AWC governing board and peer-reviewers meet
The Arizona Western College governing board met Monday with a group of four peer-reviewers from the Higher Learning Commission, an organization that accredits colleges and universities.
Consisting of administrators from schools in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, the group asked questions and discussed with the board their role in the college’s affairs, their experience and the state of the school, among other things.
During the meeting, Board President Dennis Booth made the point that the college tries to keep people in Yuma.
“One thing that I know is that when you’re in an isolated community like Yuma, Arizona, if you let your capable young people go to the U of A or ASU away from town, they don’t come back in many cases,” he said.
Focusing on agriculture and meeting the needs of businesses in the community, he said, is key.
William Finley, the director of strategic analysis and reporting at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and one of the peer-reviewers said, though, that transfer students from Arizona Western College perform quite well. “They seem to perform very (successfully), from the statistics I’ve read,” he said. “So that’s a very nice feather in the cap here, that you’re preparing folks that are ready for higher-higher education.”
The board stressed that they keep at a distance from Arizona Western staff, too, working in collaboration with Daniel Corr, and empowering him to make decisions concerning staff.
“It’s not our role to be getting in the middle of those relationships,” said Booth.
Throughout the midday gathering, board members expressed their passion for their work with the college and their dedication to the school’s mission and success. Some of the board members, including Anna Camacho, the newest member of Arizona Western’s governing board, spoke about funding and how best to address the various needs of their student population given the broad area that the college covers.
“I have so many people that come to me and they want to understand how the finances work, or don’t work,” she said. “And so that’s another thing that we’ll have a conversation (about).”
“I want to shine, I want Arizona Western to shine,” Camacho said. “Everybody has specific needs, and if we can listen to everybody, you know, people from the Wellton area, people from San Luis, people from La Paz and we bring it to the table, we can find a solution to make it happen and make it work.”
This meeting is part of a oneand-a-half day visit that sees the group of peer-reviewers attending both a community and student forum on Tuesday at 8 and 9 a.m. respectively, as well. Ultimately, the peer-reviewers will make a recommendation to the Higher Learning Commission board of trustees to approve the continuation of the school’s accreditation, which will occur during their semi-annual meeting in June.