Dennis serves as MCC's Associate Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness (IE) and Accreditation Liaison Officer, supporting college planning, institutional effectiveness, institutional research, business intelligence and data analytics, accreditation, grants development, assessment, program review, and compliance.

His nearly 20 years of experience in higher education include the Morrison Institute for Public Policy and the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University, as well as Rio Salado College within Maricopa. Dennis has served in various roles in IE since joining MCC in 2007, including research analyst, planning and research director and interim dean, before becoming  AVP of IE in 2019 and Interim CAO in 2023.

A first-generation college graduate, Dennis earned a Doctor of Education in leadership and innovation from Arizona State University, a master's degree in public administration from Valdosta State University, and dual bachelor's degrees in English literature and journalism from ASU. He also teaches in ASU’s Master of Higher Education and Doctor of Education programs and has been a past adjunct faculty member at MCC.

His current research pursuits include data use in higher education, employee perceptions of data use, equity-mindedness, equity-minded data use, and employee data literacy. Recently he was in Chicago at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference presenting his dissertation research – “Thunderbird Data Scholars: Community College Employee Professional Development to Promote Data Literacy and Equity Mindedness.”

Curriculum Vitae

• Doctor of Education (Ed.D) in Leadership and Innovation, Arizona State University, May 2022
• Master of Public Administration, Valdosta State University, 2011
• Bachelor of Arts - English Literature, Arizona State University, 2008
• Bachelor of Arts - Journalism and Mass Communication (media analysis), Arizona State University, 2008
• Barrett Honors College Graduate, 2008

Professional Awards/Certifications

• Data Visualization with Tableau Specialization, UC-Davis (2017)
• Society for College and University Planning Institute (2016)
• Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing, Northern Arizona University (2014)
• Association for Institutional Research - Data and Decisions Academy Presidential Scholarship (2012)
• Navigate Maricopa and Maricopa Leadership Foundations (2012)

• getData @ MCC (internal only)
• MCC Strategic Plan
• MCC Accreditation