Board Approves Capital Projects for FY 2011, 2012
April 16, 2010
Tucson, AZ – The Pima Community College (PCC) Board of Governors approved a list of capital improvement projects for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 at its regular meeting Wednesday night.
PCC has a responsibility to the community to provide the best facilities it can, and the new capital projects will help PCC meet student educational needs as enrollment grows rapidly. The projects are in line with Initiative 5 of the 2008-2011 College Plan, “Improve the Use of Physical Assets.”
The list of new buildings and renovations includes:
- Northwest Campus: a new building for classrooms, laboratory space and faculty offices. The new building will free existing space, allowing for the creation of a Student Center that will include a computer commons, a tutoring area, and other facilities.
- East Campus: a new building for classrooms, faculty offices and other educational space. Also, space currently covered by an overhang will be completely enclosed and turned into educational space, and extra parking will be added to the west side of the campus.
- West Campus: The Fitness and Sports Sciences Building will be renovated to update its heating and cooling, and to improve space utilization to better serve PCC’s student-athletes and the community.
These projects will be paid for by federal stimulus funding allotted to PCC, previously appropriated money from Proposition 301, and from unspent fund accumulations that the College has saved as it planned for future capital needs.
“The College has made provisions over the past several years to budget for long-term as well as short-term needs,” Board of Governors Chair Sherryn S. “Vikki” Marshall says.
The Board of Governors also voted to increase in-state tuition by $2.50 per unit for the 2010-2011 academic year.
The new per-unit cost of $58 comprises a $2 increase in tuition to $53.50, a 50-cent increase in the Student Services fee to $2.50 and a $2 Information Technology fee, which remains unchanged. The Board voted to increase the Student Services fee to offset Athletics equipment costs.
The increase amounts to a 4.5 percent change in in-state tuition. PCC’s per-unit tuition is below the average for Arizona’s other community colleges.
The increase is in line with past PCC tuition increases, in keeping with the Board’s aim not to unnecessarily burden students financially.
The Board also increased tuition for non-residents, depending on how many units they take and when they take them:
- Non-residents taking six units or fewer will have to pay $3.50 more, for a total of $94.50 per unit.
- Non-residents taking more than six units will pay $10.50 more, for a total of $273.50 per unit.
- Non-residents taking summer classes will pay $7.50 more, for a total of $179.50 per unit.
In other action, the Board approved Intergovernmental and Contract Agreements with 24 Arizona school districts requesting that PCC’s Teacher-Intern Preparation Program be made available to them. State-approved teacher preparation programs such as PCC’s help the districts meet the need for Highly Qualified Teachers as defined and required by the federal K-12 No Child Left Behind Act.
Also, the Board approved a one-year contract renewal for group health insurance with CIGNA for July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. In March the Board directed the College to fund the increase in premium rates for employees.
The Board approved five other contracts or leases that will result in cost decreases for the College through at least Fiscal Year 2011.
Finally, the College has made changes to Fiscal Year 2011 cost-recovery fees that support instructional delivery associated with specific courses, tests or services. Fees for most courses will increase $5.
The next scheduled meeting of the Board will be Wednesday, May 12, 2010, at 7 p.m. in the PCC District Office Community/Board Room at 4905 E. Broadway.
CONTACT:
A. Rachelle Howell, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Marketing,
(520) 206-4850