New Moraine Valley president wants to expand programs

By Isabella Schreck

As Moraine Valley Community College’s new president, Pamela Haney wants students, faculty and staff to know they are welcome on campus and that she cares about the college and its people – a lot.

“I just feel like everyone should feel valued,” Haney said. “People should feel like they’re in a place that’s inclusive. I care about the college itself, I care about the community, and I care about the people who work here.”

Now in her second decade of service at Moraine Valley, Haney follows Sylvia Jenkins, who retired after 11 years as the college’s president. Haney, who earned a doctorate in Interpersonal Communication from Bowling Green State University, took the role at the beginning of July.

Haney has held various dean, assistant dean and adjunct faculty positions at the college over her tenure, and she had most recently been vice president of Academic Affairs since 2012, where she worked closely with administration, faculty and staff.

“I absolutely love working with teams,” Haney said. “When you have teams, you create energy, and you create new ideas – that’s really important to me.”

Among other outside leadership roles she has held, Haney is on the board of directors for Women Employed, a nonprofit focused on equity for women in the workforce.

Haney said service in leadership means “a commitment to valuing others.”

“I think so many times, we become consumed with our sales or daily tasks, but service is important to me because it allows me to value other people,” Haney said. “It brings people together, and it makes an environment more inclusive for everyone.”

Haney mentioned several other goals she hopes will positively impact the college’s variety of learners  – from first generation to returning to two-year and four-year students, along with many others.

“I want to look at expanding our program offerings, so that we can prepare students for in-demand careers that will make them highly employable,” she said.

“I want to partner with our businesses, community organizations and four-year institutions, and then I want to make sure that we’re equipping our faculty and staff with not only the resources that they need as professionals, but also the resources that they need to help students be successful.”

In addition to successes at the college’s Education Center at Blue Island, one of Haney’s proudest Moraine-Valley memories came during the COVID pandemic when she saw faculty and staff’s dedication to helping students and one another during the transition to expanded online learning and other pandemic-related changes.

The new president said she will work to ensure faculty and staff feel supported and appreciated.

“If you think about the hours in a day, most of the time we’re here at work,” Haney said. “So, if you spend most of your time at work, it should be a place where you’re happy to come to. I want them to feel engaged and that the campus belongs to them as much as it belongs to our students in the community.”