History of Gila Community College
In August 2022 the GCPCCD Governing Board hired Interim President, Dr. Janice Lawhorn, under the direction of Dr. Jan Brocker, President GCPCCD Board, with support from the Gila County Board of Supervisors. The goal was to transition the College from its provisional status to an independent College and to seek its own accreditation. In May 2023 the GCPCCD Board provided notice to EAC that it would not renew its nearly 20-year educational agreement. After some negotiation, EAC and GCPCCD mutually agreed to terminate the contract on June 30, 2025.
The GCPCCD Board, its consultants, and numerous volunteers worked diligently and steadfastly to secure its independence and in February 2024, began working with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). The College’s Eligibility Review Application was submitted in April 2024, the Institutional Self-Evaluation Report in August 2024, and a successful site visit was conducted by an ACCJC Peer Review Team in October 2024. Additionally, the GCPCCD Board voted in June 2024 to establish Gila County Community College District meeting all requirements of Arizona Revised Statute 15-1402-01, Alternative Organization for Community College Districts.
Gila Community College was officially granted Candidacy Status by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) in a formal action letter dated January 21, 2025. Approved locations for instruction include the Gila Pueblo Campus in Globe, Payson Campus, Globe-Miami Regional Training Center, and the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry facility in Globe. The Hayden Wellness Center is listed as an additional site.
On July 1, 2025, Gila Community College opened its doors to the residents of Gila County as Arizona’s newest community college.
History of Gila Pueblo Campus
Lying at the foot of the picturesque Pinal Mountains just 2.6 miles south of Globe, Arizona, Gila Pueblo is a 22-acre site containing reconstructed ruins of a 14th century Salado Indian pueblo. Rich in archaeological history, Gila Pueblo has been the source of many major contributions to the study of southwestern prehistory.
The Gila Pueblo Campus was excavated as a ruin in the 1920s and acquired by the National Park Service in 1952. The property transitioned to a college campus in 1972 when the property was declared surplus by the federal government and Eastern Arizona College (EAC) received a Quit Claim Deed for 30 years. However, in 1997 EAC Quit Claimed the property to the Arizona State Board of Directors for Community Colleges who then reassigned the property to the Gila County Board of Supervisors in 2005. In 2012, a Quit Claim Deed from the Gila County Board of Supervisors transferred final ownership to the Gila County Provisional Community College District (GCPCCD).
In 2005, GCPCCD contracted with EAC to provide Gila County residents with opportunities to pursue college transfer and vocational courses in the various workshops, laboratories and classrooms at the Gila Pueblo Campus.
Today, the Gila Pueblo Campus is made up of 12 buildings totaling almost 32,000 square feet. Approximately 4,572 square feet is devoted to faculty and administrative offices, with 22,378 square feet of space for academic support services, computer labs, library services, general classrooms, and specialized classrooms for Art, Business, and Physical Sciences. In addition, the Dental Assistant, Phlebotomy/Medical Assistant, Nursing, and Cosmetology programs each have a dedicated space in separate buildings.
History of Payson Campus
In 1990, Payson townspeople voted to create a secondary property tax district for educational purposes, raising approximately $1.3 million/year. Due mainly to the tenacity of Mr. Doyle Coffey, Gila County Advisory Committee to Eastern Arizona College, and other local residents, the town also received $2 million from the Arizona legislature. In 1995, a 64-acre land parcel just east of town was purchased from the Federal government, and construction of a permanent campus began in December 1998. After more than a dozen years of offering courses at the EAC Payson Satellite Center in the Payson Plaza, the beautiful 21,000 sq. ft. Payson Campus opened its doors in January 2000.
Classes continued to be offered through EAC as they had been since 1987. In 2003, when it was formed as a provisional district, Gila County Provisional Community College District eventually contracted with EAC to continue providing education on the Payson Campus, the Gila Pueblo (Globe) Campus, and other satellite locations throughout Gila County.
After transferring approximately half of the acreage to Gila County, the 32-acre Payson Campus is made up of six buildings totaling 19,206 square feet. These buildings house faculty and administrative offices, general classrooms, computer labs, library and counseling services, wellness center, and specialized classrooms for Art, Business, English, and Natural Sciences. Each of the Cosmetology, Nursing, and Allied Health programs have a dedicated space in separate buildings. In total, there are over 14,600 square feet of classroom space on the Payson Campus.
History of the Globe/Miami Regional Training Center (RTC)
The Globe/Miami Regional Training Center (RTC) located in Miami, began as an Army National Guard unit for the 213th Engineer Company in 1955 and is still referred to affectionately by many of the locals as “the armory.” The Gila County maintenance department occupied the building for several years prior to it being leased to Gila Community College in 2011 by Freeport-McMoRan (FMI).
The College offered multiple career and technical education programs at the RTC over the years including welding, machine shop, HVAC, automotives, upholstery, building trades, renewable energy, fire science, and electrical and instrumentation. In 2022 GCPCCD secured a 20-year lease from FMI and received a $150,000 Community Investment Fund matching grant to upgrade the welding and HVAC programs.
The RTC is approximately 13,000 square feet, consisting of two buildings with approximately 12,264 square feet of classroom space and 246 square feet of office space and is conveniently located on Highway 70 in Miami.
History of the Hayden Wellness Center
Located approximately 40 miles from the Gila Pueblo Campus, the recently remodeled Hayden Wellness Center is approximately 1,100 square feet with stationary bicycles, treadmills, stair-steppers, weights, and other aerobic and wellness equipment. Currently, wellness courses are the only courses offered in Hayden. The property was purchased in 2012 for $10.00 and has been used to offer Wellness courses to the Hayden-Winkleman community.