Out of 10 AACC Award of Excellence categories, YC earned finalist nods in three: Student Success; Trustee of the Year, namely YC District Governing Board Chair Deb McCasland; and CEO of the Year, namely YC President Dr. Lisa Rhine.

“It’s unusual to be named a finalist in multiple categories,” Rhine said. “Community colleges everywhere are helping individuals and communities flourish with targeted, results-oriented programs and resources. We are proud to be one of them and honored to be considered among the most successful.”

The AACC is a non-profit advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges. It represents nearly 1,200 institutions and more than 11,000 million students. The Awards of Excellence reflect and advance the association’s priorities and spotlight “promising practices” among member colleges. The winners will be announced at an Awards of Excellence gala in early April in Denver.

McCasland, a YC alumna who has served on the District Governing Board for eight years, the last three as Chair, was nominated for AACC Trustee of the Year by Dr. David B. Borofsky, Director of the Arizona Association of Community College Trustees. The award celebrates a trustee who has made significant contributions to the college, demonstrated exceptional leadership and presided over significant achievements that benefit the college, district, state, system or foundation.

In his nomination letter, Borofsky lauded McCasland’s “amazing growth” as a leader, her tireless community engagement and statewide advocacy efforts and her unmatched passion for student success. “She is THE trustee who is focused on student success,” Borofsky wrote.

Rhine’s AACC CEO of the Year finalist recognition was bolstered by multiple nomination letters, her service on multiple local, state and national higher-education and economic development panels, and her nomination for and/or receipt of multiple leadership awards since being named YC’s 10th president in 2019. Rhine was named the Association of Community College Trustees Pacific Region CEO in 2021. Also that year, she was named a Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Paragon President.

In her nomination letter on Rhine’s behalf, McCasland called YC’s president an “inspirational and genuine” leader who is “fulfilling her purpose in helping as many people as possible change the trajectory of their lives.”

McCasland’s letter conveyed to the AACC Awards Committee tangible results of Rhine’s tenure, including significant increases in associate degree awards, student retention and Hispanic student enrollment, as well as more than $1 million in cost savings to students as a result of an Open Educational Resources initiative aimed at reducing or eliminating textbook and course materials costs.

YC’s finalist nod in the Award of Excellence Student Success category is a direct result of the implementation in 2019 of the YC Promise – a tuition-reimbursement program for both degree-seeking and workforce-credential students -- and a robust early college program. The initiatives stem from the college’s strategic focus on belonging, adult learners, living wage and diversified program delivery. The YC Promise and early college programs are credited with the college doubling its two-year, on-time completion rate to 25 percent, which is double the national average, and increasing degrees awarded to high school students from 25 in 2012 to 208 in 2022.

“As we’ve shifted from a collegewide focus on enrollment to completion and considered alternative delivery methods, we have not only seen great gains in completion rates but also increased access and affordability that puts a college degree in reach for those whom it might not otherwise been attainable,” Rhine said of YC’s student success initiatives in a supporting statement to the AACC.

In his support letter to the AACC, Prescott Unified School District Superintendent Joe Howard described the YC Promise and early college programs as “extremely successful” and “incredible opportunities” to improve college accessibility, affordability and completion for high school students and adults in the community. “These programs are head-turners and game-changers for our kids and families,” he said.