CCNN sinks while students and staff seek higher ground
By Ashleigh Goodwin
Career College of Northern Nevada (CCNN) was a for-profit vocational college accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) and operated in Reno-Sparks since 1984.
In lieu of their regularly scheduled staff meeting on Friday, Feb. 9, the school declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy, leaving the notice of the closure to quietly spread from the students to the staff throughout the day.
Nate Clark, the owner of CCNN, signed the filing on record the same day the school closed.
On a typical week, nearly 400 students attended classes Monday through Thursday until the closure. But word of the closure echoed through the halls to the teachers actually in the building through a small string of students. It all happened on a day nearly void of instructors, staff and students.
A week after the closure, students were allowed to retrieve belongings for the first time under the watchful eye of bankruptcy trustee Christopher Burke and an unidentified assistant.
Personal belongings and projects previously held hostage were released to somber students on Valentine’s Day while the sound of the building’s security alarm filled the air. Several times since, individuals have been allowed to collect their belongings from what Burke called “federal building[s].”
Chris Benna owns the building where CCNN was located, as well as Rilite Aggregate Company. He, too, visited the site to see what was going on. Benna said CCNN was the first tenant in the building, which was built in 2007. He said he was set to meet with Clark the week of the filing, but Clark canceled the meeting.
News of the closure reached Benna indirectly, he said, and he was unaware of any prior financial problems for Clark or the college. Nearly a decade ago, Clark spoke to Northern Nevada Business Weekly about the kind of impropriety he is now being accused of by staff and students.
“They really make it out to be a great place, but underneath it all, it was chaos. Nepotism was a big problem.”
“There is a reputation in this industry created by some colleges that have sort of ‘predatory’ enrollment practices,” Clark said in that interview. He continued on about “pride” in himself “on the fact that [CCNN] is the exact opposite of that.”
In the interview published July 2014 Clark said the school “only accept[ed] students who we believe will benefit from the education, go to work and represent our college well.”
This Is Reno, however, has uncovered allegations of lax standards, questionable charges and unpaid bills at the college. One former employee said she found it odd that Clark married the director of admissions, Maria Clark.
Drina Campbell said she graduated from CCNN’s Health Information Systems Program in 2016 and returned to work for the school in 2022.
“When I was going to school there, Maria’s last name wasn’t Clark,” Campbell said. “They really make it out to be a great place, but underneath it all, it was chaos. Nepotism was a big problem.”
Nate Clark’s sister, Pam Cisneros, was the school’s business manager. Campbell also pointed out Clark’s affiliation with the ACCSC. Clark’s LinkedIn profile shows an affiliation lasting from January 2003 to June 2018. Ultimately, questions remain unanswered for staff and students, and many say the answers may never arrive.
“I have finished school and should be walking with my honor roll sashes in my graduation,” CCNN student Janet Boyer said. “Now that the school has gone bankrupt, I won’t.”
Boyer was a student in Campbell’s Health Information Management class and shared her adoration for the teacher with a simultaneous negative review of the school.
“I feel bad for the students who were in the last days of their externship, and now they won’t be getting their diplomas,” Boyer said. “That’s not right. Drina Campbell was the reason I stayed in school. I set my goals and kept my head high, so to speak.”
In Campbell’s one year of teaching with the school, she said she experienced a dichotomy of standards. On one side, she said students were frequently pushed through by the administration without meeting basic requirements, such as attendance. On the other, she alleged a student was failed by the administration for missing class time after a traumatic injury.
Karri McClure was shot six times and was in and out of the hospital for almost two weeks. She was also a student at CCNN.
“My mom called the school, and instead of me being withdrawn after the incident, they dropped me,” she said. McClure was told the program was no longer offered, which led to extra charges and obstacles for re-enrollment.
“I’m basically paying double,” McClure added. She enrolled at DeVry University online in January and said CCNN never provided the requested transcripts, effectively setting her back to the start of her program.
After financial aid paid for her program at CCNN, McClure received a bill from CCNN for an additional $2,000 in charges. She said she has not been able to identify the source and has been unable to contact the administrative staff.
In a conflicting report, Campbell said students were often “passed through, even when they clearly had absences/no-call no-shows on test days, which in the syllabus, it’s an automatic fail.”
“Administrators would lie about what your tuition actually paid for,” Campbell asserted.
