Educational Awards

2024 UCSC Educational Award Recipients

Each year, many high school graduating seniors submit an application for a chance to be recognized as a deserving student for the UTHealth Houston Classified Staff Council’s (UCSC) Educational Award. Since 2006, the council has granted awards totaling over $243,000 to those students whose outstanding efforts have enabled them to meet challenging standards of excellence.  

The council seeks to pay tribute to those students who go the extra mile each and every day in their scholastics and to serve their communities as well as inspire others to do the same.  A team of selection committee member, Dr. Nancy McNiel (MMS), Dr. Lisa Cain (SOD), Dr. Latarsha Cheatham and Dr. Melissa Ethington (SON), James Smiley (Admin) and Cindy Bihm (SPH) who are UTHealth Houston leaders in various capacities, reviewed the applications, narrowing the field to the 34 finalists.

On Friday, July 19, 2024, UCSC held its annual workshop in at the Denton and Ralph Cooley University Life Center at UTHealth Houston. During the workshop, winners for the 2024 Annual Educational Awards were announced during a ceremony to honor both students and parents.

Keynote speaker for the event was University President Dr. Colasurdo, as $52,000 in cash awards were awarded to 34 graduating high school seniors of UTHealth Houston classified staff.

Note from the Chair Alainna Talton… It is always a pleasure to celebrate the staff of UTHealth by honoring these students. Dr. Colasurdo donating to help us give out more money to the students every year is a testament to his appreciation for the Classified Staff. He sees all of our hard work and dedication.  We are grateful to have his support. Our hope is that in the future we can give out $100,000 a year to the students.

The following winners were selected from a pool of 36 applicants:

• Heaven Aitch, Florida A&M University

               Parent: Joseph Faulk – Utility Worker I

• Fatima Arias, Lone Star College

               Parent: Nelly Arias – Sr Administrative Manager

• Brinley Bowden, University of Houston

               Parent: Christie Bowden – Diabetes Educator

• Michaela Brown, Texas Woman’s University

               Parent: Te’An Parker – Compliance Coding Analyst

• Reya Chandran, Case Western Reserve University

               Parent: Anitha Chandran – Sr. Manager EPIC Integration Practice Plan

• Lamont Crawford, Louisiana State University

               Parent: Latanya Williams – Professional Coder III

• Clara Daul, St. Edwards University

               Parent: Kristen Daul – Sr. Program Manager

• Mea Daul, St. Edwards University

                Parent: Kristen Daul – Sr. Program Manager

• Grace Fanucchi, Lone Star College

               Parent: David Fanucchi – University Communication Specialist

• Quintin Fernandez, University of Chicago

               Parent: Nathan Fernandez – EPIC Clinical Technical Support Manager

• Hannah Flores, LSU Baton Rouge

               Parent: Christelle Hernandez – Nurse Practitioner

• Joaquin Garcia, Rutgers College

               Parent: Teresa Gonzales – Sr Administrative Coordinator

• Caroline Herrera, Eller College of Management

               Parent: Belkys Veliz – Manager Dental Clinic

• Melanie Loza, Sam Houston State University School of Music

               Parent: Claudia Loza – Program Manager

• William Lucas, Texas A&M University

               Parent: Alan Lucas – Manager Safety

• Muka Mbuba, Spelman College

               Parent: Uchenna Mbuba – Staff Nurse II Behavioral Sciences Campus

• Isabella Mitchell, University of Texas at Austin

               Parent: Lisa Mitchell-Bennett – Sr. Project Manager

• Jennifer Motta, University of Houston

               Parent: Juanita Motta – Insurance Authorization Verification Specialist

• Maria Murray, University of Houston-Clearlake

               Parent: Roberto Murray – Sr. Financial Analyst

• Victoria Ngoka, University of Texas at Dallas

               Parent: Mary Ngoka – Staff Nurse II Behavioral Sciences Campus

• Eduardo Otero, University of Houston-Downtown

               Parent: Lucina Maynez – Hospital Reimbursement Operations Specialist

• Xavier Ramos, University of Texas at Tyler

               Parent: Martha Uribe – Senior Patient Access Representative

• Javier Ramos, University of Houston at Clear Lake

               Parent: Martha Uribe – Senior Patient Access Representative

•  James Rice, University of Texas at Austin

               Parent: Alyssa Atkin – Sr. Reimbursement Operations Specialist

• Sophia Rodriguez , University of Houston

               Parent: Esmeralda Rodriguez – Sr. Administrative Assistant

• Jasmine Stewart, San Jacinto College-South Campus

               Parent: Malcolm Stewart – Mail Clerk II

• Breylon Swoboda, Texas A&M University

               Parent: Tracy Swoboda – Quality Improvement Advisor III

• Joshua Thornton, University of North Texas at Denton

               Parent: Chevonne Thornton – Buyer II

• Emma Tran, University of Texas at San Antonio

               Parent: Tran Thuy – Nurse Practitioner

• Andrenai Turbin, Southern University and Agriculture & Mechanical College

               Parent: Miesha Burks – Texas Rising Star Mentor II

• Anna Rae Unger, Texas State University

               Parent: Stephanie Unger – Manager Performance Improvement and Data Analytics

• Kathleen Vojvodic, Chapman University

               Parent: Rachel Neave – Sr. Project Manager

• Isabelle Zaske, University of Houston

               Parent: Anna Marie Zaske – Research Scientist

• Hoaqi Zhang, Texas A&M University

               Parent: Yongmei Yu – Research Assistant III

This year’s UCSC Educational Awards committee members were:

Ruth Palmer (Chair), Tara Green (Co-Chair), Nena Fairbanks, Shantel Beasley, Tricia Hill-Thomas, Monica Bennett, Catherine March, Tanja Calixto, Leslie Feld, Telisha Green, Patricia Herwig, Ebony Wolford, Assol Kavtorina, Felecia Peterson, Sherron Scott, and Ashley Galvan.