Celebrating Excellence: 2026 SPIE Project of the Year Finalists
The Strategy Planning and Institutional Effectiveness (SPIE) International Project Management Day Summit is proud to shine a spotlight on the driving forces behind our institution’s transformation, innovation, and operational excellence.
This year, our campus community submitted exceptional, distinct initiatives completed during the past 12 months. Our dedicated judging panel evaluated the entries based on execution, leadership, and measurable institutional impact.
Explore the finalist projects below and learn more about the teams and accomplishments behind their success.
Projects are listed in alphabetical order by project title.
Emerging Eagles First Year Experience Program
Sponsoring area: Student Services and Recruiting
Executive sponsor: Martin Perez, Dean of Student Success
Project lead: Marisa Carrasco
Project dates: March 3, 2025–March 2, 2026Project Overview
The Emerging Eagles First Year Experience Program brought advising, financial literacy, career exploration, leadership development, and student-support resources directly into EDUC 1300 classrooms. Through faculty and student-services partnerships, the program helped first-year students identify obstacles early, connect with campus resources, develop academic and personal skills, and strengthen their sense of belonging at Houston City College.
The Challenge
First-year students did not always know which College resources were available or how to access them early enough to address academic, financial, career, and personal barriers.
The Solution
The program integrated advising, resource presentations, workshops, experiential learning, service opportunities, and completion milestones into the EDUC 1300 experience.
Project Impact
Reached 236 students through in-class advising and resource integration.
Served 20 EDUC 1300 classes in Fall 2025 and 11 classes in Spring 2026.
Connected students with advising, financial aid, tutoring, library services, counseling, student life, and career services.
Supported student success, retention, and completion during a critical transition period.
Innovation
The program brought student services and community partners directly into the classroom. Activities included Reality Town, career assessments, vision boards, service learning, and Commit to Complete milestones.
Sustainability
The department plans to continue targeted EDUC 1300 classroom engagement using existing faculty, student-services partnerships, and current staffing structures.
Project Team
Marisa Carrasco, Project Lead
Sharon Guillory, Program Coordinator
Beverly Hixon, EDUC 1300 Faculty
Hillard Williams, EDUC 1300 Faculty
Jonelle Bailey, EDUC 1300 Faculty
From the Project Team
Emerging Eagles brought support directly to students, helping them build connections, overcome barriers, and develop the confidence and skills needed to succeed
SmaRTT Improving Study and Test Taking Skills for At Risk Health Sciences Students
Sponsoring area: Coleman College, Health Continuing Education
Executive sponsor: Lutricia Harrison, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, President, Coleman College
Project lead: Prashant Harjai, Program Manager and Principal Investigator
Project dates: March 3, 2025–March 31, 2026Project Overview
SmaRTT combines study-skills and test-taking instruction in an online, continuously available course that uses reflective learning to support at-risk Health Sciences students. An HCC innovation grant covered tuition for participating students, while a dashboard developed with the Office of Institutional Research tracks enrollment, completion, and longer-term program outcomes.
The Challenge
At-risk Health Sciences students needed flexible, structured support to strengthen their study and test-taking skills. Referring programs also needed a way to monitor participation, completion, and the intervention’s longer-term effect on credential completion.
The Solution
The team created a $125 online SmaRTT course, enrolled referred students using grant support, and developed a dashboard to track course and program-completion outcomes.
Project Impact
Enrolled 30 students.
Recorded 20 successful completions, six unsuccessful completions, and four withdrawals.
Used $3,250 of the $5,000 grant to cover tuition for 26 effective enrollments, leaving $1,750 unspent.
Created an effectiveness dashboard with the HCC Office of Institutional Research.
Established plans to collect longer-term completion data through December 2027.
Innovation
SmaRTT uses reflective learning in an online, continuously available, discipline-independent course. It connects course participation with an institutional effectiveness dashboard.
Sustainability
The course continues to be offered beyond the grant period. Its workflow and dashboard were designed to support expansion into additional programs.
Project Team
Prashant Harjai, Program Manager and Principal Investigator
Dr. Stanley Hall, HCC Office of Institutional Research, Effectiveness Dashboard
Dr. Ruby Tiwari, Faculty
Blanca Perez Galarza, Course Support
Michele Voight, PTA, DHSc, MPA
From the Project Team
“Honest self-reflection opens your mind to reprogramming, change, success and freedom.” — Vikas Runwal
Website Redesign
Sponsoring area: Strategic Communications and Marketing
Executive sponsor: Dr. Rima Adil
Project lead: Dr. Leon Burks
Project dates: August 13, 2024–June 30, 2026Project Overview
The Website Redesign project created a modern, accessible, and student-centered digital front door for Houston City College. The redesigned site organizes information around user needs, improves navigation and mobile access, aligns content with the College brand, and introduces reusable templates and governance practices that support accurate, accessible content as programs and services grow.
The Challenge
Prospective and current students needed a clearer way to find programs, understand enrollment requirements, and connect with essential services. The previous website also contained outdated or duplicated content and was difficult to maintain consistently.
The Solution
The team redesigned the institutional website with a student-centered information structure, updated branding, mobile-responsive layouts, accessibility improvements, reusable components, and a searchable Explore All Programs Finder.
Project Impact
Launched the redesigned website on April 16, 2026, earlier than originally planned.
Created a searchable and filterable program finder organized by education track, program type, campus location, and program format.
Reduced outdated and duplicated content through a College-wide content review, migration, tagging, and validation process.
Made it easier for students to explore programs, complete enrollment steps, and locate College services.
Innovation
The project introduced HCC’s first searchable and filterable program listing aligned with the official catalog.
Sustainability
Reusable templates, content types, governance practices, training, and review processes allow the website to expand without requiring another complete redesign.
Project Team
Dr. Leon Burks, Project Lead
Andrew Thai, Technical Lead
David Tietz, Instructional Lead
Thomas Williams, IT Lead
Sherman Harness, IT Lead
Diana Metyko, IT Lead
From the Project Team
“We transformed HCC’s digital front door into a modern, accessible and intuitive experience that better connects students with opportunities, services and support.”
Join Us for the Winner Reveal
The 2026 SPIE Project of the Year winner will be announced during the International Project Management Day Summit.
Friday, October 30, 2026
8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
3100 Main Auditorium
