Says it will begin construction in April 1999 on its digital media center and campus building at the cultural park; Nationally recognized film school flowing from this decision shut down by Wills
It was 20 years ago, November 30, 1998 that Yavapai College announced that it was going to construct a digital media center and campus building at the cultural park in Sedona. Construction was approved and additional funds included in the $69.5 million dollar 2000 bond for another building at the Sedona Center. That second building was never built.
The digital building was constructed by 2000 and Dan Gordon and the Community College joined in a partnership. That relationship resulted in creation of the Zaki Gorden Film Institute (named after Gordon’s deceased son) and brought national and international recognition to the Community College because of its film training program.
However, Dan Gordon and president Penelope Wills got into some kind of dust up in 2012 over control of the curriculum that led to Gordon leaving Sedona and moving to Liberty University. President Wills then closed the Institute that was using Gordon’s name. However, she said she would continue the film program and enhance it.
In a subsequent editorial, Gordon commented on the decision to essentially kick him out saying in part that “[i]n 2012 the current director of the school and the President of Yavapai College violated their contract with the Institute by unilaterally changing course content.”
According to Mr. Gordon, “As president of the Institute, I cancelled their right to use our name or our copyright-protected methodology and I ceased providing my services, which were offered gratis for twelve years, as lead instructor. The result speaks for itself. Their enrollment dropped 44 percent and the college is dropping the program. When you cut the heart and soul out of something, you cannot expect the body to survive.” He concluded: “Meanwhile The Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center at Liberty University is adding an online Master’s Degree program and inside of a year will have some 800 students taking courses in the program.”
As noted above, when Gordon left, the College promised to “enhance” the film school, which was now renamed the Sedona Film School. It did not meet that promise. Instead, Wills essentially shuttered the facility in 2013 and abandoned any film instruction there. After deciding not to sell the facility as a part of a ten-year 2013 capital development plan, the College reopened the Center in 2017 as a culinary institute.
Special thanks to the Red Rock News of November 21 for the reminder.
It was ten years ago, November 18, 2008 that Janet Napolitano was the guest of the Verde Valley Chapter of the Yavapai Community College Foundation at the Sedona Center. Named as one of the five best Governors in the nation by Time magazine, Napolitano visited the Center at the request of the Chapter to help celebrate Yavapai College’s 40th anniversary and to raise funds for the community college. Napolitano stressed the importance of education in Arizona and in particular the role of community colleges in Arizona. “I believe Arizona has the best community colleges in the nation,” she said.
The new training building for the Northern Arizona Regional Training Academy (NARTA) is under construction on the Prescott Campus. Recall that President Wills announced at the March 2018 Governing Board meeting that the administration had finalized plans to move NARTA from the Prescott Valley Center, where it has been located since 1996, to the Prescott Campus. 
With more than $2 million already spent in the overall improvements of the first floor of the Prescott Valley expansion, the College is completing the second floor. The estimated cost for the second floor renovation/construction is around $1.57 million. As of the November Governing Board meeting, furniture is being installed along with technology on the second floor.
Who will be selected to run the County’s $80 million dollar Community College? The search committee has turned in three names and then ended the search. The three are Dr. Michael Calvert, Dr. Linda Elliott-Nelson, and Dr. Lisa B. Rhine. The Governing Board will apparently select one of them as the new president of the Community College on December 5.
It was announced at the November Governing Board meeting that Arizona State University (ASU), has rented space from Yavapai Community College on the second floor of the newly remodeled and improved ($4.5 million or more invested) building at the Prescott Valley Community College Center. This will allow ASU to offer completion of a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Health Sciences degree at that site.
The deaths the two Yavapai Community College students, Gunner Bundrick and Jake Morales, have been ruled as caused by an accidental overdose of illicit drugs and fentanyl intoxication. The decision was made by the Yavapai County Medical Examiner. The information was obtained by the Prescott Courier and published November 17.
It was a surprise to some in attendance at the November 2018 Governing Board meeting that President Penelope Wills failed to comment on the recent deaths of two Yavapai Community College students and the shuttering of the RESA project at the Career and Technical Education Center during her report to the Governing Board. 
It was reported at the Governing Board meeting November 13 that Yavapai Community College had received 77 applications for the president’s position. The announcement triggered two thoughts: First, Pam Fisher, the ACCT Search Consultant retained by Yavapai Community College to help with its presidential search, who moderated the Verde Valley citizen forum August 27, was specifically asked at the meeting about rumors that applications for the position were down. She explained to the group that the ACCT did not keep records regarding total applications. Therefore, the rumor had no basis one way or the other.