CNCC and CCCS FOLLOW UP REPORT

September 20, 2019

This follow up report prepared by Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC or College) and Colorado Community College System
(CCCS) outlines next steps by CNCC and CCCS aimed at addressing the priorities described by Moffat County and City of Craig officials in the
document titled, Advancing Northwest Colorado (Appendix 1). The priorities were presented during the Community Leaders Panel at the
convening - Partnering for a Sustainable Future: Where Do We Go from Here? This convening of state and local leaders was assembled by
Chancellor Joe Garcia and held at Colorado Northwestern Community College Craig campus on August 29, 2019.

We appreciate the good work of Moffat County’s business and community leaders to engage with the College, System, State Board for
Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE referred to as State Board) and the Executive Directors of the Colorado Department
of Labor and Employment, Department of Local Affairs, and Office of Economic Development and International Trade. We share your interest in
building a vibrant and resilient community that can weather the economic disruptions that can so quickly impact lives, and we believe CNCC is a
critical part of building community. The State Board, CCCS and CNCC are committed to that effort.

Following the August 29 convening, the first opportunity to brief the full State Board, the entity with governing authority over the College, was
September 11, 2019. The three-person subcommittee of the State Board, comprised of Senator Rollie Health, Mr. Pres Askew, and Dr. Landon
Mascareñaz, attended the August 29 convening in Craig. The Board was generally pleased with what they heard from the Subcommittee,
Chancellor and CNCC President, but recognized that more work was necessary. A report from the subcommittee to the Board is expected at the
regular meeting of the SBCCOE scheduled for December 11, 2019 and will address the Moffat County and City of Craig request to form a stand-
alone campus in Craig, separate from Rangely.

Finally, during the August 29 convening, many of the participants expressed concern that this historic meeting of state and local leaders not just
be “all talk and no action,” but there needed to be built in accountability for action. In response, it is the intention of CNCC/CCCS to provide an
opportunity for all participants to share reports on their respective progress on the priorities identified at the August convening on or about
March 1, 2020, and to reconvene with the same state and local leaders and other participants in the August 29 meeting at a date to be
coordinated with all stakeholders. The goal will be to periodically assess progress, provide status updates on CNCC/CCCS plans and plans of the
relevant state agencies and local entities, and continue our efforts to partner together to address the current and future economic challenges
facing CNCC and Northwest Colorado.

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Priorities Outlined in Advancing Northwest Colorado
Priority One: Strengthen CNCC as a Community Asset
The vision for CNCC: Strategic development and expansion of the
Craig campus is a key element to our long-term economic viability.
In the best interest of the communities of Moffat county and the City
of Craig, we are asking for the Craig campus to stand on its own two
feet separate from Rangely’s campus/administration and yet still
remain part of the Community College System
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Next Steps Going Forward for CNCC and CCCS
CNCC is a critical asset to the community and the State of Colorado.
We are grateful to community leaders willing to work with us to
strengthen the CNCC Craig campus. CNCC must be a key participant
in creating the plan for the community, however, that is not a job only
for the College but for all engaged citizens and businesses who share
our commitment to the future of Moffat County.
The ad hoc subcommittee of the Board appointed to work with CCCS
and CNCC leadership to identify ways to help support efforts of
Moffat County will review the request for the Craig campus to
separate from the Rangely campus/administration and yet remain
part of the Community College System. As Chancellor Garcia
explained at the August 29 convening, the administrative overhead to
operate separately would be significant and disproportionate to the
overall level of revenue generated leaving much less available for
instruction and student support.
It is NOT our desire to see the Craig campus “break off” from CNCC or
leave the CCCS system of colleges. We have invested a great deal in
the campus in Craig and we see it as one of the jewels among our
rural college facilities, although it, like our other rural campuses, is
experiencing enrollment challenges.
The CCCS Board is the only entity with governing authority over the
College. The Board has a fiduciary responsibility to the residents of
our state to insure that all of our 13 colleges operate efficiently, serve
students with high quality programs, meet state fiscal requirements,
maintain healthy reserve levels, and meet community workforce
needs, among many other goals. Currently, the State Board allocates
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state funding so that smaller CCCS colleges get significantly more per
student served than do our larger colleges in an effort to provide
greater financial stability for low enrollment/low tuition revenue
colleges. Certainly, our smaller colleges, just like smaller school
districts or smaller communities in general, struggle to provide the
same level of amenities and programming, as do much larger
colleges, school districts, and communities. Our goal however, is to
provide the highest level of service available to all of our students,
wherever they are located and whichever college in our system they
choose to attend.

