increase its investment in the Valley began in 2015 when he was the Chair of the Verde Valley Governing Board Advisory Committee. That Committee consisted of a group of outstanding local residents who represented every corner of the Verde Valley. It was created in 2015 by former Third District Representative Al Filardo.

Over a period of more than a year, the Advisory Committee held dozens of community meetings in the Verde Valley with local educators and educational experts. The result was about twenty recommendations sent to the District Governing urging greater investment by the College in the Valley. Regrettably, virtually all of the recommendations were rejected by the Governing Board, which was and is completely under the political control of a West County Governing Board Representative voting bloc.

By September 2016 most suspect the West Side politicos on the Governing Board were seething because of the number of public recommendations for investment in the Valley streaming from the Advisory Committee chaired by Mr. Chevalier. The West County dominated Board either had to publicly reject or quietly ignore them, which was embarrassing. In retaliation, during the final hour of an all-day retreat on September 11, 2016 at the Prescott Campus, the West side voting bloc Board members in stealth-like fashion joined together to quash the Verde Valley Advisory Committee. Quickly, and without adequate notice of their intentions to the public, they voted 3-2 to abolish the Committee. Just like that, it vanished and was never heard from again.

However, in 2018 Chevalier returned to the public arena on behalf of Verde Valley citizens. This time he won a hotly contested election for the six-year term for the Third District Governing Board seat on the Yavapai Community College Governing Board. He pledged to advocate on behalf of the Verde Valley and the entire County.

Going into his third year on the Board, Chevalier has been true to his word. He is a constant strong voice for additional Community College investment in the Verde Valley. At times his efforts appear to irritate some Governing Board members.

Most close observers of Governing Board activities have found that Chevalier is by far one of the most well prepared, if not the best prepared, of the Board members when attending either a workshop or meeting. He is always present.

There is no question about his efforts to constantly persuade the College to make a greater investment in the Verde Valley. And he has been quite successful in his efforts, as the “Investing in the Verde” publication so beautifully illustrates. Yet, that publication contains not the slightest attribution to Mr. Chevalier.

It is not totally clear, of course, why the Community College chose to completely overlook Chevalier in the “Investing in the Verde” publication. It is not that they are ignorant of his efforts. Maybe he is seen enviously as far too devoted to his constituents. Or, that he is too focused in his persistent efforts to ensure that every penny of a local taxpayer’s annual contribution to the College is equitably returned to the Verde Valley. Who knows?

As René Descartes is quoted as saying: “The last rule was to make enumerations so complete, and reviews so comprehensive, that I should be certain of omitting nothing.” This is apparently not a rule followed by Yavapai Community College.

(L to R): Verde Valley Dean, Dr. Tina Redd; Vice President Dr. Diane Ryan; District Governing Board Chair Deb McCasland; Yavapai College President Dr. Lisa Rhine; and YC Foundation Board President Valerie Wood. Photo for Yavapai Community College publication by Bill Leyden.

Categories : ADMINISTRATION, Politics

SMALL TURN-OUT FOR SECOND EIGHT-YEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE MASTER PLAN PUBLIC FORUM FEBRUARY 14 ON VERDE CAMPUS

By R. Oliphant

Thursday, February 17th, 2022

Forum attracted less than two dozen including faculty, staff students and former attendees who heard Smithgroup consultants indicate most major development will likely end up on the west side of the County

Yavapai Community College held its second Master Plan public forum on the east side of the County November 14 on the Verde Campus in a one-hour afternoon session. The purpose was to share information about the progress of the Smithgroup’s efforts to generate an eight-year development plan for the entire District. And to gather additional public input about the plan.

Attendance was small with a majority of those present having attended the first forum or were College administrators, staff, and faculty. The tiny turn-out may reflect what some fear as a continuing deep-seated apathy about community colleges and post-secondary education at these institutions.

