Award  focuses on cutting-edge, trendsetting programs worthy of replication

Yavapai Community College has been named a finalist for the prestigious National Bellwether award.  The award focuses on cutting-edge, trendsetting programs worthy of replication.  The Community College made the announcement in a press release authored by Tyler Rumsey on November 9.  

The following is the Community College’s press release explaining the program.

All award winning submissions of the nonprofits members are available for download on GFOA’s website.

In a press release issued October 11, 2021 by Yavapai Community College, it announced it had received a “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).  It was among 1,700 governments who are members of GFOA who received the award in 2020.

The award reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. To be considered for the budget award, Yavapai Community College had to be a member of  the GFOA and had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. The guidelines are intended to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as:

• A policy document
• A financial plan
• An operations guide
• A communications device

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories, and in the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories, to receive the award.

According to the Community College’s press release, “Yavapai [Community] College is one of only 8 community colleges in the nation with an active Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” from this nonprofit organization.

Dr. Tina Redd has been the Verde Valley Dean for a year and a half | Recent College in-person reports to elected officials around the  Verde Valley about the Verde Campus and Sedona Center  given solely by Prescott based executives; Dr. Redd omitted| What is   Redd’s authority and is she allowed to act  effectively as  “voice” of the Verde Valley residents | Were these merely  PR gaffs or has  Dr. Redd been shelved and acts essentially as window dressing in the Administration’s operational scheme?

The Yavapai Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine and Vice President of  Community Relations and  Student Development, Rodney Jenkins, have been appearing at various city and town council meetings throughout the Verde Valley over the past few weeks.  The purpose of those visits is to update the elected officials on what is happening on the Verde Valley Campus and at the Sedona Center while also answering sometimes tough questions and providing details about those facilities.

Sedona Vice Mayor Scott Jablow.

Dr. Rhine is always personable and charming in her presentations and Mr.  Jenkins attempts to fill in details about various courses and projects on the east side of the County. The Community College officials are also accompanied by Deb McCasland, the Governing Board Chair, and Third District representative Paul Chevalier. 

However,  the one person in the past who has often provided additional detailed information about the happenings on this side of Mingus Mountain and considered the tough questions has been the Verde Valley Campus Dean. However, in the presentations recently given in Clarkdale, Cottonwood, and Sedona, the Verde Campus Dean,  Dr. Tina Redd, played no role at all.  She was not introduced to the listeners nor was she even present. The information came from all Prescott-based executives.  

As of October 2021, Dr. Redd has been the Dean of the Sedona/Verde Valley Center and Campus for a year and a half.  She was hired with a sterling background and excellent reputation as a shaker and mover.  But so far the Prescott-based administration has not seen fit, or so it seems pretty clear at this point, to give her much authority or to allow her to take a “shaker and mover” role in the Verde Valley.  While the pandemic may have been an excuse for  her non appearances,  there was no reason the most recent trips to the podium by the administration in the Valley did not include an introduction and allow her to seriously participate.  

There are unspoken and spoken questions about what appears to be iron-fisted informational control by the Prescott officials.  For example, during the Community College’s presentation before the Sedona City Council on September 28, 2021, the Vice Mayor asked if someone had replaced former East side Verde Campus Dean James Perey.  He was well-known to the Council and regularly made reports to it and the Governing Board. Dr. Rhine explained that Dr. Redd was the new Dean and had been since the beginning of the pandemic (see video below).

In a March 2021 in opinion piece on leadership, the Blog asked whether the Verde Valley would have a strong voice in the Prescott-dominated Yavapai Community College’s administrative organizational structure.  The piece pointed out that President Lisa Rhine was  doing a great job. For the first time since 2000-2004, it appeared that   legitimate efforts were being  initiated by her to begin the challenging task of bringing significantly increased  community college educational development for the 75,000 plus residents living on the east side of Yavapai County. However, the role of the new Sedona Center/Verde Campus Dean seemed on paper to be little more than a manager for Prescott  when the College announced its administrative structure. (See college administrative structure below).  Has the role of the Verde Campus Dean been  the diminished? Has she been collared?

In the same opinion piece, the Verde Campus  Dean’s marginal role was further illustrated by the fact she is not included in the Community College’s leadership team and was not reporting directly to the President.  The most recent events appear to confirm that Prescott is ensuring that there  will not be a  strong College administrative voice coming from the Verde Valley.

In letter from Community College  Governing Board nominating Dr. Rhine  she was praised for her work and accomplishments including making the Community College more accessible and affordable in her first three years as College president

Dr. Lisa Rhine

Dr. Lisa Rhine, President of Yavapai Community College, has just received national recognition for her leadership in higher education from  the Association of Community College Trustees . She was named the recipient of its Pacific Region Chief Executive Officer Award.

Annually, the Association, which is  a 52-year-old organization made-up  of trustees from over 1,200 colleges in North America,  honors a chief executive officer from each of its five regions in the United States who has exhibited exceptional leadership.

In the nomination letter from the Community College Governing Board, they wrote that: “In the midst of a pandemic, Dr. Rhine has initiated a remarkable number of key initiatives and innovative programs with an unrelenting focus on student success.”

