Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
Comments collected from participants during Registration
1. What can we do to better create a relevant experience and campus environment?
Summary:
1. Mentorship/ Support
2. Teaching tools (i.e. community service learning, internships, innovative pedagogy)
3. Latino Culture on Campus (i.e. ethnic programs, Latino clubs, Latino resource centers,
Latino events on campus, inviting Latino speakers, architecture and landscapes on campus
reflecting Latino culture)
4. Coming together (i.e. engaging families and communities, Latino clubs, creating community
service opportunities)
5. Welcoming Environment (i.e. spaces for Latinos to feel a sense of home, having a Latino
environment on campus, more culturally competent student service staff)
6. Educate people (i.e. prospective students, families, faculty, staff)
7. Look at programs at other campuses
8. Look at feedback from Latino students
9. Pathways (i.e. support for Latino transfer students, encouraging more students to become
teachers)
Texts:
• Although low numbers of Latina/os are getting to the university level, I think our priority
should be focusing on keeping them there and helping them to graduate. Broadening access to
the university won't help if the universities aren't set up to retain and serve our Latino students.
At CSUEB, the GANAS Program is creating a pathway from the CCC, providing
intrusive services/support for Latina/o transfers throughout their first year and beyond, guiding
students to baccalaureate attainment.
• Advance Ethnic Studies and learn how Latinos achieve in the realm of higher education and
then figure out how to promote and multiple those successful practices.
• Continue to work on sense of belonging issues, campus climate, significance of mentors with an
authentic caring approach.
• Create a meaningful Community Service Learning that bring the classroom to applicable
community engagement
• Create and foster professional development and mentoring spaces. Provide opportunities for
students to intern and gain experience doing relevant work in their communities.
• Create small cohorts of students who can navigate their college experiences together.
• create spaces for addressing current issues. making experience relatable.
• Creating more ethnic studies programs with professors of color that have traveled or studied
extensively in Latin America. There needs to be more meaningful art and history of Latino
movements and leaders on campuses.
• Develop language programs for Spanish heritage speakers and bilingual students.
• Development of support services toward college completion.
Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
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Discuss how to make research more relevant to students of color's lives/experiences and the
epistemologies that we carry, as well as being critical of existing research paradigms and instead
encouraging students to establish ways of conducting research that are reflective of our ways of
knowing.
Engaging families and communities can be talked about within this discussion as well.
Empower those who serve Latin@ students with awareness and resources to promote culturally
relevant and sustaining pedagogy within mainstream educational contexts.
Examine the academic, social and post BA career experiences of Latino/a university students
Fostering community among students that don't see eye to eye, or that although they share
similar experiences may not see their commonalities due to different circumstances
Having the campuses Latino community be visible. By either providing a
- mentor program that students can sign up for
-Creating a space where these students can feel a sense of home. While away theres nothing
better then a sense of belonging
-Having signature events that create a sense of pride for our Latino students
-Having events that also engage students and faculty and staff who are Latinos
-Inviting Latino authors, writers and producers and what not. Then making it a community
event
How do we reach all Latino/a students in higher ed, in contrast to the many boutique-like
programs that exist on college campuses?
How to engage the university to educate the "whole" Latina/o student. How faculty, staff and
administration endeavor to do more than the "minimum" (teach a class, recruit, or set policy).
I actually believe all four are top priority for serving the Latino community, however students
must first feel welcomed in order to thrive in any kind of environment, so they can feel that
they have something to contribute and this can only be accomplish in an environment that
reflects their background. Specifically, Syllabi, courses, services, and even food available on
campus must reflect the richness of the Latino experience. I would go as far as to include
landscape, architecture etc.
I think it is important that we reach out to students while they are in school to provide
them/make available resources on campus that will help to keep them inspired and excited
about being in a new learning and living environment.
I think moving away from a deficiency framework is great. I am involved in higher ed as a
college advisor and in PK-12 as a school psychologist. It would be great to expose participants
to current research on current multicultural programming and PK-12 interventions. I'd like to
see this research be on various fields of education (higher ed programming, PK-12, etc)
I think that collaboration is key to retaining and graduating Latin@s and this occurs through
their experiences in a campus environment. We can work together with our colleagues on our
respective campuses but also as colleagues across the Bay area to share resources, expose students
to cross-campus networks and communities, and work to make all of our campuses safe and
productive environments for our students.