The Smithgroup consultants provided the attendees with a PowerPoint presentation regarding current room usage, location and number of internet student users, and projects under consideration as part of the eight-year plan. As anticipated, the west side of the County led the east by a wide margin in terms of potential project enhancements.

The Smithgroup experts were asked a wide variety of questions that sometimes appeared challenging for them. For example, when asked whether the 13,000 residents of the Verde Villages were included in their east-side analysis, they appeared not to recognize the purpose of the question. Without directly responding, they said they used recent census data, which left the question hanging. The concern, of course, is that the Verde Villages have historically been ignored or omitted in discussions by the Community College when determining east County development —the College appearing to not understand the population of Cottonwood is around 11,000 and the adjacent unincorporated Verde Villages has a population of around 13,000.

To a question about its survey process, the Smithgroup admitted it had not surveyed the general population of the Verde Valley regarding their post-secondary needs. Rather, it said its focus was on current users and current uses.

It appears, at least at this time, that housing, a major issue for the Verde Campus and the Sedona Center, may not be addressed in the eight-year plan. Moreover, the Smithgroup did not seem to grasp the importance of a question put to them from the public about the relationship between destination programs in Sedona and the Verde Campus, overall east campus enrollment, and housing needs.

When the question of enhancing the nursing program on the Verde Campus came up the College Administration said there are about six hundred applicants on a waiting list seeking training. However, the Administration explained that there is a problem finding sufficient clinical experiences for the current enrollment. There was, however, an indication that the College may look to the Prescott Campus for more nursing training. Nothing suggested the nursing program on the Verde Campus would be enhanced despite the long waiting list.

The best news coming out of the meeting was a tentative indication that the College may attempt to enhance the Performing Arts Program on the east side of the County. How much enhancement and where and how was yet to be determined.

(More when slides as posted as promised so you can analyze the presentation for yourself.)

Categories : MASTER PLAN

YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD TO HOLD ALL DAY GENERAL MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22

By R. Oliphant

Thursday, February 17th, 2022

Meeting to be held at the Rock House on the Prescott Campus | Starting at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m.

District Governing Board

The Yavapai Community College District Governing Board will hold its February Budget Workshop and General meeting on Tuesday, February 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Rock House on the Prescott Campus.

Under Arizona law, the public has a right to attend, listen, tape record or videotape these meetings. The public may not disrupt, but may speak if the Community College places a call to the public on its agenda. See Ariz. Att’y Gen. Op. No. I78-001. It does not appear from the Sunday posting of the agendas that there will be a call to the public. But, the agendas could change. The meeting as posted Sunday, February 20, can be viewed by clicking here for the morning budget workshop meeting and here for the afternoon general meeting.

The Community College has changed its decade-long policy of providing the attachments to the agenda when it posts an agenda for a Governing Board meeting on its web site. While there are a handful of attachments to the February Agenda, most attachments were not posted. This reduces the amount of information relevant to the agenda that the citizens of Yavapai County might find useful prior to deciding whether to make a 150-200 mile round-trip drive to attend a meeting. Or, useful in deciding whether to speak when a call to the public is allowed.

This process also does not treat internet viewers equally with those citizens who attend in person. If you attend in person the Community College has a number of bound booklets containing the Agenda attachments on a table available for citizens to pick-up. However, those persons with disabilities, in particular, who are interested in the Community College but cannot attend a meeting in person and will view it on the internet, are not treated fairly when it comes to the Agenda because the attachments are not posted.

Moreover, the Community College likes to boast about being open and transparent. That is hardly the case when it comes to attachments to the Agenda when posted on the Governing Board website.

Note that The Yavapai Community College District covers all of Yavapai County consisting of 8,125 square miles. The size of the County is comparable to states such as Connecticut (5,543 sq. miles — 12 community colleges and universities), Delaware (1,982 sq. miles — three community colleges and universities), Rhode Island (1,214 sq. miles— one public and two private community colleges) and New Jersey (8,723 sq. miles — 19 community colleges and universities). The state of Israel encompasses 8,550 square miles (ten universities and 53 colleges). Moreover, there is no public transportation from the east and west sides of Mingus Mountain and the roads from the east to the west are few.

