Prescott, Arizona (Nov. 10, 2025) – The list of Ustadza White’s contributions to Yavapai College cover nearly half the space of an award certificate she received earlier this year designating her as the college’s staff employee of the quarter.

Added to the list in the intervening months: promotion to Director of Library and Tutoring Services; the development and rollout of a pilot, Yavapai College-specific AI tutor named Sophie; singled out as the college’s Employee of the Year.

Earning the college’s top employee honor was an OMG moment for White, who has been described as “unstoppable” in her quest to provide students, faculty and staff the technology they need to advance their skills, boost their knowledge and ensure their success.

“I don’t remember much about getting onstage and offstage, because I was in such shock,” she said, recalling hearing her name announced during the award portion of Convocation in August. “It was unreal. It didn’t even occur to me that I would ever get that honor, but that moment made me feel really seen.”

When you work as hard as White does making things happen day in and day out in your workplace, it can be easy to think no one is paying attention. But it’s hard to ignore someone who tackles creating and testing an AI tutor while assuming a new, top leadership role and helping steer multiple other collegewide initiatives. But White is passionate about digging into projects that ultimately help people -- projects like her AI tutor Sophie.

“AI can be a fantastic teaching and learning tool and I designed Sophie to be just that. She doesn’t give students the answers. She walks them step by step through a problem, helping them arrive at the answer on their own,” White said. “She’ll help you get there.”

Sophie also connects students to valuable college resources and is available around the clock. “We aren’t available for students at 2 in the morning. Sophie can be that touch point,” White said.

White’s academic and career journey started at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida where she studied human factors psychology – a field that examines how people interact with systems, products and environments to make them safer – and worked in the university library. It was in that “knowledge warehouse,” as she called it, that White fell in love with helping everyone who walked through the doors find what they were looking for. “I love knowing enough about different things to be helpful for people,” White said.

 After earning her degree in 2003, White landed a job at the Yavapai College Library as a circulation supervisor and successfully pursued a master’s degree in library and information technology at the University of Arizona.

Within a few years, a professional growth opportunity took White back to Florida – to Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale -- as a reference librarian. That job, she said, introduced her to new technology and had her supporting international students at satellite campuses around the globe.

When a library manager position opened at Yavapai College in 2011, White jumped at the chance to return to the high desert, the mountains and a more connected community. “I didn’t realize I how much I liked that small-town feel,” she said.

Waiting for White when she made her Yavapai College comeback were colleagues she had befriended previously. Several, including Ginney Bilbray and James Rider, are still part of the library team. “We have literally grown up together,” White said of her longtime co-workers.

As the library’s manager of technology for many years, White relished “diving into projects and tinkering with things.” Her technological knowhow and leadership in driving innovation at the library and collegewide led to her being tapped for the Library and Tutoring Services director’s position. “In this position, because the scope is quite large and library and tutoring services are evolving, I’m able to do so many things. I can honestly say I’ve never been bored at YC,” White said.

Tinkering also characterizes White’s personal life, which she shares with her husband, Clark, and an animal family of dogs and a cat. Her list of pastimes is as long or longer than her professional accomplishments. It includes belly dancing, world travel, painting, gardening, troubleshooting and fixing older-model vehicles and, as a proud foodie, lots of experimenting in the kitchen. “I love looking at something and trying to figure out what the possibilities could be. I want to create something from nothing,” she said.

With so many interests and a demanding job, White has become a faithful adherent to proven time-management techniques to maintain a healthy work-life balance. “I track my day in 15-minute increments so I have a detailed look at where my time is being spent and where I can make adjustments.”

White is on the cusp of unveiling another signature project she had a significant role in developing -- the Yavapai College Center for Learning and Innovation. The tech-filled, future-leaning space is replacing the former library in Building 19 on the Prescott campus. A larger version of the CLI that recently opened on the Verde Valley Campus, the Prescott Campus CLI is set to open in January. It’s where White will be stationed, overseeing the people and the tools that will deliver the knowledge and technology students, faculty and staff need.

“I’m excited to be able to lead both (library and tutoring services) teams into the Center for Learning and Innovation and see where it takes us and see how our roles end up evolving inside of that space,” she said, adding, “I have always believed in lifelong learning. There is something special about being in a place where everyone is learning and growing together.”

Yavapai College operates seven campuses and centers throughout Yavapai County and offers over 100 degrees and certificates, four baccalaureate degrees, student and community services, and cultural events and activities. To learn more about YC, visit www.yc.edu.