Yavapai Community College has completed construction of a gravel access road to the upper vineyard on the Verde Campus. The new road will provide students with greater access to the upper vineyard directly from the Verde Valley Campus.
Yavapai Community College provided its perspective on how the ten-year development plan, approved 4-1 in December 2012, has progressed in a memo presented to the Governing Board at the March meeting. Note that it says the College was PRE-COVID about $10 million short of the capital funds to meet existing projects, not counting emerging needs. The memo is reproduced below in full.
Governing Board member Mitch Padilla led the discussion at the March District Governing Board meeting on the topic of the decision by the Administration to create a new Master Plan. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board voted unanimously to allocate the $200,000 in the 2021-22 budget, suggested by the Administration, to hire experts to create a new Master Plan.
Mr. Padilla expressed concern about a future long-term Campus Master plan that might reduce the College’s flexibility to meet new and emerging needs. He said that to “set a plan out for ten years and try to adhere to that year after year until you get to the eighth or ninth year, when you begin the planning of the next ten, doesn’t allow for advances in technology.” He also said that changing technology is the single greatest factor the College is facing in terms of “changes in the next few years.” From his perspective, the Community College needs maximum flexibility in a Master Plan.
Representative Ray Sigafoos commented that the present ten-year plan was “just a plan” and not a collection of hard decisions that were “locked in cement.” He noted, for example, that plans to spend millions of dollars on the Prescott Valley Campus to move allied heath from the Verde Campus there and develop a major allied health training facility never fully materialized.
Representative Chris Kuknyo agreed with Vice President Clint Ewell that the College did not need more space. He urged the College to continuing caring for the space that it has and if deciding to build, do so in a way that “will last.” He also urged the College to be cautious and not begin a Master Plan “too early,” referring to lessons that might be learned from how it has operated during the Pandemic.
Representative Paul Chevalier commented that more space may be needed in Prescott Valley as it continues to grow. He also said that more space for Career and Technical Education will most likely be needed on the Verde Campus. Further, “Camp Verde,” he said, may “be the future of the Verde Valley” with its land and location. “Don’t forget about Camp Verde” in the new Master Plan.
President Dr. Lisa Rhine noted that the College needed “to be cautious “ in developing a new Master Plan. She thought that the Pandemic may have caused the College to change how instruction is delivered in the future. She said that at this point “we have adequate buildings; we may need to look at space and modify how it is used. We need to continue with our planned maintenance.”
You may view most of the discussion in the video clip below or you may go to the District Governing Board web site where the entire meeting is reproduced on video.
Maricopa Community College has been hit with another major cyber attack and have notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Students have not been able to access MyInfo, Canvas, RioLearn, Maricopa email, Maricopa Google Tools and the Student Information System/Student Center — all resources needed by them to access assignments and communicate with staff.
Because of the attack, the Community College has extended its spring semester one week.
The Community College, with an enrollment of 86,000 for spring semester, was last attached in November 2013. That cyber attack cost the Community College nearly $26 million. At that time, the 10-college district revealed that hackers had exposed personal data, including Social Security numbers and banking information, of more than 2 million people, including current and former students, staff and vendors, from as far back as 30 years.
Yavapai County residents required to take professional certification tests can get them done by appointment and in person at Yavapai College, which opened its testing centers March 23.
The Centers, which have been closed for nearly a year because of pandemic restrictions, reopened March 23. Depending on the type of testing, County residents can make an appointment today at either the Prescott campus or the Verde Valley Campus in Clarkdale. Exam appointments and testing center schedules are available by accessing the Testing Center website, yc.edu/testing
Among the types of third-party or industry testing available include those for mechanic (ASE), emergency medical service (NREMT) and pesticide-use industries (METRO). Available tests by industry also are listed on the website.
During the pandemic-induced closure of the YC testing center – the only one of its kind in Yavapai County — individuals needing professional certification tests have had their credentials held up, or sometimes waited months to get tested in other jurisdictions, said Norma Ortega, Coordinator of YC Testing Services. “That’s why we need to let people know that we’ll be open by appointment.”
Many industry certifications are directly tied to employment and wages, Ortega said, citing teacher, mechanic and emergency medical technician certifications. Mechanics, for example, have to keep their certifications current. “And that can lead to a pay increase or to be able to actually apply for a job.”
In industries that use pesticides, workers cannot do their jobs without certification, Ortega said, noting that lack of access to professional certifications “has been very inconvenient for a lot of people.”
Area residents are reminded that face coverings are required for in-person testing and other current college COVID-19 protocols will be followed.
