Tuition waiver covers all CTE classes for the entire fall semester, which begins August 16

Yavapai Community College announced in a short press release on Wednesday, June 23 that it will waive fall semester tuition for all students enrolling in classes at the Verde Valley new Skilled Trade Center.  The 10,000 square foot Center is currently under construction but is expected to be ready by August.

The College has identified  four trade areas as crucial to the needs of  the Verde Valley and Yavapai County. They are:  Construction, Electrical, HVAC, and Plumbing.  Ironically, these are among the areas the Community College was going to provide training in back in 2004 when it opened its ambitious CTE program on the Verde Valley Campus in Building “L.”  The effort collapsed after 3-4 years following the College’s purchase in 2006-07 of the 108,000 square foot Ruger builder at the Prescott airport. This is where it located  the Career and Technical Education Center for the west side of the County. As that CTE program thrived, the Verde Valley CTE program withered.

The College promises  that the Verde Valley Skilled Trades Center, located on the Verde Campus,  will be a  state-of-the-art facility.  Students who take classes in the Skilled Trades Center will receive hands-on training in essential career and technical trade programs.

Certifications inside the new CTE center include:

• Construction Certificate
• Electrical Certificate (can be completed in two semesters)
• HVAC Certificate (can be completed in two semesters)
• Plumbing Certificate (can be completed in two semesters

Valley residents believed  a major project started  20 years ago on the Verde Campus would provide world class CTE training to its residents and high school students; sadly, it  collapsed after about four years as CTE  training fled to the west side of County; can this happen again?  

 The following essay is about the efforts of Yavapai Community College to establish a major Career and Technical Education (CTE) program on the Verde Valley Campus on the east side of Yavapai County two decades ago.  The effort  would have a half-life of about four years before it was essentially swallowed up by the CTE interests on the west side of the County or otherwise abandoned.

― Verde Campus Regional Skills Center, Year 2000 —

An ambitious Verde Valley CTE effort was kicked off  over 20 years ago when Yavapai Community College teamed with the United States Department of Commerce to provide the funds to construct the Northern Arizona Regional Skills Center ( NARSC) on the Verde Campus in what became known as Building “L.”  Yavapai Community College invested approximately $1.3 million from the 2000 voter approved  $69.5 million Community College General Obligation Bond  into the CTE project while the federal government provided an additional $1.2 million.

As you might expect, back in 2000 Verde Valley  residents were excited at the prospects  NARSC portended.  They envisioned  NARSC as  bringing badly needed  enhanced Community College  CTE  learning opportunities to high school students and residents throughout  much of Northern Arizona.

Faculty on the Verde Campus were likewise excited as the prospect of NARSC and its future development.   For example, Professor Paul Kessel, the chief operational officer for the Verde Campus at the time, when interviewed in 2002 about the Northern Arizona Regional Skills Center,  said this:   

“[T]he (Center) will provide much-needed educational space and resources to further develop job training programs to benefit residents of northern Arizona. This is an exciting and unique opportunity for northern Arizona residents to gain specific work related skills that will allow citizens to seek immediate employment or increase their level of income in a current or new position.” (Daily Courier, December 11, 2002.)

According to interviews given to the local media, the Community College was committed to developing an extensive  CTE curriculum that, at least in part, would be based on recommendations from business owners in Northern Arizona who sought  training for existing and future employees. The College announced that it had already identified a number of programs that were in the developmental stage. The programs,  so far, according to the College,  included the following:

• Nursing Assistant
• Direct Patient Care Provider
• Medical Assistant- Front and Back Office
• General Office, Customer Service, Receptionist
• General Accounting, Receivable, Payable and Payroll
• Computer Repair
• Facilities Maintenance-Plumbing, Carpentry, Electrical, Grounds keeping, Air Conditioning
• Automotive Technician
• Welding
• Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration
• Cottage Industry and Small Business Operations
• Commercial Drivers’ License Training, Truck Driving, Bus Driving.

Harry Swanson, General Manager of the newly created Center, said that the basic vision for the Center was to provide opportunities for jobs paying livable wages that were already   available in Northern Arizona. The Center would also  identify new job opportunities in areas  such as in higher technology and provide upgrade job-skills training. Swanson  said the  Center intends to improve skills training for the jobs that are already here saying “we’re going to get more involved in the building and construction trades.” Bugle, February 11, 2004, http://cvbugle.com/news/2004/feb/11/ college-dedicates-job-skills-center/ (last visited November 2016).

“This skill center is part of the master plan project of Yavapai College,” Swanson said.

“Part of that plan is to provide education and training to a broad-based population in  Northern  Arizona,  especially  in  Yavapai,  Coconino, Navajo and Apache counties. The bottom line of the project is to help rural Arizonans find good jobs.” Bugle, February 11, 2004, http://cvbugle.com/news/2004/feb/11/ college-dedicates-job-skills-center/ (last visited November 2016).