I'd like to learn more about ways to prepare our youth in high school to curb math and English
remediation. In terms of a relevant educational experience, I'm connecting with folks to deliver
math and English support with a social justice lens. I'm also curious what's being done on
college campuses to create curriculum that speaks to students life experiences. How are they
being engaged?
Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
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I'm very interested in learning more about Latino culture-specific pedagogy, particularly for
teaching college composition. It'd be great if you could address that. Thank you!
In my department and GCOE we are very concerned and committed to creating pathways for
Latinos to enter the field of education, specifically teaching in public schools, K-12. It seems
that Latino students are scattered and there are limited directions to guide them toward
professions. We want to create pathways to encourage more Latinos to become teachers as a
vehicle to empower our communities. We must break the anti-public school and anti-teacher
propaganda promoted by media and government.
In my experience the hardest part was navigating the institutions. Yesterday one of my residents
came in to ask how to send an e-mail to a professor. Many institutions assume students can
just figure it out all themselves without understanding how socio-economic factors and cultural
capital play an essential role, among other factors. I think at least having culturally sensitive
staff and faculty play a big role in a students success.
In my position and through my experience as a Chicano/Latino student attending a 4 year
institution, I often see Chican@/Latin@ students who work hard to get accepted and attend
a 4 year institution only to drop out due to a lack of retention and support. Focusing on the
creation and support of safe spaces to build and discuss Chican@/Latin@ identity such as
cultural resource centers, student organizations, or events/programs centered around
Chican@/Latin@s can make a significant difference.
Inclusive environment for all students
Methods of creating this environment organically
innovative pedagogy at all educational levels
It is important to tailor recruitment, retention, curriculum, assessment, personnel, and
leadership to Latina/o communities. In order to serve Latina/o students institutions of higher
education must move away from a homogeneous model that prioritizes white middle class
backgrounds. Instead shift attention to the multi-faceted ways Latina/o students experience
education.
It would be nice if we could hear about some of the things that have already been done at local
community colleges/universities to create a relevant educational experience and campus
environment where Latin@s have been able to thrive and be able to actually finish their college
career. Also, what kind of things have been done to engage these families and their
communities.
Latino/a ethnic studies, community service opportunities, paid internships, and awareness of
issues facing the latino/a community.
look at the supports, resources, materials needed for students in a community college setting
Maintain a relationship with students. I tend to ask my students to check in with me once a
semester so I can help them with whatever difficulty may arise. Additionally, I have also started
to call those students who are in the high risk (of dropping out) category and follow up with
them.
More culturally competent student service staff including financial aid & counseling offices.
One thing I did not mention in first response is the need for colleges to have a Latina/o
Resource Center where students can find a home with other Latina/o students...a Center that
engages in outreach, orientation, retention, leadership development, pipeline to graduate school,
academic support services, community service learning opportunities, Chicana/Latina Support
group, Latino men's support group, referral services, access scholarship, fellowship, research
programs, internships, etc. info
Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
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Perhaps the ways in which the speakers write about so passionately about our "cultura" and
choices, why not start by the research done qualitatively and then introduce it to the audience.
This issue is a landmark of what I call our failure or our success due to the relevant of
education installed in us by "blindness in our 'cultura' that leads ignorance" or the "motivation
to push on education despite of these micro-aggressions and be fully aware."
Propose policy changes regarding curricula; engage scholars with expertise in these discussions,
involve students to provide input on what they perceive to be relevant education.
Provide more personal mentorship. Institutions need to offer more support and incentives for
faculty/staff to engage in mentoring relationships with Latin@ students beyond the classroom.
Mentoring for students can involve emotional support, financial support (eg, for academic
expenses, conferences/professional dev activities), professional development, graduate school
guidance, networking/community building, etc.
Talking about microagressions that students of colors face on the day to day in classrooms,
extra curriculars, etc. And what we can do to build a better, self sustaining, and student run
support systems.
There have been times where I felt insecure about speaking in class because I didn't feel
prepared like all the other Caucasian students. I feel like this issue needs to be discussed and
Latino/a Students need to know that they do (we) belong.
We need to move the conversation beyond access to holistic support, development , and success of
our students.
Our students must have the support of staff and programs that prioritize their mental,
emotional, physical, academic, and professional health. Our students must graduate and feel
healthy & ready to thrive throughout their next life chapters.
Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
2. Engaging Families & Communities
Summary:
1. Educating parents
2. Mentorship/support
3. Pathways (i.e. strategies to navigate through college admissions, bridging involvement from
schools and families, linking universities and community organizations, helping students
transition into college and through college)
Texts:
• A problem which directly affected me was the pressure placed by my parents in the pursuit of my university
degree. My parents are very traditional, so my father wasn't exactly supportive of his youngest daughter
moving away from home for college. As latin@s, we are instilled with strong social and cultural values,
respect for parents being one of them. One of my main struggles in college was learning how to balance
respect for my father, respect for my race, with respect of a higher education.
• Bringing safe spaces to the community for people to openly discuss and engage how to support students who
will be first generation college students and ensure they succeed
• Create a college going culture among Latino families early on.
• debunking myths around college access and affordability
• Discuss options for effective family outreach efforts, such as when would it be appropriate in terms of age of
their children, how can we make them participate, and where.
• Discuss the importance of parent and family engagement - provide resources and discuss how we as a
community can engage this conversation.
• Discussing best practices and challenges/issues
• Educating parents on the general topic of what college means is a good way to meet student's needs. At
school, youth are told of the importance of college, but if at home parents never had the opportunity to attend
college and are not knowledgeable in the area youth are already at a disadvantage compared to students with
college-educated parents who know more about how to prepare their kids for college.
• Have parents of first year generations students speak on their initial beliefs of the path to college vs reality .
Have students speak on their experiences as well.
• Helping Latino families better understand the pathways to college, as well as strategies to navigate the
college admissions landscape.
• How can we get school districts to move toward graduating all students with the A-G requirements and
how can we inform families that their children need A-G requirements to enter higher education.
• How to connect families and schools. In means of bridging and making sure that there is involvement from
both (school and home). In this case how can we assure that families are being welcomed, and that they feel
comfortable in going to their child school as a means to ask qs.
• How we can prepare our Latino families early on, starting at birth, in order for our Latino young men and
women to get access to affordable and quality education to help them reach their career goals.
• It is imperative to create and maintain our communities to become one. As nature depends on human, we
the Latinos depend on our communities.
• It is important to inform families the best ways to help their children obtain higher Education.
Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
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Latino parents are often disengaged from their children's educational experience because they trust the public
school districts have the best interest and intentions for their child. Their lack of knowledge of educational
systems and deficiencies is compounded by the district's lack of effort to engage parents and educate and
empower them as partners in their child's education. It would be great to learn about best practices and
strategies on how CBO's can help fill the gap.
Linking universities/colleges with more community organizations.
Making coursework directly relevant to the lives of students and their families.
Facilitating supporting networks (i.e. the Puente program) that provide community to Latin@ students;
especially first generation or those away from home.
Offer more community based events which are focused on higher education to engage not just possible
students but parents as well as the whole family.
One of the things I know affect Latino students is the lack of support from their families. Not all families
have a college going identity and are unable to support, understand the needs of their students.
Provide outreach and engagement with families and communities to provide the intrinsic knowledge about
all the steps, from application to graduation, that ensure their students' success in college.
Provide successful examples that involve engaging students' families in education (i.e. What is working with
involving Latino families in education?).
Providing strategies to help engage parents to understand the benefits/value of higher ed for their children
especially in terms of reframing the value of "work" to the value of access to other economic and career
sectors. This should include helping parents and other family members understand the transformative power
that higher ed can have for families and communities and inspire them to embrace and engage in their
student's path through higher ed.
Sharing research based practices that support students & families in the college readiness process. Also,
speaking on the importance of relationship building and creating meaningful connections to campus
community and staff.
Strategies or workshops that are accessible for all parents so that they can be knowledgeable about how they
can work together with their children to obtain a higher education.
Successful ways for first generation students to work through the transition to college but also through. For
example what are some partners at the universities, academic support, social enrichment. Also we have
student that get really good financial aid and able to attend amazing private schools in the East Coast but
there are many times we hear it's hard for them to adjust especially with being one of the few students of
color on campus.
Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
3. Maintaining Access
Summary:
1. Resources (i.e. increase access to AP classes, resources to increase college success, encourage
taking STEM courses, resources to help students receive good GPA and SAT scores,
support in navigating college systems)
2. Pathways (i.e. more collaborations among higher ed institutions)
3. Mentorship
4. Research Information (i.e. research statistics and numbers behind access for Latinos,
demographics, API of schools that have large Latino attendance)
5. Motivating Students to meet requirements needed to attend college (i.e. increasing value of
college)
6. Funding (i.e., extra support in navigating college system)
Texts:
• 1. Increasing access to AP classes for students
2. Increasing social capital regarding college and university options in middle school
3. Requiring all students to follow A-G requirements
• Access and Success for Latina/o students. Providing students with the initial and continued support and
resources to increase their chances of successfully identifying and reaching short and long term goals.
