Keeping Community Front and Center

For over 30 years, Pueblo Community College Southwest has been serving the communities of Mancos, Cortez, Durango, and Bayfield. With over 70 programs online and in person, Pueblo Community College is committed to providing an affordable education for its students. On September 26th, Pueblo Community College Southwest held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate moving back into the commons building at its Durango location, and the promise of what is to come for the college. You’re watching the Local News Network, brought to you by Tafoya Barrett and Associates, and Happy Pappy’s Pizza and Wings. I’m Gillian Arnwine.

A few years ago, we partnered with Durango High School, and we occupied a wing on the high school campus, and things change. And guess what, we’re back here in the commons. My team here at Pueblo Community College, we’re really adamant that we remain and have a presence here in Durango, and so we’re back. We are occupying three classrooms and a little bit of office space, and I think they already have their eyes set on additional space as students continue to come back and enjoy the access and the affordability, the rigor, and the academic excellence that Pueblo Community College offers.

The move has opened doors for PCC to expand some of its in-person options, including the agricultural program and the Wildland Fire program, beginning in November. The Mancos campus will continue to offer a variety of career and technical education offerings, but Dr. Erjvec spoke to the importance of the Durango location with the community in mind.

I think that we want to be available to this entire region. And whenever I talk about PCC Southwest, I talk about the fact that we have a presence from the Utah border all the way to Pagosa Springs. And so that takes a lot of effort to be responsive. But Durango is a hub, and it has a significant number of people in this area. So again, we have a site in Bayfield. We have this site here at the Commons. We have our campus in Mancos, so we’re really trying to respond to our partner needs.

Pueblo Community College primarily offers Associate degrees, a two-year degree, although there are several Bachelor’s of Applied Science and a Bachelor’s of Nursing available for students to pursue as well. Many degrees, especially those in career and technical education, prepare students to immediately enter the workforce upon completion. And there are also transfer degrees, where students can transfer to a partner school after two years to complete a four-year degree.

The Pueblo Community College is your community college, and we are here to support you. Access, affordability, completion are very important, and everybody here is committed to that. So come on in and begin that academic journey with us.

For those who attended the ribbon cutting, the theme of collaboration came up several times. Collaboration with the other organizations housed in the commons building, as well as collaboration with the community. The overall sense of the move is that it will continue to enhance Pueblo Community College Southwest’s collaboration with the Durango community, and continue its mission of bringing affordable education to the Southwest. To find out information about upcoming programs and enrollment information, check out Pueblo Community College’s website. Find more information about this and other stories at durangolocal.news. Thanks for watching this edition of The Local News Network. I’m Gillian Arnwine.