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Senior Managing Director, Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness
Oliana Alikaj-Fierro, Ph.D., M.B.A., is the senior managing director for the Office
of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) at Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso).
Dr. Alikaj-Fierro manages institutional research, institution-wide planning and assessment
processes at TTUHSC El Paso to assure compliance with SACSCOC accreditation. Dr. Alikaj-Fierro
was instrumental in writing and reviewing narratives for TTUHSC El Paso’s application
and compliance certification submitted to SACSCOC for separate accreditation. Dr.
Alikaj-Fierro has over seven years of experience with both regional accreditor and
programmatic accreditors. She has managed successfully several on and off-site SACSCOC
visits and is currently managing both the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) process and
progress reports. During this time, TTUHSC El Paso has been commended for their culture
of excellence.
She is experienced with institution-wide planning and assessment processes with a
demonstrated history of working in both private and higher education. Prior to her
work in higher education, she honed her business and leadership skills working for
private industry as a managing purchasing director and business specialist. Her background
and expertise are in higher education, administration, program management, professional
and faculty development, curriculum development, strategic planning and accreditation.
Originally from Albania, and now a proud Texan, she possesses over 10 years of experience
in higher education and speaks three languages: Albanian, English and Spanish.
Before coming to TTUHSC El Paso, Dr. Alikaj-Fierro served as the assistant director
for the bioinformatics program at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
In May 2015, Dr. Alikaj-Fierro obtained her Ph.D. in teaching, learning, and culture
from UTEP. She also earned her M.B.A. from UTEP in December 2007.
Associate Managing Director of Institutional Research
Martin Dario Garcia Salazar, M.S., is the associate managing director of institutional research for the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso).
Before coming to TTUHSC El Paso, Mr. Garcia served as a developer and application support engineer at Hewlett-Packard in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, for more than eight years. In December 2006, Mr. Garcia earned his M.S. from the Tec de Monterrey Campus Ciudad Juarez.
Martin works alongside the director and the team of the OIRE in the design and implementation of an institutional research data warehouse, as well as other computer-based processes to assist and support the institutional research and accreditation projects of the department.
Assistant Managing Director of Institutional Assessment
Julie Blow, Ph.D., is the assistant managing director of assessment for the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso).
Before coming to TTUHSC El Paso, Dr. Blow served two years as a research assistant for the Geneva Foundation with a duty station at William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC). Prior to that, Dr. Blow was a research associate and manager in the Prevention and Treatment in Clinical Health (PATCH) Laboratory at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for seven years.
Dr. Blow earned her Doctorate in Psychology from UTEP in 2014. She also has a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor concentration in biology, both from UTEP.
Tony Figueroa, M.B.A., is the chief analyst for the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso).
Prior to joining TTUHSC El Paso, he served for 12 years at JPMorgan Chase where he held a banker position and led a team in a customer-facing financial sales and loan origination setting. He provided training to internal partners and acted as a consultant for market leadership regarding existing projects. Before joining OIRE, he served as a senior analyst in Information Technology within the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. He assisted students, faculty and academic staff in defining computing needs, formulate strategies and implement solutions.
Tony attended Webster University where he earned his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) with a concentration in management and leadership and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in computer information systems from Park University.
Chief Analyst of Institutional Research
Alejandro Lara, M.S.-ACS, is the Chief Analyst of institutional research for the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso).
Before coming to TTUHSC El Paso, he served at Universidad Autonóma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ) as a teacher, and worked in some industries as IT leader department and support engineer.
Mr. Lara earned a master’s degree in Applied Computing with a concentration in Soft Computing from Universidad Autonóma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ). He is collaborating with the Associate Managing Director in the design and implementation of an institutional research data warehouse as well as other computer based processes to assist and support the institutional research.
