By Ruth Wicks
(May 18, 2014)
At the Yavapai College District Board meeting yesterday, Dr. Clint Ewell did just that. He worked diligently with the county treasurer to calculate the taxes raised here in the valley for the college. After a rigorous examination, the total was well over 12 million dollars. The present annual cost of running the two Verde Valley campuses, in Clarkdale and Sedona, is slightly over 7 million dollars. Therefore our desire for a Verde Valley Community College is realistic and attainable.
Also at this meeting it was announced that Dean Perey would be working to set up an advisory group for the Verde Valley. These individuals would represent each city in the area to bring forward their vision of what our local community college could be in the future. Julie Larson, past superintendent of Cottonwood /Oak Creek School District, spoke at this meeting and shared personal stories of individuals whose lives had been changed by the college. She said to the board, “The Verde Valley wants what you have!” One of the items that would serve the Verde Valley well is to have equitable distribution of faculty. While there are 400 full time faculty in the college, only 4% of them are on the Verde Campus, a campus that supports on average 20% of the enrollment district-wide. There is also inequity in facilities and services available to the community as a whole. The Prescott campus is home to a six lane indoor swimming pool, and will soon unveil the new million dollar tennis complex. They also have a Performing Arts Center. We all look forward to hearing the voice of this advisory council and their recommendations on the direction the college could take to serve the needs of our community.
The sad news is that the members of the Yavapai College District Governing Board have ignored the facts, the stories and needs that the valley shared with them and the college leadership team through the YC board meetings and focus groups, League of Women Voter programs and city council meetings. This is evidenced by the fact that they have unanimously passed the 2015 budget which allocates monies to begin implementation of the “Ten Year Plan.” This capital improvement plan of $100.3 million dollars commits 99.8% of those dollars to Prescott and solidifies the centralization of post-secondary education in the county in the tri-city area. How does such a plan serve the needs of the 80,000 residents in the Verde Valley who support the college with their property tax dollars?
On reflection, the “ YC Ten Year Plan” is something terrible for the Verde Valley, but it brought about something very positive here in our valley. It brought about sharing of ideas, hopes and dreams of all our communities. It brought about our shared concern and awareness that many of our citizens and youth are suffering due to a lack of accessible, affordable and quality education/training beyond high school. It brought about a strong collaboration of concerned citizens seeking a common goal.
Yavapai College will be seeking your input in June with an up coming survey. Look for a postcard in your mail box in a few weeks, or go on line at www.yc.edu or call 928.445.7300 and ask for a paper survey to be sent to you. Share your ideas and concerns as this is an opportunity to address some of these issues. You, citizens of the Verde Valley, come sit at the front of the bus as you are worthy of so much more then you are presently receiving from Yavapai College. Our dream of a Verde Valley Community College is with in reach.