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aryland’s B-plus took first place the fourth year in a row in Education Week’s “Quality Counts 2012” analysisof K-12 education. Of the 10 states with the largest Latino populations, New York led with a B; Georgia and New Jerseyscored a B-minus; Florida and Texas, a C-plus; California, Illinois, Colorado and New Mexico, a C; and Arizona, a C-minus. The nationalaverage was a C. Let’s hope the Quality Counts advisers, who hail from universities and education organizations, aren’t pulling their punches.

Of Republican presidential candidates still standing as we go to press, Ron Paul and Rick Perry propose closing the U.S. Departmentof Education, and Gingrich and Santorum want to downsize it. But Romney says it helps hold down “the interests of the teachers unions.”Paul opposes federal grants to students for education. Santorum opposes federal early education programs because “The governmentwants their hands on your children as fast as they can,” so it can “indoctrinate” them. All this according to Sarah Butrymowicz, staffwriter, The Hechinger Report, on a HuffPost blog as the campaigns were gearing up.

Carla Rivera wrote in the Jan. 15 Los Angeles Times that grants could become “much harder to obtain for new students underrestrictions proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.” The governor suggests raising the minimum GPA for Cal Grant “A” from 3.0 to 3.25 andfor Grant “B” from 2.4 to 2.75.

Brown, a Democrat, reasons that “in a climate of fiscal constraints, financial aid should go to students mostly likely to complete theirdegrees – those with higher grades,” writes Rivera, noting that about 26,600 prospective students would be affected in the next school year.

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Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Chair for Women and LeadershipSimmons College School of Management (SOM) seeks candidates for the Deloitte EllenGabriel endowed chair in women’s leadership. Applicants should be premier scholarsand/or distinguished leaders and practitioners. The chair will be expected to carry outapplied research, and to provide intellectual leadership in conjunction with the Center forGender in Organizations. The chair will also serve as an active spokesperson informingand shaping national and international discourse and policy on appropriate strategies foradvancing women into leadership roles in all sectors.

Applicants should possess a doctorate or equivalent terminal degree in business or man-agement or a closely related field that reflects deep understanding of women’s leadership.We seek a track record of providing intellectual leadership in gender, diversity, organiza-tional studies, women’s leadership in a global context, women’s leadership education anddevelopment, and/or strategy.

The School of Management (SOM), founded in 1974 as the Graduate School of Manage-ment, offers the only MBA program in the country designed specifically for women. Themission of the MBA program and the undergraduate program is to educate women forpower and principled leadership. There are four SOM graduate programs: an MBA, aMaster in Communications Management, a Master in Healthcare Administration, an onlineaccelerated Master in Healthcare Administration for Pharmacists; as well as a coordinatedMBA/MSW degree. The SOM also offers a BA/MBA program, and executive educationprograms for senior women at leading corporations; and partnerships with two premierbusiness schools in India.

Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop amore diverse faculty, staff, student body and curriculum.

Consideration of applications will continue until the position is filled. To apply, visithttp://jobs.simmons.edu and click “Search Postings”, select position title and followdirections to apply online. Please submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, statement ofteaching philosophy, relevant syllabi, publications or documentation related to professionalscholarship, and contact information for three professional references electronically tohttp://jobs.simmons.edu AND hard copy to:

Chair, Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Chair for Women and Leadership Search CommitteeSchool of Management, Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115

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There are two ways of looking at Cecilia Muñoz’s appointment byPresident Barack Obama as his new Domestic policy advisor. It’s eithera shrewd political move or an estimable appointment or maybe both.

It’s a huge recognition of a Hispanic talent in his White House innercircle and is the highest presidential advisor post ever held by someonefrom the Latino minority.

Nevertheless, occurring the way it did and the timing, you can’t helpbut wonder about its underlying motive and its kinship with White Housepolitical strategy.

Would he have made this appointment if it had not been a re-electionyear, knowing he needs the Latino vote to win and figuring immigrationpolicy will be a marquee issue?

That’s assuming that all Latinos are sympathetic to thisproblem. Many aren’t, simply don’t care or have too manyother issues than to ventilate about illegals getting chasedout of the U.S.

Ms. Muñoz is an original member of the president’s WhiteHouse staff, appointed as director of intergovernmental affairsin January 2009, a few days after Obama took office.

She succeeds Melody Barnes, who didn’t even get theusual valedictory from the president. The only news abouther departure was that she was looking for a job in theprivate sector.

Muñoz’s career path until she reached the WhiteHouse was in the bureaucracy, largely articulating Latinoissues, particularly immigration, and the promotion ofthis minority group’s well-being.

Born in Detroit, Mich., in 1962 to Bolivian parents,her father was an automotive engineer, and the familylived in a White, middle-class section of town. She attend-ed the University of Michigan, earning degrees in Englishand Latin studies and later a master’s at the University ofCalifornia-Berkeley.

