Second year in a row for award

Yavapai Community College was awarded the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its budget. This was the second year in a row that the College has received this award.

In a September 27 press release, the College said that “the award represents a significant achievement, reflecting the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. To receive the budget award, YC had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed 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.”

There are over 1,700 participants in the Budget Awards Program. The most recent Budget Award recipients, along with their corresponding budget documents, are posted quarterly on GFOA’s website, https://www.gfoa.org/. Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

Government Finance Officers Association advances excellence in government finance by providing best practices, professional development, resources and practical research for more than 21,000 members and the communities they serve.

Source:  Yavapai Community College press release of September 27, 2022. https://www.yc.edu/v6/news/2022/09/bap.html

If trial program is successful, University will compete with community colleges in this area

The Arizona Republic newspaper, in a story by Alison Steinbach, reported that Arizona State University (ASU)  is exploring the possibility of offering two-year degrees.  According to the story, ASU  is expected to launch a new two-year Associate of Arts in professional studies degree, starting as part of a targeted trial program next year, pending approval from the Arizona Board of Regents.

Traditionally, associate degrees have been the purview of community colleges and technical schools. However,  some four-year universities have recently begun to explore this area of education.  ASU’s decision comes after Arizona’s community colleges got state approval last year to begin offering four-year degrees, which the universities opposed.

Source. Arizona Republic newspaper story by Alison Steinbach of September 17, 2022. The full story may be accessed on line by clicking here. 

Job opening posted in Chronicle of Higher Education was dated August 10, 2022 with closing date of August 21, 2022

The Blog notes that the national search for the new Verde Campus Dean, according to the Community College’s posting in the Chronicle of Higher Education, ran for only 11 days.  To some, this seems an unusually short period of time to conduct a national search for such an important position.

The Blog also notes that Dr. Karen Reed from Shaker Heights, Ohio was selected as the Interim Dean of the Verde Valley for Yavapai Community College to begin work  April 11, 2022.  The College anticipated, according to its press release in April, that Dr. Reed would  serve in the role until October. A national search for the permanent dean was to be conducted.

The Blog further notes that a national search for an Associate Dean for the Verde Valley Campus back in 2016 began on October 14, 2016, and closed May 16, 2017—a period of seven months.

Caller reported a man, 20-to-30 years old, wearing dark clothing and a tan hat waiving something at passing cars and heard shots fired after that

Yavapai Community College briefly went into lockdown Sunday afternoon after a report of shots fired near the campus in Prescott. The Prescott Police Department reported  receiving a call at around 2:30 p.m. that gun shots were heard in the 800 block of East Gurley Street, near the intersection of Gurley and Arizona streets. The Police Department says that a caller reported a man waiving something at passing cars and heard shots fired after that.

Yavapai College went into lockdown because of the incident at 3:56 p.m. and the lockdown was lifted at 5:20 p.m. There were no reports of injuries, or property damage  as a result of the incident. If anyone has seen someone matching the suspect’s description, they are asked to  to call 9-1-1, or (928) 445-3131.

Authorities are looking for a man, 20-to-30 years old, wearing dark clothing and a tan hat.

Says that working relationship over the years has been strong; no adverse findings for 2021; adverse policy finding made in 2020 was corrected

The Arizona Auditor General’s office reported on the 2021 audit it conducted of Yavapai Community College at the Governing Board meeting April 12.  The Auditor gave the Community College high marks for the excellent cooperation of its staff in helping with the report.  Moreover, it found no irregularities in its audit of 2021.

There was one adverse finding in the 2020 report concerning  the College’s procurement policies.  The College corrected its policy and the Auditor General at this meeting agreed with the correction.

Overall, the Auditor General’s office praised the Community College for its cooperation in the audit process during the past several years.  It was a totally clean audit.

You may view an edited video clip of the report being made to the Governing Board by clicking here.  The full report on video will be available after the Governing Board approves the April minutes in May.

Duties include part-time at Verde/Sedona facilities while overseeing College-wide departments of English, Humanities and Social Sciences

Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Diane Ryan announced to the District Governing Board at its April 12 meeting the appointment of Dr. Karen Reed as interim Dean for the Verde Valley Campus and Sedona Center effective April 11.  Dr. Reed reports directly to Vice President Ryan in the Community College’s chain of command.

Dr. Reed will spend a portion of her time at the east side facilities as Dean (Verde/Sedona) while also having responsibility community-college wide of the departments of English, Humanities & Social Sciences. This is the same heavy workload that critics claim diffuses focus on the educational needs of east side residents. Dr. Reed’s assignment is identical to that of Dr. Tina Redd, who resigned earlier this year. The duties assigned by the College that took her away from the Verde Valley each week may well have been a factor in Dr. Redd’s decision to leave.

The Community College describes Dr. Reed as a “retired community college professional who served in a variety of roles in her 31-year career in higher education. She was a business faculty member, division head, dean, and Vice President of Academic & Student Services.”

She has listed herself as an “educational consultant” on Linkin.com.  Her most recent position appears to be that of Vice President of Academic and Student Services at North Central State College, Mansfield, Ohio. That community college served about 4,400 students as of October 2018.

You may view a clip of the introduction of Dr. Reed to the Governing Board below.

Sources:  April 12, 2022, Governing Board announcement; Linkin.com.; Yavapai Community College news release of April 8, 2022.

Dr. Reed’s personal resume of a year or two ago appears below.

