Maricopa District Office

Mary I. Vanis, Ed. D.
Director of the Center for Workforce Development


Dr. Mary VanisDr. Vanis was appointed Director of the Center for Workforce Development in January 2001. She provides district-wide senior level leadership for business and workforce development, national, regional, state, and local agencies and organizations in the areas of occupational and workforce education and economic development, including the state and federal agencies, to support the fiscal and programmatic management of federal Carl Perkins III and state Proposition 301 resources.

Dr. Vanis is charged with coordinating Maricopa’s planning, development, maintenance, implementation, and evaluation of occupational programs, and she serves as a liaison to the local employer and education community to analyze student and labor market characteristics and trends thus, developing responsive job training and career pathway programs for transition from middle school, high school, community colleges, and universities.

A 25-year veteran with the Maricopa Community Colleges, Dr. Vanis has served in several key roles both within and outside the Maricopa system. Between February 2007 and January 2008, Dr. Vanis was Acting Campus President at Pima Community College’s Desert Vista Campus. From 1997-2001, Dr. Vanis served as Founding Campus Dean for Mesa Community College's Red Mountain Campus. She has also worked at Rio Salado College. Before joining the Maricopa Community Colleges, Dr. Vanis was an administrator in adult basic education with Pima County in Arizona and Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In July 2001, Dr. Vanis accepted an appointment by Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull to the Governor's Council on Workforce Policy, and was re-appointed to the post by Governor Janet Napolitano in 2004. Her additional appointments include the Governor's Council on Aging, serving as a member of the Older Worker's Task Force, and the Commission on the Economy for the City of Phoenix (a Mayoral appointment). Dr. Vanis is a member of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and the Arizona Business and Education Coalition. Her national affiliations include the American Community College Association, the American Association for Higher Education, the American Association of Women in Community and Junior Colleges, and she serves as a consultant evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association for Colleges and Schools.

Dr. Vanis has tribal affiliation with the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma and has served on the board of directors for the Phoenix Indian Center and the Affiliation of Arizona Indian Centers.

Dr. Vanis earned her Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences and a Master's degree in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her Doctor of Education degree is from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff.

mary.vanis@ domail.maricopa.edu