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.