It’s the end of an era for Salt Lake Community College with the retirement of President Deneece Huftalin after a decade in that office and 32 years at the school.
Huftalin officially steps down in June. Her parting message is to defend the value of higher education in Utah and the value of SLCC, something she often feels is overlooked.
Over the last few years there’s been a growing national narrative questioning the value of higher education. Huftalin said that debate made its way to SLCC.
“I’ve seen the challenges. They’re external challenges.”
While questions from outside of SLCC are important and help the school grow, Huftalin said some of the attacks are hostile and based on inaccurate assumptions about what goes on at colleges and the prices students are asked to pay.
There are some schools with “crazy endowments” that still raise tuition, to which she said “go after them, I get that.” But Huftalin feels it's overly simplistic to say all colleges are too expensive and don’t offer enough value.
“There's more nuance to it. And I wish the lawmakers and folks would listen to that kind of nuance.”
A 2024 report from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute highlighted the value of higher education in terms of economic stability, better health outcomes and more civic engagement. In May, Utah System of Higher Education leaders told state lawmakers that even though tuition is going up at most public colleges, they are still affordable compared to their peers nationwide.
However, Huftalin views the questioning of value as a political talking point. If you were to ask lawmakers what they want for their children, she said their answer would be they “want them to have a college degree.”
“There's such a huge [return on investment] for any kind of post-secondary credential, whether it's a certificate at a tech college, whether it's an associate's degree, whether it's a bachelor's or beyond.”
Even so, schools still feel pressed about an education that delivers skills for the workforce.
“I think there's pressures to accelerate and minimize curriculum. And in some cases you can do that. In some cases you can't,” Huftalin said. “Where can we do that effectively? And where do we really have strong evidence that this longer term or this longer program is actually important for the industry or the field?”
To her, community colleges get less of the heat than liberal arts colleges because of the focus they put on the workforce. But she also emphasized general education courses that teach listening, communication and critical thinking are vital. She wants her grandkids to grow up in a world where people can have civil dialogue and debates, where people question things.
“I feel like that quality exchange of ideas in higher education between faculty and students and their peers is really powerful. And I worry that some of the other things, the noise of the other stuff, gets in the way of that.”
Beyond the value argument, Huftalin acknowledged there are “a lot of challenges in higher ed right now.” She sees “overreach by government happening across states” and worries it will “get even stronger as the national narrative changes.”
Huftalin will retire before Utah’s new anti-DEI law takes effect on July 1. The “Equal Opportunity Initiatives” law bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices in public schools, universities and state entities. As of the 2021-2022 school year 35% of SLCC students are not white.
Late last year, Gov. Spencer Cox said there’s “no evidence” that DEI programs are helping students. Huftalin said that’s not true.
“We're narrowing the gap in terms of completion rates based on race and ethnicity. That's really important.”
SLCC’s new president, Gregory Peterson, will take over in July.
But even with what Huftalin calls “noise” surrounding higher education, she’s proud of the faculty and students at her school.
“We know very clearly who we serve and why we serve them,” Huftalin said. “I think community colleges have that legacy. That's why they were created. And so it felt very important to me and to my colleagues to stick with it.”
