Dr. Dana M. Young has served as the sixth and the first female president of Treasure Valley Community College since July 2010. As a first generation student, Dr. Young personally understands the challenges encountered by many students and has dedicated her career to supporting student success. Under her leadership, and with her more than 20 years of administrative experience working in higher education, she collaborated with college constituency groups and community stakeholders to create an environment of data driven decision-making and ultimately a multi-year strategic plan that connects to the mission of TVCC.
During her tenure TVCC has been successful in its application and receipt of numerous competitive federal, state, local, and private grants. Specifically, the successful acquisition of federal HEP, CAMP, and Title III grants. Dr. Young’s vision for TVCC is to continue to be the first choice and the right choice for students by offering quality and affordable academic, career, workforce training and student success programs, creating a culture of inclusiveness, and promoting safety and security on campus. Part of this vision included building state of the art facilities to enhance the student learning environment. Because of a tradition of community and state support, the Laura Moore Cunningham Science Center was built in 2012 and starting in 2020 the groundbreaking and construction of a new Career and Technical Education Center will further enhance current and future programming opportunities. Through collaborative efforts the College has made significant strides in building relationships with business and industry, K-12 schools, municipalities, agencies, and other institutions of higher education to prepare for future growth and ensure community educational needs are met.
Dr. Young is actively engaged with the TVCC Foundation to cultivate donor relations and establish on-going endowments for future generations of students. As such, in 2014, Dr. Young created an endowed scholarship in memorial to her mother who was a student in the college’s nursing program in the 1970s. In 2020, Dr. Young created the Dr. Dana M. Young Presidential Scholarship an endowed scholarship to support women pursuing a career in leadership. She continues to support and advocate for the mission of the Foundation to improve the quality of life for students by creating scholarships and enhancing the environment for student life and activities.
Before coming to TVCC, Dr. Young spent seven years as the Vice President of Student Affairs at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. Prior to moving to Wyoming, Young worked at Blue Mountain Community College for more than 17 years. At BMCC she held several leadership positions including Vice President/Dean of Student & Enrollment Services, Associate Dean of Enrollment Services and Director of Financial Aid.
Dr. Young earned her PhD in Higher Education Leadership from Colorado State University, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics from Eastern Oregon University. Dr. Young’s advocacy for Oregon community colleges has included meeting regularly with legislators to advocate for community colleges as well as focusing on current legislation that may impact higher education. Dr. Young currently serves as a member of the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s Equity Committee, the Governor appointed regional Eastern Oregon Border Economic Development Board, the Eastern Oregon Workforce Board, the Snake River Economic Development Association, the Eastern Oregon Economic Summit steering committee, the Ontario Area Chamber of Commerce, Lifeways, Inc. as well as other regional and local boards. In 2020, Dr. Young was honored and recognized for her long-standing work in higher education and received the prestigious Oregon Community College Association Howard Cherry Administrator of the Year award.