The official search for the next permanent Yavapai College president is underway with the planned start date in January, Governing Board Chairman Steve Bracety [District 5] announced during a meeting on Aug 11.
“We look to have the final interview [of] candidates for the week of [Monday], Nov. 16,” he said.
Until then, Provost Doug Berry, Ph.D., will remain as interim president.
Presidential succession, as defined by Governing Board Policy 405 states an acting president shall be appointed from the senior members of the executive leadership of the college.
“We complied and did that, we appointed Dr. Doug Berry as the acting president,” Bracety said.
He read from the rest of the policy. “In the event an absence becomes permanent, the board shall select the president’s replacement after a widely advertised search”
During a special meeting on Monday, Aug. 17, the board voted 3-1, with District 2’s Deb McCasland opposed, to approve a $70,000 contract with Phoenix-based Cizek Associates for the presidential search, which will include a committee of two board liaisons, college executives, stakeholders and community members who will meet throughout the process.
Cizek CEO Sheila Lehker said the timeline is aggressive, but “very doable.”
Search Contract
McCasland said it is too soon to approve a presidential search contract, partially because there might be a new board beginning in January, with Bracety’s District 5 and the vacant District 4 holding elections in November. The new board should vote on the succession contract, which, she said, has previously been the Association of Community College Trustees.
“I will remind you that after I was elected and before I was seated, the board decided to institute Board Policy 310 [the Code of Ethics] that was going to impact the future board prior to allowing me to be seated, even though the election was completed,” District 1 Representative Bill Kiel said. “If you’re going to criticize this board for that, I would suggest that you look at prior actions that the board [has] taken.”
Despite McCasland claiming to have never heard of Cizek, Lehker said it was the vendor that organized Berry’s hire as provost in 2023, and was hired by the college to find a vice president in 2013. It has been hiring college executives for about 30 years.
The contract stated out-of-pocket expenses were not included in the overall fee. The executive search firm will advertise the search, do preliminary reviews and interviews of the candidates, provide the committee with updates and reports and organize interviews, according to the agreement.
Search Committee
The board voted 3-1, with McCasland opposed, to appoint Bracety and the board secretary, Toby Payne [District 3], as the liaisons.
“We report back information to the board as the committee progresses through this process,” Bracety said.
Yavapai College Chief Human Resources Officer Janet Nix said the set up means she doesn’t have to come before the board to receive guidance and direction.
“In my opinion and what I’ve seen in the past, the board doesn’t weigh in until the very end,” McCasland said. “The committee does the screening, scanning, interviews and talking to them. We go to the public sessions but we don’t have a role there except for soliciting.”
“I don’t do this in a vacuum,” Nix said. “Usually the board chair is the person I go to, but because of the circumstances, I feel like having two — so there’s backup — is appropriate.”
Payne said he would like long-time stakeholders and Native American representation as part of the public makeup of the committee.
“Both sides of the mountain, too,” Bracety said about the committee. “Maybe some long-time government leaders here. Mix that in with some newer people who are moving here for a specific reason, that are raising a family that might be future students.”
Previous Search
McCasland, the only current board member who was present during the last presidential search, said there was plenty of time between the department of Rhine’s predecessor, Penny Wills, and Rhine’s hiring. Wills announced her retirement in May 2018 and stayed as president until December. Rhine was hired in February 2019.
“I’m the only board member that knows how to do [a presidential search],” McCasland said. “I hope I’m involved in that process. Also, there’s no rush, Dr. Berry is doing a great job.”
However, McCasland has not been involved in presidential searches. During the previous search in 2018, McCasland had moved to place herself on the search committee, but was denied by a 3-2 vote, according to the May 23, 2018, minutes. She wasn’t on the board until 2014, several years after Wills had been hired in 2011.
“The college conducts the search, we have a great format and a job description that we have for Dr. Rhine,” McCasland said. “I guess you don’t really care about that, because you fired her.”
Rhine was neither terminated nor resigned. The board placed Rhine on paid leave in July. Rhine signed a contract to become president of Central Arizona College in Coolidge starting on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The board voted at the last meeting to interpret the announcement of her hiring as a de facto resignation.
