FREE SOCCER CLINICS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS AGES 5-16 HELD ONLY ON WEST SIDE OF COUNTY

By R. Oliphant
Tuesday, August 1st, 2017

Clinics in Prescott Valley and Prescott; none in the Verde Valley

The College continues to limit youth athletic programs to the west side of the County. The following are two examples recently announced by the College:

“Members of the 2017 Yavapai Soccer Team will be conducting a free soccer clinic at Mountain Valley Park in Prescott Valley on Saturday, August 12. The clinic will be held from 9:00 – 10:30 p.m. Boys and girls ages 5-16 are eligible to participate. No registration is required.”

“Members of the 2017 Yavapai Soccer Team will be conducting a free soccer clinic at Ken Lindley Field in Prescott on Saturday, August 19. The clinic will be held from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. Boys and girls ages 5-16 are eligible to participate. No registration is required.”

Despite the fact the Verde Valley has more than 70,000 residents, the College has historically ignored developing youth athletic programs in it. It does this even though the Valley taxpayers provide about 30% of the tax revenue to operate the College. A portion of that tax revenue goes to support the $2 million (operations and scholarships) plus athletic program.  

The historic treatment of the East side of the County continues.

Categories : Athletics

DECADES OF UNEQUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC COURSES COUNTY-WIDE CONTINUES IN 2017

By R. Oliphant
Sunday, July 30th, 2017

Of 57 music courses/tutorials offered this fall, 52 of them are exclusive to Prescott campus

The decades of unequal development of music courses in the County continues. For example, the College registration database shows that there are 52 face-to-face courses and tutorials offered on the Prescott Campus in fall 2017. However, there are only two face-to-face classes offered at the Sedona Center  and none on the Verde Campus (three online courses are available on the Verde Campus and District-wide).

This continues a decade or more of discrimination by the College  in developing music courses throughout the County. Clearly, it  has concentrated its effort and financial resources almost exclusively on the Prescott Campus. No one seems aware of its focus almost exclusively on the Prescott campus when it comes to music.

Click here and then go to search for classes, and find “music.”

 

Categories : Music

CONSTRUCTION MOVING AHEAD ON PRESCOTT CAMPUS RENOVATION OF BUILDING #15 AND ADDITION TO BUILDING #1

By R. Oliphant
Sunday, July 30th, 2017

$4 Million dollar renovation project will contain space for both music and arts programs; Building #1 addition moving along

Construction is moving ahead smoothly on renovating   #15 on the Prescott campus and construction the addition to building #1. Renovation  is currently estimated to cost a little over $4 million for building #15. (Earlier budgets put the figure at $5 million) The College hopes to complete construction by January 2018. The cost of the completed building #1 project is unclear.

In the final Master plan, there was a recommendation that Building #15 be renovated for additional rehearsal space and for additional storage space for the music program. You may click here to read the updated master plan. 

The Master plan states that “The music program at Yavapai College continues to grow and be a source of pride for the campus with its focus on the arts. The existing facility contains only one large rehearsal space, which is shared between both instrumental and vocal disciplines. This results in the search for rehearsal space, which often extends to the community room, making it unavailable for the community at large as was originally intended. The Campus Master Plan recommends the addition of a proper rehearsal space, with attention to the acoustical requirements needed for such a space.”

The Master plan goes on to state that “because Building 15 is shared with some visual arts programs, storage is  also an identified need for the two programs. Land exists immediately adjacent to the existing Building 15 making this the ideal location for expansion.” It also states that “The housing would be placed adjacent to the existing housing and in close proximity to the food service in Building 3. An extension of the green space network on camps will further tie the new halls to the remainder of campus.” 

The project is a part of the renovation and improvements program that was approved in December 2013 as a part of the $103,500,000 ten-year development plan. Below are drawings submitted to the Governing Board explaining the project.  

Categories : Construction, Prescott Campus

WHERE DOES VERDE CAMPUS GO FROM HERE WITH CTE?

By R. Oliphant
Saturday, July 29th, 2017

Master plan to construct greenhouses and renovate Building L on the Verde Campus for agricultural use has collapsed: Is CTE “really” headed for building L?

The District Master plan, as adopted in concept in December 2013, recommended the construction of greenhouses on the Verde campus to accommodate the move of the agriculture programs from the Chino Valley Center. That plan also recommended closing and selling the Chino Valley Center.  Click here to read the Master Plan.

Since that time, the administration has made it clear that the Chino Valley Center is no longer on the auction block. According to the administration, it is giving the Center more time to increase enrollment. The consequence of this is to abandon the original idea of moving the agriculture program from Chino Valley to the Verde Campus.

The original Master plan also states that as the nursing program migrates to Prescott Valley, building L was to be renovated for use by the agricultural programs that were anticipated coming from Chino Valley. It states that “as laboratories already exist in building L, the addition of agricultural classes will virtually recreate the Chino Valley Center’s main building.” That is also not going to happen.

