‘One person at a time. One student at a time.’ Dean of student affairs reflects on early leadership goals
Indra Paola Peláez provided leadership and oversight to student enrollment services in her fifth month as Mesa Community College’s dean of student affairs.
The new dean of student affairs started on April 29, leading MCC’s enrollment and overseeing programs for the college’s students, according to Peláez during an interview with The Legend in late August.
“One person at a time, one student at a time. I spent a lot of time during peak registration at the front line to meet students and to help students to understand our processes. I’m looking forward to continuing to build those partnerships,” Peláez added.
Peláez stated that she has already started looking into ways to improve on the student experience such as leveraging new technology.
Peláez previously served at Houston Community College as the associate vice chancellor of enrollment management and success.
Peláez stated that she was in the process of finalizing the college strategic enrollment management plan that involves multiple stakeholders from the college, and that will be their driving force for the next three years.
“I had the pleasure of meeting some stakeholders on campus and across the district, and it takes many months to build those relationships,” said Peláez.
Peláez mentioned that her vision is to have a cohesive unit, not only for enrollment services, but for student affairs, collaborating with other deans on campus.
“I want to make sure that we are strategic with our efforts and our partnerships across the college to ensure that we build the momentum for prospective students, but we also have the support for current students, and we have the resources,” stated Peláez.
Peláez said that it takes more than enrollment services to work on engaging students, requiring close partnerships with multiple stakeholders to ensure students are supported through completion is a massive goal for her position.
Peláez said she intended to work with a diverse set of students on campus, partnering with multiple departments to receive training on the understanding differences.
Peláez intended to focus on language that’s appropriate, not only for people with different ability levels, but for the LGBTQIA community and different communities that the college serves.
“I want to make sure that we roll out the red carpet for every student,” said Peláez
Having a sense of belonging, not only at the entry point, but throughout a student’s journey at Mesa was something Peláez envisioned for the future of MCC.
