An Accountability Report to Our Communities August 2023-August 2024
Introduction
Dr. Patty Erjavec
As we share some of the highlights of PCC’s 202324 academic year, we are pleased to welcome a new president to Pueblo Community College. Dr. Chato Hazelbaker began his tenure July 1 upon the retirement of Dr. Patty Erjavec.
Dr. Hazelbaker comes to Colorado from Arizona, where he served for the past three years as president of Northland Pioneer College. He has worked in higher education for more than two decades with extensive experience in workforce development, enrollment management, strategic planning, program development and marketing.
We thank Dr. Erjavec for her 14 years of leadership and are proud to recognize some of PCC’s accomplishments from her final year as president. We wish her the best as she embarks on her well-earned retirement.
Dr. Chato Hazelbaker
team Meet our
Dr. Chato Hazelbaker PCC President Brett Burke Dean of Business and Advanced Technology
Amanda Corum Pueblo Corporate College Executive Director Dr. K. Kevin Aten Acting PCC Southwest Administrator
Michael Gage Vice President of Student Success
RaeAnn Gutierrez Director of Recruitment
Cheryl Gomez Dean of Medical and Behavioral Health
Stuart M. Kurtz, CPA Vice President of Administration and Finance
Peter Green IT Services Director; APT Employee Representative
Alicia Lovato Classified Employee Representative
Mike Maffucci Fremont Campus Administrator
Hergert Tafoya
People
2024 commencement – PCC honored 1,626 graduates at its 2024 commencement ceremonies. Because many of those graduates earned more than one credential, the class had a total of 2,101 degrees and certificates. Thirty-seven students graduated with bachelor’s degrees and 335 high school students earned a credential through the Early College program.
Auto grad goes electric – Andrew Gomez-Wormington, a 2023 graduate of PCC’s Automotive Technology program, was accepted into a specialized course at the Tesla automotive company after graduating. He turned that experience into a job offer and now works at Tesla’s Colorado Springs dealership.
New academic leader – Jennifer Sherman was named PCC’s new Vice President of Academic Support and began the role Dec. 1. Sherman started her career with PCC in 1995 as a marketing specialist. From 2003-2012, she was a department chair and faculty member, teaching communications and business classes. She became Dean of Business and Advanced Technology in 2012.
Survivors’ mural becomes reality –
Rebecca Wasil, an advisor in the PCC Accessibility Center, wanted to create a mural to honor those who, like her, have survived depression, strokes, brain injuries and other life challenges. Members of the PCC Art department helped make it happen, producing a large-scale version of original artwork by PCC student Lauren O’Mara. It took a volunteer group of students, faculty and staff six weeks to complete the mural.
Programs
New forestry and wildland fire program – The PCC Southwest campus in Mancos received a $429,140 Forestry and Wildfire Mitigation Workforce Development grant from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. The grant enabled PCC Southwest to create a 16-credit certificate in forestry and wildland fire, which started this fall.
Thanks to the grant, PCC Southwest held a six-day Wildland Fire Academy in Pagosa Springs in June. A diverse group of 16 students received classroom and field instruction from local and regional firefighters. Students who completed the academy earned three college credits and were eligible to apply for their Incident Qualification Card, known as a red card, and begin working with fire crews to protect southwestern Colorado from the threat of wildfires.
Cosmetology program comes home – Thanks to the Health Science building renovation, space became available on campus to move the Cosmetology program back on school grounds in time for the beginning of the fall semester. The program has a larger, renovated space in the Medical Arts & Technology building and new equipment. This project also was part of the $6.3 million capital improvement project – funded by the Colorado General Assembly – that included renovation of PCC’s Health Sciences building. The popular Cosmetology clinic is open to the public with discounted haircuts, manicures, facials and other services performed by students under instructor supervision.
New bachelor’s degree – PCC now offers a fully online Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Health Information Management. The program was approved in July by the Higher Learning Commission and is PCC’s seventh bachelor-degree program. The college also is seeking additional industry-specific accreditation for the program from the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education.
Welding students make big contribution – Members of the SkillsUSA Welding Club at PCC are making a major contribution to the Mission: Wolf sanctuary near Westcliffe, combining community service with experiential learning. Over the summer in 2023, students created dozens of gates and frames to replace those that were lost to a storm in 2022.
Habitat for Humanity collaboration
– PCC Southwest Construction Trades students completed their first Habitat for Humanity home in December. The 750-square-foot house was built on campus and assembled on site in Cortez. The home is part of PCC’s collaboration with Habitat for Humanity of Montezuma County, which was formalized last September.
Mission: Wolf relies on volunteers for nearly every aspect of its operation so PCC’s involvement enabled the sanctuary to accomplish something that, without help, would have taken several years. The students got to travel to the refuge to meet some of the animals that are being helped by their work and helped install the gates, which provided another experiential learning opportunity.
Dental Hygiene program space
renovated – PCC’s Health Science building reopened in March after a $6.3 million renovation funded by the Colorado General Assembly. The building houses PCC’s Dental Hygiene program. Before the renovation, the program had to operate in separate buildings on campus. Students and instructors now are under the same roof with expanded and improved space.
Pueblo Community
Accolades
Employees of the year – The 2023 employees of the year were announced in December. They were selected for their outstanding contributions to PCC. The honorees are James Cordova, chair of the PCC Automotive Technology program; Lorna Jackson, administrative assistant for the Dental Hygiene program; Aaron Lucero, engagement coach for TRIO Student Support Services (now the academic excellence administrator for the Medical & Behavioral Health Division); and Maurie Lucero, part-time instructor with the Health Information Technology program.
