Benefits to Verde Valley appear very significant
Editorial Opinion
OPINION. Yavapai Community College has struggled for 50 years to develop an effective community college system in the Verde Valley on the east side of Yavapai County. At best, its efforts have fallen far short of what one would expect; especially now that the population in this area has increased to over 75,000. Furthermore, the unequal community college development over the past half century between the east and west sides of the County is very troubling.
There are probably many reasons to explain the lack of success in developing a strong community college in the Verde Valley. However, one possible approach to begin changing failure to success is to create an administrative college from the existing community college framework.
A change would require that the Prescott side of the Mountain also adopt an administrative community college framework. This framework is similar to the many administrative colleges created in the Maricopa community county system over the past several years.
If created, Dr. Lisa Rhine, the current President of Yavapai Community College would become the chancellor in the Community College District and provide overall direction to both the east and west sides of Yavapai County’s two administrative community colleges.
The following is a list of some of the possible benefits that the East Region residents might receive if an Administrative College were established along with several historic examples to illustrate a point. They are not listed in any particular order.
Share a common vision
An Administrative College may help bring the various communities in the East Region together in a common cause. With an Administrative College controlled by East Region residents, the small communities and towns that make up a total of more than 75,000 residents may more easily come to share a common vision of developing a strong post-secondary community college. It may also help reduce the competitive, non-cooperative, bickering spirit that communities and other institutions in the East Region sometimes exhibit.
Greater school district cooperation
An Administrative College may provide the basis for encouraging the school districts in the East Region of the County to join in a common integrated, shared educational experience. Past history has shown that the school districts in the East Region of the County are not necessarily always united in a way that is helpful. For example, it has taken more than a decade to get the school districts to jointly agree to consider sending high school students to a tiny, centralized career and technical education center as a part of the Joint Education District (JTED). By comparison, since 2007 the school districts in the West Region of the County have embraced the Mountain Institute JTED and centralization of major CTE learning programs under the Community College CTEC umbrella.
Citizens retain a larger portion of their property tax revenue
An Administrative College may help East Region citizens retain a larger portion of their property tax revenue going to the Community College by providing a stronger voice to Governing Board members about how and where the taxes should be spent.
More return of tuition, grants, fees
An Administrative College should provide a greater potential for returning some of the tuition payments, state aid, grants, and fees paid by or as a result of East Region students attending the College to the East Region.
Greater share of construction tax
An Administrative College should allow the East Region to receive a greater share of the revenue produced by the County annual new construction tax collected by the Community College.
More aggressive CTE development
An Administrative College may encourage greater consideration among the 74,000 residents of the East Region in more aggressive development of a centralized College Career and Technical Education Center.
Dual enrollment program cooperation
An Administrative College should encourage closer coordination between the College and the three public high schools and one charter school in the East Region in operating the dual enrollment program. The dual enrollment programs at those four high schools in the East Region allow qualified high school students to simultaneously obtain high school and college credit for certain courses.
Possibly local athletic projects
An Administrative College may provide an opportunity for creating local athletic programs in the East Region (where currently there are none).
Own identity and traditions
An Administrative College should provide the East Region with its “own identity and traditions.” It is believed that students attending an educational institution like to feel that it has its own traditions, its own plan, and its own programs. They don’t like to feel, does the argument, that their community college is just an off-shoot or a branch of another controlling institution.
Perceived ownership
An Administrative College should permit East Region residents to fully participate in the selection of their own administrative campus president. As a result of their “ownership,” it is argued that East Region citizens will naturally more easily see themselves as real owners and participants in the future of the Community College.
Greater voice in decision making
An Administrative College should provide a stronger administrative voice acting on behalf of the East Region because of the selection of a president.
Fair competition between regions
An Administrative College may provide an opportunity for the two regions to compete for scarce resources more fairly. With the existence of a president of an Administrative College in place representing the East Region, that person can compete annually on a level financial playing field for scarce educational dollars with the Prescott President who represents the interests of the West Region of the County. (Budgets go through a Chancellor and then to the Governing Board.)
More long-term consistency in programs
An Administrative College should help reduce the chances of dramatic alterations of programs when there is a College President changeover. For example, when the Sedona Center was built, it had a strong supporter in then College President Doreen Daily. However, in 2013 former President Penelope Wills stunned the East County region by announcing she was shutting down the Film School and potentially putting the Center up for sale as a part of a ten year plan.
Former President Daily was also a champion of bringing Career and Technical Education training to Northern Arizona. She promoted and began developing the Northern Arizona Regional Training program on the Verde Campus, which was intended to teach career and technical education (CTE) skills to students in at least three counties. Three years after Daily resigned, the new College President and the Community College Governing Board, essentially shut down a focus on trade instruction at the Northern Arizona Regional Training program that Daily had promoted.
Gain better knowledge of local culture
An Administrative College should provide a greater opportunity for the East Region Community College President and staff to gain intimate knowledge of the East Region of Yavapai County and its culture.
