Pima Community College

Community college in Arizona

Pima Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Pima County, Arizona. It serves the Tucson metropolitan area with a community college district consisting of five campuses, four education centers, and several adult education learning centers. It provides traditional and online instruction for over 144 programs. The college also offers workforce training, non credit personal interest classes and post baccalaureate certificates. PCC is one of the largest multi campus community colleges in the United States, with relative ranking varying between fourth and tenth largest. PCC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Voters in Pima County approved the creation of a junior college district in 1966 and the first classes were held in 1969 at a temporary campus in an airplane hangar at the Tucson airport, Tucson Medical Center, Villa Maria, and Marana. The college was originally named Pima College but the name was changed to Pima Community College in 1972 to better reflect the mission of the college. In 2008, PCC's Board of Governors began receiving anonymous complaints of sexual harassment by PCC chancellor Roy Flores. The board took no formal action until 2011 and Flores resigned in 2012 citing health problems. The search for his replacement has been troubled. In February 2013, PCC discovered that the search consultant failed to disclose an issue with a finalist for the job; the consultant was fired and the job search extended. One month after the chancellor search was extended, the interim chancellor resigned in the wake of a scathing report issued by PCC's regional accreditor the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The report documented not only the ignored complaints of sexual harassment but also a hostile work environment and numerous administrative and financial problems. The report also discussed problems with admissions standards that PCC changed in 2011, problems the college has admitted. As a result of these problems Pima been on probation with the HLC; however, on Feb. 26, 2015 this probation was rescinded. Although the probation was retracted, Pima continues to remain "On Notice" for deficiencies. PCC also received media attention in early 2011 as the former school of 2011 Tucson Shooting perpetrator Jared Lee Loughner. While at PCC, some of his teachers complained to the administration about his disruptions and bizarre behavior, as they thought them a sign of mental illness and feared what he might do. The college decided to suspend Loughner.

The Pima Community College Community campus was opened in 1975 to meet non traditional educational needs, including distance learning, non degree activity classes, and adult education. In 1997, the campus moved to Bonita Avenue and Commerce Park Loop, near St. Mary's Road and Interstate 10. The campus was home to the teacher education program. Many of its services were moved to the Northwest, West, and Downtown campuses when Community campus was closed in 2019.

In 1976, the college established the East Learning Center, which became East campus in 1981 with the construction of a new facility located on of land at Irvington Road and Fred Enke Drive, near Davis Monthan Air Force Base. Its programs include Veterinary Technology and Emergency Medical Technology. The College East Campus Observatory was established in 1989 by Professor David G. Iadevaia. It includes the Pima College – East Campus observatory and teaching planetarium. After many years in temporary, makeshift facilities, the observatory now has a new, permanent home which was designed by Professor Iadevaia. The observatory is an important part of astronomy education, not only for registered students but also for the public.

In 2003, the Northwest Community Learning Center (established in 1998) became the Northwest campus, the newest PCC campus. The campus is located on Shannon Road, between Ina and Magee roads in north Tucson. The campus is home to the hotel/restaurant management and therapeutic massage programs.

The oldest Pima Community College campus, West campus is located on of land between Anklam Road and Speedway Blvd., west of Interstate 10. The campus was opened in 1970. Facilities located at West Campus include the Center for Archaeological Field Training, the Center for the Arts, and the offices of The Pima Post newspaper and Cababi literary magazine. The campus is home to the college's programs in health related professions. West Campus is home to Sand Script, a student literary magazine.

In 2019, a partnership with The Catholic University of America was announced whereby students could earn an associate degree from Pima and a bachelor's degree in business management from Catholic University. PCC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Additionally, many medical programs (such as nursing or veterinary technology) have additional specialized accreditation by the Arizona and United States Departments of Education. PCC's Aviation Technology Program, through Davis Monthan Air Force Base, is approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Pima Community College also hosted the Aztec Middle College, a program operated by the Tucson Unified School District; it offers credit recovery and concurrent earning of high school and college credits to older students on four Pima College campuses.

In 1999, Arizona approved the Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC) for students transferring from an Arizona community college to one of the three state universities. A 35 credit block of general education courses, the AGEC transfers to the state universities (and some other baccalaureate degree granting institutions) to meet their lower division general education requirements. PCC awards the AGEC A, AGEC B, and AGEC S certificates.

Pima Post, the student run online news service. The newspaper has been named a national finalist by the Society of Professional Journalists for best all around two year college newspaper. SandScript, a literary magazine. This publication has won the Best Overall Publication, Southwest Division, from the Community College Humanities Association, most recently in 2013.

The Pima Post is the student newspaper at Pima Community College. It was created in the 1970s as the Campus News (1973 to 1977), then named the Aztec Campus News (1977–1978), the Aztec News (1978–1981), the Aztec Press (1982–2021) before becoming the Pima Post in 2021. Valerie Vineyard is the current adviser and Joshua Manis is the current business manager. The Pima Post publishes online. The Pima Post covers all six campuses of Pima Community College with their news service. Print circulation was 5,000 copies of bi weekly editions until 2020 when the publication moved to online only media distribution.

PCC sponsors fifteen intercollegiate sports teams for men and women. Pima's teams are nicknamed the Aztecs.