WVC names Sansing-Helton new STEAM dean

WENATCHEE — Wenatchee Valley College has appointed Bethany Sansing-Helton as its new dean of Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture and Mathematics, bringing a background spanning engineering, mathematics, education, and community college instruction to the position.

Sansing-Helton will begin Aug. 17. As STEAM dean, she will oversee the college's exercise science, math, science, transfer engineering, agriculture and natural resources programs, as well as the WVC STEM Center. Her responsibilities will include planning, administration, development and assessment of instructional programs and initiatives.

“I am thrilled to be joining the WVC community as dean,” Sansing-Helton said. “My 16 years of experience as a community college faculty member have shaped my philosophy and deepened my commitment to student success. I look forward to working alongside faculty and colleagues to support our students and help them thrive.”

At WVC, the “A” in STEAM stands for agriculture, rather than arts, which is commonly represented by the same acronym in education. Both uses reflect an emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, bringing fields traditionally treated as separate areas of study into closer contact. WVC's version places agriculture and natural resources alongside science, technology, engineering and mathematics, fields that increasingly overlap through areas including data, technology, environmental science and engineering.

That emphasis on crossing traditional academic boundaries is reflected in Sansing-Helton's career. Before joining WVC, she was a mathematics faculty member at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin, where she also served as interim department chair for engineering, math department co-chair, lead data partner and program director for electrical engineering technology and electronics. She also served as an Equity and Inclusion Fellow.

Before entering community college education, Sansing-Helton spent nearly seven years at Lockheed Martin Astronautics as a senior test engineer and thermal analysis engineer.

WVC Vice President of Instruction Tod Treat said Sansing-Helton brings both faculty experience and an understanding of the different ways students learn within STEAM fields.

“Bethany is a welcome addition to our team and adds deep faculty experience, a continuous improvement skillset, and appreciation for the conceptual and instructional complexities in teaching and learning in STEAM, especially symbolic, laboratory, and field-based learning,” Treat said. “We are super excited to welcome her to the team.”
Sansing-Helton earned her doctorate in 2025 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education's Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. She holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University, a Master of Arts in Mathematics Teacher Education from Chatham University and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Antioch College.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media