So what is going to happen?  In the 2017 March update to the Master Plan, the College states that building L is to be used for Career and Technical Education (CTE). (Recall that when it was built in 2004 Building L was specifically intended for this use but was found to be a poor facility for such training. It was then remodeled into labs.)

The March 2017 update to the Master Plan states the following:  “Verde Valley: Building L has now been scheduled for a major renovation to enhance its ability to offer Career Technical Education (CTE) programming. We plan to do this work in FY19, giving VACTE a year to conduct their planning and to provide input to YC. Verde Valley Campus will continue to offer Nursing, as well as other CTE programming such as Viticulture, Enology, and Film & Media Arts. This represents an increase of roughly $3.8M.” Click here to see the March 2017 update.

So far we’ve heard nothing from V’ACTE or Dean Perey about specific plans for Building L.  Nor have we heard from the College the reasons Building L originally failed as a CTE facility but it is now acceptable for such use.  

Maybe someone should rethink the issue and come up with a “really” viable plan for constructing a CTE facility on the Verde Campus. Why not?

 

 

Categories : Chino Valley campus, Verde Campus

Verde Valley Forum gives update on post-secondary efforts since September 2016

By R. Oliphant
Tuesday, July 25th, 2017

Report details significant progress being made in the Verde Valley

Outgoing Verde Valley Forum President Dick Dahl gave his year end report at the Annual Membership meeting of the nonprofit organization on May 13th. Portions of Mr. Dahl’s report are reproduced here verbatim. They should be of interest to everyone concerned with post-education in the Verde Valley. Any emphasis by highlighting portions of the report was placed there by the editors of the blog.

Mr. Dick Dahl

Mr. Dahl wrote: “Last year’s collaboration with Arizona Town Hall resulted in a very successful Verde Valley Forum. Excellent progress is being made in implementing the five priority recommendations that resulted from last year’s Forum titled, “The Role of Post-Secondary Education in the Future of the Verde Valley Region.” These five recommendations resulted in the formation of several new entities and organizations that are currently and actively pursuing their respective goals and objectives.

“A task force headed by Beaver Creek School District Superintendent Karin Ward, along with representatives from each of the incorporated and unincorporated areas in the Verde Valley region, convened four focus group meetings throughout our region.  As a result of this effort, the Yavapai College District Governing Board, (YCDGB), authorized a survey of all seventeen public libraries in the region that could allow access to online learning.  The survey indicated a need for additional computers at these locations, and the YCDGB has included this expense item in their budget for next year.

“Additional studies are also underway to improve access to transportation systems so more people can physically access the Yavapai College Clarkdale Campus.  It is clear that the work of this task force has been instrumental in motivating the college to proactively address accessibility issues.

“Progress is also being made on improving the cultural awareness and direction of post-secondary education in the region.  Erin Mabery, Buena Vista Children’s Services, is leading this objective.  Buena Vista has, for several years, conducted a multi-day seminar that focuses on early childhood education.  This year’s seminar was the kick-off for their work to implement the 2016 Forum recommendations. There is an obvious connection to the 2017 Forum on preK-12 education, and I have every reason to believe it will carry over to this year’s discussion topics.

“The Verde Valley Educational Consortium headed by Barbara U’Ren, retired Superintendent of Cottonwood Oak Creek School District, with the able assistance of Consortium organizing committee member Eric Marcus was formally established as an Arizona non-profit corporation and a federal tax exempt 501(c) 3 entity. 

Read More→

Categories : Forum for Public Affairs

OLLI LAUNCHES OWN WEB SITE

By R. Oliphant
Tuesday, July 25th, 2017

Site will make choosing courses and registration for courses easier

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) has launched its own Sedona and Verde Valley website. The site is designed to inform and to make choosing OLLI courses and registration easier.

You may click here to go to the new website. Note that OLLI says that the website is still in beta development and will be upgraded throughout the summer.

Categories : OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning)

REMINDER: SEDONA CENTER OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULED FOR JULY 26

By R. Oliphant
Sunday, July 23rd, 2017

 Newly renovated Center open to public  from 9 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, July 26

The public is invited to what the College describes as a “Sedona Center Program Preview Day from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, July 26.”  The College will provide a tour of the facility for visitors. 

The Sedona Center is located at 4215 Arts Village Drive, Sedona, Arizona.  For information about the Center and the July 26 event, please click here. https://www.yc.edu/articles/Sedona-Center-Transformation/6399

 

Categories : Sedona Campus

COLLEGE LAUNCHES COSTLY SOFTBALL-TYPE MARKETING SURVEY

By R. Oliphant
Sunday, July 23rd, 2017

Survey to use radio ads, internet, Facebook and 100,000 direct mail notices; total cost to taxpayers of project not revealed by College

Yavapai Community College has launched its annual softball-type survey throughout the County. According to Tom Hughes, the launch began Monday, June 12 and will run through August 4, 2017. It is referred to as a “marketing campaign” survey.

