Program to run from 9 to 11 a.m.

Yavapai Community College will hold an open house July 30 on its Prescott Campus, 1100 E. Sheldon Street, Prescott.  The open house will run from 9 to 11 a.m.  The press release from the College, that appears below, describes the event.

Learn what it’s like to be a YC Roughrider, including:

Meet the people that can help you learn more about the programs that YC has to offer

Let YC help you complete your application

Learn about scholarships, financial aid, and how to pay for college

our the beautiful campus

Yavapai College offers a rewarding educational experience and beautiful settings in the mountains of central Arizona. In addition, it offers dozens and dozens of certificate programs, associate, and transfer degrees.

The Prescott campus is also home to Roughrider athletic teams in baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, e-sports and softball. Special campus features include an art gallery and sculpture garden, a computer commons, and a state-of-the art library.

Residence halls offer affordable housing in a comfortable and safe community, providing the opportunity to develop quality study skills, meet new people, and to grow through new experiences.

Join us on July 30 to learn more about Yavapai College. No pre-registration is necessary.

Links are found on YouTube (or on the Blog)

Yavapai Community College Professor Matt Pearcy has produced an outstanding short video that explains how vaccinations work.  You may find it interesting.  He has posted it on YouTube.  However, because it might be challenging for some to find, you may view the  video on the Blog post below or by going to YouTube by clicking here.

Professor Kate Redmon explains hi-tech classroom alternative approaches;   Professor Andrew Winters shares a variety of techniques to improve online learning; Professor Sandy Van Lieu showcases open educational resources (eliminating need to purchase textbooks)

Several Yavapai Community College faculty including professors Kate Redmon, Andrew Winters and Sandy Van Lieu highlighted  how they are using technology to enhance the potential for learning in their classrooms during the 2019 Faculty Showcase. The faculty presentations  are available on-line at the College’s Youtube channel and should be explored by anyone interested in learning how faculty are creatively using technology at Yavapai Community College. (Go to College youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5s89VOW14XpNQay9_AHAZw.)

Professor Kate Redmon

Among the 2019 Showcase presenters was professor Kate Redmon.  She credited developing a flexible approach to the use of classroom technology as increasing student success in her GED classes.  “Students in their GED class are actually getting their GED” she said.  “It used to be that they just struggled along a month of two and gave up and decided online was not their thing.” Now, because of her flexible approach to using a variety of hi-tech tools,  she is seeing more students complete their GED.

Students in Professor Redmon’s class are given three options in choosing what hi-tech learning method is best for them. She says that some students never use her videos.  They like the “on-line curriculum where they are just clicking buttons and going through and that’s all they ever do.”  She says that she has other students who “hate the online curriculum and can’t learn that way and all they do are my videos,” which are collected by her in an extensive video library.  She has a third group of students who “want to zoom with me and don’t want to do other things.” This involves live on-line discussions using Zoom propriety software where she and the students see and talk with each other interactively as a class.  These students “don’t want to do other things,” she says.   Professor Redmon considers the learning flexibility “beautiful.” To see Professor Redmon’s showcase presentation, please click here. 

Professor Sandy Van Lieu

Professor Andrew Winters

Professor Sandy Van Lieu explained how she has developed open educational resources, which replaces the traditional casebook, in at least one honors class. This class uses free, available online resources (mostly literary works) instead of requiring students to purchase a textbook or workbook.  The goal of is to reduce the cost of textbooks or eliminate their use where it is feasible to do so.  Professor Van Lieu’s explanation of how she accomplished this in one class may be viewed by clicking here.

Professor Andrew Winters shared a series  of techniques he now uses in his philosophy class to enhance the quality of online learning. He emphasized the value of online discussions among students in his class. As an aside, he also teaches students how to discover the “truth” of online news.  To view his view his video explaining a variety of techniques he has developed for use in hi-tech classrooms, please click here. 

There are other several other excellent faculty presentations posted on the youtube channel.

Demonstrated their commitment to high performance and extraordinary service to their students, their college and their communities

Two Yavapai College faculty members and a program analyst were among those honored for excellence in teaching, learning and leadership at the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) conference in May in Austin, Texas.

Recognized, were Nursing Professor Dr. Selina Bliss, Spanish Professor Dr. Curtis Kleinman and Program Analyst Carl Moody. NISOD’s mission is to advance excellence in teaching, learning and leadership at community and technical colleges.

“Every year we wish to recognize individuals from our college for teaching innovation and leadership excellence. This year is no exception. While many do so much for YC, these three individuals have demonstrated their commitment to high performance and extraordinary service to their students, their college and their communities,” said Dr. Ron Liss, YC Vice President of Instruction and Student Development.

Bliss was nominated and earned the NISOD Excellence Award for her stellar contributions in and out of the classroom. Her students praise her passion for teaching, her fairness, organization and preparedness, while her colleagues extoll her generosity with the knowledge and skills she gains working at a local hospital, serving as the president of the Arizona Nurses Association, and organizing and participating in educational events at the college and in the community. Bliss also was applauded for the time she devotes to college initiatives like the Pathways Project, Quality Matters and the YC 50th anniversary committee.

“She puts learners first by improving course design and best practices in online education as evidenced by her earning Quality Matters certification for the online nursing leadership and management course,” stated the NISOD nomination submission for Bliss.

In her nomination submission for Moody, YC Arts and Humanities Dean Dr. Joan Fisher stated, “Carl is passionate about using data and research to help faculty, administrators, and staff streamline processes and give them information to enhance services.”

Moody, a member of the College’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness team of analysts, is credited with developing a number of valuable research tools for the college during his tenure. ”Carl truly cares about his colleagues and YC’s students and is always willing to go above and beyond to share his knowledge, critical insights, and create innovative solutions to problems and challenges,” Moody’s NISOD nomination states.

Kleinman was singled out for the NISOD award for teaching with “robust enthusiasm,” incorporating fun assignments in his classes, designing classes that help dual-enrollment and first-year students succeed in college, and “promoting a love of learning by challenging students and showing them that they can do hard things.”

One of multiple NISOD award nominations submitted by YC faculty on Kleinman’s behalf states, “He produces students who are more resilient, not just in his own classes, but in all of their classes.”

Source:  Yavapai Community College Press release.