The Subcommittee hopes to present its report to the Board at the

regularly scheduled Board meeting on December 11, 2019.

• Sustained Programs Like our other rural colleges, CNCC has struggled to sustain Academic
• Student Housing programs and Career and Technical Education programs, due to many
• Partnering with other Universities and Colleges challenges including significant demographic and economic factors. It
o Colorado Mountain College (CMC) is not economically feasible to run classes or programs with only a
o Colorado Mesa University (CMU) few students enrolled. (See Appendix B-1, B-2, and B-3: Presentation,
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, ED Joe Barela;
Presentation: Colorado Department of Local Affairs, ED Rick Garcia;
and Colorado Office of Economic Development and International
Trade, ED Betsy Markey.) Identifying programs that can attract
sufficient numbers of students is the primary challenge facing the
College at this time.

Current offerings with solid enrollment include Associate Degree in

Nursing and transfer degrees, the Associate of Arts, and Associate of
Science. CNCC leadership will focus time and resources on sustaining
existing strong programs and continue to pursue expanding degree,

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program, and course offerings in such areas as: Bachelors of Science

in Nursing, Allied Health Programs , Equine; Agriculture, Drone
Technology, ESL and GED, Paleontology, Cybersecurity, and Outdoor
Recreation (Update: March 2020.)

Currently, CNCC is leasing nine apartments with capacity for housing

36 students. For Fall 2019, 34 students utilized the College managed
housing. 14 students who did not want to live in College managed
housing were referred by CNCC student life staff to privately
managed housing and were easily accommodated. Based on Fall 2019
experience, there is no demand for additional college-managed
housing. CNCC will work with the city and county to identify
sustainable housing solutions both on and off campus for Craig
Students. Many students are part-time, older, or have family or
employment obligations that make traditional campus housing not an
ideal or practical solution for their needs. (Status Report: March
2020)

Partnerships with CMC and CMU are always important for CNCC.
Offering duplicative programs does not serve our institutions or our
students given the limited student populations in our service areas.
Identifying complementary programming that meets community
needs is our goal.

We recognize that many of our students will transfer to those

institutions or to other four-year institutions so we are always looking
for ways to collaborate in order to provide successful pathways for
our students. Articulation agreements will continue to be a priority
as we seek to align our programming offerings with those of our four-
year partners. Meeting local workforce demands through our

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Priority Two: Paleo Museum/Tourism
• Unique, authentic and marketable asset for Moffat County
• Further Develop Tourism for Increased Economic Impact
• Artifact Museum and Repository
Priority Three: Regional Workforce and Transit
• Various Project Components
o RTA
 Collaboration with Steamboat Springs Transit
o Workforce Housing
 Yampa Valley Housing Authority and Moffat
County Housing Authority Collaboration
o Economic Incentives
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program offerings will also require continued partnerships with local
employers.
This is an area of distinction and excellence for CNCC Craig.
CNCC Craig launched Paleontology course offerings as part of an
Associates of Science degree and added a new science faculty
member, Daniel Snyder, beginning employment Fall 2019. The CNCC
team has successfully transported the duck-billed dinosaur, “Walter”
to the CNCC Craig Federal Fossil Repository. No other community
college in the country is home to such a repository. Under Elizabeth
Johnson’s leadership, Curator of Paleontology and science faculty
member, CNCC is creating a dinosaur display space on the first floor
of the Academic Building. (Will be completed by March 2020.)
While the fieldwork is done for Walter the dinosaur, CNCC is involved
with a new project on BLM land in the Irish Canyon area of Moffat
County. It is of particular interest because it consists of a bone bed of
both large and small dinosaurs. This fossil bed includes long-necked
animals believed to be sauropods and what may be small raptors,
among other dinosaur-era creatures. There are numerous sites in
Moffat and Rio Blanco counties that merit field work. CNCC will work
to promote the opportunity for undergraduate students to get
“hands-on” experience in our labs and in the field in an effort to
attract students from beyond our local service area.
CNCC commits to have campus leadership participate in all regional
workforce, transit, and economic development initiatives.
CCCS stands ready to assist CNCC and City/County with efforts that
may need support from state departments such as:
• RTA – Colorado Department of Transportation
• Workforce Housing – Colorado Department of Local Affairs
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 Opportunity Zone • Economic Incentives – Colorado Office of Economic

