Joe Moffett, PhD, recently became the Dean of Arts, English, and Humanities division at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC).

Dean Moffett is originally from Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh area. He is a 17-year veteran of higher education.

Q: What excites you about OCCC?

A: One of the things I really love about OCCC is the fact that it’s a community college. When I first went into college, I spent some time in a community college myself and that was a really helpful and useful experience for me. I believe strongly in the importance of access to education for all people. As a first generation college student, I think community colleges do a particularly good job of helping people like myself who aren’t familiar with the college system understand how it works and to give them a little extra bit of help.

So I’m pleased to be a part of that now!

Q: What do you bring to OCCC and its students?

A: I think what I bring to the division is excitement and joy with working with people from different backgrounds, working to try to support the great work that our faculty does and our staff do to support the work of students and their learning. And I hope as far as students are concerned, I hope that I am able to be a resource for them, that we make learning easy and enjoyable for them, and we are able to connect them with federal resources they may need.

So they are welcome to reach out to me or our staff in the main Art and Humanities (AH) office for any help they may need.

Q: Will there be any changes to the program in the near future?

A: It’s a good question! We are kind of at a place where we are taking a look at our programs and think about ways to innovate them. Something we should always do in higher education is to make sure that we are always trying to improve our programs. We are also looking at what the trends are in society and what students’ interests and needs are.

So we are always open to suggestions and partnerships with the community and across campus to improve our programs.