New dean to take over research and planning

By Sam Ward

Nancy Szofran, who will be Mt Hood Community College’s director of institutional research starting March 15, said she “feels at home at MHCC.”
Szofran is currently working at the board of education in Idaho as the chief information and technology officer and according to Marilyn Davis, of the Idaho Board of Education, Szofran will be a great asset to MHCC.

Davis said, “[Szofran is] very familiar with institutional research. She has worked very closely with the vice presidents of research in the various institutions and has very good research skills.”
Szofran loves her current job, but, according to Davis, she “elected to go back to the campus environment.”
Szofran’s duties at Idaho, said Davis, include overseeing “professional technology and all of the research and information needs for the state.”

Her previous jobs include being an assistant library technician at Michigan Technical University.
Szofran has looked at the MHCC website, and said, “You can tell a lot about an institution by looking at their website and what they feel what is important is published on the front page.”

When Szofran visited MHCC, she liked the atmosphere.
“When I visited the campus in January, I had an opportunity to talk to the faculty, staff and particularly students, and I really liked what people were saying about their college experience there.”

Szofran has already been to Portland several times. What really sold her to Portland was Multnomah Falls.
“[My son and I] hiked up Multnomah Falls and just fell in love with the area,” said Szofran. Szofran has talked to various people in the community about MHCC, and has found that everything was positive. Szofran’s final day at her current job is March 3.