In February 2004, the Northern Arizona Regional Skills Center on the Verde Campus was dedicated as Building “L.” The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report published and distributed by the College on June 30, 2004, summarized the progress of the Center. It reads as follows:

The construction of the new 15,000 square foot Northern Arizona Regional Skill Center on the Verde Valley Campus was completed this year. The building was formally dedicated at the February 2004 District Governing Board meeting. Programs at the Center will focus on six key areas – business and office technology, basic health-related occupations, construction and building maintenance, hospitality and tourism, information technology management, and manufacturing/engineering technology. The new Center will serve the workforce training needs of residents living in Apache, Coconino, Navajo, and Yavapai counties. Partial funding for the Center was provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce – Economic Development Administration. Construction continued on the Academic Resource Center on the Verde Valley Campus.

― Verde Campus CTE Collapses; West side invests heavily in creating CTE Center —

It was only  after a little more than  three years of operation, that the concept of the Northern Arizona Regional Skills Center began to fade  into the Community College background.  By 2008 the Center as originally envisioned appeared to have  all but disappeared.  What happened?

Although some will attribute the collapse and failure of the CTE effort to an inability to attract students, the main reason may be that the Community College Administration and Governing Board became so enamored with creating a large CTE project funded in part by the Phelps-Dodge corporation on the west side of the County in 2006-2007 that they lost focus and any real interest in putting in the hard work and vast amount of time needed to properly develop  the east side  CTE center.

 Back in 2006,  the College Administration and the  Phelps-Dodge corporation  (later Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold), a Phoenix-based global mining company,  began to meet and discuss  a   handsome proposal coming from the company. 

 The company  made it known that it wanted  a training program for  its workers operating its huge diesel equipment in Arizona. The proposal it made to the Community College involved, among other things, setting up a  two-year College apprenticeship program in diesel, industrial and electrical mechanics. The Phelps-Dodge proposal also came with a promise of substantial funding  to support the training. 

In return for the College setting up the training programs it needed, Phelps-Dodge agreed to build classrooms and pay faculty salaries for the first three years of the program.  Material contained in the February  2007 Community College District Governing Board Agenda outlines what the Administration  anticipated Phelps-Dodge would contribute  to the training program  from 2006 to 2008. The figure was $717,000. There was also an indication that Phelps-Dodge might provide more than  $300,000 in 2007-08 for Community College operations.

When the talks with Phelps-Dodge began, the College Administration could have chosen to attempt to persuade the company  to place this well-funded program on the Verde Campus as a part of  the fledgling Northern Arizona Regional program.  The nature and extent of the early discussions between Phelps-Dodge and the Community College are not recorded anywhere. However, some suspect that  east County selfish opportunism raised its head and may  explain why the Phelps-Dodge proposal failed to  make it to the east side of the County.   

Once the Phelps-Dodge offer was in firmly in hand, with Governing Board approval, Community College administrators began scouring the west side  of the County seeking a  facility where a CTE Community College Center could be developed to meet the Phelps-Dodge needs.

In their quest for a  new CTE facility, the College Administrators came across  a large building at the Prescott airport for sale by the Ruger corporation. Despite its huge size and the fact there were few programs ready to occupy the space, the Administrators  decided  this  would be a perfect site for a CTE Community College Center and recommended its purchase to the Community College District  Governing Board.  The Board  approved the Administration’s proposal enthusiastically.

 A funding scheme to purchase the building from Ruger was quickly arranged by the Governing Board.  In April 2007, the College purchased the 108,000 square foot building under a lease purchase financing scheme for $5 million. An additional $750,000.00 was added for future renovations. (Recall the Northern Arizona Regional Skills Center was only 15,000 square feet.)

The materials in the District Governing Board Agendas for February and May 2007, describe how the purchase of the building at the Prescott airport would be financed. The District Governing Board formally approved a lease-purchase financing agreement for the acquisition of the building “to expand occupational and technical career programs for our citizens.” The lease/purchase agreement indicated that an annual payment would continue until the lease/purchase agreement was fulfilled. The new Career and Technical Educational Center (CTEC) on the west side of Yavapai County was born and set to become fully operational in time for the fall 2007 semester.

― Impact of decision on high school CTE training in the County —

The decision to create a CTE center on the west side of the County in 2006-07 had a devastating impact on CTE training for residents and high school students on the east side of the County. While the west side set a goal of  providing the very best CTE training opportunities for west-side residents and high school students, the east side program collapsed.  With the Phelps-Dodge initial impetus, the District Governing Board and  Community College Foundation began to annually invest ever increasingly large sums of money for  faculty, facilities, and equipment  into west side CTE development.  Simultaneously, they turned  a blind eye to the similar CTE educational needs of residents and high school students on  the east side of the County.

The result is that for more than a decade, east side residents and   high school students have been  denied  reasonable  access to enhanced  Community College CTE training opportunities that were only reasonably available and enjoyed by residents and  high school students on the west side of the County.