Along with the tools to make an appointment for an in-person test, additional information is available on the website. “Contact information is there too in case there is a need for additional assistance. We can sort it out for them,” Ortega said.
The YC Testing Center website address again is: yc.edu/testing.
The Yavapai Community College District Governing Board approved the Capital Improvement Plan projects budget submitted by the College Administration at it March meeting. Six of the projects had been approved in previous years for expenditure in this year. The only new expenditure on the list of approved projects was $200,000 for hiring consultants to develop a new Master Plan for the College.
The Plan was approved unanimously by the Governing Board at the meeting. There was extensive discussion by the Governing Board led by Mr. Mitch Padilla about developing a Master Plan, which will be posted next week.
The video clip below contains detailed explanations about the projects, which were the result of careful questioning by Board Chair Deb McCasland of Dr. Clint Ewell who presented the proposal to the Board.
Yavapai Community College Vice President Clint Ewell delivered a sobering message to the District Governing Board regarding the need to find $14 million over the next three years if it is to properly maintain its facilities County-wide. Well over 50% of the maintenance costs will go to the Prescott Campus.
Dr. Ewell said during his presentation on this topic that “we are really one of the best maintain colleges in the country at this point, which is great because we think that’s the way to lower the total cost of ownership; by not having any system failures that then lead to kind of secondary repairs that cost additional money.”
He also said that he was concerned that so much of the needed upkeep was coming due “right now.” One of the reasons is that a significant amount of the construction on the Prescott Campus goes back to 2000 when a $69.5 million General Obligation Bond was approved. Repairs are needed as some portions of the facilities are coming near the end of their useful life.
The Community College will be cutting some projects in an effort to generate cash to meet the maintenance needs. The video clip below may help explain the financial problem faced by the College. The complete context of this discussion can be viewed on the video posted by the Community College District Governing Board with its March 2021 minutes on its website.
Yavapai Community College Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services, Clint Ewell, reported to the District Governing Board at its March meeting that the College’s bond indebtedness was quickly moving toward total payoff. He said that bonds issued in 2000 were now completely paid off as of this year and bonds issued in 2012 were close to being completely paid off.
He also reported that the College had saved “about $200,000 over the next four years” by taking advantage of low interest rates and reinvesting.
Bonds were used eight years ago to finance the demolition of one residence hall on the Prescott Campus and to renovate and modernize the remaining two. According to Dr. Ewell, since the renovations, the two residence halls have been paying for themselves. “It has been a really good success story,’ he said.
Bonds were also issued to cover the costs of constructing a chiller plant on the Prescott Campus and the central plant on the Verde Valley Campus.
Finally, the General Obligation Bonds issued in the amount of $69.5 million back in 2000 for major County-wide development are now paid off. As the payoff on the bonds over the years has continued, the secondary property tax that Yavapai County taxpayers pay on bond indebtedness has been significantly reduced.
The report was very good news. Sufficient to cause Board Chair Deb McCasland to suggest that “we have a party.”
You may view Dr. Ewell’s report in the video clip below or you may go to the Community College District Governing Board website where the entire meeting is on video.
Yavapai Community College has two art galleries: one is located in the Performing Arts Center on the Prescott Campus, the other is located in a small section of the Verde Campus. The data in the form of two graphs covering the last four years presented to the District Community College Governing Board at the March 9 suggests that there are few exhibits and few patrons annually visiting the gallery on the Verde Campus while the gallery on the Prescott Campus shows that over 7,000 patrons visited it in 2019.
From an outside perspective, the data for the Verde Campus suggests there needs to be a lot of work in terms of further developing that gallery, if that is possible. You may make your own judgment from viewing the College’s report via the two graphs below.
It is also possible that the graphs, for whatever reason, may not accurately portray the Verde Campus patron/exhibit data.
Dr. Lisa Rhine announced in a March 11 Covid-19 video update (see below) that the Community College is moving forward on its re-entry plan that it adopted to combat the Covid-19 pandemic on Campus. The third phase will have the Community College using its “yellow” phase code immediately after spring break.
This will be the first time the Community College has reached level three since it set up its five-phased re-entry program several months ago. The yellow phase will allow for many more in-person classes. However, a significant number of restrictions remain including mandatory mask wearing in buildings and outside buildings if social distancing cannot be observed.
The Yavapai Community College District Governing Board, led by Representative Chris Kuknyo, commended Dr. Rhine at the March Board meeting on her handling of the pandemic.
You may view all of the details associated with the re-entry plan by going to yc.edu/reentry or clicking here. You may also view Dr. Lisa Rhine’s explanation for moving to the third phase along with all the details associated with it in the video clip below.