 Enhanced Enterprise Zone Development and International Trade and Colorado
 Infrastructure Department of Local Affairs
 Land
o Broadband Fiber (See Appendix A: Presentation, Colorado Department of Labor and
o Location Neutral Workforce Employment, ED Joe Barela; Presentation: Colorado Department of
o Co-work Innovation Local Affairs, ED Rick Garcia; and Colorado Office of Economic
Development and International Trade, ED Betsy Markey.)

Regarding Broadband, Chancellor Garcia will deploy CCCS IT resources

to meet with the College to get an update on the College and
broadband status. (Status Report: March, 2020.)

Chancellor Garcia will use his connections with front range businesses
and industries to raise awareness about the benefits of a location
neutral workforce noting the many benefits of rural communities
with community colleges. CCCS leadership believes growth
opportunities in the rural communities served by CCCS colleges will
be tied to reliable and consistent broadband access. That access will
create more opportunities for gainful employment by people residing
in rural communities to maintain employment with Front Range
businesses.

Priority Four: Solar Farm There was not any specific discussion of this topic with CNCC or CCCS.
• Available distribution lines If this moves forward, this is an area where CNCC could definitely
• Public/private partnership build a partnership and provide solar technician training programs.
• State-owned land (Status Report: March 2020)
• 2 Regional Collaboration
DOLA grant applications submitted
o Project 1: Regional Solar Utility Planning
Project/Pending

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o Project 2: Regional Peak Power Shaving

Project/Pending

Priority Five: Outdoor Recreation Activities CNCC has not been approached about the specific project
• Various Project Components components listed, but stands ready to work with the City and County
o Bike/Pedestrian Paths on Outdoor Recreation activities especially since outdoor recreation
o Loudy-Simpson Park activities are so important to recruiting and retaining students. An
o River Access Points expansion of outdoor recreation opportunities of the construction of
 2020 Funding for Engineering a recreation center also could lead to increased employment
 Implementation Funds opportunities for CNC students and graduates.
o Recreation Center
Currently, CNCC rents the field at Loudy-Simpson Park for CNCC
men’s and women’s soccer teams.

(Status Report: March 2020)

Priority Six: Small Business Innovation Center
o Recruit location neutral workers
o Small business incubator
o Diversities workforce
o Department of Local Affairs Grant Support
CNCC will work with the City and others, as requested, to aid the
success of the Small Business Innovation Center. This will require
collaboration state agencies such as OEDIT, DOLA and DOLE, along
with local government in Moffat County and the City of Craig.
(Status Report: March 2020)

Priority Seven: Coal-to-Products
• Future Opportunity: Using the Carbon from coal could
dramatically reduce the cost of many products, ushering in a
new wave of innovation in advanced materials and
manufacturing
CNCC President Granger is involved with Associated Governments of
Northwest Colorado (AGNC) and the EDA/DOLA Utah-Colorado Coal
Communities Partnership. CNCC is monitoring closely and will be
ready to partner to provide any necessary education and training to
support new innovations in advanced materials and manufacturing as
they are developed. This will also be an opportunity to re-train
displaced existing workers. (Status Report: March 2020)

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Priority Eight: Vocational Training Center
• Certifications/Trades
• First responders, contractor/construction, welding, mechanic,
manufacturing, electronic engineering, electrician, plumbing,
solar energy technology, aviation, etc.
The CNCC Craig Vocational Education Building is a Vocational Training
Center offering certificates for first responders and diesel and auto
mechanics. Welding courses (non-credit) were recently added at the
community’s request and are offered through a partnership with the
Moffat school district.
In addition, CNCC Craig offers the Associates’ Degree in Diesel
Technology and Emergency Medical Systems (EMS).
CNCC stands ready to create non-credit workforce certificate
offerings, as well as degree programs in such fields as solar energy
technology as new business and industries launch.
(Status Report: March 2020)