Rate My Professor Maritez Apigo

Maritez Apigo is a Professor of English and Co-Chair of the English Department at Contra Costa College, part of the Contra Costa Community College District. She teaches online and hybrid English courses and plays a pivotal role in advancing distance education and open educational resources. As Distance Education Coordinator from 2020 to 2023 and chair of the Distance Education Committee, Apigo utilized CARES and HEERF funding to implement transformative initiatives. She created the Comet Support Hub in Canvas, a centralized student services resource averaging 200 weekly clicks, which was adopted district-wide by Diablo Valley College and Las Positas College. Apigo developed Quest for Online Student Success, a three-module program covering online learning overview, tech readiness, and effective learning strategies, awarding students a certificate upon completion. She also launched Wellness Central, providing 24/7 resources spanning eight wellness dimensions: intellectual, emotional, financial, occupational, social, environmental, spiritual, and physical. Additionally, she designed an Orientation Module Template for faculty use.

Apigo expanded faculty professional development through the DE PD Canvas shell, enrolling 124 faculty district-wide with asynchronous resources and workshop recordings, and the Online Teaching Essentials repository. She coordinated DE workshop calendars, distributed CCC DE Update newsletters, established a DE Help Desk for one-on-one support, initiated the DE Mentor Program, and led the YES/Your Equity Squad Community of Practice on diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in online teaching. She grew the DE team with positions like Instructional Designers, Student Support Specialist, POCR Lead, and Accessibility Specialist, issued institutional guidance on online assessments and proctoring equity, and introduced educational technologies including Flip, Hypothesis, Pronto, Padlet, Pope Tech, and Play Posit, culminating in an Ed Tech Toolkit. Apigo took sabbatical leave from Fall 2023 to Spring 2024 to pursue further professional development. Her efforts have strengthened infrastructure for equitable online education, student success, and faculty training across the district.