Education Forward Arizona Staff Honored with Faculty Emeritus
Frank Zamora, our very own Success Adviser, has been honored with the title of Faculty Emeritus from Gateway Community College.
The meaning of a Faculty Emeritus is to recognize and honor a faculty member for their years of service and dedication to students and to their specific content area. In Frank’s case, he served as Counseling Faculty for 17 years, 15 of those years as the Chair of the Counseling Department, serving a total of 39 years as a dedicated employee of Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD). As a further testament to Frank’s impact, he has the distinction of being the first Latino to receive this honor from Gateway Community College!
Frank comes from very humble beginnings and is an example of what can be accomplished through hard work, dedication, and tremendous support. He started his career as a Clerk/Typist – Front Desk Receptionist at Chandler Gilbert Community College – Pecos Campus. He continued to learn and grow and rose to be a Supervisor of Student Services at CGCC – Williams Campus. In this role, he built the Student Affairs department from the ground up, creating the first one-stop-shop in MCCCD. Frank became a member of the Gateway Community College Counseling Faculty in 2005 until his retirement on October 7, 2022 – over 39 years of service in total!
Gateway Community College has expanded their service to students through Frank’s efforts; some of his accomplishments include:
- Establishing the Hispanic Student Organization at CGCC (1989) and GWCC (2007).
- Opened the First Place Program, which allowed autistic students to come to college and follow curriculum built for them.
- Established the No Opportunity Wasted (NOW) Program, which won the Innovation of the Year award in 2019 for the Maricopa Community Colleges. This program allowed students on probation a second chance to regain financial aid eligibility the following semester.
- Established the Student Emergency Fund (SEF) at GWCC to help students with resources to stay in school.
Upon retiring, Frank realized he still had so much to give to students that he decided to join Education Forward Arizona as a Success Adviser. Frank is able to make a difference in the lives of students each year. Congratulations, Frank and thank you for your contributions to Arizona students!