With the start of a new academic year comes a new set of employee association presidents who have been selected to represent their colleagues. Learn more about them below.
Marc Jimenez | Association of Professional-Technical Employees
Marc Jimenez is the 2025 Association of Professional-Technical Employees (Prof-Tech) President. He started working for ACC during the summer of 2015 as a Recruiting/Advising Specialist and Mobile-Go Driver. He has also served as Enrollment Advisor, Orientation Advisor, and Adjunct Faculty member, and is currently Admissions Supervisor for the Application Processing team.
What inspired you to run for president?
I am a fan of David Goggins. In his book “Can’t Hurt Me,” he talks about deliberately doing something uncomfortable or hard each day to develop mental toughness. When I was the Communication Officer for Prof-Tech last year, someone asked me if I would run for President. Those who know me will tell you, I’m the guy who wants to work behind the scenes and go unnoticed, not the guy who wants to stand in front of our Chancellor or Board of Trustees. The thought of being President of APTE and having to publicly speak, with the risk of making a fool out of myself, made me nauseous — that’s when I knew I had to run. I had to force myself to do something uncomfortable and serve our College, despite how I felt inside.
Do you have any goals for this year in your role as president?
Yes, I have goals, but I believe it is better to underpromise and overdeliver. I will say our focus this year is strengthening the role of staff as partners in ACC’s North Star goal.
How can employees get involved in your organization?
Our association is open to all Prof-Tech employees. I encourage people to read our emails to stay up to date. I encourage people to attend our meetings. This year, all of our meetings will be open to all Prof-Tech employees. I encourage people to attend our events, and in the spring, consider running for an officer or representative role.
Where did you grow up? What was it like?
I grew up in the Bronx, New York, one of five kids, and it was pretty great. Riding the subways, going into the city, going to museums, going to concerts, going to Yankee Stadium, hanging out with friends in the park, pretending to be tough – it was fun!
What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?
Take a jiu-jitsu class and learn self-defense.
What do you “geek out” about?
I like motorcycles. Doesn’t matter if it’s a dirt bike, adventure bike, touring bike, or naked bike. I want them all, and vintage Japanese bikes (Honda CBs) or British bikes (Triumph, Norton, BSA) are my favorite, as they are beautiful works of art that you can ride. How cool is that!
Please share your motto, mantra, or personal philosophy.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned professionally?
You’re capable of doing more than you think.
What do you believe it takes to help students succeed?
On a micro level, it’s listening to students and advocating on their behalf. On a macro level, it’s hiring the right people who put students first and are committed to the North Star goal.
Any final thoughts you’d like to share?
Consider doing something uncomfortable or hard each day.
What is the best way for employees to reach you or the association?
The best way for employees to reach me or our association is whichever way works best for them. You can call me at extension x7102, email me at [email protected], visit me at Highland Business Center, Rm. 420.3, attend an APTE meeting, or message our officer email account at [email protected].
Michelle Iskra | Adjunct Faculty Association
Michelle Iskra is the 2025 Adjunct Faculty Association President. She was hired by ACC as an adjunct English professor in January 2003 and has also worked as an English tutor in the Cypress Creek Learning Lab.
What inspired you to run for president?
I’ve worked as an adjunct professor for more than two decades and as an Executive Council Representative for Cypress Creek for more than one, without stepping beyond those roles to serve the AFA. I thought it was time to make my own contribution as a leader.
Do you have any goals for this year in your role as president?
Adjunct professors are famously financially vulnerable from semester to semester (myself included). It is a terrible feeling to have a class taken by a full-time person without a replacement, or for a class to not make due to low enrollment, because the money we depend on will not be there, or insurance will not be available as a result. The $500 offered when that happens is small compared to the payment associated with an entire semester course. Alongside the Executive Council team, I want to help adjuncts figure out how to cope with course losses more quickly and effectively, and to access insurance more easily. Though there is available help, adjuncts are often spread thin and may not realize or remember that help is available. I also want to investigate group insurance options that may be affordable to adjuncts.
How can employees get involved in your organization?
All adjunct faculty are invited to attend our monthly meetings; they need only request access to attendance information by contacting their campus representatives (which includes Distance Learning) to ask questions and get involved.
Please share your motto, mantra, or personal philosophy.