No traveling back and forth over the mountain
As a practical matter, an Administrative College should reduce, if not eliminate, travel time to meetings by staff and faculty to either side of the County. Currently, the perception is that East Region staff and administrators spend significant amounts of travel time away from East Region duties by traveling back and forth to the West Region for a variety of meetings. It may take a half day or more out of their work on in the East Region’s community college.
Develop East County Student government
An Administrative College on the East Region of the County may help stimulate restoration of a vibrant student government in the East Region’s college.
Working more closely with Yavapai-Apache nation
An Administrative College should provide a better opportunity for the Community College to work more closely with the Yavapai-Apache nation.
Left out towns and villages
An Administrative College should provide greater focus and consideration of “left out” pockets of the population in the East Region such as Cornville, Village of Oak Creek, Beaver Creek, Rimrock and others.
Better data gathering and reporting
An Administrative College should result in more accurate gathering of data regarding costs associated with operating Verde Campus and Sedona Center.
Less unnecessary public relations spin in the future
An Administrative College should result in less College spin. To illustrate historically: Dan Engler, editor, Verde Independent, wrote on May 11, 2016 of his chagrin over the inability of Yavapai College to provide the answers to the following two questions: “How many graduates this year at the Verde Valley Campus of Yavapai College? And, how does that number compare with recent years?” The Administration was not able to provide those numbers. Instead, it responded: “We do not assign students a primary campus in Banner (internal data tracking etc. app), so when we report graduates they are Yavapai College grads. That said, we could breakout Verde students, but we would need to define a methodology.” Engler commented that “the college is clueless about how to serve the Verde Valley. Our campus does not have local administrators and getting an answer to questions specific about the Verde Campus will not get answered until the college routes it through a research department to find the best possible spin.”
Reduce distrust of “other side”
An Administrative College may help to reduce the historic distrust the two regions seem to hold of each other.
Greater respect for East Region views
An Administrative College should result in the citizen voices of the East Region being heard and better respected. The best example, historically, of how little the East Region perception that their views are not respected is the record of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee. Repeatedly over a two-year period (2014-2016) recommendations were made to the Governing Board by the Verde Valley Board Advisory Board. Repeatedly those recommendations were ignored by the West-County Voting Bloc controlling majority.
Historic example
May. At the District Governing Board’s May 19, 2015 meeting, four recommendations came from the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee. They included: (1) Delay approval of the capital improvement portion of the 2015-2016 budget until the District Governing Board has the recommendations of the Verde Valley strategic plan currently being developed. (2) Increase the marketing and recruitment efforts in the Verde Valley by implementing a program of continuous and direct interaction with students and their parents to seek students’ wants and aptitudes. (3) Amend the Campus Master Plan to remove all language about divesting of the Sedona Campus. (4) Do not raise property taxes this year. Three of the four motions were rejected by the Board on a 3-2 vote with the West Region representative voting together to oppose them. Only the request to formally remove the Sedona Center from the 10-year-plan was approved.
Historic example
For example, at the August 5, 2015 Board meeting the question of the future of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee came up during discussion. When East Region Board representative Al Filardo moved to continue the Committee for two years, the motion was met with strong opposition from the West Region majority voting block and if facial expressions are any indication, also by then College President Penelope Wills. It was sidelined.
Historic example
For example, Mr. Paul Chevalier, speaking for the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee (VVBAC), suggested at the November 9, 2015 Governing Board meeting that the Governing Board, College administrators, and the VVBAC hold a series of joint meetings to work out solutions to the VVBAC’s recommendations for improving post-secondary education in the East Region. Mr. Chevalier stated that to resolve the post-secondary educational issues raised by the VVBAC, it would take cooperation among everyone to solve them–the Board, the administration, and the VVBAC. The Administration and the Governing Board rejected the recommendation.
Historic example
March. On March 1, 2016, the three-member West Region Voting Bloc voted to increase student tuition. The two members of the Board from the East Region opposed the increase. Previously, in 2015, the Board had increased tuition by a 3-2 vote. The dissenters were the East Region representatives.
Historic example
The Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee strongly recommended that the Community College not charge a per credit fee for high school students enrolled in the dual enrollment program. That recommendation was rejected in March 2016 and a $10 per credit per student fee was adopted by the District Governing Board on a 3-2 vote. The West Region majority once again voted as a block in support of the Administration’s request.
Historic example
September. On September 11, 2016 during its almost secret retreat, the West County Voting Bloc voted to shutter the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee with both East Region representatives opposing the motion. This was perceived by many as a direct insult to the 74,000 plus residents of the Verde Valley.
Driving economic engine in East Region
An Administrative College should result in an improved chance that it will become a local driving economic engine. Recall that a Community with a strong Community College economic engine benefits because of the following: (a) Employee payroll, (b) increased demand for housing caused by employees, (c) having programs that stimulate a local economy, (d) attracting new residents thus bringing new revenue to a community, (e) attracting new employers with a well-educated work pool, (f) helping sell an area as a welcome tourist destination.
Many new programs in the East Region
An Administrative College means potentially returning dozens of programs removed from the East Region of the County and developing others. Development of music, theater and the arts have been almost exclusively focused on the West Region. With an Administrative College in the East Region of the County, those programs and many others can be returned and fully developed.