By J.D. Rottweiler, Ph.D.
The spring semester of the college calendar is a time of excitement for a variety of reasons. In addition to the changing of the seasons, it’s a time for planning, and planning typically means new or improved opportunities for students.
At this time, the college is looking toward commencement, the potential return of visitors to campus, and the doors of opportunity that are expected to open as a result of the annual budgeting process.
Commencement this year will be a little different. We’re following Buena’s lead and hosting drive-through graduation ceremonies on May 13 and 14. While we won’t host a commencement audience in typical fashion, we’ll still offer students and their families the opportunity to celebrate together. We’re also pleased to be hosting ceremonies at both the Douglas and Sierra Vista campuses, possibly for the first time.
The college also is beginning to think about the time when it can again host gatherings. At this time, we’re not booking external groups to use space until sometime after commencement, which is in mid-May. But internally, committees are talking about local favorites like Empty Bowls and the Pit Fire Festival. Much depends on….well, it just depends! No matter what we’re doing, we want to do it in a way that preserves the health and safety of all involved.
College leaders recently came together to discuss proposals for the FY22 budget. We’ve been pleased with the ideas and suggestions that have come from within and from the Governing Board as we work to rebound from the pandemic and enhance Cochise County. Following are some of the ideas that have risen to the top.
The Nursing & Health Sciences division is looking at ways to expand “stackable” healthcare training programs, specifically targeting phlebotomy, EKG and medical billing and coding. “Stackable” means students could train in one of these areas, go to work, and then later use that credential as a basis for pursuing other healthcare education.
In agriculture and the sciences, we are looking at what could be offered in the area of low-water-use agriculture.
In the trades, we’re considering a mobile program that would allow us to offer, for example, plumbing or electrician classes in Willcox one semester or year and in another remote location another year. The college is also exploring expansion of its HVAC program, as well as the addition of light vehicle diesel (possibly leading later to large vehicle diesel training program), CDL, and electric car maintenance. In conjunction with Adult Education, we may offer a program that packages GED with light diesel training, for example, so that students learn a trade while also learning the necessary math and English skills to make them successful in that field.
Expansion of the Southeast Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy at Cochise College may include a dedicated driving range and other improved learning spaces.
Items that don’t necessarily mean new opportunities but do enhance the college’s overall quality include the addition of a data warehouse to help in decision-making, a chat bot that helps answer questions or direct inquiries to the appropriate place, virtual cadaver software for the sciences and health sciences, new technologies that allow faculty to effectively teach in both face-to-face and remote environments, and availability of mental health services for students.
If there’s one thing all of us in higher education are concerned about, it is how the student population of the next five years will be different from what we’ve known. We already enroll many underprepared students, and we need to do the best we can to connect them to their futures or risk losing a generation of potential. Our recent budget planning sessions give me hope that Cochise College can make an even greater difference for county residents than it does today.
J.D. ROTTWEILER, Ph.D., is president of Cochise College. Contact him at jdr@cochise.edu.