Once the east side CTE NARSC project collapsed, Building “L,” which was originally intended as the center for the hoped for CTE program,  was renovated and repurposed but always with an eye to keeping some CTE in it to comply with the original federal grant request.  During the past  two years (2019 – 2021)  the Community College and the District Governing Board began to somewhat grudgingly, some might say,  turn  their attention back to the widespread  lack of CTE Community College training opportunities on the east side of the County. Building “L” was completely renovated at a cost of several million dollars in 2019 and is now intended  primarily for nursing training with some space allocated for CTE training.  A small 10,000 square foot structure dedicated to CTE training is being constructed and will open in the fall of 2021. 

For comparison’s sake, recall that the west side purchased a 108,000 square foot vacant  building to establish its CTE training.  Since its purchase, the west side has worked diligently and  successfully to eventually fill the space.  Given the approach to the  east side CTE by the Community College, the east side will most likely have to work much harder to meet future expansion needs when exciting new programs become available. Most likely, there will be little available space to expand in a 10,000 square foot building. It offers a programmatic expansion scheme much different that the one presented to the west side when it purchased the  108,000 foot building for its center.   

― West side ensures a future supply of high school students —

There is another aspect to the development of CTE on the west side of the County that should not be overlooked.  That is developing a goal of providing an annual flow of high school students to the west County CTE facility to help supplement normal college enrollment.  This is how the west side accomplished this.

While the Community College Governing Board was nailing down the details for the CTE project for  the west side of the County in 2006-07, it was also searching  for ways to ensure its future success.  Politically, the West side of the County was savvy and to some extent, lucky .  Politicos understood the value of linking  arms in a cooperative CTE effort with all the high schools on the west  side of the County.  Back in 2006  a high school vocational training district called a “Joint Technical Education District” (JTED)  did not exist on the west side of the County. However, one had been  approved around 2000 on the east side of the County.  (Once approved, a JTED received state funding for high school CTE training, among other things.) 

Luckily for the Community College, voters on the West side of the County were to decide in a 2007 election whether a JTED  should be created.  If voters approved the JTED district, it would  encompass all the west county high schools. If the Community College played its political cards right, there would be a potential  future supply of high school students to supplement college students and County residents at the west side CTE center.

The advantage the Community College had in this scheme is that it had more money to invest in sophisticated CTE training equipment than did a single high school.  It could in fact reduce the costs associated with purchasing the expensive equipment by ensuring enrollment of students in its programs from high schools on the west side of the County in addition to its own students.  It also had the advantage of being able to raise the property tax rate annually by a simple majority vote of its Governing Board. 

The Community College District Governing Board obviously recognized  the future opportunity presented by a west County JTED and jumped in politically to support it. At the February 2007 District Governing Board meeting, the need for a West County JTED was placed on the agenda for discussion. This is also the meeting where the new CTE Center  at the Prescott airport was approved. The idea of a West County JTED received accolades from the District Governing Board. In fact, the Board was so excited at the potential of a West County JTED it adopted Resolution #2007-02 encouraging its development. The Board Resolution made the political case for a West side JTED.

The JTED was approved by west County voters.  The relationship between the Community College and the West side JTED blossomed and was solidified at the October 8, 2009, District Governing Board meeting. At that meeting, the Board unanimously and no doubt enthusiastically approved an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Mountain Institute Joint Technical Education District No. 02 and Yavapai College.

Mountain Institute high school students from west County high schools began taking classes jointly at the Community College’s CTE  with Community College students  and local residents.  The idea of a ready supply of high school students to supplement the Community College regular CTE enrollment had worked. 

Later, the central west County JTED office would be moved to the Community College west side CTE facility.  It afforded the closest cooperation and coordination between the Community College CTE training programs and the high school JTED.

Note, however, that there was little, if any, close cooperation between the east County JTED and the Community College.  The current Dr. Lisa Rhine administration is now fostering such a relationship.

― Conclusion —

The Community College has an outstanding senior administration that is housed in Prescott, works most of the time in Prescott, and occasionally may  pay a  visit to the east side of the County.  Its officers are involved in west side civic activities, own homes on the west side of the County, and commune and party with west side politicos and other important figures over there. It would be natural for them to possess a west side bias, despite their best efforts.

The Yavapai College District Governing Board is dominated by west side representatives who have carefully  protected and diligently approved the west side Community College educational development.  These are politicians who purportedly are to act  in the best interests of all the County and hypothetically (wink wink) function in a nonpartisan manner.  However, history makes clear that when it comes to actual serious educational CTE development, the Governing Board over the past decade or more has mostly  ignored the east side of the County while carefully sculpting  a Community College on the west side that now rivals any small four-year college in the nation. Its CTE Center is a model for the nation.

The question, given that the  east side of the County  may at times be  viewed by the Community College decision makers in Prescott as somewhat of  a colony controlled by  the west side empire, or that is at least a perception among some, is will there be sufficient long-term support and investment in east side CTE training by the Administration and the Governing Board?  Can the west side actually function in a nonpartisan fashion and vigorously support east side CTE development, or will it find excuses for limiting and eventually closing down CTE training once again in the Verde Valley?

This is the challenge.  Only time will tell whether the Community College can meet this challenge.