Gateway to College keeps shining – PCC’s Gateway to College program, led by Jeanelle Soto-Quintana, again earned the National Program Excellence Award for exceeding all benchmarks for the 2022-23 academic year: first-term success, oneand two-year persistence, and graduation. Gateway to College serves students ages 18-21 who haven’t succeeded in a traditional high school environment.
The program had 140 students last year. Of those who started the GTC program in 2022-23, 91% passed all first-term courses and their high school GPA average of 1.72 increased to 3.20. The two- and three-year persistence rates of Pueblo Gateway students far exceeded the network average: Of students who started GTC in 202122, 87% continued into the second year. Among the 2020-21 cohort, which started classes during the pandemic, 84% earned a high school diploma in three years.
Automotive leader earns state, national awards – James Cordova, chair of the Automotive Technology department, was named educator of the year by the Electric Vehicle Association. Erik Lundeen, the electric vehicle program manager for Black Hills Energy, nominated Cordova for the award, outlining his efforts to create an EV program at PCC and saying, “James is truly an EV advocate and highly deserves to be recognized for his efforts.”
Cordova also was named SkillsUSA Colorado’s faculty of the year for his efforts to build and promote PCC’s program and his work promoting career and technical education. Cordova was instrumental in bringing the SkillsUSA Colorado State Leadership and Skills Conference to Pueblo in 2023 and the event returned in 2024, holding many of its competitions on the PCC campus.
James Cordova
Aaron Lucero
Lorna Jackson
Maurie Lucero
Community Connections
Improving public safety – A collaboration between the PCC Law Enforcement Academy and the Pueblo Police Department means seven new officers are on the streets with more on the way. Due to staffing shortages, the department had difficulty scheduling veteran officers to teach at its own academy. Under the new plan, PCC will train Pueblo PD cadets during spring and fall academies while the police department will continue to operate its own summer academy.
OTA partners with school district –
PCC’s Occupational Therapy
Assistant program partnered with Widefield School District 3 during the spring semester to help students in Widefield’s Transition Link Services program prepare to live independently. The trial run was so successful that another collaboration is planned for the current school year.
Free community haircuts – PCC Cosmetology students offered free haircuts to the Pueblo community throughout November 2023. Students provided more than 200 haircuts thanks to social media posts and word of mouth. Not only did the campaign provide a free service for Puebloans, but Department Chair Michele Edwards also said it was a huge boost for students’ skills. In addition to cutting lots of hair, students continued to provide the salon’s other public services, including hair coloring, facials, manicures and pedicures.
Industrial sewing class debuts –
PCC’s Corporate College celebrated the completion of its first industrial sewing class in September 2023. The course was made possible by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the city of Pueblo. Representatives from Fomcore, a furniture-manufacturing company that will expand to Pueblo next year, were among those excited to see the skill being taught to a new generation.
“By investing in this field, PCC has encouraged companies like ours to bring jobs and opportunities to this community,” Fomcore leaders said in a statement.
KDZA’s new home – KDZA Radio is now based on the Pueblo campus. The station has been part of the Pueblo community since the 1960s and has been revived with a classic rock/pop format. The studio on the lower level of PCC’s Student Center offers a central location for the station, connecting two longtime pillars of the Pueblo community.
State legislators take a tour – Members of the Colorado State Legislature’s Capital Development Committee – Rep. Tammy Story, Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, Sen. Cleave Simpson, Rep. Mandy Lindsay and Sen. Kyle Mullica – visited the Pueblo campus last October to learn about PCC’s current and future capital needs. The group toured PCC’s expanded welding lab and the dental hygiene program renovation project in the Health Sciences building, which was funded by the legislature. Linda Blasi, director of the Dental Hygiene program, and Catlin Davis, Welding program manager, shared information about their programs and discussed how these capital development projects help students.
Behavioral health officials visit campus – Commissioner Dannette Smith and other members of the state Behavioral Health Administration visited PCC in August for a meeting with the college administration and Behavioral Health instructors. The group also held its first Community Conversations event with legislators, employers and community members on the PCC campus. The BHA regulates behavioral health programs in Colorado, including PCC’s Certified Addiction Counseling (CAC) courses. The college and the BHA recently signed a memorandum of understanding for the CAC program.
Mini College still a hit – The 38th Senior Mini College at PCC’s Fremont campus welcomed more than 300 participants over spring break in March. Community members were able to take classes in gardening, beekeeping, cooking, xeriscaping and many other subjects.
16 | Pueblo Community College 2024 Quality Highlights
To always recognize and greet you with a smile
To listen to you
To respond to your needs
To respect and value you
To celebrate your accomplishments and successes
To care for your health and safety in everything we do
This is Our Promise to you!
We are Panther
Panther Proud!
Pueblo Campus
900 W. Orman Ave.
Pueblo, CO 81004
719.549.3200
Fremont Campus
51320 W. Highway 50 Cañon City, CO 81212
PCC Southwest
719.296.6100 Southwest Campus 33057 Highway 160 Mancos, CO 81328
970.564.6201
Durango Site
701 Camino del Rio Durango, CO 81301 970.385.2020 A proud Hispanic-Serving Institution for over 30 years. Designated as a FirstGeneration Serving Campus by the Colorado Department of Higher Education.