Fear of Administrative College no doubt causing Administration back-peddling

Sedona Vice Mayor Mark DiNunzio

The exchange between Sedona’s Vice Mayor, Mark DiNunzio  and College Vice President Clint Ewell at the March 22 Sedona City Council meeting showed that the Prescott dominated administrative structure was yielding, at least to some extent, to the concerns evinced by Valley residents the past two years over the fact that all the major administrative posts on the Verde Campus were held by people living in Prescott.  Ewell was questioned directly by Mr. DiNunzio about the fact that all of the recent major administrative appointments in the Verde Valley continue to live in Prescott.

Ewell  promised, if any of those positions became open  that as new people are hired, we will strongly encourage them to live on “this side of the mountain.”

You may view the exchange between Vice Mayor DiNunzio and Vice President Ewell by clicking here.

Points out the ridiculous nature of the objections made by 3 vote majority

Carol German, writing in her capacity as a citizen and not as a representative of the Camp Verde City Council, wrote the following letter to the editor in the March 13 Verde Independent.  Her letter is reproduced in full below (as provided to the Blog).

Ms. Carol German

On March 1, 2016 the Yavapai College Governing Board held its monthly Board meeting.  As an attendee, I was disappointed and a little surprised by the Board’s reaction and vote in regard to a Board member’s motion to bring in an outside consultant to study the needs of the Verde Valley concerning Post-Secondary Education.  The Board Member’s motion consisted of various options to be studied, not just a separate administrative college.

The discussion that followed was surprising in the fact that three of the board members only concentrated on one model and missed the point of the motion.  The President of the Board made the argument that it would be impossible to find an unbiased consultant to conduct this research.  And further, she indicated the cost would probably be around $50,000 and this was far too expensive.  It is confusing to me that spending $50,000 is too expensive when Verde Valley taxpayers annually pay $15,000,000 to the College.  Fifty thousand dollars compared to 15 million is a drop in the bucket for a study that could benefit citizens on the East side of Yavapai County.

The two elected Board Members representing the Verde Valley did an admirable job of pointing out the benefits of this independent and unbiased study regarding access and equity issues.  As was pointed out in the discussion the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee of the District Governing Board has through their 16 recommendations also pointed out their concerns along these lines.

The final vote on this opportunity for clarity, transparency and sound research was 3 to 2.  What a shame that the Governing Board did not take this opportunity to address access and equity to Post-secondary education for all of Yavapai County.  The College administration needs to remember that YCCC stands for Yavapai County Community College, and that Verde Valley taxpayers deserve adequate access and equity to post-secondary education. 

Carol German

Camp Verde