{"id":2706,"date":"2018-03-26T14:27:22","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T14:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2706"},"modified":"2018-03-26T14:27:22","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T14:27:22","slug":"chancellors-excellence-award-paul-lopez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2706","title":{"rendered":"Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award \u2013 Paul Lopez"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Paul Lopez has belonged to the Texas State Technical College family for 13 years, troubleshooting and solving problems as an Application Administrator for the Office of Information Technology (OIT), and this year he is being recognized for the problem solver he is with a 2018 Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought someone was playing a joke on me. I thought how cruel,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe I was actually getting one of these (awards). I never expected it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award is given by TSTC\u2019s Chancellor Mike Reeser to select faculty and staff for their distinguished service and dedication to the college, communities and their state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese teammates were nominated by their peers, recommended by their Provosts and Vice Chancellor\u2019s and chosen as faculty and staff who model excellence in our college every day,\u201d said TSTC Chancellor Mike Reeser. \u201cTheir caring and dedicated efforts embolden us all to make a difference in the success of our teams and the lives of our students.\u201d\"Paul<\/a><\/p>\n

The San Benito native graduated from TSTC\u2019s Computer Science program with an associate degree in 1996 and worked with Rio Hondo Independent School District and Region One Education Center in Edinburg as a lead technician\/interim technology coordinator and help desk developer, respectively, before returning to TSTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to credit the mentors I\u2019ve had along the way,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause of them I\u2019ve been able to be successful in my career for so long. Every piece of advice I have taken to heart and have carried with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez has 20 years of experience in the information technology world.<\/p>\n

And for at least four years during the Windows XP era in the early 2000\u2019s, Lopez worked as an instructor with TSTC\u2019s Corporate College, which is now Workforce Training and Continuing Education.<\/p>\n

He helped train \u00a0industry leaders and their employees, ranging from assembly line workers to supervisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was definitely a learning experience for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI loved teaching and sharing my knowledge and seeing faces light up when they learned something new and understood it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2005, Lopez made the full transition to TSTC and began his journey at the TSTC Help Desk, moved up to a network technician II and eventually into his current role.<\/p>\n

As an applications administrator he has worked on both the support and project side of the house, initiating and maintaining various projects for departments such as TSTC\u2019s Learning Resource Center, Police Department and HVAC program.<\/p>\n

Senior Executive Director of Infrastructure for OIT and also Lopez\u2019s supervisor Rick Collatos said this award is long overdue for Lopez.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul is a dedicated employee who goes the extra mile for everyone he works with,\u201d said Collatos. \u201cHe demonstrates an excellence in customer service every day and has so for many years. Congratulations Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collatos also said that Lopez is an innovator for TSTC, always thinking ahead and dedicating himself to projects that will take the college to the next level.<\/p>\n

Those who nominated Lopez for this award have remained anonymous, but he has a special message for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, thank you,\u201d said Lopez. \u201cI don\u2019t get out of my office, everyone I have contact with is over the phone or video conference, so I appreciate people taking notice of my work and recognizing me for it. It\u2019s a true honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what is next for Lopez?<\/p>\n

Lopez said he hopes to go back to school and finish what he started: a bachelor\u2019s degree in Computer Science. He also hopes to move back into teaching at TSTC and share his knowledge and skills with others.<\/p>\n

Lopez will join the other 16 Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award recipients from across TSTC\u2019s 10 campuses in May for the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Awards dinner and celebration in Austin where the honorees will receive their award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Paul Lopez has belonged to the Texas State Technical College family for 13 years, troubleshooting and solving problems as an Application Administrator for the Office of Information Technology (OIT), and this year he is being recognized for the problem solver he is with a 2018 Chancellor\u2019s Excellence Award. \u201cI thought someone was playing […]<\/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-2706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706","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=2706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2708,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions\/2708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}