{"id":349,"date":"2016-03-25T12:54:55","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T12:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=349"},"modified":"2016-03-25T12:54:55","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T12:54:55","slug":"tstc-employees-recognized-for-their-continued-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=349","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Employees Recognized for their Continued Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas State Technical College has recognized two Harlingen employees for their efforts in starting up a new campus almost 300 miles away in Fort Bend County.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re perfect examples of what our Harlingen culture brings to our statewide organization and of how Harlingen is helping us lead this statewide college,\u201d said Texas State Technical College\u2019s Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Hoekstra.<\/p>\n

Both Mary Casta\u00f1on, director of instructional administration and Fort Bend County project manager; and Gisela Figueroa, associate vice chancellor for financial services were the proud recipients of the much\u00a0coveted Challenge Coin.<\/p>\n

The Challenge Coin is a tradition that started during TSTC\u2019s 50th<\/sup> celebration last year and was initiated by Chancellor Mike Reeser as a way for TSTC\u2019s senior leadership to recognize and reward employees who demonstrate an excellence in service and dedication to their duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to recognize these two employees for their remarkable and continued contributions to statewide initiatives that are of high priority for us right now,\u201d said Hoekstra.<\/p>\n

.Hoekstra said there are three major priorities this fiscal year for TSTC and one is the opening of the new campus in Fort Bend County. \"Challenge<\/a>He said Casta\u00f1on, who has been with TSTC for 12 years, has worked endlessly on this project with her team and felt it was time to recognize her for her tireless efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMary is the tip of the spear for our Fort Bend project,\u201d said Hoekstra. \u201cI have received a lot of positive feedback from her colleagues regarding her management and leadership over this initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casta\u00f1on is distinguished for her professionalism, her work ethic and positive attitude. Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning Ray Fried has been working closely with Casta\u00f1on and said she is doing an excellent job at managing the startup of the new Fort Bend campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate her organization of all the subject matter constantly being presented to our experts,\u201d said Fried. \u201cShe has the most effective time management I have witnessed and has set a new standard for effective and efficient use of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Figueroa, who has worked with TSTC for 13 years, is Hoekstra\u2019s team lead in the finance division. Hoekstra said there have recently been some major changes that are critical to TSTC\u2019s success and Figueroa has been a constant, positive and persistent leader for her team, even while struggling though significant obstacles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve really had to move fast to serve the changing organization in procurement and Gisela really inspired her team to move rapidly in response to the change,\u201d said Hoekstra. \u201cShe\u2019s very dedicated to our mission and what we need to get done. Her incredible attitude, loyalty and dedicated service to the college is invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Casta\u00f1on and Figueroa said they were surprised and humbled to be recognized for such a prestigious honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to receive such an award and surprised nonetheless,\u201d said Casta\u00f1on. \u201cWhen I was given the opportunity to work with on this project a year ago I did not hesitate, rather I asked how I could be of service for such a grand initiative. We have faced challenges, but I\u2019m fortunate to work with great people at TSTC and am happy to see great strides we are making in opening our campus in Fall 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my name was called I was very surprised. I did not expect such an honor,\u201d said Figueroa. \u201cI got excited and could hardly believe all the nice things that were being said about my contributions to the college. I am humbled and this gives me more fuel to continue working hard for TSTC.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on TSTC\u2019s Fort Bend County campus and the programs offered visit www.tstc.edu\/campuses\/fortbendco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Registration for Summer and Fall 2016 semesters begins April 4. Apply or register online anytime at tstc.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas State Technical College has recognized two Harlingen employees for their efforts in starting up a new campus almost 300 miles away in Fort Bend County. \u201cThey\u2019re perfect examples of what our Harlingen culture brings to our statewide organization and of how Harlingen is helping us lead this statewide college,\u201d said Texas State Technical College\u2019s […]<\/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-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","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=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions\/351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}