By Candace Oehler
Director of Marketing and Communication
Desert Ridge community residents may be surprised to learn that nearby Paradise Valley Community College offers not just quality higher education, but is also a premier destination for performing arts, athletics, fitness, and special events.
College resources open to the public at no charge include Career Services, offering free resume and job search preparation; the Buxton Library, where community residents are welcome to borrow materials; and Veterans Services. A state-of-the-art Fitness Center offers community memberships and non-credit fitness breakout sessions throughout the year. And the college fields eight highly competitive men’s and women’s athletic teams, holding two National Women’s Soccer Team championships and eight National Cross Country Team championships.
Love theatre? Dance? Music? Film? There is something for everyone at PVCC’s Center for the Performing Arts. From First Saturday concerts, Union 32 Jazz Festival, International Film Festival, Battle of the Bands, classical ensembles, and dance performances, the CPA hosts an amazing variety of events and performances, most either free or very reasonably priced. It’s a great opportunity as well to watch students – and future stars – at the start of their careers.
The college is also nationally known for excellence in education, and was recognized in 2014 by Aspen Institute as ranking in the top 10 percent of community colleges.
Desert Ridge community resident Dr. Paul Golisch, who serves as the college’s Chief Information Officer and Dean of Information Technology, believes that excellence is due to the emphasis put on student success.
“There are some great opportunities here,” says the Chicago native, who has resided at Desert Ridge with his wife and three daughters since 2004. “The thing I really like the most is the small class size and that faculty get to know students’ names and really care about their success and helping them achieve their educational and personal goals.”
All three of Golisch’s daughters have attended class at PVCC.
“There are opportunities to take courses in the summer, while still in high school,” he explains. “My daughters did that to get a head start in college and one also took an online class while at ASU.”
Even his wife has taken advantage of college offerings, taking tennis and golf lessons.
Golisch has used his math and technology background to help position the college as a leader in implementing innovative classroom strategies to improve student success in math. One is the “flipped” classroom, where students do most of their work online and outside class, leaving class time to be spent in deeper discussion, group activities, and communication. He also leads the college’s participation in the Maricopa Millions Project, designed to increase the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) classes that utilize low-cost (under $40) or free textbooks and other instructional materials.
The college, located just west of the SR 51 Union Hills exit, was established in 1985 in a strip mall storefront, and has since grown to serve 10,000 students annually at its main campus and Black Mountain site. One of the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges, PVCC offers associate degrees leading to transfer to four-year universities and an array of occupational degrees, including EMT, Business, Fire Science, Nursing, Accounting, and Audio Production. The college’s “Start Almost Anytime” schedule, with 16-, 14-, 12- and 8-week Express classes, in day, evening, and online formats, makes it easy to find the right class, at the right time.
The college not only has transfer partnerships with the three major Arizona state universities (ASU, NAU, UofA), but special 2+2 or 3+1 transfer partnerships with Grand Canyon University (Biology and Health Sciences) , Middlesex University, London (Business), Midwestern University (Pharmacy), UofA (BS in Pre-Public Health), and the Universidad Autonóma de Guadalajara (College of Medicine). A new 2+2 Bachelor of General Studies degree program with the University of Arizona will be launched soon.
PVCC is also a place where making difference matters, as a comprehensive community college, where the power of learning transforms lives and enables positive social change. The college partners with organizations including Adopt-A-Family, American Cancer Society Relay for Life; Festival of Tales, Southwest Human Development, VITA/AARP Tax Preparation Program, and Valley of the Sun United Way.
Summing up the PVCC experience, Marissa Vandervort, a 2013 graduate who earned the GEICO Pathway to Completion Bachelor’s Degree Scholarship, says, “I’m honored to call PVCC my transfer school. They have given me a great base for what I want to do in my life and career.”
Learn more at paradisevalley.edu.