According to the College, it will market the survey through the Internet, radio, Facebook, and send 100,000 postcards in the mail to persons in the County. The cost of the survey will no doubt   run into the thousands of dollars. The College has not disclosed to the Governing Board or the public the total cost associated with the survey (postage, printing, staff hours).

Unfortunately, at times the survey tends to ask some rather simple-minded questions, which  appear to provide little actual useful data. For example, the first question in the survey asks whether the  College should help person seeking employment “acquire the qualifications, skills and knowledge to obtain a job …” It is doubtful that anyone would disagree that the  college should help person seeking employment.  If the answer is so obvious, why ask it?  The reason is the soft-ball response can be used in later publications based on the survey where the Governing Board and College applaud themselves. (“See all those who agree to our first question.”)

The survey is also long and asks questions that don’t affect most of the Verde Valley residents. It stays away from asking any comparative questions or asking about hot button issues.  For example, it doesn’t ask “whether you agree or disagree that the College should have built a professional tennis court in Prescott when it doesn’t have a tennis team?” Or, do you agree that “it is time to focus on CTEC in the Verde Valley.” Or, “is the College providing adequate Career and Technical Education in the Verde Valley?”  Or, “should it focus more attention on education rather than cultural events at the Performing Arts Dinner theater?”And so on.

A person may take the survey by clicking here.

Tom Hughes explanation of the survey you may view below.

 

Categories : Survey results, Surveys

INFLUENTIAL YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION 2017-18 MEMBERSHIP STILL DOMINATED BY PRESCOTT AREA CITIZENS

By R. Oliphant
Thursday, July 20th, 2017

Based on population and concept of “fair representation by population,” the Verde Valley should have from 7 to 9 members on the Board; it has 2

There has been little change in the residence of the members of the newly announced Yavapai Community College Foundation 2017-18 Board from earlier Boards. (You may click here to review the biographies of all the current Foundation members.)

Its composition is hardly representative of the County. While the East side of the County accounts for more than 70,000 residents and the West side about 140,000, the Board membership is 25-2 in favor of the West side of the County. Furthermore, the College administrators, despite what some believe is a direct conflict of interest, remain on the Board.

There are two District Governing Board members, Pat McCarver and Steve Irwin, who are listed as Foundation Board members (liaisons).  Traditionally, there is only a single member of the Governing Board who is “elected” as liaison by the Governing Board.  However, apparently because he recognizes the enormous influence the Foundation has on the direction of the College, Steve Irwin asked to be appointed to the Board (never done before.) Both are members of the West County voting bloc that controls the District Governing Board.

There are 27 members of the Foundation Board with seven Foundation executive committee members including Dr. Penelope Wills. Only a single member of the executive committee, First Vice President Valerie Wood, is from the Verde Valley. Of the 20 remaining directors, only one, Joan Meyers, President, Friends of the Southwest Wine Center is from the Verde Valley.

The Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation and is independent from the College. It is enormously influential in terms of the direction of the College. Therefore, you find such amenities intended for citizen use (and student use) on the Prescott campus such as a professional seven court tennis complex, indoor heated swimming pool and therapy pool, an excellent childcare center and the 1,100 seat Performing Arts dinner theater. No other campus or Center in the County has College facilities like these although all County taxpayers and student tuition pay for  them on the Prescott Campus. It is argued that the Foundation has been politically instrumental in the development of these facilities on the West side of the County.

A booklet reporting on the Foundation activities handed out at the May meeting to those in attendance may be found by clicking here.

Categories : Foundation

WILLS HIGHEST PAID COUNTY OFFICIAL: $277,811 ANNUALLY

By R. Oliphant
Wednesday, July 19th, 2017

Top 10 Yavapai College employees annual average salary at $141,865

An article in the Verde Independent newspaper,  written by Dan Engler and published July 18, 2017, contain a wage study conducted by the Verde Valley Newspapers, Inc. The highest-paid County official was found to be Yavapai College President Penelope Wills. Her annual salary was reported at $277,811. According to the study, this salary exceeds the “second highest paying government job in the region,” which is held by the Yavapai County Medical Examiner, by $63,611.

The Yavapai College Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services receives $173,877. The College Vice President of Instruction and Student Development receives $164,800. The top 10 salaries at Yavapai College average $141,865 a year.

The report notes that the median household income in Cottonwood is $43,323 while the median income in the Verde Village is $42,987.

You may read the entire article in the Verde Independent by clicking here.

Categories : Salaries
« Previous Page
Next Page »

Topics