Categories : Yavapai Community College

CHEVALIER CHASTISED AT JANUARY 29 WORKSHOP FOR SAYING AT DECEMBER PUBLIC FORUM THAT THE “COLLEGE IS REALLY NOT DOING ANYTHING FOR CAMP VERDE”

By R. Oliphant

Friday, February 11th, 2022

Chevalier defends his remark as based on conversations with Camp Verde officials and the general history of Camp Verde and the Community College | Chair says remark was inappropriate as a Governing Board member attending a Public Forum

Third District Community College Representative Paul Chevalier was chastised during the Board’s January Workshop by the Chair of the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board, Deb McCasland, for a remark he made during the first Community College public forum that focused on the College’s future development plan. That forum was held on the Clarkdale Campus in December. The new plan when finally announced will guide capital development in the District for the next eight to 10 years. In December Mr. Chevalier remarked during the public discussion portion of the Forum that the College was “not doing anything for Camp Verde” This upset Governing Board Chair Deb McCasland.

McCasland challenged Mr. Chevalier’s remark as not having a basis in fact. She said in making the remark he was not supportive of the College and was “uneducated,” and “uniformed.” Chevalier strongly disagreed. He stated that he based the remark on discussions he had with various Camp Verde Officials and the College’s history with Camp Verde. He also noted that at present there is “no community college facility in Camp Verde,” which is true.

McCasland said that the College was doing things in Camp Verde and pointed to a recent meeting she and a member of the College staff held in Camp Verde. She also said that the College was involved with small business development in Camp Verde.

President Dr. Lisa Rhine noted during this discussion that the Community College had tried three years ago to locate its first Career and Technical Education Center on Highway 260, much nearer to Camp Verde than where it was finally constructed. A Board member attributed the College’s failure to locate that project on Highway 260 to a Camp Verde citizen, not the College.

President Rhine also noted that there are a number of community members that attend the College. It’s not that Camp Verde is availing itself of the College, it’s that they want a building, she explained to the Governing Board.

Chevalier pointed out that Camp Verde is the fastest growing community in the Verde Valley with a population of 13,000 and will be adding to its population “ a lot more people.” According to him, Camp Verde citizens are asking, “We’re paying all these taxes [to support the Community College], what are we getting?”

The conversation was wide-ranging. Chevalier urged Dr. Rhine to meet with the mayor of Camp Verde to bring about a solution to problems that may exist between the citizens of Camp Verde and the Community College.

There is much more to the conversation about Camp Verde and its future with the Community College. Please see the video clip below, which is about 16 minutes long, for the complete context of the discussion about Camp Verde. The video of the entire January 28 Workshop should be available to the public once the Governing Board approves the Workshop minutes and they are posted on the Governing Board website.

Categories : Camp Verde

CHINO VALLEY JOB FAIR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18

By R. Oliphant

Wednesday, February 9th, 2022

At Chino Valley High School (760 E. Center St.) from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The Community College press release about this event follows below:

Yavapai College and the Regional Economic Development Center are partnering with other community organizations to sponsor the Chino Valley Job Fair at the Chino Valley High School (760 E. Center St.) on Friday, February. 18 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Attendees can learn the latest information about careers; apply for part-time, full-time, temporary, and seasonal jobs; and meet with representatives from business, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.

There are currently 60 businesses that will be providing information about themselves as employers, with more than 900 open positions available.

Veterans, individuals 55 and older, and job seekers with disabilities may take advantage of early admission at 10:30 a.m. Professional attire for all attendees is strongly recommended.

Need help preparing for the job fair? Resume review and interview tips are available at ARIZONA@WORK and Goodwill Career Center. Veterans who need assistance may call U.S. VETS at 928-200-5631.

