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Opening Welcome Speaker:

DENEECE G. HUFTALIN

 

DENEECE G. HUFTALIN, PHD    

 

Dr. Deneece G. Huftalin was named the eighth president of Salt Lake Community College in September 2014 and feels privileged to have served SLCC students, faculty, and staff for nearly three decades.

In her tenure as president, Dr. Huftalin has launched a Collegewide strategic planning cycle which has produced a new vision, mission, values, and strategic goals for the College. Dr. Huftalin is leading efforts to strengthen completion rates, transfer pathways, workforce responsiveness, and equity in student access and completion. She encourages an environment of innovation and positive restlessness, challenging staff and faculty to embrace emerging pedagogies such as Open Educational Resources and Competency Based Education, and to situate SLCC as a model for inclusive and transformative education.

Under Dr. Huftalin’s leadership, the College strengthened its footprint across the Salt Lake Valley with four new buildings and one replacement building. The state-of-the art Westpointe Workforce Training and Education Center opened in 2018 and was designed to spark industry partnerships and strengthen access to relevant workforce training across the county. The Tim and Brenda Huval Student Center at the Jordan Campus opened in 2021 providing more consolidated student services resources and better student engagement spaces. In 2021 the College also broke ground on the Juniper Building in Herriman in partnership with the University of Utah, and the College is also developing its first-ever on campus student housing through a public-private partnership.

An advocate for the role of community colleges, Dr. Huftalin is determined to keep the cost of higher education low, to provide access to under-represented students, and to ensure that all who have a desire to improve their life through education can find success at SLCC.

Dr. Huftalin has taught in the Education, Leadership, and Policy program at the University of Utah and serves on several community boards and committees including the Salt Lake Chamber, EDCUtah, the Women's Leadership Institute, the Intermountain Community Care Foundation, the International Women’s Forum Utah Chapter, and the World Trade Center Utah. Nationally, Dr. Huftalin serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Salt Lake City Branch Board of Directors, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration Steering Committee, the LeaderShape Board of Trustees, and has served as a commissioner and Executive Committee member for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU).

Prior to her current role, Dr. Huftalin served as the interim president, vice president of student services, dean of students, and director of academic and career advising. Before joining SLCC in 1992, Dr. Huftalin held positions at William Rainey Harper College, Northwestern University, the University of Utah, Stanford University, and the Institute for Shipboard Education.

Dr. Huftalin and her husband Tim are the parents of two sons, Max and Eli. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah, a master's degree from UCLA, and a doctorate in Education, Leadership, and Policy from the University of Utah.