Her political pedigree is modest until you appreciatethe fact that one does not get to the White House withoutsome bureaucratic acumen and knowing how to work thepolitical levers in Washington.

Muñoz got her start as the head of the LegalizationOutreach Program for Catholic Charities of the RomanCatholic Archdiocese of Chicago. Using PresidentReagan’s 1986 Immigration Reform Act, the first federalinitiative program for undocumented immigrants, Muñozsupposedly helped more than 5,000 illegals become legalized.

With that kind of résumé, it was an easy jump to the National Council ofLa Raza (NCLR) in Washington in 1988 as the senior immigration policyanalyst during a period in which the NCLR, under its former leader, RaúlYzaguirre, became the U.S. Latino’s ultimate think tank and lobbyist, withMuñoz as its lead advocate in championing immigration reform.

The NCLR has always maintained it is apolitical, which is a stretch. Itsleadership and its sentiments have always been allied with the DemocraticParty and liberal causes, which purportedly reflect the aspirations and thewell-being of the Latino community.

Its defenders say if so, it’s because the Republican Party and thenation’s conservative elements have traditionally disowned or ignoredLatino causes and at most – forget about Ronald Reagan’s immigration

policy – given only lip service.Cubans have little use for NCLR and its mandate. They have no immi-

gration problems if they can literally get a foot on U.S. soil before an immi-gration officer collars them. Most are legal residents or citizens.

Puerto Ricans have commonwealth status. Central Americans and ascattering of South Americans comprise the rest of undocumented Latinos,so the focus has been mainly on the illegal Mexican diaspora.

Muñoz made her mark at the NCLR with her indefatigable energies on Latinoissues and was a senior executive specializing in immigration issues, advocacyand legislation when Obama tapped her for her first White House post.

That job was mostly handholding the nation’s governors, mayors, triballeaders and local officials on their issues and coalescing their support on

Obama policies.I don’t know Muñoz’s White House trajectory, but,

like many, I would argue the president appointed Muñozto her latest post as much to advance his politics as hispolicies with Latinos in this upcoming crucial year.

So what if this is about politics and about a crucialelection and about what one blatantly has to do toaccomplish his goals, if, by extension, it serves a primeobjective of one of its constituencies.

The president doesn’t want to be confronted with fail-ing the coveted Latino community in his first term,although I’d say not that many are worked up aboutimmigration reform. By naming a Latina expert to thisranking position, he can at least be perceived as stillcommitted to his first-term promise.

Meanwhile, his latest accommodation, the brainstormof Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the U.S. Citizenshipand Immigration Services, is to allow illegal immigrantsto seek provisional waivers before leaving to solicit theirvisas in their native country.

It spares them long separation of families, sometimesyears, if they get stuck in their home countries awaitingaction on their visa application, unable to return to the U.S.

Many in the past elected to forego the risk and taketheir chances living in the shadows.

This presidential fiat applies only to those with fami-lies in the U.S. who can demonstrate the hardship of suchseparation. This is usually the first step to permanent res-idency and citizenship.

The Republicans shot back that this is a ploy for back-door amnesty, but in a whisper. They know there is jeopardy in being tooloud over this in an election year.

The president is not going to accomplish his comprehensive immigra-tion reform if the Republicans keep control of at least one congressionalchamber, but with key players like Muñoz, he may find ways to circumventthis through executive fiat as he has with other issues.

If he fails, don’t blame him. Blame those recalcitrant Republicans for“kicking the can down the road” and those “folks” with little sympathy forLatino causes and needs.

Looking at Cecilia Muñoz Through a Two-Way Mirror

KALEIDOSCOPE

LATINO

KALEIDOSCOPE

LATINO

Carlos D. Conde, award-winning journalist and commentator, for-mer Washington and foreign news correspondent, was an aide in theNixon White House and worked on the political campaigns of GeorgeBush Sr. To reply to this column, contact [email protected].

LATINO KALEIDOSCOPE by Carlos D. Conde


Page 8

Page 10

MAGAZINE®

CONTENTS

FEBRUARY 13, 2012

CUNY Macaulay Honors Program Drives Successby Gary M. Stern

8

Nontraditional Students:Time Isn’t Always onTheir Side by Jeff Simmons

Duncan Urging College Officials toThink MoreCreatively and Urgently About Reducing Student Debtby Peggy Sands Orchowski

Keeping College Freshmen from FallingThroughthe Cracks by Sylvia Mendoza

El Camino Real – 2,580 Miles of American Historyby Rosie Carbo

Report Identifies 32 Schools that Help Low-Incomeand Minority Students Succeed by Frank DiMaria

10

13

14

17

20

Pew and ACT Reports Show Gains for LatinoStudents – But More Needed by Angela Provitera McGlynn

As College Costs Keep Rising, Criticisms and QuestionsMount by Marilyn Gilroy

How to Help Undergraduate StudentsThink AboutGraduate School by Cristina González

24

26

U.S. Ed SecretaryTackles Long-Term Issue – MoreAcademicTime inAmerican Schools by Peggy Sands Orchowski

To view this and other select articles online,go to our website: www.HispanicOutlook.com.

