{"id":1597,"date":"2017-05-22T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1597"},"modified":"2017-05-19T14:18:09","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T14:18:09","slug":"chancellors-excellence-award-jose-villegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1597","title":{"rendered":"Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award: Jose Villegas"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Texas State Technical College Veteran Program Officer Jose Villegas has been with the college for a short time, but has already made a difference in students\u2019 lives earning the 2017 Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award.<\/p>\n

The award is given yearly to deserving faculty and staff from across TSTC\u2019s 10 campuses for their service to the college and their community.<\/p>\n

The San Antonio native said he was surprised when he found out he had received the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d he said. \u201cI never think about awards, my concern is helping veterans the best I can. So you can imagine this came as a shock. I\u2019m speechless.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an Army veteran who served for eight years, including a one-year tour in Iraq, the 35-year-old said he understands the difficulties veterans face when transitioning to civilian life.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy passion for helping veterans comes from personal knowledge,\u201d he said. \u201cI know how difficult it is to find your place after leaving the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

After leaving active\"Jose<\/a> duty in 2004 and the reserves in 2009, Villegas went back to school and received a bachelor\u2019s degree in Social Studies Composite in 2011 from the University of Texas Pan American.<\/p>\n

Villegas went on to work at Tropical Texas Behavioral Health as a peer facilitator for veterans getting mental healthcare. He traveled across the Valley and the state conducting support groups at various colleges and universities.<\/p>\n

Although Villegas loved working with veterans and their dependents, he was ready to leave all of the traveling and the unsteady schedule behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was ready for a change and to spend more time with my family,\u201d said Villegas. \u201cI wanted to continue working with veterans though, so it was great when this position at TSTC came up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villegas has been at TSTC now for three years, assisting veterans and their dependents with military benefits such as the GI Bill and Hazelwood Act, and admission and financial aid processes, in addition to providing external and internal resources that help veterans and their families succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some veterans we are their last chance for hope,\u201d said Villegas. \u201cI go through highs and lows with some of these students and the best part is seeing them graduate and get a job or continue with college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veterans Center Director Steve Guevara said that within the two years he has worked with Villegas he has seen the dedication he has for students turn lives around.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is always interested in how our students are doing,\u201d said Guevara. \u201cHe takes the time to really get to know them and take care of everything he can to help them succeed. He\u2019s their positivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone deserves this award its Jose,\u201d he added. \u201cHe\u2019s a real asset to TSTC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villegas will be traveling with his family to Austin to the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Awards dinner and celebration where he will receive his Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award later this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly appreciate that my colleagues think my work is making a difference. I don\u2019t do what I do for awards. My true success is getting veterans help and giving them a second chance at life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Texas State Technical College Veteran Program Officer Jose Villegas has been with the college for a short time, but has already made a difference in students\u2019 lives earning the 2017 Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award. The award is given yearly to deserving faculty and staff from across TSTC\u2019s 10 campuses for their service to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1599,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions\/1599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}