The Listen/Learn session held Feb. 4 by Dr. Jeanne Swarthout, president of Northland Pioneer College, at the Silver Creek campus resulted in several ideas from the public that Swarthout said she will provide to all members of the Navajo County Community College District Governing Board.
“Even though they are not here, they get a lot of feedback from me,” she said.
“What threshold of students would you need to have (for the Silver Creek Campus)?” asked Snowflake Councilman Byron Lewis.
Swarthout said that question is complicated, because the expenditure limit counts all students; they look at all campuses together.
“We are not just fulfilling the need, are we not offering the classes that are necessary for further academic employment?” asked Mick Weir, a retired Snowflake Unified School District teacher. “What is the goal of this college district?” he asked.
“If you’re going to draw students, you’re going to have to offer what students want,” Weir said. “It seems to me perhaps you need to start some programs or classes and fulfill their needs a lot better.”
Lowry Flake thanked Swarthout for NPCs participation in the College Bound Workshop and asked what the result of that was.
“Projections indicate minimal new growth from the high school,” said Swarthout.
Snowflake Councilman Kerry Ballard said he feels everyone needs to work together to get the attendance up, and if that happened, this campus would be widely used.
“From the numbers I’ve seen in terms of enrollment for Snowflake, it’s amazing to me NPC survived here as long as they have,” said Snowflake School District Governing Board Member Charles Foote. “It seems to me the closing of the Snowflake campus would be inevitable.” He said he feels there are students that are being unmined and suggested they leave the campus open for one more year. He noted that there is great potential, but he didn’t sense any activity to tap in on those potential students.
One woman suggested night classes be offered and expressed concern about the loss of the library.
Snowflake Mayor Tom Poscharsky suggested classes be taped and shown later in the day, and possibly over the Internet or on a data base. “We need to be using all these technologies to their fullest,” he said.
Patty Matyas, president of the Snowflake-Taylor Chamber of Commerce, asked if NPC is trying to persuade high school students to attend by offering scholarships.
Swarthout said she did not think they were pursing individuals, but noted, “We use a lot of scholarship dollars across the district,” particularly for those with financial needs.
Matyas also suggested that because the arts are dwindling in schools and the performing arts building is on this campus, NPC should put in a green room and a stage. “I see putting a few dollars into the arts program and including the community in it,” she said, suggesting possibly giving piano lessons and having recitals.
Snowflake High School student Adrian Tims said she took classes in the TLC (Technology and Learning Center) room, which helped her with her high school classes, and suggested they keep NPC here so when other kids are having trouble they can get help by taking a few classes.
Swarthout thanked everyone for their input and said she would pass the suggestions along to the board members.
The next Listen/Learn session will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Silver Creek Campus. The next college district governing board meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the Painted Desert Campus in Holbrook.
