President of Salt Lake Community College Deneece Huftalin has announced she’ll step down in June, almost a decade after she began leading the school with the state’s largest higher education enrollment.
In a message Huftalin sent to SLCC students and staff, she said she is “looking forward to retiring and having more time to travel and spend with family and friends. … I am thankful for this extraordinary institution and for the incredible opportunities to transform lives through education.”
Salt Lake Community College has more than 45,000 students on 10 campuses and in online classes.
According to Huftalin, the college’s board of trustees has already begun working with the Utah Board of Higher Education to “outline the search process” for her replacement. “We are hopeful the next president of SLCC will begin their tenure next June,” she wrote.
Huftalin was named SLCC’s interim president in 2014, and became the junior college’s full-time president a year later. She has been an administrator for more than 30 years, starting as director of academic and career advising in 1992.
“I never dreamed that 31 years later I would be writing this note as president,” Huftalin wrote, adding that she is “humbled to have worked alongside so many outstanding colleagues.”
Before being named interim president, Huftalin served as dean of students and vice president of student services.
She wrote that she is “incredibly proud” of her efforts to “strengthen student success, create a more inclusive environment for employees and students, and serve as a model for colleges nationwide in affordability, innovation, equity, and commitment to mission.”
She also pointed to “record-breaking” fundraising efforts.
“My thanks to all of you for your warmth, trust, and unwavering dedication to our students as we’ve pursued our collective goals,” she wrote. “My heart is full with the incredible relationships we’ve forged and the profound impact we’ve had on the lives of many. We dreamt and we did — and even had some fun along the way!”
