Dominguez’s work resulted in a 79 percent increase over the 2,686 degrees and/or certificates awarded to graduates she assisted so they could receive their earned credentials for the spring 2013 commencement, the first ceremony that benefitted from her efforts in TCC’s District Admissions and Records Office.
Her work and those of fellow team members, Robert Bauer and Daniel Lopez, earned them the Chancellor’s Employee Excellence Award for Innovation and Creativity last summer.
“This effort is part of our focus on student success and TCC’s various Achieving the Dream initiatives,” Dominguez said. “It helps students achieve a milestone in their academic careers and allows us as a college to get credit for their completion.”
The potential benefit to TCC graduates initially was noticed about two years ago by Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Student Success Joy Gates Black.
“During the spring of 2012, I began to research completion data at TCC. I learned that students were being required to petition in order to graduate and the number of students graduating was much lower than it should have been,” Gates Black said.
After the decision was made to eliminate the petition requirement and automatically award earned credentials, the number of potential completers using the new process supported the creation of a new position to identify and award earned credentials, Gates Black explained.
“If I didn’t do what I did, many of them wouldn’t get credit for earning a certificate or a degree,” Dominguez added. “A lot of students will be able to get a promotion once they earn a certificate or degree from us. It only helps them, not hurts them.”
