Opened renovated Building “L” in 2020 (first approved in 2017), constructed small new replacement greenhouse and new 10,000 square foot CTE facility now operational; needs cooperation from VACTE, saved over $300,000 in student book costs, and offered several tuition free classes this fall
Dr. Lisa Rhine
Yavapai Community College president Dr. Lisa Rhine outlined during a presentation to the District Governing Board September 14 a few of the recent physical improvements on the Verde Valley Campus. She also highlighted her efforts to reduce student book and tuition costs. She called for greater cooperation between the Community College and the Valley Academy for Career and Technical Education (VACTE district in developing technical training programs on the east side of Yavapai County.
Among the physical improvement on the Verde Valley Campus, Dr. Rhine pointed to the reopening of Building “L” . The renovation of Building “L” was announced back in December 2017 by then Verde Valley Campus Dean James Perey. However, actual renovation began in May 2019. At the time it was estimated the Community College would spend around $4.9 million on the renovation. The building was renovated to improve the facilities for its nursing program and add a manufacturing lab. The renovation was completed in time for the fall 2020 semester. It had a re-opening ribbon cutting ceremony on October 15, 2020.
You may recall that it was November 2014 when then Verde Valley Campus Dean James Perey publicly announced that the nursing program already being taught on the Verde Valley Campus would remain there. There had been an uproar among Valley residents and education advocates when it was learned the program might be moved and consolidated into the nursing program being taught at the College’s Prescott Valley Center. In fall 2021 the Community College showed a robust nursing training program now in operation on the Verde Valley Campus with virtually all of the classes filled to capacity.
The Community College completed construction of a small 18’ x 48’ greenhouse by the 2021 fall semester. An even smaller greenhouse was removed from the Campus during the summer of 2021.
The Community College also constructed a 10,000 square foot Career and Technical Education building, which opened with 100% enrollment this fall. By comparison, the Community College operates a 105,000 square foot Career and Technical Education Center at the Prescott airport for residents living mostly on the west side of the County. There was 100% enrollment in CTE classes offered at the Verde Valley CTE facility, according to Dean Rhine.
College-wide, the College offered a host of free tuition classes in the fall 2021. The students enrolled at the Verde Campus had all of their classes paid for the entire semester thanks to the COVID-19 relief funds it received. Students signing up to take 12 credits a semester can take an additional three credits without cost. A handful of CTE classes at CTEC on the west side of the County were awarded free tuition for the fall semester.
So far, the effort to introduce Open Educational Resources (OER) course materials into the curriculum has saved students more than $300,00. The OER program, headed by Dr. Diane Ryan, was launched in the fall 2020. This was a part of President Dr. Lisa Rhine’s effort to make post-secondary education available to everyone in the County at the lowest possible cost. It was estimated in 2020 that the OER program would take three or four years to fully implement.
Dr. Rhine strongly suggested to the Governing Board that the partnership between the Valley Academy for Career and Technical Education should be strengthened. On the west side of the County, an estimated 25% of the students taking technical education courses at the CTEC Campus come from high schools on that side of Mingus Mountain. She also suggested that VACTE should re-locate its headquarters with the Community College on the Verde Valley Campus. If this were accomplished, it would be following the model used with success on the west side of the County.
You may view Dr. Rhine’s presentation on this subject in the four-minute video clip from the September 14 Governing Board meeting below.