The Chino Valley Job Fair is coordinated by the Yavapai College Regional Economic Development Center, Chino Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona, ARIZONA@WORK, NACOG, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

For more information, contact Lorette at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce at by calling 928-636-2493 or emailing director@chinovalley.org, or contact Katherine Anderson at the Regional Economic Development Center by calling 928-776-2008 or emailing katherine.anderson@yc.edu.

Source: February 8, 2022 press release authored by Tom Diesch from Yavapai Community College.

Categories : ADMINISTRATION

YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO HOLD SECOND ROUND OF MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENT ONE-HOUR PUBLIC FORUMS IN PRESCOTT AND THE VERDE VALLEY ON VALENTINE’S DAY (FEB 14)

By R. Oliphant

Friday, February 4th, 2022

The forum in the Verde Valley is scheduled for the Verde Campus in Building “M,” Room 137 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. | This is second round of forums as the first forums were held December 6 and 7

Yavapai Community College has announced that it will spend one hour on Monday, February 14 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at an open forum on the Verde Campus, Building “M,” Room 137. The purpose of a second forum appears to be essentially the same as the first. According to the Community College’s announcement on is web page, the second forum on February 14 will be used:

“to help guide the next eight years of capital investments for college facilities. The Campus Master Plan will incorporate the College’s Strategic Plan to determine where and when to invest resources at the campuses and centers to either upgrade, enhance, or construct infrastructure to support academic facilities and support resources and/or create student engagement and activity areas, community common spaces, improve campus and center aesthetics, among others.”

Recall that the first public forum on the Master Plan was held on the Verde Campus on December 6, 2021. There was a good turn-out for that meeting with citizens from Sedona and the Verde Valley in attendance. It included Sedona’s mayor, former mayor, vice mayor and members of the local town and city councils. There were also a few faculty from the Verde Campus.

In general, the citizens at the first forum expressed a strong need for development in Sedona and the Verde Campus over the next decade that included faculty/student on-campus housing, enhanced and expanded Career and Technical Education facilities, an enhanced and expanded vineyard and viticulture program, an expanded and improved culinary facility at the Sedona Center, and continued support and expansion of the Allied Health programs. They also encouraged the College to consider adding programs that are not included on the east side of the County such as music and theatre.

There were concerns expressed from some of the citizens at the first forum in December about the composition of the present sixteen-member development planning steering committee. This committee is heavily balanced in favor of the west side of the County. It consists of fourteen persons from Prescott and only two from the Verde Valley.

There were also expressions of concern at the first forum among some that ten years ago the same planning team used back then was hired once again to plan future development. The last time the Community College created a development plan it ended up with a $103.5 million dollar plan with over 95% of development focused on the west side of the County along with the possible closing of the Sedona Center. There were hopeful expressions during the first forum in December of this year that a ten-year(or eight-year) plan created in 2022 would not yield such an incredibly uneven and unfair result.

Recall that a decade ago east side residents also spoke to the same planning group that was once again hired to do Community College development planning. Those east side voices made no dent in the decision to allocate virtually all major development to the west side of the County and to shutter programs and support staff on the east side of the County.

It should be remembered that Sedona/Verde Valley residents have been politically fighting the $103.5 development plan ever since with occasional but grudging success it was approved by the Governing Board 4-1 back in December 2013. It was hoped that with a new administration there would be a serious effort to begin diverting millions of dollars to the east side to seriously develop educational opportunities there.

It will be challenging, of course, to make up for the decades the east side has been virtually ignored in terms of serious development by the Community College. The history of the College is that for over 50 years serious development and funding have been poured into the west side of the County where the result is a heavily financed small college or university-like institution.

The discussion in the first forum was directed by a member of the Smith Group consulting organization. The moderator at that forum ran out of time to respond to a wide variety of citizen questions.

Categories : MASTER PLAN, Meeting Notice