2020-2021 Innovation of the Year Award Winner: Houston Community College District

Student Virtual Lobby

A Student Services Virtual Lobby was implemented using the Zoom platform in June 2020. Designing the Virtual Lobby, fine-tuning business processes, and ensuring that student services employees were well-trained in operating the platform meant a considerable time investment over a very short timeframe. The Virtual Lobby was launched districtwide with eight departments throughout the system on July 27, 2020. With the new realities we face with as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Virtual Lobby team acted quickly to move our face-to-face support services online. Students are now able to access the following services virtually: Advising, Business Office, Career Consulting, Counseling, Enrollment and Admissions, Financial Aid, International/ISSO, and Veterans. The Virtual Lobby proved so popular that it grew from only 160 participants during its first week of full operation to 33,000 participants during a peak registration week in mid-August.

Innovators

  • Rima Adil, Dean, Student Success
  • Qunoot Almecci, Manager, Advising
  • Jeff Andre, Manager, Advising
  • Maria Argueta, Office Manager, Student Engagement and Success
  • Alejandra Campos-Guerrero, Manager, Advising
  • David Franklin, Advisor, Pathways and Case Management
  • Matias Garza, Dean, Student Success
  • Afrah Hassan, Associate Dean, Student Engagement
  • Sarah Ho, Manager, Advising
  • Kenneth Holden, Dean of Students
  • Erik Jaimes, College Access Associate, Student Services
  • Kimberly Joyner, Manager, Advising
  • Anamaria Lopez, Associate Dean, Student Engagement
  • Ashley Martin, Manager, Advising
  • Vivian Medrano, Advising Manager, HCC Online College
  • Emilio Mendoza, Manager, Advising
  • Shamira Pirzada, Administrative Assistant, Student Development
  • Shameka Reed, Advising Manager, Northwest College
  • Afsaneh Tarhandeh, Advisor, Pathways and Case Management
  • Patricia Ugwu, Dean, Student Success and Engagement, HCC Coleman College for Health Sciences
  • Stacy Welcome, Dean, Student Success, Central Campus
  • Malgorzata Wright, Academic Advisor, Student Development
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