SCTEA Educator of the Year Award
Staff – 2015-2016
Employee:
Allan R. Barboza
Position:
Recruitment-Student Services Program Coordinator
Allan Barboza, born Allan Armando Martín Barboza Rodríguez, is a native of Costa Rica
who came to Charleston in 1990 and fell in love with the city. After returning to Costa Rica, he
decided to move to Charleston and apply for U.S. citizenship, which was granted in 1997.
Allan’s relationship with Trident Technical College began in 1997 and like many older
students he did not know exactly what he wanted to study or in what direction he wanted his
career to take. As a non-traditional student, he had many responsibilities and had to work fulltime while going to college. Eventually he decided to study Culinary Arts and graduated with an
AAS degree in Culinary Arts Technology. He built upon this by completing another AAS degree
in Hospitality and Tourism Management. He graduated as Summa Cum Laude in both
programs. As a culinary student Allan learned that he has a passion for baking cakes, cookies
and bread and everyone who knows him will attest that he has a ferocious sweet tooth!
Allan worked for four years at the front counter of the Registrar’s Office as an
Administrative Assistant. This is where he learned how much he liked working in a college
environment, assisting students and troubleshooting various problems. He especially enjoyed
the opportunity to help the Hispanic students who were referred to him because of his ability to
communicate with them in their native language. The Registrar’s Office was where Allan’s
knowledge of TTC’s application, enrollment and registration process grew and where he
realized his love of customer service and his desire to continue working to provide assistance to
those who want to better their lives through a college education.
In 2013 he completed his B.S. degree in Adult Workforce Education at Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, where he again graduated with honors. After graduation, he was hired
in Recruitment as a Student Services Program Coordinator. He loves going out into the schools
and community, meeting potential students and sharing his knowledge about TTC. He
encourages anyone, especially non-traditional students like himself, to go back to college. Allan
provides recruitment services to Berkeley, Dorchester and some Charleston county schools. He
recently organized an Information Session in Spanish on Main campus with approximately 60
participants. He works with several Hispanic groups such as HECHO and El Círculo
hispanoamericano in order to bring information to local Hispanics about TTC offerings and
assists potential students with the admission’s process. He has spoken numerous times about
TTC on the local Spanish speaking radio station, El Sol, and is often called upon to translate
and interpret documents from Spanish to English. Allan organizes educational events for TTC,
such as South Carolina High-School Counselor Conference, and assists in planning collegewide events such as Career Day. He conducts campus tours for potential students and makes
presentations about TTC in high schools and community events.
Allan has been married to his wife Sandy since 1998. She is a Spanish Instructor at TTC.
He loves to travel, bike, watch TV, and of course, bake goodies, eat sweets and fresh bread!