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31^st Annual Quest for Excellence Conference

April 7-10, 2019

Gaylord National Harbor | National Harbor, MD

A multi-talented Alamo Colleges District team shared their expertise and experience, including innovations and best practices, at the 31st Annual Quest for Excellence and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards conference held recently in National Harbor, Maryland. The conference showcased current and former Baldrige award recipients and offered organizations the opportunity to learn how to begin their own Baldrige journey of excellence. As the only community college to ever win a Baldrige award, the Alamo Colleges team was able to share valuable information at workshops and keynote sessions on how the Baldrige framework creates a better organization and increases performance excellence in every area of operations.

The Alamo Colleges team led a number of the key presentations at the conference. These included a leadership presentation by Chancellor Dr. Mike Flores and a presentation on "Prioritizing Student Success: One Resource at a Time" by Lisa Black, faculty member at San Antonio College and Dr. Adelina Silva, vice chancellor for student success.

Dr. Tom Cleary, vice chancellor of planning, performance, and information systems, and Dr. Adena Williams Loston, president St. Philip’s College, led a session on "Strategy Development and Implementation.” Debi Gaitan, vice president for student success, Northwest Vista College, and Patty Parma, associate vice chancellor for student success initiatives, conducted a workshop on "Students First: A Culture of Listening and Improving."

Other leaders included Mecca Salahuddin, director of strategic initiatives and performance excellence, and Beatriz Joseph, vice president of college services, Palo Alto College who presented on "Integrated Performance Excellence.” Linda Boyer-Owens, associate vice chancellor for human resources and organizational development, and Ric Baser, president, Northwest Vista College, shared information on "Best Practices in Workforce Engagement and Development.” Cindy Mendiola-Perez, associate vice chancellor for student success, and Angela Guadian-Mendez, director of student completion, led a final presentation on a "Collaborative Approach to Advising and Pathway Integration Using MyMAP.”

Several other leaders and the Alamo Colleges District trustees served as panelists in the session to answer questions about the organization’s Baldrige framework success.