The Community College Governing Board also  that: “In the midst of a pandemic, Dr. Rhine has initiated a remarkable number of key initiatives and innovative programs with an unrelenting focus on student success.” They also cited her work to increase the Community College’s Hispanic student population from 15% to 21.4% since taking office in 2019.  They lauded her efforts at targeting assistance toward Yavapai County’s “asset-limited, income-constrained, employed” (ALICE) population, which comprises an estimated 43% of Yavapai County.

The Governing Board was also impressed that Dr. Rhine, with the able assistance of Dr. Diane Ryan, has championed expansion of Open Educational Resources (OERs), a program that fights expensive textbook costs by developing free, public domain alternatives. So far, this effort last year  resulted in  164  courses with zero-cost textbooks. The savings in textbook costs came to  than $300,000 over two semesters.

Dr. Rhine has also led initiatives like The “Yavapai Community College  Promise,” which refunds tuition to qualified students who complete their degree programs on time. To date, the Community College has graduated more than 100 Promise students, with another 290 enrolled for 2021-22.

“I am so pleased that Dr. Rhine has won the ACCT Pacific Regional award,” said Yavapai Community College District Governing Board Chair Deb McCasland.  “I know we have an outstanding President and it’s excellent that her leadership and focus on student success is highly valued by other leaders in the Community College field.”

Source:  Yavapai Community College News Release dated July 29, 2021  by Tyler Rumsey. (Full article can be read at https://www.yc.edu/v6/news/2021/07/dr-rhine-acct.html?fbclid=IwAR39sTRGi2iiZk_HZu8fX5NK4YWOhT3rmWB8j-cD6wQ0v5P33BKTCInZ0Fk.

Goal: “Leave them better off than when they came to us”

Dr. Lisa Rhine

Yavapai Community College president Dr. Lisa Rhine addressed the College District Governing Board in June on concerns she has about courses and programs that might not lead to a living wage.  Furthermore,  she informed the Board that she is directing efforts at the College to ensure, as much as possible, that students who enroll at the College at don’t end up in a worse position when they leave the institution than they were when they entered.

 Dr. Rhine  addressed her  concern about  students who begin College but for a variety of reasons drop out and leave without a degree or certificate. However, they may be  left  with a student loan debt and a possible feeling of unworthiness.  She said the College had a “responsibility” to not let that happen.

She also addressed her concern with programs and courses that do not necessarily lead to a living wage.  She said she has linked  her business division with  some of those programs to encourage entrepreneurship.  For example, she envisions students taking  jewelry courses also learning how to successfully open their own jewelry shops.  Or those at the Culinary school in Sedona gaining the skills of a chef while  also  learning how to build a successful restaurant business..

You may view her presentation to the Governing Board at the June workshop on this topic below. 

Some restrictions remain; unvaccinated should wear masks and social distance

Based on Governor Ducey’s Executive Orders, CDC metrics for school reopening, and the success of the Community College’s implementation of CDC mitigation strategies, it has now moved to Code Green mode.  This is the third of a four-phase plan to combat Covid-19.

Under Code Green, Yavapai Community College  will continue to follow guidelines from The Center for Disease Control (CDC) as it pertains to COVID-19 safety protocols. It  has updated its safety protocols to reflect that fully vaccinated individuals are not required to wear masks or social distance while at College campuses and centers. Also, per CDC guidance, unvaccinated individuals should wear masks and social distance while on College premises to help protect themselves and others. All other YC COVID-19 safety protocols remain in effect.

Carver governance policy approach replaced (at least in part) with streamlined structure that uses more understandable language and reduces  amount of staff time needed to provide Board with information

Goodbye Carver model of policy governance–at least in part.

The Yavapai Community College Governing Board met at the Sedona Center on June 3 for a workshop.   After working throughout the day, it had accomplished the following:

1. Received one-hour update from President Dr. Lisa Rhine on the “State of the College.”
2. Unanimously approved sending nomination letters on behalf  of President Lisa Rhine and faculty member Andrea Schaben to the Association of Community College Trustees. The letters are  for consideration for the annual Chief Executive Officer Award and the annual William H. Meardy Faculty member award.
3. Approved 4-1 a new President’s Evaluation tool.
4. Approved 4-1 Board Self-Assessment tool that will be administered by the Association of Community College Trustees at a cost of about $3,000 per assessment.
5. Unanimously approved a completely revised District Governing Board Policy Manual with the understanding that beginning in the fall the Board will hold workshops to possibly revise any portion of the Manual.
6. Unanimously approved an Advocacy and Community Relations Plan.
7. Approved 4-1 a temporary plan to divide the monthly public meeting into two segments: One two-hour session called a “Study Session” and a third one hour session called a “Business Meeting.”

A major advantage of the new policy governance approach, it is claimed,  is to reduce the enormous amount of time the Carver model of governance placed on staff to fulfill all of its various reporting requirements.  

However, many of the changes raised controversial questions about the language used to describe  the Board’s governance and the effectiveness of a particular provision. More discussions about the new model will be provided  in later Blog postings.