Professional portfolio

Turning People,
Plans, and Possibilities
into Progress.

I create structure, foster collaboration, and drive meaningful outcomes through people-centered project management.

Project management | Operations | Process improvement

Explore my work
“Better systems.
Stronger outcomes.”

About me

Strategic.
People-Centered.
Results-Driven.

I am a certified project management professional with a background in operations, program coordination, and people-centered service delivery. Throughout my career, I have managed high-volume workflows, coordinated cross-functional initiatives, improved processes, supported teams, and created structure around work involving multiple priorities, stakeholders, and deadlines.

Learn More About Me

My experience spans across higher education and residential operations, where I have managed initiatives ranging from large-scale planning and student success projects to staffing, scheduling, training, budgets, and operational programs. Across these environments, I have developed a consistent approach to my work: understand the objective, organize the moving pieces, communicate clearly, anticipate challenges, and keep the work progressing toward completion.

I hold the Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) credentials, along with a master’s degree in counseling. My background allows me to bring both structure and a strong understanding of people to project environments. I am particularly skilled at translating broad goals into actionable plans, coordinating stakeholders, improving workflows, and bringing clarity to complex or high-volume work.

At the center of my work is a simple goal: turning people, plans, and possibilities into progress.

Key Impact

~630Student Caseload
1,028Advising Appointments
Over One Year
~200Graduation Plans
Developed Annually

Featured projects

Finish in Four &
Graduation Planning

Guiding students from enrollment to graduation through proactive planning, tracking, and personalized support.

Read case study

High-Volume
Registration Operations

Managing advising and registration support during peak periods, including serving as the sole Economics advisor in Fall 2023.

Read case study

Academic Operations &
Stakeholder Coordination

Building systems, resources, and collaborative processes that improve advising, communication, and student support.

Read case study

Case study 01 / Graduation and retention

Finish in Four & Graduation Planning

Objective. Help students understand remaining degree requirements early enough to make informed registration decisions and maintain progress toward timely graduation.

Approach. I reviewed degree progress, translated requirements into semester plans, prioritized courses that could affect sequencing, tracked outstanding actions, and coordinated with university partners when a student needed support outside my area.

Result. Students gained a structured path to completion and clearer priorities for registration. Student feedback describes the value of identifying courses needed to graduate on time. A specific graduation rate effect is not available for independent verification.

Case study 02 / Process and case management

High-Volume Registration Operations

Challenge. During Fall 2023, I was the sole Economics advisor supporting a concentrated surge of registration questions, permits, hold issues, course planning, and time-sensitive decisions.

Approach. I triaged requests by urgency and deadlines, standardized recurring guidance, documented decisions and next steps, and coordinated across the appropriate university partners while maintaining appointment support.

Result. Students received consistent guidance through the registration cycle despite limited staffing. Their feedback points to timely responses and greater clarity about what to register for.

Case study 03 / Leadership and operations

Academic Operations & Stakeholder Coordination

Scope. I manage an advising portfolio of approximately 630 students alongside appointments, graduation planning, outreach, registration, and administrative deadlines.

Approach. I maintain cohort tracking, planning materials, and repeatable communications; coordinate workshops and registration initiatives; and keep stakeholders informed about actions and handoffs.

Result. The work creates clearer, more consistent support across recurring student needs. My supervisor has recognized my project documentation, cross-functional collaboration, and problem solving.

Student voices

“She is extremely helpful and caring, responding in a timely manner with information that helps the student achieve their goals.”

Summer 2025

“The advising session was welcoming, and the advisor was invaluable with their tips and on-point answers to the questions.”

Summer 2025

“I had the best career planning experience with Miss Horton. She is the best advisor I have ever met, and I truly don’t know what I would have done without her guidance and support. She helped me with everything from course registration and graduation details to career planning.”

Fall 2025

“She was very caring and helpful. She went above and beyond in preparing materials to help me.”

Fall 2025

“Ce’era is truly the best advisor. I love every meeting we have and she is always so welcoming and open to questions.”

Spring 2026

“Ms. Horton is a very nice and understanding advisor who loves to help her students and helped me with all of the problems and questions that I had during our meeting.”

Spring 2026

“The most valuable part of this experience was planning the path to my next steps of finishing my degree. Also, understanding the opportunities that are available to me.”

Spring 2026

“Ce'era Horton always provides concise and clear help, and is amazing with addressing questions with informed advice.”

Summer 2026

“Quick, straightforward, and helpful.”

Summer 2026

Recommendations

Perspectives from colleagues and leadership

Former supervisor

“Ce'era has demonstrated remarkable proficiency in project management and cross-functional collaboration throughout her tenure at USF.”
Ashley SowellCollege of Arts & Sciences Assistant Director
University of South Florida
Read Ashley’s full letter

Former colleague

“Ce’era has created effective training guides that are user-friendly and easy to follow, which makes the training process seamless.”
Neli HankinPrevious Co-Advisor/Colleague
Read Neli’s full letter

Core competencies

Project Planning
& ExecutionStakeholder
CollaborationProcess
ImprovementData Tracking
& ReportingCommunication
& EngagementDocumentation
& ComplianceProblem Solving
& Risk ManagementGoal Alignment
& Strategic Support