Benefits to Verde Valley appear very significant

Editorial Opinion

OPINION.  Yavapai Community College has struggled for 50 years to develop an effective community college system in the Verde Valley on the east side of Yavapai County.  At best, its efforts have fallen far short of what one would expect; especially now that the population in this area has increased to over 75,000.   Furthermore, the unequal community college development over the past half century between the east and west sides of the County is  very troubling.

There are probably many reasons to explain the lack of success in developing a strong community college in the Verde Valley. However, one possible approach to begin changing failure to success is to create an administrative college from the existing community college framework. 

A change would require that the Prescott side of the Mountain also adopt an administrative community college framework.  This framework is similar to the many administrative colleges created in the Maricopa community county system over the past several years.

If created,  Dr. Lisa Rhine, the current President of Yavapai Community College  would become the chancellor in the Community  College District and provide overall direction to both the east and west sides of Yavapai County’s two administrative community colleges. 

The following is a list of some of the possible benefits that the East Region residents might receive if an Administrative College were established along with several historic examples to illustrate a point. They are not listed in any particular order.

Share a common vision

An Administrative College may help bring the various communities in the East Region together in a common cause. With an Administrative College controlled by East Region residents, the small communities and towns that make up a total of more than 75,000 residents may more easily come to share a common vision of developing a strong post-secondary community college. It may also help reduce the competitive, non-cooperative, bickering spirit that communities and other institutions in the East Region sometimes exhibit.

Greater school district cooperation

An Administrative College may provide the basis for encouraging the school districts in the East Region of the County to join in a common integrated, shared educational experience. Past history has shown that the school districts in the East Region of the County are not necessarily always united in a way that is helpful. For example, it has taken more than a decade to get the school districts to jointly agree to consider sending high school students to a tiny, centralized career and technical education center as a part of the Joint Education District (JTED). By comparison, since 2007 the school districts in the West Region of the County have embraced the Mountain Institute JTED and centralization of major CTE learning programs under the Community College CTEC umbrella.

Citizens retain a larger portion of their property tax revenue

An Administrative College may help East Region citizens retain a larger portion of their property tax revenue going to the Community College by providing a stronger voice to Governing Board members about how and where the taxes should be spent.

More return of tuition, grants, fees

An Administrative College should provide a greater potential for returning some of the tuition payments, state aid, grants, and fees paid by or as a result of East Region students attending the College to the East Region.

Greater share of construction tax

An Administrative College should allow the East Region to receive a greater share of the revenue produced by the County annual new construction tax collected by the Community College.

More aggressive CTE development

An Administrative College may encourage greater consideration among the 74,000 residents of the East Region in more aggressive development of a centralized College Career and Technical Education Center.

Dual enrollment program cooperation

An Administrative College should encourage closer coordination between the College and the three public high schools and one charter school in the East Region in operating the dual enrollment program. The dual enrollment programs at those four high schools in the East Region allow qualified high school students to simultaneously obtain high school and college credit for certain courses.

Possibly local athletic projects

An Administrative College may provide an opportunity for creating local athletic programs in the East Region (where currently there are none).

Own identity and traditions

An Administrative College should provide the East Region with its “own identity and traditions.” It is believed that students attending an educational institution like to feel that it has its own traditions, its own plan, and its own programs. They don’t like to feel, does the argument, that their community college is just an off-shoot or a branch of another controlling institution.

Perceived ownership

An Administrative College should permit East Region residents to fully participate in the selection of their own administrative campus president. As a result of their “ownership,” it is argued that East Region citizens will naturally more easily see themselves as real owners and participants in the future of the Community College.

Greater voice in decision making

An Administrative College should provide a stronger administrative voice acting on behalf of the East Region because of the selection of a president.

Fair competition between regions

An Administrative College may provide an opportunity for the two regions to compete for scarce resources more fairly. With the existence of a president of an Administrative College in place representing the East Region, that person can compete annually on a level financial playing field for scarce educational dollars with the Prescott President who represents the interests of the West Region of the County. (Budgets go through a Chancellor and then to the Governing Board.)

More long-term consistency in programs

An Administrative College should help reduce the chances of dramatic alterations of programs when there is a College President changeover. For example, when the Sedona Center was built, it had a strong supporter in then College President Doreen Daily. However, in 2013 former President Penelope Wills stunned the East County region by announcing she was shutting down the Film School and potentially putting the Center up for sale as a part of a ten year plan.

Former President Daily was also a champion of bringing Career and Technical Education training to Northern Arizona. She promoted and began developing the Northern Arizona Regional Training program on the Verde Campus, which was intended to teach career and technical education (CTE) skills to students in at least three counties. Three years after Daily resigned, the new College President and the Community College Governing Board, essentially shut down a focus on trade instruction at the Northern Arizona Regional Training program that Daily had promoted.

Gain better knowledge of local culture

An Administrative College should provide a greater opportunity for the East Region Community College President and staff to gain intimate knowledge of the East Region of Yavapai County and its culture.

No traveling back and forth over the mountain

As a practical matter, an Administrative College should reduce, if not eliminate, travel time to meetings by staff and faculty to either side of the County. Currently, the perception is that East Region staff and administrators spend significant amounts of travel time away from East Region duties by traveling back and forth to the West Region for a variety of meetings. It may take a half day or more out of their work on in the East Region’s community college.

Develop East County Student government

An Administrative College on the East Region of the County may help stimulate restoration of a vibrant student government in the East Region’s college.

Working more closely with Yavapai-Apache nation

An Administrative College should provide a better opportunity for the Community College to work more closely with the Yavapai-Apache nation.

Left out towns and villages

An Administrative College should provide greater focus and consideration of “left out” pockets of the population in the East Region such as Cornville, Village of Oak Creek, Beaver Creek, Rimrock and others.

Better data gathering and reporting

An Administrative College should result in more accurate gathering of data regarding costs associated with operating Verde Campus and Sedona Center.

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