“Hard to compete if you can get the job without going to college, why go to college?” says College VP in response to question; Tuesday Sept 28 remarks muddy earlier view obtained by Blog that program is being “revamped”
Sedona Councilor Holli Ploog
The Yavapai Community College President, Dr. Lisa Rhine, and Vice President of Community Relations and Student Development, Rodney Jenkins, met September 28 with the Sedona City Council to provide an update on College activities. During the meeting, Councilor Holli Ploog asked the executives to shed some light on why the Hotel and Restaurant Management certificate program was put on hold.
Initially, the Community College executives appeared to not understand the query. Yavapai College District Governing Chair Deb McCasland, who was also present, quickly explained there were two programs: culinary and Restaurant and Hotel Management. (See video clip below)
Vice President Jenkins then provided some reasons why the program was not operating. He said that the program lacked students. It needed about 12 students in order to cover the cost of the classes. It was apparently not reaching this goal.
Mr. Jenkins also said that the Community College was finding it difficult to compete with the industry in this field. He observed that the industry does not require certificates for its workers. “It does not require any accreditation,” he said.
Moreover, said Mr. Jenkins, “It is hard to compete if you can get a job without going to college.” [Then,] “why go to college?”
The absence of any suggestion of a plan to reopen the program implied to many of those listening to this conversation that the Community College was not going to reopen the Restaurant and Hotel Management certificate program any time soon. If ever.
The Blog is open to corrections from the Community College about its conclusion .
A video clip of the exchange at the September 28 meeting appears below.
There were a number of brochures at the entry table for the September 14 Governing Board meeting at the Verde Valley Campus describing in detail the Hotel and Restaurant Management certificate program at the Sedona Center. Among other matters in the brochure was a list of 11 courses that would lead to a certificate in Hotel and Restaurant management.
Yavapai Community College’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management will be available at the Prescott campus as a second location for the program beginning September 2019. It currently is offered only at the Sedona Center.
The culinary program opened at the Sedona Center this fall has got off to a strong start. However, because of low enrollment, the hospitality programs offered on the Verde Campus failed to open in the fall of 2017. During questioning by the Sedona Council, Verde Valley Campus Executive Dean James Perey said that he is meeting with the Yavapai-Apache Nation in December to explore the possibility of using the Nation’s new hotel as a facility to provide real life training in hospitality.
There was a great deal of focus on the culinary courses during the Board presentation by the Community College. It was learned that somewhere between 200 and 250 students will have the opportunity to take the culinary courses on the West side of the Mountain. The Mountain Institute JTED on the West side of the County has been running courses at a Fudrucker’s for over a year. JTED operates two Culinary Arts programs: the one housed at the former Fudrucker’s restaurant is considered a “central campus,” and another exists on the Chino Valley High School campus. In October, 2013 the Mountain Institute reported that Chino Valley’s program has 113 students currently enrolled, compared to 88 this past year; the central campus increased from 34 to 45. At the Board meeting in January, 2015 Dr. Wills estimated 250 high school students on the West side of the County as potential applicants while Dean Perey put the figure at 200.