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Hispanic Student Success Study


Hispanic Student success study cover

Executive Summary

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Hispanic Student Success Study was an initiative aimed at understanding why some state-supported four-year colleges and universities retain and graduate Hispanic students at much better rates than their peers. The study, supported by the Lumina Foundation for Education and sponsored by AASCU and the Education Trust (EdTrust), used a methodology similar to AASCU’s 2005 Graduation Rate Outcomes Study titled Student Success in State Colleges and Universities. Eleven campuses were selected for participation, either because they maintained high graduation rates with little or no difference in the rates for Hispanic and majority-group students, or because they experienced substantial increases in Hispanic students’ graduation rates since 2000. Campuses were visited in the spring of 2007 by study teams consisting of faculty and staff from AASCU member institutions.

Like the earlier study, the visiting teams did not find one overriding factor that was responsible for students’ success at the institutions that participated in the study. Indeed, these institutions engaged in many of the same kinds of programming and had cultural features similar to those involved in the earlier study. But the 11 institutions visited as part of the study did exhibit some distinctive characteristics in three areas: mission and culture; student-success programming; and organizational leadership and development.

The first distinctive attribute of these campuses with respect to mission and culture was that they were intentional and overt in their commitment to Hispanic students’ success, highlighting this commitment in their mission statements, strategic plans, and public communications. Secondly, although they are committed to diversity, these institutions are successful with Hispanic students in part because they are dedicated to success for all students. Finally, these campuses are able to succeed in part because they have been able to recruit a “critical mass” of Hispanic students, one large enough to create a viable “community within a community.”

In the realm of student-success programming, these institutions were committed to maintaining connections between the campuses and Hispanic students and their families and communities through early-recruitment programs, activities that actively involve family members, and community-service programming in Hispanic neighborhoods. They also established on-campus programs targeted at Hispanic students, using, for example, Greek organizations, cultural centers, and academic support designed to create networks of mutual support among Hispanic students. Finally, many of these institutions had academic programs aimed directly at Hispanic students, including diversity requirements in general-education courses, academic majors in such fields as Hispanic studies, and special programs for Hispanic students within traditional academic majors.

Turning to organizational leadership and development, presidential leadership at these institutions emphasized a commitment to success for Hispanic students and fostered collaborative and broad leadership throughout the campus—especially in bridging the gap between academic and student affairs. These campuses also devoted unusual attention to recruiting and supporting Hispanic faculty and staff, as well as engaging in substantial faculty and staff development to educate non-Hispanic faculty and staff about Hispanic students’ culture and how to help Hispanic students succeed. Finally, these campuses had a small, but important, number of Hispanic staff members who, regardless of their formal job descriptions, were vividly committed to fostering success among Hispanic students, acting as coaches and role models and providing direct intervention and support.

Recommendations

Given these institutional attributes, presidents and academic leaders at all AASCU institutions can do six things to foster campus cultures and programs that are effective in retaining and graduating Hispanic students. Leaders should: Make an explicit commitment to serving Hispanic students an integral and visible element of the institution’s mission, strategic plans, and public messages.

  • Listen carefully to Hispanic students to determine their distinctive needs and experiences.
  • Recognize the importance of family and community connections to Hispanic students by directing the establishment of programs that maintain those connections.
  • Work to replicate the networks of support that are typical of Hispanic families and communities by directing academic-affairs and student-affairs staff to design programs that promote multiple connections among Hispanic students.
  • Create the conditions to sustain a culture of success for Hispanic students, through faculty and staff recruitment, staff development, and targeted investment.
  • Evaluate programs and progress continuously to determine what is working and where modifications might be required.

The results of this study demonstrate that any AASCU institution can achieve levels of success for Hispanic students similar to those at the institutions studied, given the proper combination of leadership, programs that recognize the distinctive cultures and academic experiences of Hispanic students, and “persistent consistency” in decision-making.

Hispanic Student Success: Creating Supportive Spaces on Our Campuses, paper, 44 pages

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Fulfillment: Shirley Dockett