Official SLCC Blog

  West Jordan High School Students Perform at the Samoan Ava History Celebration at  SLCC Taylorsville Campus Salt Lake Community College has been celebrating the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage month throughout the month of April—usually celebrated in May. The celebrations hosted by various student clubs provided the opportunity to all people from AAPI ancestry and the diasporic communities from those geographic regions as well as the community, to celebrate the AAPI culture, traditions and history. SLCC community learning the art of making lei's “It is wonderful that we have a month to showcase our culture with the rest of the student body,” says Mone Langui, President of the Pacific Unity Association (PUA) Club. Aye Chan, President of the Asian Student Association, mirrors Mone’s sentiment saying, “to have a month where we get to display and share our culture with our peers is extremely meaningful.” Chef  Wan Ho Koi teaching SLCC community how to ma...

  Models taking the runway at SLCC's Annual Fashion Show In a display of whimsy and color, students from Salt Lake Community College’s Fashion Institute showcased their creativity on the runway at South City Campus on April 22.  With styles inspired by clowns, Ugly Betty and Alice in Wonderland, the annual fashion show was a culmination of months of hard work by SLCC's fashion design students. Each senior design student in the Collection Production class is required to create 10 pieces of clothing as their final project. The class begins in the fall with students finding their inspiration and drawing sketches, to creating and sewing their designs in the spring, and ending with presenting their designs at the fashion show. “It's just really cool to see students and see what they've come up with because they've been working all year since the fall on this,” says Breeann Ross, one of the three Fashion Production students who put on this event. The Fashion Production cl...

Provost Graduates of Excellence is a prestigious distinction that recognizes hard work, commitment and selflessness. One student is selected from each school and General Studies. Many students apply to receive this honor. These students have excellent GPAs and typically receive scholarships and awards for their academic achievements. They have demonstrated leadership skills and a dedication to serving others, in addition to other notable achievements related to the creative arts, athletic excellence or involvement in SLCC beyond the classroom. Amanda Lee School of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Geology Neither of my parents went to college. I never graduated from high school, so it never crossed my mind that I could go to college. After decades of battling poor decisions and toxic cycles, I sought help. I broke the cycles, obtained my GED and registered for SLCC. My journey has taught me to let go of what I had left behind to move forward. This degree means so much more to me tha...

Provost Graduates of Excellence is a prestigious distinction that recognizes hard work, commitment and selflessness. One student is selected from each school and General Studies. Many students apply to receive this honor. These students have excellent GPAs and typically receive scholarships and awards for their academic achievements. They have demonstrated leadership skills and a dedication to serving others, in addition to other notable achievements related to the creative arts, athletic excellence or involvement in SLCC beyond the classroom. Trelynn Gehringer Gail Miller School of Business Business Management I was a teen mom and an addict. I wanted to go to school but didn’t want to cause financial stress on my family and kids. I found SLCC and soon discovered that it was the perfect fit for my educational needs. By early 2020, I applied, enrolled and was set to start at the college, but then COVID hit. I was furloughed from my job, the college shut down and everything went fully re...

  Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) was one of three Utah colleges to receive funding from Talent Ready Utah to develop new Utah Works programs serving the transportation and manufacturing industries.     Talent Ready, which is housed within the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE), awarded $873,090 to SLCC, Bridgerland Technical College and Weber State University.   “This grant allows us to offer a broader range of short-term workforce certificate programs and training that align with the needs of the local job market,” explains Rick Bouillon, associate vice president, SLCC Workforce and Development. “These programs are designed in collaboration with industry leaders to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to enter the workforce.”   This grant removes financial barriers by covering the cost of tuition for any Utah resident interested in pursuing training in these certificate programs. “This increases accessibility, allowing more students...

Competing can be pretty intimidating, and the added pressure of belonging to one of the best teams in the State can make it feel more overwhelming. However, Salt Lake Community College Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) did not only participate in the State competition, but they also performed exceptionally well, bringing back over 60 awards both, individual and teams. Calista (Cali) Bourdos President of FBLA club Calista (Cali) Bourdos, FBLA club president and Genesis Ruiz, DECA club president, are familiar with national competitions. Their experience participating in previous competitions has given them the knowledge they can share with their team to empower and guide them during the competitions. "I am so proud of everyone," says Cali about her team's performance in the State competition. "They all worked extremely hard and their work paid off by placing first, second and third place in the State." Cal...

  Kristi M. Green, PhD  Associate Professor and Management Department Coordinator, Gail Miller School of Business Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, 2024 For associate professor Kristi Green, SLCC is a beacon of diversity. She sees the college’s mission of inclusivity realized daily through its support of marginalized communities seeking higher education.  Even so, Kristi notes there are still few Latinas in higher education leadership positions. This brought her to wonder how community colleges are supporting Latinas and to conduct her own research on the issue. As SLCC’s Distinguished Faculty Lecturer for 2024, Kristi’s lecture will focus on the experiences and stories of Latinas working in higher education and how colleges can foster more inclusive environments. “These narratives are considered ‘Counterstories.’ Counterstorytelling is a method of recounting the experiences of the racially and socially marginalized,” Kristi says.  Her lecture will also highlight the p...

