Gila Community College makes progress on accreditation

After receiving heavy criticism in a public forum at Miami High School last August, the Gila County Community College District Governing Board has made significant progress toward accreditation in its bid to become an independent school district.

Despite seemingly insurmountable roadblocks, the Board is working with a new educational partner, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), who will come for an onsite visit in October. If all goes well, sometime next year, GCC will be well on its way to being a standalone institution by the time its contract with Eastern Arizona College (EAC) ends in June 2025.

“Needless to say, we have been busy,” says Janice Lawhorn, Interim President of the Gila County Community College District (GCC). “But we are moving forward, and there is no stopping us now.”

The ACCJC was formerly part of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, (WASC), which was formed in 1962 to “promote the development of higher education in the Western region,” but became independent in 2013 when WASC divided into three separate organizations, according to the ACCJC website.

At the outset of the GCC’s quest for independence, Lawhorn and the GCC Board worked through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), one of seven regional accreditors functioning in the U.S.

After several months of effort that was not producing results though, the Board pivoted in February to work with the ACCJC.

“The refreshing thing about ACCJC was that they didn’t have a strict timeline like HLC did,” Lawhorn says. “When we talked to ACCJC, it was like a whole ‘nother ball game we were playing, because the accreditation timeline was on us, and as soon as we submitted our paperwork they would review it.”

The only sticking point was that the ACCJC commission that reviews an institution’s application only meets in January and June, so in order to make the deadline earlier this year GCC had to assemble a mountain of information for consideration.

The first step was an eligibility review application the GCC Board submitted to the ACCJC in April. Shortly thereafter, an application review team contacted Lawhorn and GCC Board President Jan Brocker, Ph.D., and after a Zoom meeting the Board was informed it had been given the okay to move forward with the process.

The next step was to file an Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ICER) by August 12.

Working under a very tight deadline, Lawhorn, Brocker and a group of dedicated Board members gathered information and compiled the report—often working seven-day weeks—submitting it 11 days early on August 1. 

The ICER was about 80 pages, providing more than 500 pieces of evidence outlining policies and procedures, enrollment numbers, majors, what classes will be provided and more.

Throughout the application process, the District has been setting up infrastructure, from a student information system to accounting staff to creating a catalog in preparation for the coming evaluation. GCC was also required by Arizona statute to hold two public forums in June—one in Globe and one in Payson—to inform the community of the progress being made.

“The ICER is being reviewed right now by the peer review team, and they are writing up their pre-report,” Lawhorn says. “The plan is that they have to come and make sure we really exist. They don’t want a fly-by-night school that isn’t going to be there the next day.”

In addition to looking at both the Gila Pueblo and Payson campuses and evaluating operations of the school, the review team will also visit offsite locations, such as the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation Center, where the GCC HVAC program is taught and the Regional Training Center, where a number of workforce development programs operate.

As GCC goes through the process, the Board is doing other important work to ensure a smooth transition should the ACCJC approve “candidacy status” for the college.

The Board has reached out to Arizona’s universities, University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University, to ensure transferability of credits earned at GCC.

Additionally, the Board has prioritized getting the GCC nursing program up and running as soon as possible. To facilitate the process, they have hired Alayna Barr, RN MSN from the Payson Campus to lead the development of the program, which must be approved by the Arizona State Board of Nursing (AZBN).

GCC submitted its first proposal application to the AZBN on August 15. The application will go to the AZBN Education Committee and after review will go to the AZBN Board for approval.

While establishing the nursing program is outside of the “rigorous and meticulous” accreditation application, Lawhorn says GCC is trying to get ahead of the process, as the AZBN requires an institution to apply one year prior to starting a new program.

“We have done everything that we can do, so it’s going to be up to the commission,” Lawhorn says. “All we can do is say we have done everything to prepare the institution and hope for a positive decision in January.”

In May 2023, Lawhorn and Brocker informed EAC that it would terminate its relationship in June 2024. Within a month, EAC told the GCC Board it would terminate the contract in September 2023, which created a chaotic situation for everyone involved with GCC.

Thanks to the intervention of Senate President Warren Petersen, (R-Gilbert), the schools were brought to the negotiating table and an agreement was struck to maintain the contract through June 2025.

Ultimately, Lawhorn says, local control of GCC will keep about $1.5 million in revenues in Gila County and allow the college to more efficiently manage its resources as well as tailor programs to the communities it serves.

In anticipation of the ACCJC site visit in October, the public is invited to contact the organization with comments. Comment forms can be found at the Gila County Community College District homepage at gilaccc.org/ for a link to the ACCJC website .