In a terse statement, College offers no other explanation regarding the sudden departure of the outstanding and well-liked administrator from the Verde Valley

Editor Robert Oliphant

OPINION. The Blog has learned today that Dr. Tina Redd resigned her position as Verde Campus/Sedona Center Dean earlier this week. Dr. Redd was considered by most in the Verde Valley as a real gem.

The news reached the Blog via a somewhat informal explanation regarding her departure that came from Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine who provided the following terse statement to the Sedona Red Rock newspaper:

“Dr. Redd has decided to move on and has submitted her resignation. We thank her for her service to the College and wish her well as she moves on to her next opportunity.

“She was not terminated; she resigned her position by her own choice. It’s really that simple.”

Serious questions, it seems to me, must be asked regarding what circumstances might have triggered Dr. Redd’s sudden and unexpected resignation. She was just too good to lose. The Blog suggests that some of the following may provide a modicum of insight into why such a talented person might suddenly pick up and leave the Dean’s position here in the Verde Valley.

From the outset, it appears that working conditions for Dr. Redd, or any person in her role, were less than ideal. For example, she was placed essentially under two bosses: First, Vice President and Prescott based Diane Ryan, was the boss to whom she directly reported. She did not report directly to the President of the College. This kind of reporting structure, although subtle, would on its own ensure a reduction in the prestige and independence of a Dean charged with running the Verde Campus and Sedona Center. Moreover, it is hard to believe it could not affect that person’s morale.

Second, the President of the College plays a significant role in the reporting structure of a Verde Dean. The President is by far the most powerful and most important boss in the organization. The President is someone a Verde Dean will most likely try to please, almost at any cost. Yet, the present reporting structure erects a barrier between the Verde Dean and the president. The Verde Dean’s voice is filtered by a supervisor, possibly at times muffled. Under the present reporting structure, a Verde Dean is viewed much more as a middle manager of a department store, not someone with a serious voice in Community College affairs who possesses any independent decision-making or has the kind of respect within the organization that allows that person to report directly to the President.  

In the case of Dr. Redd, it appears to most in the Verde Valley that she was kept on a tight tether by Prescott when it came to meeting and mixing with local community leaders. For example, in the fall 2021 President Dr. Lisa Rhine and Vice President Rodney Jenkins appeared and spoke at various city and town council meetings throughout the Verde Valley. The purpose of those visits was to update the elected officials on what is happening on the Verde Valley Campus and at the Sedona Center. They also were sometimes challenged with tough questions and asked about details of programs at those facilities. Astonishingly, Dr. Redd was not a part of that tour. One cannot help but wonder whether this kind of treatment at the hands of Prescott subtly reduced the prestige of the Dean’s position in the Valley and affected the morale of even the most hardened administrator.

Then there’s how the Prescott bosses handled assignments to the most influential committees at the College. For example, Dr. Redd was omitted from inclusion in the exceedingly important Capital Master Plan Steering Committee, which is working on an eight to ten-year development plan. It is a committee one would anticipate the Dean of the Verde Valley campus would automatically have been a part of, if not one of its leaders. However, the sixteen person Committee selected by the College Administration is totally dominated by Prescott based executives and employees with only two of the members from the Verde Valley. Conspicuously absent from the committee was the appointment of Dr. Redd. Might that affect morale? Does that reduce the prestige and influence of the office of Verde Dean?

Another group one would think the Dean of the Verde Campus/Sedona Center would automatically be a part of is Yavapai Community College’s President’s Executive Leadership Team. This team is viewed by many as the most important administrator decision-making group at the College. However, the Verde Dean is not included. One needs to continue asking the question: Does the absence of the Valley’s Dean automatically reduce the prestige of the Dean’s position on the Verde Campus and Sedona Center? Might it affect a career-administrator’s morale?

A factor that may have affected the prestige of the Dean’s position and morale in this particular case was an odd assignment handed to Dr. Redd by the Prescott administrators at the very beginning of her tenure. This assignment involved giving her the responsibility of apparently overseeing and evaluating a large number of faculty who worked on the west side of the County in Prescott. Reliable sources indicate that this work took her away from her duties as Dean on the Verde/Sedona campuses for at least one full day every week. Can there be any doubt that it interfered with her challenging work as Verde Valley Dean?

Adding to the oddity of the Prescott faculty assessment assignment is the fact that one of the conditions laid down by residents and accepted by President Lisa Rhine before a Dean was hired for the Verde Campus/Sedona Center was to ensure that the new Dean actually lived in the Verde Valley. So, after selecting Dr. Redd, she was given a task that caused her to spend a day away a week in Prescott. This most likely involved travel and could not help but interfere with the daily duties associated with running the Verde Campus and Sedona Center. It’s an odd assignment, to say the least, for a Dean already working extremely hard to develop the Verde Campus and Sedona Center, which alone is a major challenge.

So, it can be argued that from the very outset of her employment, Dr. Redd, or any Dean in her position, experiences diminishing prestige for the Dean’s office and minimal input into the future of the Verde Valley facilities. Decisions such as non-appointment to various important committees and being treated more like a middle manager than an influential member of the Community College must hurt. At times limiting the Dean’s visibility and contact with local politicos must also be hurtful. And add to that, in the particular case of Dr. Redd, an odd working assignment that sends the Dean out of the Verde Valley on a weekly basis only adds to the ache an administrator working in the Valley might experience.

Is it any wonder that someone possessing the background and experience of Dr. Tina Redd might one day just throw up their hands and say in frustration, “I resign.”  

MORE TO COME.