AWC board meets as students return
Accolades, updates and warm welcomes were the main themes of the first meeting Monday afternoon of the 2017-2018 school year for Arizona Western College’s governing board meeting.
Monday was also the first day of classes for AWC students, and there was a lot of excitement on campus, said AWC President Daniel Corr.
“We had a great first day, and there have been no problems,” that he had been informed about, Corr said during the board meeting’s recess about 4:15 p.m.
Board members heard several reports, including one from Vice President of Student Services Bryan Doak on the academic success of the college’s student athletes.
“One of the goals we have here at Arizona Western is for all our student athletic teams to have cumulative GPA’s of 3.0,” Doak told the board, and the college had four teams that reached that goal for the 2016-2017 school year: men’s soccer (head coach Kenny Dale); women’s soccer (head coach Alexia Poon); women’s volleyball (Lorayne Chandler); and softball (Nicole Bethurum).
Doak also commended the coaches, who not only conduct study halls, travel with teams and oversee their athletes, but also teach their regular classes. Dale is a history professor, while Poon and Chandler are professors of physical and wellness education. Bethurum teaches mathematics. Several of the college’s coaches were recognized for being honored outside the college, including by the Western States Football League and the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Student athletes also beat the college’s average GPA (2.62) for the year (2.993); 73 made the dean’s list, two were named Academic AllAmericans (first team, with 4.0 GPAs), and 55 student athletes transferred to Division I schools.
Also on the topic of academic achievement, Vice President of Learning Services Linda Elliott-Nelson noted during her report that there were 664 Dean’s list letters sent out this year — 372 to Yuma students; 157 to San Luis; 58 to Somerton students; 56 to other Arizona towns/out of state; 12 to Parker; and nine to Wellton.
Elliott-Nelson also noted that the college is on its “countdown” to its next accreditation visit, which will be in February 2019. ElliottNelson said various committees have been meeting to review the five criteria for the review.
Dean of Communication and Marketing Lori Stofft gave the board an update on the strategic planning process, the campus “Welcome Week” and a site visit by college/university consultant Kevin Crockett. The strategic planning Horizon event garnered feedback from nearly 2,000 community residents. The next public event will be in December, she said.
During the voucher report, Corr noted that in the past, each board member would have to sign the vouchers. After consulting with an auditor, the only signatures that would be required would be board president Dennis Booth and secretary Olivia Zepeda. The action required a rollcall vote, with all board members voting yes.
The college welcomed nine new faculty members, a new vice president of finance and administrative service (Shahrooz Roohparvar), and a new chief information officer, Joseph McLain, said Human Resources lead Kari Gardner.
The Classified Employee Association met over the summer, reported representative Junior Castro, and reviewed its by-laws. The group instituted three new officers, a historian (Angelica Gonzalez), a publicist (Julissa Fitts), and an associate employee representative (Seth Miner). In other news: Students Christina Macias (office management) and Anani Sanchez (business) were named students of the month for their work with the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce.
Matthew Smith, during the faculty report, noted that science and engineering camps held over the summer were very popular.
Two intergovernmental agreements were renewed (Parker Library and Southwest Technical Education District of Yuma)
The board approved Roohparvar as its representative on the Yuma Area Benefits Consortium.