President says she won’t make commitment on future development she can’t keep | Chevalier asks College to share data with the Board regarding east side development it claims to have collected
Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine was requested by Third District Governing Board Representative Paul Chevalier during the January 28 District Governing Board Workshop in Prescott Valley to share her views about the future development of the Community College in the Verde Valley. In response, she refused to give any information saying that at this time she was “unwilling to commit to a plan” that she was unable to “fulfill.”
Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine
Third District Governing Board Representative Paul Chevalier
Dr. Rhine also said in response to the request that the Community College was “working diligently on a plan” for the entire County and collecting data to ensure that the plan is “based on needs” supported “by evidence –data.” She said the while there are “exciting plans for the whole county” it was “premature to share those plans” until there was certainty and the Board had approved them and a budget to support them.
Third District Representative Paul Chevalier asked about a Sedona meeting regarding development of the Performing Arts on the east side of the County. Dr. Rhine said she did not have any information about the meeting because it was in one of her Vice President’s areas.
Dr. Rhine was also asked by Chevalier if she would supply the data about the east side of the County the Community College had collected to use for future development decisions. She gave no direct response to that question. (Please see Video clip below.)
Representative Chevalier outlined his view of a few of the current unmet needs on the east side of the County that he believed were identical to those of citizens on the west side. Those needs included more Career and Technical Education training and facilities and a need for many more Performing Arts educational programs.
Chevalier made a strong argument for adding Performing Arts educational programming to the Community College curriculum on the east side. He noted there were over 500 students enrolled in Performing Arts programs on the Prescott Campus this fall while only one or two classes and possibly a dozen students made up the Performing Arts curriculum and student population taking classes on the east side. He said we “probably have as many performing artists on the east side as on the west side” of the County. . . . In Sedona alone, we have four Grammy winners. . . . Mingus High School has a very vibrant Performing Arts program and Red Rock High School has a program as well.”
According to Chevalier, when students in the Verde Valley graduate, “there’s no institution on the east side that you can go to and get Performing Arts. That is something that is just as important on the east side as on the west side.” However, the need on the east side, said Chevalier, “is not being catered to at all” by the Community College.
For additional context and discussion and to check the accuracy of this post, please see the video clip below of the Governing Board discussion with Dr. Rhine at the January 28 Governing Board meeting. A video record of the entire Governing Board meeting is anticipated to be posted by the Community College following the next meeting of the Governing Board once the minutes of the Workshop are approved. Please monitor the Governing Board website for the posting if you are interested in reviewing the entire meeting.