Dena Maloney, who has served as dean of economic development and director of the Employee Training Institute at College of the Canyons for 10 years, has been appointed by the college board of trustees as the founding dean of the about-to-open Canyon Country campus.

"We are all extremely pleased that Dena applied for and was appointed as founding dean for the new Canyon Country Campus of Collegeof the Canyons," said Sue Bozman, dean of district communication, marketing and external relations of the college.

"Dena has 10 years of experience building programs fromscratch. She is a professional with the drive, integrity and skills to openour new campus, build it from the ground up and provide the leadershipneeded to be sure it thrives. She loves working with our community,understands the needs of our local businesses, and has strong ties to theschools," added Bozman.

Since 1993, Maloney has developed extensive partnerships with local business and industries and has generated more than $8.4 million in training dollars to support the economic development in the Santa Clarita Valley. During Maloney's tenure at ETI, the program developed training partnerships with the Valley Industrial Association, the SCV Chamber of Commerce, garnered education funding from federal, state and local sources, served 2,325 businesses and trained 11,068 employees.

"Filling Dena's shoes in her current job as the dean of economic developmentfor the college is a very high priority for the district, as it is anextremely important position, overseeing the college's work to providetraining and other support for our local businesses, entrepreneurs andindustries," stressed Bozman."The various departments in the Economic Development Division areled by district managers, and these managers will continue to keep theirrespective areas running smoothly until a new dean is appointed to fill thatleadership role."

Maloney will lead a team of College of the Canyons faculty and staff at the new campus. "I am thrilled to be working with our talented faculty and staff at the Canyon Country campus," said Maloney. "Our goal is to bring the same high caliber instruction and services to the campus as those that are provided at the Valencia campus. The new campus will bring more opportunities to students to access higher education and achieve their dreams."

Maloney received her doctorate in education from University of La Verne, her master's degree in government from Georgetown University and a bachelor's degree inpolitical science from Loyola Marymount University.

For more information about the Canyon Country campus, visit www.canyons.edu and click on "Canyon Country."