Alejandra Polcik serves as the Manager of Student Support Systems and Ascender at Austin Community College in the Office of Student Affairs. In this role, Ms. Polcik is dedicated to developing and implementing culturally and linguistically effective outreach strategies to engage diverse communities. Her work spans across multiple media platforms, including radio, TV, newspapers, social media, and websites, with a focus on coordinating events that resonate with targeted populations.

Ms. Polcik also oversees the Ascender program, a college readiness and completion initiative by Catch the Next, Inc., based in Austin, Texas. In this capacity, she manages projects and activities that are specifically designed to engage, mentor, and support the retention of Hispanic students in credit courses.

Before joining ACC, Ms. Polcik worked as a Multicultural Outreach Coordinator, where she played a pivotal role in connecting with diverse communities, particularly non-English speakers across the district. She actively communicated with students and their families about the academic resources available to them and promoted parental engagement through various channels, including radio, TV shows, event coordination, and informational booths. Her responsibilities also included developing editorial content for magazines, collaborating with community leaders, managing the Maestro en Casa English course program, and ensuring families were well-informed about the resources provided by the Austin Independent School District (AISD).

Ms. Polcik is deeply passionate about working with diverse communities. Prior to her role at AISD, she spent five years at ACC as the Spanish Media Coordinator, where she focused on the Hispanic market. Her duties included managing print and broadcast advertising, overseeing publication production, fostering media relations, translating strategic college marketing communications, and ensuring that all communications were culturally sensitive and appropriate. She played a key role in establishing and maintaining a consistent image for the college.

In addition to her outreach work, Ms. Polcik is also an adjunct instructor of Spanish. Her journey at ACC began as an hourly employee, assisting students with enrollment. In 2008, during ACC’s efforts to achieve Hispanic-Serving Institution status, her contributions in translating important documents and conducting outreach to Hispanic families were instrumental in the college’s success.

Originally from Mexico, Ms. Polcik studied law for two years before relocating to the United States, where she shifted her focus to Spanish and Political Science, graduating cum laude from the University of Texas at El Paso. She continued her academic journey, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in 2007.