Centennial Innovation Award Recipients
Unified Digital Experience Model
Deana Kreitz, Executive Director for Web & Digital Strategy and Lead Strategist for the Unified Digital Experience Model
Under Kreitz’s leadership, the Unified Digital Experience Model centralized and modernized UH’s digital presence, which had earlier been marked by a fragmented and outdated digital landscape, with hundreds of websites, thousands of pages, and inconsistent branding, accessibility and user experiences across the University’s web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. Deanna and her team migrated 180+ websites, deleted over 13,000 outdated pages, and archived 18,000 assets, reducing excess content by more than half. This 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.”
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Transforming Patient Scheduling at the University Eye Institute
Guaquita Lavelle-Watkins, Clinic Administrator, College of Optometry
For the first time in its history, the University Eye Institute now offers online appointment booking, thanks to the leadership of Guaquita Lavelle-Watkins. From April 2023 to October 2024, Guaquita spearheaded the research, vendor selection, customization, training, and rollout of a digital scheduling system that replaced decades of manual processes. Guaquita was motivated by the need for modernizing patient care and streamlining clinical operations. Describing her project, she said, “Even if someone is caring for a sick child at 3 a.m. or staying at a shelter, they can still book an appointment,” she explained. “It’s about meeting people where they are and making care more accessible.”
The new system has already shown remarkable results and improved revenue, with more than a thousand appointments successfully booked online since launch. In fact, online scheduling now makes up 8% of total appointments for the institute. Patient convenience and satisfaction have improved and clinical staff too have benefitted as they can now focus more on patient care rather than administrative tasks.
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Quickbase Case Management Platform at the Fertitta College of Medicine
Mirla Lopez Saldierna, Program Director 2, Household Centered Care Program
David Garcia, Director of College IT Infrastructure & Data Analytics
Rushil Daivala, Functional Analyst 3
The Household Centered Care Program, a signature initiative of the Fertitta Family College of Medicine, teaches students about non-medical drivers of health. However, the program’s original case management system, which was contracted through an external provider, was costly, limited, and unable to track outcomes effectively.
To address this, the Household Centered Care and IT teams collaborated to develop a customized solution using Quickbase, a cloud-based application platform. The system, launched in January 2025, consolidated multiple tools and spreadsheets into one application, streamlining participant tracking, outcomes measurement, and workflow management.
Mirla Lopez Saldierna, who led the project, says, ‘Our new platform has been a hit with our team: it is so much easier to use, [gives] instant access to all our data and I am able to create and access reports in an instant. The greatest asset is that we can customize and add new items depending on our needs!’
The project has delivered annual savings of $100,000, replacing a platform that cost UH over $636,000 in four years. The new platform provides direct access to comprehensive data and reporting tools and has improved accuracy and reduced redundancy in data entry.
Community Health Workers praised the new system as “user-friendly” and “efficient,” making participant engagement easier and more effective.
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Modernizing the Academic Program Proposal Process
Daniel Chang, Assistant Provost for Academic Programs
Daniel Chang led a strategic transformation of UH’s academic program proposal process, which for years relied on email submissions and paper records. Recognizing inefficiencies, Daniel spearheaded a campus-wide initiative to reimagine how academic programs are proposed, reviewed, and approved.
His solution included a suite of online resources that standardized submission requirements, reduced errors, and made information readily accessible across the University. He also launched the Academic Program Tracker, a real-time digital platform that allows monitoring of proposals through the approval pipeline. The tracker’s automated monthly summaries provide leadership with data to support informed decision-making. As Daniel says, “My motivation behind this project came from wanting to make the academic program proposal process more transparent, efficient, and supportive for our faculty and staff. By moving … to [a system] that offers real-time tracking and clear online guidance, we’ve been able to reduce confusion, speed up reviews, and improve collaboration across the university.”
This modernization has resulted in faster proposal reviews by eliminating paper and email dependency. It has also helped reduce errors as documentation processes have become more standardized and clearer.
Daniel’s work brings transparency and accountability in academic planning and furthers the University’s strategic goals of academic growth and innovation.
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