Austin Community College District (ACC) announces the employees selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Great College Program. These 25 employees met for a multi-day interactive workshop to connect, collaborate, and reflect on what makes ACC a great college — and how we can make it even greater.

Employees showed significant interest in the program, with four and a half times as many applications submitted as available spaces. With a 25-person capacity for the inaugural cohort, reviewers focused on building a cohort that reflected a broad range of perspectives from across the College. 

The selected employees represent a variety of professional roles, levels in the college, years of ACC service, and campuses. This approach ensured a diverse and comprehensive dialogue during the sessions. We had participants from every campus except Riverside (no one from that campus applied). We had 24 different areas of the College in attendance, and a combined 320 years of ACC experience in this group.

Spring 2026 Great College Program Participants

Below is the list of inaugural Great College Program participants: 

Cata Abagiu
Nina Almasy
Elma Benavides
Georgia Branch
Azure Brown
Sonia Castillo
Herman Cavazos
Jenna Cullinane Hege
Sarah Haywood
Aaron Henry
Houli Houlihan
Megan Krou
Renee Kuhles
Natasha Kuhnke
Katie Lessley
Mechelle Matthey
Vivi Nuen
Sonya Rangel
Tiffany Ricks
Ray Sandoval
Adam Saucedo
Mandy Schwager
Andrew Silver
Neil Vickers
Alex Watkins

Facilitators and Leads:
Samantha Croft
Alison Kadlec
Eric Lopez
Russell Lowery-Hart
Catherine Namour
Missi Patterson
DJ Yanes

About the Program

Developed as an extension of the Chancellor’s Leadership Institute, the Great College Program was created in response to employee feedback requesting more chances to build relationships across roles and campuses. 

The immersive learning and leadership experience took place March 5-6. Led by Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart and his team of facilitators, they used both small- and large-group sessions to discuss recentering leadership and improving culture at ACC. To support Russell’s goal of more cross-college, silo-spanning collaboration, this effort worked to ensure that each participant developed a new network of colleagues they can trust to collaborate with on future initiatives. 

Participants left with an assignment to plan for future work. They will meet to support each other as they aim to implement their favorite lessons from the event.

Future Opportunities 

ACC appreciates all employees who took the time to submit an application. Those who were not selected for the spring 2026 cohort are encouraged to apply for future sessions as the program expands, or to apply for the Theory of Change Network.

For more information about the initiative, visit austincc.edu/greatcollege.