• Address STEM courses as gatekeepers for college access. What are service providers doing to support students in
high school to ensure they are acquiring the knowledge and skills students need to ensure they are college ready.
• Admission policies. We all hear that universities have a "holistic" approach when reviewing college applications
but in reality, it all comes down to numbers (GPA and SAT scores). We need resources to help our Latino
students be well prepared for these exams and for school in general.
• College options eg: scholarship info. And equity.
Mentorship programs for Latinos
Trade schools
• Focus should not only be on access for all Latinos - men and women - but also on completion, which can help
reduce impaction.
• I think it would be important to understand the statistics and the numbers behind access for Latin@s.
Breaking down demographics, first-gen, API of schools that are largely attended by Latin@s, how many are AG eligible. That information would be invaluable!
• More dialogue and pathways of collaboration among higher ed institutions in the Bay Area
• Pipeline, policy, secured funding.
• Providing an extra support in navigating the college system. Starting with College portals navigation to selecting
classes in college. Creating webinars/tutorials how to create & navigate through college portals; how to register
for classes.
• To me, a huge part of maintaining access is ensuring affordability, so I would like to see those conversations
linked.
• There is an underlying construct that has consistently been wholly excluded or under-represented in the academic
research as well as in daily community and arts forums. Whether the issue is Immigration, Education Policy or
Culturo Latino in general, the missing construct has been the Historical Presence de Los Africanos e Indigenas
en Las Americas. Ref. KQED's "Latino USA"
http://www.npr.org/programs/latino-usa/379398125/afro-latino, 25thJAN2015. That omission
seems to copy white supremacy.
Latinos/as in Higher Education • February 27, 2015 • SF State University
4. Ensuring College Affordability
Summary:
1. Financial Education
2. Inform About Opportunities
3. More Latino Scholarships
4. Financial Resources (i.e. insuring institutions have sufficient funding to provide scholarships,
advocacy at state and federal level so funding of education is a priority)
Texts:
• At Educators for Fair Consideration we focus on empowering undocumented young people pursue college, career
and citizenship. After the CA Dream Act was implemented in 2013, we saw a nearly doubling of the
undocumented population accessing higher education in the UC system. We believe that training more colleges
and high schools around the CA Dream Act will improve access undocumented youth, largely a Latino
population, have to higher education.
• East Bay CAN has worked with Oakland for the last 3 years to increase access to college affordability for all
OUSD graduates. Through the implementation of our experience-based Four Phases of Financial Aid
Toolkit, we've collaborated with the district (over 30% Latino) to institute systemic changes & school-based
practices to see financial aid application move from 40% in 2011 to 73% in 2014. The challenge is now
ensuring youth reach & persist in college as aid policies vary/lack transparency. Ensure the institutions have
sufficient funding to provide scholarships and fellowships to deserving Latino students. Communicate the
funding opportunities to Latinos in the community so that they have a clear understanding of the opportunities
available to them. Actively recruit Latinos and create awareness about college affordability for them.
• HSI federal grants
Latino-specific student scholarships
• I wanted to choose two items that I believe are closely related. In order to make college affordability a
possibility, we need to engage families and communities.
• Identify for participants that do not currently work in higher education, the available funding streams presently
available, the deficits (% of youth not being served, or areas of improvement), emerging needs/forecast on future
funding availability and encouraging small breakout groups to identify non traditional and "outside the box"
ideas for reforming or addressing college costs and pursuing new funding streams or sponsorship/scholarship
opportunities.
• Tax corporations and use that money to make tuition free. Chile just approved such a model!
• This is a challenging issue. Two things come to mind: (1) Advocacy at the State and Federal level so that
funding of education is a priority. (2) Locally, commit major financial ventures to education affordability by
funding it directly AND becoming advocates.
• Ways to find scholarships and grants specifically related to Latino students.
• We need to be very active in helping the Latino community become aware of the variety of resources available to
assist with the cost of pursuing a college education. What information does the community have, what
information do they need and how do we get the information to the community?
• We need to explore how to move past issues of access & equity to full inclusion in all programs and positions of
leadership, in and outside our classrooms