Melissa Garff Ballard,  Utah House of Representatives District 20, Davis County LEGISLATIVE CHAMPION Melissa Garff Ballard Utah House of Representatives District 20 Davis County Representative Melissa Garff Ballard is SLCC’s Legislative Champion for 2023. She will be honored during the College’s Commencement Ceremony scheduled for May 4 at the Maverik Center. Representative Ballard began her service in the Utah House of Representatives in 2019. At that time, she was appointed to the Higher Education Appropriations Committee, and in 2023 was named as the committee’s chair. In this role, she has been a great champion for SLCC and Utah’s other higher education institutions. During her early days as a legislator, Representative Ballard visited SLCC to learn more about its students and perspectives on important issues related to education. Through the years, she continues to keep in contact with SLCC leadership and students. During the most recent legislative session, Representative Bal...

Anni Tedder Director of Academic Advising “ Come see us, we want to see you. We want to know what we can to help you reach your academic goals. We want you to know that you belong here . ” Anni Tedder Salt Lake Community College welcomes Anni Tedder as the new Director of Academic Advising. Anni brings her 17 years of professional experience working in higher education in various roles, including admissions and academic advising. Anni's work has centered on serving students from underserved populations, assisting them in pursuing their educational goals by guiding them and teaching them to navigate the college system. Anni was born in Queens, New York and raised in West Jordan, Utah. She is an alumna of the University of Utah. Anni obtained her undergraduate degree in Sociology with a certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling and a graduate degree in Educational Leadership and Policy with an emphasis on Student Affairs. Anni enjoys spending time with her family in her free time, at...

  Melissa Hardy relishes when students who at first think they’re not good at   science gain self confidence in her classes. In her biology courses, Melissa engages students by peppering them with questions and incorporating group activities. Each class also culminates in a research project. “They gain self-efficacy and leave proud of themselves,” says Melissa.   When Melissa first began teaching at SLCC in 2011, she taught how she was taught, through lectures and tests. This approach has since evolved into a style that relies on active learning. “I’ve really focused on making the material more accessible and inclusive in order to reach and engage my students,” says Melissa. She attributes her teaching evolution to the supportive collegiate environment in the School of Science, Mathematics and Engineering, where leadership encourages new ideas.     Melissa has enormous respect and admiration for her students, not just because they are smart and motivated but als...

Marian Howe-Taylor Leader for Women in Education   Quietly elevating minority students and women of all races since 1999, Marian Howe-Taylor, Special Project manager for the School of Communication, Arts and Media at Salt Lake Community College, was recently recognized for her decades of effort by the Utah Women in Education Network (UWHEN). In commendation for her leadership, the 2023 UWHEN Special Recognition Award was presented to Marian during their Annual Leadership Conference on Friday, April 7, 2023.   Since starting with SLCC, Marian has created programs and projects that substantially impact women in education. Marian’s projects range from supporting women of color interested in science, mathematics and engineering to creating space for women of color to have their voices heard in educational circles.   Not one to seek the limelight or accolades, Marian is an outstanding mentor, innovator, and leader at SLCC and within Utah’s public education system. Marian’s pro...

  In class, Nikki Mantyla often displays students’ sentences on a screen and invites everyone to shift around words and punctuation. She wants to disarm students who may fear writing and perceive it as rigid. She shows them how the arrangement of words can be played with to create different emphases.      “I find the best learning happens through curiosity, experimentation, discussion, questioning and simply playing around,” says Nikki, who teaches general education and novel writing classes. “I want students to discover the many methods of giving life to the words on the page.”    In her 15 years of teaching at SLCC, Nikki has heard many students say they hated writing until they took one of her classes. She recalls one student who said for the first time ever he felt his voice as a writer was worthwhile and he could use it to speak up and out.      Teaching is part of Nikki’s heritage. Her grandparents and parents were teachers, ...

  After 14 years of teaching at SLCC, Claire Adams describes her role in her humanities’ classes as a facilitator. She encourages her students to share their knowledge and lived experiences in class discussions.     Because the humanities typically explore the human experience and seek to better understand the world, Claire’s teaching style increasingly leans into a solution-oriented approach. “There are so many big social issues coming at our students so fast—school shootings, a global pandemic, racial injustices—that I think it is important to instill in them a thought process that is solution oriented, so they are not left feeling helpless,” she explains.   Claire wasn’t planning to become a college professor. “My first two years in college I had Imposters Syndrome,” says Claire, who grew up in Ireland and was the first in her family to attend college. “I just fell in love with the humanities and the excitement that comes with learning.” She is especially motivate...