Her new ACA role provides more visibility for Yavapai College.
By serving on the ACA, she represents all community colleges in Arizona. “I am super honored. It’s awesome because I get to work with business leaders and other colleges in the state,” she said. “I’ll be working on statewide strategies educating industries about community colleges and Yavapai College.”
President Rhine said Yavapai College brings $234 million to the county, while community colleges bring billions to Arizona. “I hope to be a regional voice in the state.”
Rhine points out that rural community colleges have a different situation than community colleges in the larger cities, especially related to the workforce.
The ACA, led by Governor Katie Hobbs, meets once a month. Rhine also expects to be attending summits about the economy and workforce development.
Thus, this new appointment will provide more opportunities for her to create awareness about how Yavapai College is supporting workforce development.
Rhine said Arizona is booming and the economy is in the top 5% of American states. She says Arizona needs to be prepared statewide as well as in Yavapai County for new industries. For example, the semiconductor industry has been growing in the greater Phoenix area. She wants Yavapai County to be prepared if there are companies that want to relocate to the Prescott region, noting that Yavapai College would be the place to train students for the industry.
Rhine works with local industries to understand what skills are needed for current and new jobs so the college can prepare students for the local workforce. “We need to have a pipeline of talent,” she said. “We have advisory boards with industry so we can partner with them.”
Rhine is serving her seventh year at Yavapai College and notes that the pandemic changed the college dramatically because it required educational institutions to conduct classes online. “That shift made us better,” she said, noting that today, Yavapai College offers many classes online.
Watching students walk across the stage each May to receive their diplomas is the best part of serving as president, she says. “Then we get to celebrate their impact.”
Many students choose Career and Technical Education (CTE), which helps them earn a living wage with skills needed in the community that help them support their families and stay in the area.
A point of pride for Rhine is that Yavapai College remains one of the most affordable institutions for advanced education in the state and the nation. “We offer the same quality education as universities,” she said.
Rhine says Yavapai College has one of the highest rates for instructors with doctorate degrees. “We have a lot of talented teachers. That’s because this is one of the top places to work in the state and the nation according to USA Today.”
Rhine is the tenth president of Yavapai College, with more than 36 years of leadership experience in colleges and universities in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Arizona. She serves on numerous local, regional and national commissions, task forces and boards including service on the Commission on Economic and Workforce Development for the American Association of Community Colleges and the Presidential liaison for the state of Arizona to the American Council on Education Women’s Network.
As a member of the Inaugural class of Aspen Presidential Fellows, Dr. Rhine says she is committed to the moral imperative to improve student lives by leveraging the capacity of colleges to improve learning, access and labor market outcomes. She was named Pacific Region CEO of the Year for 2021 by the Association of Community College Trustees, received the Paragon President’s Award in 2021 from Phi Theta Kappa and was nominated as CEO of the Year for 2023 by the American Association of Community Colleges. QCBN
By Stan Bindell, QCBN
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