Mesa Community College
| File:Mccweblogo.gif | |
| Type | Community College |
|---|---|
| Established | September, 1963 |
| President | Bernie Ronan (interim) |
Academic staff | 11,000 |
| Students | 28,000 |
| Location | , , |
| Campus | Main Red Mountain |
| Colors | Blue, Red, White & Black |
| Nickname | Thunderbirds |
| Website | http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/ |
Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona, is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District. Enrollment in the spring of 2002 topped 24,000 full- and part-time students. It was founded in 1963 as a branch campus of what is now Phoenix College but later was granted independent status. Mesa Community College is particularly known for its competitive electronics program, emergency medical technician program, nursing program and mortuary science program.
Campuses
The college has one main campus and five branch campuses:
- Southern and Dobson, in the western part of Mesa, Arizona, serves the majority of the students
- Red Mountain, in northeast Mesa
- Williams Gateway, at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport
- ASU Research Park, in south Tempe, Arizona
- Country Club and Brown, in downtown Mesa.
- Centennial Way, which specializes in business and industry classes, is also in downtown Mesa.
In addition, MCC offers classes over the Internet.
Accreditation
This community college is accredited by the North Central Association, the same organization that accredits ASU. There are classes that are required to transfer, called CAS classes listed on the AZ-CAS page at http://az.transfer.org/cas/students/index.html.
Controversy and Scandal
In October and November 2006, the East Valley Tribune and the Arizona Republic investigated and uncovered several instances of alleged misconduct and questionable acts by the administration. The college and its president Larry K. Christiansen have come under fire for several acts of alleged malfeasance. The college has been the target of several investigative inquiries regarding misappropriations of athletic public funds, nepotism, and also the handling of college employee misconduct. Another investigation looked into all-expense paid trips by faculty and administration to foreign countries in an attempt to create international partnerships between MCC and universities from those respective countries. These trips totaled $324,000 during the last five years, which is paid through tax dollars. These trips did not include any students. Since then, Maricopa County Community College District chancellor Rufus Glasper has immediately halted all travel. Glasper said, in response to recent scandals, but most notably the mishandling of employee misconduct, that he intends to launch an array of reviews to root out and prevent wrongdoing.
On November 15, 2006, the editorial board of The Arizona Republic's Southeast Valley bureau suggested that MCC should focus more on its credibility with the community and its students in light of recent accountability problems that have been plaguing the college for years.[1]
On January 17, 2007, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office seized several pieces of evidence relating to the above allegations of corruption and wrongdoing at county colleges. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas asked a judge to issue a search warrant for three of the colleges campuses and the district's headquarters in Tempe. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, his deputies and detectives conducted search warrants at Mesa, Scottsdale, and Estrella Mountain community colleges. The sheriff's office seized several pieces of evidence that included personnel files, performance evaluations, travel records, athletic department records, financial documents, time sheets, enrollment figures, accounting papers, and related evidence. This investigation stems from inquiries into the college system's use of public money after several investigative reports by the Arizona Republic, the East Valley Tribune, and other media outlets. County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Arpaio condemned the alleged misuse of public money and vowed that their respective offices will not tolerate such behavior and wrongdoing. Sheriff Arpaio referenced embattled Maricopa County Schools Superintendent Sandra Dowling at the press conference about white collar crimes and his office will enforce the law and fight to stop this corruption that he says seems to happen frequently in Maricopa County. This problem stems from an athletic department secretary at MCC who is accused of stealing $4,200 from the athletic department fund. College President Larry Christiansen suspended her pay and eventually fired her, feeling that the issue should have been dealt with internally. Sheriff Joe Arpaio felt that Larry Christiansen should have filed criminal charges against the secretary.[2]
On February 7, 2007, chancellor Rufus Glasper sent an e-mail to Mesa Community College staff and faculty announcing that he has asked MCC college president Larry Christiansen and Estrella Mountain Community College (AZ) president Homero Lopez to resign immediately, in response to the criminal investigation by Maricopa County attorney Andrew Thomas. Wayne Giles, the retired chancellor of the Metropolitan Community College District in Kansas, will replace Christiansen in the interim.
The search for a new president
With the forced resignation of Larry Christiansen in February 2007 , MCCCD chancellor Rufus Glasper launched a search for a new president and to have the new president begin duties at the college by fall 2007. Three finalists were named in early May 2007, however on May 16, 2007, Glasper said in a district-wide e-mail that he has terminated the search and a new search for a college president will begin in August 2007. He cited that the search was an ambitious one and blamed a short time line as the reason why he decided to terminate the search. He also admitted that none of the three finalists was a comfortable fit for MCC. When Wayne Giles took over as interim president, he agreed to stay only until June 30, 2007. Glasper and Giles will discuss the presidential duties during the summer months, once Giles leaves.[3]