Winner: Daniel Chang, assistant provost for academic programs

Nominator: Cindy Mejia, executive director of student success strategies

Challenge: Convert a paper- and email-based academic program proposal process into streamlined digital system with online resources that guide faculty and staff through creating or modifying degrees, certificates and other academic initiatives.

Outcome: The new system standardizes documentation, reduces errors and makes key information easily accessible. By eliminating reliance on email threads and paper files, UH’s academic proposal process is now faster, clearer and more collaborative.

“My vision was to create a more transparent, efficient and accessible process for academic program development — one that made it easier for faculty and staff to understand and navigate,” said Chang.

Added Value: Cheng also introduced the Academic Program Tracker, a real-time digital platform that allows stakeholders to monitor proposals throughout the approval process. The tracker’s automated monthly summaries help leadership make timely, informed decisions.

“The system supports better decision-making and strategic planning, helping UH continue to innovate and grow in alignment with its academic goals,” said Mejia when explaining the value of innovation for their team.

Winner: Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine Team led by Mirla Lopez Saldierna, David Garcia and Rushil Daivala

Nominator: Linda Civallero, executive director of community engagement at the Fertitta Family College of Medicine

Challenge: The college relied on a costly third-party vendor system that proved inefficient, failed to track how families accessed and progressed through care, and left staff juggling data across multiple platforms and spreadsheets, complicating reporting and follow-up.

Outcome: By collaborating across the Household Centered Care and information technology teams, they developed a custom Quickbase case management platform that replaced the old system, saving about $100,000 annually. Additionally, this streamlines data, improves reporting accuracy and enables Community Health Workers and leaders to more effectively track and support families throughout their care journey.

Added Value: By combining frontline experience with specialized skills, the team proved that great ideas come from working together.

“The Quickbase project shows that the people involved in the day-to-day work have the most creative and practical solutions to problems,” said Civallero. “Involving others with specialized skills and resources to address the problem brought it to completion. We are always better together.”

Winner: Deana Kreitz, executive director for web and digital strategy and lead strategist for the Unified Digital Experience Model

Nominator: Lisa Holdeman, vice president for marketing and communications

Challenge: The University of Houston faced a fragmented and outdated digital landscape, with hundreds of websites, thousands of pages, and inconsistent branding, accessibility and user experiences across the University’s web presence.

Outcome: Under Kreitz’s leadership, the Unified Digital Experience Model centralized and modernized UH’s digital presence by migrating 180+ websites, deleting over 13,000 outdated pages, archiving 18,000 assets, reducing excess content by more than half. These changes created a seamless, accessible and user-centered online experience that strengthens the University’s brand and engagement.

“This award is deeply meaningful because it recognizes the years of persistent, often unseen work that brought our Unified Digital Experience Model to life — the teams and people who built it, the leaders who believed in it, and the future teammates who will carry it forward,” Kreitz said. “Our vision has always been to create one seamless, accessible and user-centered experience for everyone who visits the University of Houston online — something few public universities have achieved at this scale.”

Added Value: The Unified Digital Experience Model redefined how UH connects with its audiences online. Through thoughtful design, collaboration and innovation, Kreitz and her team have built a foundation that strengthens the University’s online presence and enhances the experience for every user.

“Deana’s vision and leadership have transformed how the University communicates online,” Holdeman said. “Her innovative approach to unifying our digital presence not only improves efficiency and accessibility, but it also ensures UH’s brand shines consistently across every website.”

Learn more about how to nominate yourself or a coworker for the Centennial Innovation Awards.