Should the 50-year-old model in a county larger than Connecticut or the state of Israel  be scrapped to give east county residents an opportunity to develop their own Community College  model that they can claim as  their own? And provide them with accountability?

Editor: Robert Oliphant

EDITORIAL:  At the time the decision to create a Community College District was made a little over 50 years ago, recognition of a District meant certain requirements had to be met.  As a result of Arizona law, those wanting a community college in Yavapai County were forced  to include its  entire high school population and its entire land value. Today, whatever legal requirements are needed to create a Community College District, the residents of the East side of the county with a population over 75,000 can meet them.

If it weren’t for the legal requirements of 50 years,  creation of a single community college district encompassing  such a huge  land mass makes no sense at all.  The Yavapai Community College  District covers all of Yavapai County consisting of 8,125 square miles. The size of the County  is comparable  to states such as Connecticut (5,543 sq. miles — 12 community colleges and universities), Delaware (1,982 sq. miles — three community colleges and universities), Rhode Island (1,214 sq. miles— one public and two private community colleges)  and New Jersey (8,723 sq. miles — 19 community colleges and universities). The state of Israel encompasses  8,550 square miles (ten universities and 53 colleges).

Once Prescott was chosen as the  location for the first community college, the architects designed an institution resembling a state university.  This was most likely  an effort  to provide education to those in the far reaches of the County.  Since that time, and despite the many changes in population in the County, the Community College has expanded on the original model and remained tightly focused  on developing the Prescott side of the County.

Today, most agree that Yavapai Community College  operates and resembles  a state college or university.  On the Prescott side of the County, it boasts  six athletic teams, athletic fields, a cadre of coaches, two residence halls, a major gymnasium, heated indoor swimming pool including special therapy pool for seniors; professional tennis complex, weight complex, 104,000  square foot Career and Technical Education Center, and a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center  (PAC) with an 1,100 seat ultra-modern auditorium. The PAC provides over 50 major theatre cultural performances annually and at least 20 free special events – probably many more. The College  offers a wide variety of music and performing arts courses not offered elsewhere.  It  will be offering four-year degrees shortly.

 It has even dropped the name “Community College” in favor of being called “Yavapai College.” 

The Community College Governing Board is dominated by west county Governing Board politicos who in 2012-13 boldly approved a $103.5 million plan to further develop the institution with less than 5% of development flowing to the east side of the County.  The administration is staffed by all Prescott based executives and the vast majority of faculty and staff live and work on the Prescott side of the County.  All political control rests with Prescott based people. All decisions regarding courses, construction of facilities, and other projects come directly from Prescott and must be approved by them.  The current Dean of the Sedona Center/Verde Campus is not considered an important voice in decision making.  In fact, the current Dean has major duties that take her away from the Verde Valley on a regular basis.  Even the College Foundation is controlled almost entirely by the west side of the County despite the fact that  the current president is from the Verde Valley. 

Few of the dozens of  accoutrements associated with operating the Community College on the west side of the County exist on the East side. 

Examples of just how weak is the control of east side residents over how the community college is developed in their area of the County  are easy to find.  For example, after ten years of constant effort by east county advocates, its Governing Board Third District  representative, and a few politicians, the College agreed to construct a  10,000 square foot Career and Technical Education Center (CTE).  East County residents were demanding a minimum of 30,000 feet so the facility  could be easily, inexpensively,  and quickly expanded to meet unique training needs that might come to it in the future.  They based this view on the fact that the west side CTE campus is at least 104,000 square feet and has historically been used to quickly meet unanticipated   local CTE needs.  They also wanted it at another location. 

Despite the demands from east-siders, Prescott administrators decided to build a tiny 10,000 square foot facility on the Verde Campus on  a rocky plateau of sorts and promise that if there were a future need, they would  build another facility (“phase two,” they said) to meet the need.  In essence, they easily handcuffed future CTE development with the facility and its location on a rocky plateau ― there are 60-70 acres of land a few feet away where a CTE facility on a flat surface with acres of parking space could easily have been built.

Another example is reflected in the history of Building “L,” which was renovated a couple years ago to provide improved nursing training and a small manufacturing training area.  Recall that the Prescott administration initially was going to move all nursing training to a new facility it was constructing at its  Prescott Valley Center.  However, the uproar from the Valley eventually caused them to back off; but it took an uproar to stop it.   The most recent renovation of Buiding “L” appears to be its third.  It was originally built with the aid of Federal Government funding to be used as a  major Career and Technical Education facility.  That focus and development of CTE programs on the east side of the County pretty much ended when Prescott purchased the 104,000 square foot building at the Prescott airport for CTE training.

As now operated, the Yavapai Community College fails to provide locally to east side county residents what these institutions are supposed to provide.  Most obvious is the failure to  effectively serve east-side live-at-home students and part-time students with face-to-face courses.   The current set-up  is far less than ideal for east-side students who want to save room,  board and travel money by living at home, and for students who want to further their educations while balancing work and family.

It is failing to offer cultural programs with nothing comparable to what is offered on the west side of the County.  It is failing to offer  courses in areas of common interest such  as music and theatre to east-siders.  Those courses are taught only on the  west side.

Sometimes Yavapai Community College appears to  ignore whole areas of the Verde Valley.  For example, the unincorporated area of the Verde Villages that abut the city of Cottonwood have a population of about 12,000 residents. The Verde Villages are not  mentioned even in passing in various reports about the demographics of the County when they are made by the Community College.

Furthermore, with all of the demands needing attention to operate the massive west side complex, there is little time left for the Prescott-based executives to seriously consider east side educational and cultural needs. At best, east siders are given an occasional visit  by Prescott executives or an appearance at an occasional meeting.  The east side gets whatever is left over after the west side operational cup is filled.

Moreover, there is a long-standing sore spot among east-side residents regarding Community College accountability to them. The Community College executives refuse to provide detailed information about how much money is collected from the east side of the County in primary taxes, tuition, construction taxes, government grants, and state taxes. It similarly refuses to explain in detail how much of all those funds collected are returned to the Verde Valley, a figure some estimate should be  around  $35 million annually. 

Maybe it’s  time to reconsider the current model? Maybe it’s time to give the east side residents an actual voice and actual control over their post-secondary community college training. Maybe it’s time be accountable and explain how the east side residents  financial contributions to the Community College are being used. Maybe?