“Be kind to all you meet, for we are all fighting a hard battle.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
This thought has stuck with me for years because it captures the underlying challenge everyone is attempting to deal with, every single day. Instead of seeing angry people as mean or impossible (which may describe their behaviors), viewing them as involved in a difficult battle encourages compassion, patience, and, most importantly, kindness in me. When I don’t take another person’s behavior personally, I can be softer and not return the anger I see and hear. I can make room for that person to be upset without fueling the emotion. It’s hard to be angry with someone who is trying to help.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned professionally?
When I commit myself to changing something small or improving just a little each time I attempt to teach a course, I find myself looking at it with a fresh perspective. I’ve taught Composition I for my entire 22 years at ACC, and even this semester, there’s something new that has my interest. I therefore don’t get bored with the repetition.
What do you believe it takes to help students succeed?
Respect students as people first, understand they are in earnest to make something of themselves second, and instill in them that they possess everything they need to do important work in the world — work they were born for.
Teaching has always been a subversive activity because critical thinking and healthy skepticism are unwelcome to anyone trying to push a creed or sell a product. Our important commitment has to be to continue to show up for our students regardless of the mounting challenges around us. It is good work, worth doing.
What is the best way for employees to reach you or the association?
Email is by far the most effective way to reach me or any of the other officers. Our information is on the AFA website.
Dr. Alberto Quinonez | Full-Time Faculty Senate
Dr. Alberto Quinonez is an Engineering Technology Professor and this year’s President of the Full-Time Faculty Senate. He began working at ACC in spring 1999 when he was hired as an assistant professor of Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. Within the Department of Engineering Technology, he also served as Assistant Department Chair for approximately five years and Department Chair for about 15 years.
What inspired you to run for president?
I had served on the Senate and a few committees over the years. I have always enjoyed being part of the Senate. It is made up of amazing people who are highly intelligent, highly passionate about teaching and learning, and have great care for the students and the community. After 25 years at ACC, I believed that it was time for me to take on a greater leadership role at the College. I asked myself, what better way to serve the College and my colleagues than being president of the Faculty Senate? So, I threw my name in the hat, and to my surprise and delight, I was elected.
Do you have any goals for this year in your role as president?
Yes, firstly, I have to say that the Senate is composed of a highly talented and dedicated group of academic professionals. The Senate officers are truly amazing; they are one of the smartest and hardest-working groups of people that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. This Senate is the first to serve under the new SB37 law that went into effect September 1, 2025. We had to update our bylaws and get approval from the Board of Trustees for the Senate to continue to exist at ACC. We are blessed and grateful that the administration and the Board supported and approved the continuation of the Senate. This is significant considering that many other institutions of higher education around the state took the easy way out and simply let their Senates cease to exist.
My main goal is to increase dialogue and participation from our constituents. It is very important for the Senate to hear about the issues and concerns of the full-time faculty. The Senate is the voice of the full-time faculty. Hence, we need to ensure that we articulate and advocate for the needs and interests of the full-time faculty.
How can employees get involved in your organization?
Full-time faculty are welcomed and encouraged to participate in shared governance. They can do so by volunteering for the various councils and committees that exist. Additionally, ad-hoc committees and work groups are continuously being formed, and this provides other opportunities for faculty involvement. Full-time faculty are encouraged to attend the standing Senate meetings. This year, the Senate meetings are being held online in a Zoom webinar format. Full-time faculty can simply join by clicking on the webinar link, which can be found on the Senate website. If full-time faculty desire to speak on an agenda topic, then they can sign up to do so as well. Further, full-time faculty are encouraged to know who their Senate representatives are and to get to know them.
Please share your motto, mantra, or personal philosophy.
Always keep a positive attitude and keep things in perspective.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned professionally?
Regardless of how your day is going, always be a professional and treat everyone with respect. Create good relationships.
What do you believe it takes to help students succeed?
Listen to your students with sincerity and care. Get to know your students, have conversations
with them, and find out what it is that they are trying to do in their lives. Demonstrate to them that you have their best interests at heart.
Any final thoughts you’d like to share?
Austin Community College is a great organization. ACC does so much to help the people in the community. I hope to continue to be a productive member of this wonderful institution.
What is the best way for employees to reach you or the association?
Employees can learn more about the Senate and find contact information for the Senate president and officers by visiting the website: https://sites.austincc.edu/facultysenate.
Miguel de Leon | Classified Employees Association
We welcome back Miguel DeLeon, an executive assistant in ACC’s Teaching and Learning Excellence Division (TLED), as Classified Employee Association (CEA) president for the third time.