The U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard notes the average cost for tuition at CCNN was more than $20,000 per year, higher than many other two-year schools.
Campbell said the cost of certification in the American Health Information Management Association was supposed to be covered with her tuition, but when Campbell went to renew her membership after graduation, she said she found she was never a member. Certification by the organization costs $300-$400—the cost of the certification test—and recertification costs $218.
“They headed off rumors to keep everyone on and kept drawing funds. It would have been the rats deserting the ship.”
A long-term teacher corroborated the assertion and said, “In hindsight, the closure makes sense.”
“[The administration team] have all been moody for months,” Darrell Easley said. Easley taught heating, ventilation and air conditioning courses for 14 years at CCNN. He said one experience left him paying the consequences, and he nearly lost certification as an OSHA instructor.
According to the HVAC teacher, the administration’s failure to pay for the most recent OSHA10 class that was taught at CCNN would have resulted in a lapse of certification and subsequent loss of his credentials.
“It was my license, not theirs, on the line, and I had to get that paid, so I paid for it,” Easley said. He said this was the third time he had to deal with a near lapse.
The typical cost for an OSHA10 certification is $85.
“Pam Cisneros, Nate’s sister, handled the business office, and she was doing payroll on day 8 or 9 of the pay cycle,” Easley said. “I got my paycheck early with all of my PTO paid out, and they didn’t tell anyone even though they had to know this was coming.”
“I found out from the students,” said Josh Lawler, an instructor in the welding department said he received his paycheck early but wasn’t paid out PTO or given notice about the closure.
Easley said even during the summer of 2023, rumors were “flying about” regarding the school’s impending doom.
“Summer of 2023, there was a barbecue to build camaraderie amongst employees,” he added. “What a crock. They headed off rumors to keep everyone on and kept drawing funds. It would have been the rats deserting the ship.”
Students said teachers kept students afloat
“It was the best program ever,” Jimmy Tobin said, emphasizing the past tense as he waited to enter CCNN’s welding building after the closure to retrieve his school materials. “It’s the only time I’ve ever enjoyed school.”
He was seven months into a 12-month welding program and said for the first time in his education, he was successful and “obsessed” with going to school. He said he received high honors on three separate awards the week before the school’s demise. Now, he is looking at all options for potential next steps.
Days after the CCNN closure, on Feb. 15, the Northern Nevada Apprenticeship Coordinators Association (NNACA) hosted an emergency job fair for CCNN students. NNACA coordinates application and entry for independent apprenticeship programs, which are accredited by Truckee Meadows Community College, to provide college credit for students entering local trades unions.
Tom Blotzke of Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local 26 said during the job fair virtual welding was demonstrated for attendees. About a dozen students could join Local 26 after a skill set assessment.
“There are a lot of opportunities for jobs,” Blotzke said. “Market area technician, an entry-level position, pre-apprentice, allows for the students to get hands-on learning and decide if they want to join.”
Applicants with prior trade experience are tested upon entry to ensure requisite skills and assess the level of such skills, including welding, and the ability to plan projects in their entirety.
Andrew Maldonado, president and training director for the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Local 350, said several students applied and “tested in” to the union within the two weeks after the job fair.
Maldonado said there were 27 applicants for the apprenticeship program, and eight signed up for the pre-apprentice program. One instructor, he said, was accepted as a journeyman after assessment and another student gained direct entry for the apprenticeship program.
For students looking for assistance from the Accrediting Commission, they may find help on the ACCSC website.
“In instances where a school is closing, ACCSC works closely with state and federal oversight agencies to help facilitate teach-out plans and agreements in an attempt to ensure that students will have opportunities to complete their education elsewhere,” a statement on the ACCSC website reads. “ACCSC works with closing schools to help facilitate transfer of credit opportunities.”
The State of Nevada Commission of Postsecondary Education (CPE) has not yet received transcripts from the institution or a list of students attending at the time of the closure.
Clark and his legal representation are scheduled to go before Judge Hilary Barnes for a “Meeting of Creditors” in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the State of Nevada.
For more information on the hearing visit: https://www.justice.gov/ust/ust-regions-r17/region-17-district-nevada-northern-division
CPE will announce student information meetings in the upcoming weeks to go over options with students. For more information on transcripts and the next steps for past students visit: https://cpe.nv.gov/Students/Students_Home/
