State report reflects success at Northland Pioneer College

“When we talk about completion, we are talking about anything higher than a C, so A, B and C grades. We also have a high number of degree and certificates awarded, with an 80 percent completion rate. In 2018, 26 percent of those were degrees and 78 percent were certifications. We are seeing that we have an increase in the number of students transferring to four-year universities. That number increased by 19 percent. All in all, pretty impressive and things are looking great according to this report that the state has put out.”

Director of Enrollment Services Jeremy Raisor presented an enrollment report to the governing board. In his presentation, he explained that enrollment has changed, but not necessarily decreased over the last year.

“This semester holds both good and bad news. We are down about a half of a percent so essentially our enrollment is about what it was last fall. The TALON (Technology to Advance Learning Outcomes) program has grown, as we added two new high schools this year. We have increases in our internet and our White Mountain campus enrollment and we also have two new Allied Health Programs, Surgical Technology and Therapeutic Massage.” Raisor went on to explain that NPC also had some increased enrollment in biology, welding and history programs.

“In terms of some of the negative impact to our enrollment, we had no enrollment with the Department of Corrections due to changing in the inmate population there and some reduction in dual enrollment in general due to not having qualified instructors. We did have decreases in our NAVIT (Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology) programs as well.”

Raisor continued, “In some areas, we are growing as we work to make registration and payment easier through our website and as we continue to move some of those dual enrollment programs to TALON programs.”

In his annual report to the Governor’s Office, NPC President Mark Vest also highlighted positive growth at the college. Vest’s list of major accomplishments during the 2018-19 school year was expansive. A few highlights included implementing a mobile friendly website, hiring a Vice President of Learning and Student Services in Dr. Clark, and expanding community outreach with over 40 visits to local town and tribal councils.

Vest also mentioned some areas that will continue to need improvement this year. Those included continuing upgrading sites and campuses, and focusing on budget and staffing concerns. Vest noted, “NPC is the single provider of higher education in both Navajo and Apache counties (Diné College serves portions of the Navajo Nation). Distance, poverty levels, low educational attainment and limited infrastructure present challenges which NPC will always work with its communities to resolve.”

Continuing the effort to make things more streamlined for students, Director of Student Services Joshua Rogers presented his plan for training of academic advisors. During the governing board meeting last month, board member Derek Leslie requested such a report following a discussion about consistency in advising. Rogers began, “Currently, we have the academic advisors that have been here awhile train anyone new to the department. What we plan to do is have each advisor take a training course that I have created on our website that focuses on our core competencies. We want all of our advisors to be well rounded.

“At the end of the training, the advisors will create a professional development plan for themselves so that they can improve. This is the key piece, they need to hold themselves accountable. I would like to finish building this course in the spring semester of 2020, advisors would complete it in the summer of 2020 and then it will be assessed. Finally, I would like to implement a student survey to be taken by students in real time after their experience with their advisor.”

An award of Emeritus was presented to Joan Valichnac by Associate Dean of Education and Career Preparation Gail Campbell. Campbell recounted Valichnac’s career at NPC. “We would like to take the opportunity to recognize Joan for her 31 plus years of dedicated service to students. She came to us in September of 1988.”

Valichnac has contributed to many boards and committees over the course of her career. She created a comprehensive mentoring book for lab instructors, researched and composed a handbook for instructors, penned a complete review of the English language courses at NPC and is currently working on a project in reviewing curriculum in the nursing program.

Campbell continued, “She has served in a multitude of professional development roles both with the college and at the state level and we appreciate her dedication to that.”

Valichnac accepted her award and said, “It has been a privilege and an honor to work with Northland Pioneer College all this time. I have watched students learn and grown and become what they want to be and that is what it is all about.”

In other business, the governing board:

* Heard reports from the Family Foundation, Faculty Association, Classified and Administrative Staff Organization (CASO).

* Received an update from NPC Friends and Family Foundation Director BetsyAnn Wilson who explained that the spring 2020 scholarship process is underway. Wilson has received 66 scholarship applications from 30 different students.

* Accepted written reports from the Human Resources Department and the Student Government Association.

* Approved agreements between the Navajo County Community College District and Joseph City and Window Rock Unified School Districts to continue their dual enrollment programs.

* Heard an update on the construction at the Northeastern Arizona Training Center. In the update, Dr. Clark explained that a scope of work document had been distributed and interest was being generated.

* Heard a report from the Strategic Planning and Accreditation Steering Committee, in which the committee recommended continuing to build a culture of student success at NPC and working to implement an early alert system in which communication with students is improved.

* Approved the purchase of 10 flat screen SmartPanels to replace aged out equipment in the amount of $59,504.

* Approved an amendment to the Mountain Public Employee Benefit Trust changing the language to reflect contribution from the employer to match the lowest available employee contribution in the insurance pool.

* Heard a presentation regarding next year’s budget calendar.

* Approved the quarterly financial report for July 1 – Sept. 30. Vice President of Administrative Services Maderia Ellison told the governing board that the college is in good standing. “You will see our revenues in the negative, I assure you that is a normal occurrence as our property tax revenues have not yet posted as of this report. October will show you positive revenues.”

The next meeting of the Navajo County Community College Governing Board will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, in the Tiponi Community Center, located at 2251 E. Navajo Blvd.