Vice President for Adult Basic Education for College & Career, Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ
Regina Suitt is the Vice President for Adult Basic Education for College & Career at Pima Community College. She leads multiple district wide programs including all Arizona Department of Education funded Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary, and English Language Acquisition for Adults. Additional programs include Civics & Student Leadership, AmeriCorps, Distance Learning, Transition services, Bridge and IBEST programs, Refugee Education, Correctional Education, Volunteers, as well as the managing the largest HSE/GED® testing center in the state. Over 150 staff, instructors, AmeriCorps members, and volunteers support over 6,000 students and testers a year in the Adult Basic Education Division. The Adult Basic Education Program has received many recognitions and awards over the 40+ year history.
Regina earned her BA in English from Iowa State University. Regina has dedicated her career to adult basic education. Like many in the field, she started as a part-time teacher, moving into more responsible roles over 25+ years. She started her career working and living on the Tohono O’odham reservation teaching English to high school students. It was then that she began teaching GED classes part-time in a village meeting house. She then moved on to teach GED full-time in the Pima County Jail for 8 years while also teaching as PCC adjunct faculty at the State Prison for 5 years.
Regina has a Master’s of Education in Leadership from Northern Arizona University with an emphasis in Community College Leadership.
Other service:
- Serves on the board of directors for one of the longest running charter schools, Edge Charter H.S
- Member of the Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education (CCCIE) Blue Ribbon Panel
- Advisory panel member for National Skills Coalition, National Advisory Panel on Skills Equity
- Past chair and now advisor to current Awareness Committee Chair for the Arizona Association for Lifelong Learning (AALL)
- Past COABE board as a Regional Representative for 8 states and as the Public Policy Chair
- Serves on the Advocacy Committee for Literacy Connects
- Appointed by Congressman Raul Grijalva to Mayor Rothschild’s Education Task Force
Regina is married to Tracy and they have two daughters. She is the first in her family to finish college. Her mother was an immigrant to the United States who had to learn English to provide for her three children. She has several family members who have also received their GEDs. She is in many ways a product of adult education.