TxGAP Board Elections
2023 Election Cycle
The following individuals have been nominated (or self-nominated) for board positions.
President
Victor Lopez (President-Elect)
Victor Lopez joined the Baylor family in December 2020 and is currently the Assistant Director for Graduate Professional Education.
Victor holds a Bachelor of Science in Emergency Administration & Planning ('16) and a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Higher Education, Educational Psychology & Management ('19) from the University of North Texas (UNT). He began his career in higher education, serving as an Admissions Officer for minority high-caliber recruitment in the
office of undergraduate admissions at UNT. Victor then continued to the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas, where he served as the Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Victor is involved with the Texas Association of Graduate Admission Professionals (TxGAP) and serves as Vice President. He is passionate about education and providing opportunities for students to reach their goals. Victor is a first-generation college graduate pursuing his Ph.D. in Educational Administration at Texas A&M University (College Station).
Secretary
Shaunté Alvarez-Minor (Secretary-Elect)
Shaunté Alvarez-Minor serves as the Associate Director of Admissions, Graduate Recruitment at Texas Woman’s University. She works closely with the Director of Admissions and Graduate School Deans in planning and implementing recruitment policies and strategies for all graduate programs. In addition, she collaborates with graduate programs to assist with promotional events, e-communication strategies, and recruitment efforts. And lastly, she provides
guidance and assistance to prospective graduate students throughout the admissions process. She is passionate about helping graduate students attain their goals of completing their higher education degrees.
Shaunté holds a bachelor's in Psychology from Sam Houston State University and a Master's in Education from Texas Woman's University. She is currently in a doctoral program at TWU. Her research focuses on identifying the challenges and barriers that exist for women of color pursuing doctoral degrees. She has spent over 20 years in education. She enjoys serving in leadership capacities.
She is serving as the chair of the 2023 Texas Women in Higher Education conference. She has presented at the TXGAP Summer Institute, she presented at the 2022 International Conference for Urban Education and co-presenting at the 2023 NAGAP conference.
Alyssa Overbey (Candidate)
Alyssa earned her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Texas Tech University in 2020. She also earned a bachelor's degree in Applied Arts and Sciences with a minor in Mathematics from Lamar University. During her undergraduate career, she was introduced to the recruitment/admissions realm when she accepted a job as a campus tour guide in 2014. Originally double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics, Alyssa realized her true passion for higher ed and decided to dedicate her career to working in this field.
Upon graduating with her bachelor’s degree in 2017, she began working as a graduate processor for her alma mater thinking data entry was where she wanted to be. After ten months of sitting behind a screen, she missed the face-to-face interactions with students and switched roles to become a Regional Admissions Counselor for Lamar University serving the Fort Worth area. After three years, she wanted to branch out from her alma mater and became the Fort Worth Recruitment Specialist for the University of Houston.
During both of these positions, Alyssa was a member of TACAC (Texas Association of College Admissions Counseling) and NACAC (National Association of College Admissions Counseling). As a member, she was honored to receive the TACAC ACCI Fellows Award, the TACAC Anne Naman Grant, and the NACAC Imagine Grant.
Although she loved her time at UH, being a new mom and going on the road was difficult. In December 2022, she was blessed with the opportunity to join the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, TX as the Admissions Outreach Specialist for the School of Public Health. With this, she is now working with graduate students, focusing on admitted students and assisting them along the enrollment process.
Communications Chair
Philip Garza (Chair-Elect)
My name is Philip Garza, and I am the Marketing and Recruitment Manager for UHV College of Education & Health Professions.
I started at UHV in the Spring of 2019 and had just completed my first year, when everyone’s world was changed due to COVID. To top that off we had to relocate because of a fire in our building.
Like many colleges and universities, we had to adjust to our recruitment methods.
I am very passionate about assisting students and brings me great joy watching them succeed.
Though I haven’t been in higher education for too long, I have enjoyed taking initiative on many projects for our college.
Some of the top projects I am most proud of is establishing the first ever UHV College of Education & Health professions alumni event for Victoria and Katy. This alum event has brought together many alumni throughout the years that have are making a difference in their career area.
Another great project is establishing a partnership with a local district in the greater Houston area that will allow prospective students to be a part of our fully online teacher alternative certification program with the option to continue their graduate degree.
Coming from a first-generation background I have witnessed and experienced the positive and negative of being a graduate student. I take pride and assisting the diversity population of students that come through our college and look forward to many more years.