Please join me as we wish Coconino Community College happy birthday and celebrate putting students first for 30 years.The year was 1991.
It was also the year the Coconino County Community College (now called Coconino Community College) opened its doors in rented space in a building on Fourth Street. The date was Aug. 26, to be exact. Nearly 1,000 people showed up that day to begin taking classes at the college, far exceeding the expectations of the faculty and staff available at the time.
In the last 30 years, I have worked all that time – as a teacher and as an administrator – for community college students in Wyoming, Texas and Arizona. Now, 30 years later as CCC’s president, I am thinking about, working on, discussing and planning all things related to the college and the students with my colleagues and friends.
Coconino County’s community college, born out of great need of our residents to receive help in their goal of improving their quality of life for themselves and their families, has grown from humble beginnings in rented space on Fourth Street. The college now has two locations in Flagstaff and one in Page. With grit, determination and commitment to fiscal responsibility, your community college has worked with bare-bones funding to provide today’s students with the knowledge, skills and training for tomorrow’s careers – never an easy task. Partnerships – with businesses, non-profits, government agencies and other educational institutions – have been necessary for the college to be all it is capable of being for the communities of our rugged, large and beautiful county.
In the last 30 years, CCC has become accredited and continues that accreditation in good standing to ensure that students – by putting them first, above all – receive high-quality education. Accreditation also gives students the opportunity to receive federal financial aid and ensures that credits received at CCC can transfer to other institutions of higher learning, like to our valued and long-time partner Northern Arizona University. In fact, this year, representatives from the Higher Learning Commission, CCC’s accrediting body, will be visiting our college to make sure we are continuing to deliver on our promise of high-quality education.
In the last 30 years, the college has served about 100,000 students – from all age groups and backgrounds – in one of our “three pillars” of service our students and friends may choose to explore new interests and build a strong and resilient future. Those three pillars are CCC2Work, devoted to students who are interested in moving into the workforce as quickly as possible with an education that provides the necessary skills for a reliable trade; CCC2University, devoted to students who plan to continue their educational journey by transferring to earn a four-year degree at a university after they have completed their studies with us; and CCC2Community, devoted to the lifelong learner in us all.
In the last 30 years, countless numbers of faculty members and staff have worked hard with the sole purpose of providing students a successful educational journey. In the last 30 years, there have been five presidents at CCC, including me, and I am honored to work within the framework I inherited from their dedication to our students. Each student, all 100,000 of them, has a story, and it is their stories that make up the story of this community college.
Serving Coconino County as your community college and making a difference in the lives of students of all ages and from many different life experiences is an honor for those of us who serve at CCC. Please join me as we wish Coconino Community College happy birthday and celebrate putting students first for 30 years.
Onward! FBN
By Colleen Smith
Colleen A. Smith, Ph.D., is the president of Coconino Community College.