Online Articles


Page 17

Page 26

DEPARTMENTS

Cover photo courtesy of CUNY Honors College

Uncensored by Peggy Sands Orchowski 23

Looking at Cecilia Muñoz Through a Two-Way Mirror

Latino Kaleidoscope by Carlos D. Conde 5

PPrriimmiinngg tthhee PPuummpp...... by Miquela Rivera

Mentoring – Positive Support for Latino Youth Preparing for Higher Education

Back Cover

HO is also available in digital format; go to our website: www.HispanicOutlook.com.

Book Review by Mary Ann Cooper

lol...OMG!

33

IInntteerreessttiinngg RReeaaddss 33

Targeting Higher Education Money Realities and College Costsby Gustavo A. Mellander (Online only)

FYI. . .FYI . . .FYI . . . 30

HHiissppaanniiccss oonn tthhee MMoovvee 32

HHiigghh SScchhooooll FFoorruummHHiigghh SScchhooooll FFoorruummSmithsonian in the 21st Century: A Haven for High School Hispanics by Mary Ann Cooper

28


INNOVATIONS/PROGRAMS

Program Drives Successby Gary M. Stern

Since 2001, the Macaulay Honors College at the City University of NewYork (CUNY) has been awarding academically gifted students a freetuition merit scholarship to study at one of its seven four-year colleges.

Students can choose to attend Baruch, Brooklyn, City College of New York,Hunter, Lehman, Queens and Staten Island, all highly respected CUNY col-leges. In addition to free tuition, students receive a free laptop and canapply for a $7,500 grant to study abroad or conduct a research project.

Why did the public CUNY system institute an honors program?“Why shouldn’t high achievers have access to public higher education

as well as students who need more help? The presence of ambitious stu-dents raises everyone’s game, including faculty and other students,”explains Ann Kirschner, the university dean of Macaulay Honors College.Prior to this program’s introduction, “If you were coming out of a NewYork City high school with a strong academic record, CUNY might not beon the top of your list,” she acknowledges.

The Macaulay Honors program enables CUNY to compete with Ivy Leagueand top-tier colleges for the best and brightest students graduating high schoolin New York City and throughout the state. Indeed 76 percent of the freshman2005 class consists of New York City residents, another 16 percent live in NewYork state, and 8 percent hail from outside the state. The scholarship is worthabout $30,000 for in-state students, including $20,000 for tuition.

Moreover, the program attracts students of families that can’t affordprivate colleges or prefer that their children either live at home or indorms (six of the seven campuses have dorms). “Free tuition is a tremen-dous magnet to low-income families. It’s a tragedy that young people’schoices will be shaped by their debt rather than intellectual capacity,” sheadds. Macaulay students’ graduate debt free and therefore aren’t con-strained in making post-undergraduate and career decisions.

Gaining acceptance into Macaulay is highly competitive. For its 2011class, 4,077 students applied to Macaulay, 1,186 were accepted, and 495students entered the program. Over 1,600 students are enrolled in thefour-year Macaulay program.

Macaulay students have impressive credentials, including averaging1,400 on the SATs and having a 93 percent high school average. Studentsmust submit teacher recommendations, an essay, and examples of commu-nity service and extracurricular activity that demonstrate leadership skills.Moreover, the program is interested in students of all disciplines and inter-ests since they can choose among any of 475 majors at CUNY.

But once students meet Macaulay’s demanding criteria, they can’t reston their laurels. Students must maintain a 3.5 academic index to sustaintheir scholarship. If their GPA sinks below that level, they can stay matricu-lated at CUNY, but not remain in Macaulay.

Macaulay students exert a positive influence on CUNY. Many of its students“serve as catalysts for positive change. They often run for student government,run clubs, write for the newspaper and challenge the faculty. They bring theircuriosity and alertness into everything they do,” Kirschner observes.

Macaulay has managed to attract a diverse student body. Its students are 49percent White, 29 percent Asian-American, 13 percent Latino, 6 percentAfrican-American, and 3 percent other. More than 60 percent of Macaulay stu-dents are immigrants or children of immigrants, 66 percent speak at least twolanguages, and 60 percent graduated from a New York City public high school.

Since the city’s population is 29 percent Hispanic and 23 percent African-American or 42 percent minority, according to the 2010 census, why arethere only 19 percent combined Hispanic and Black students enrolled inMacaulay? Kirschner replies that the honors program has “broadened itsrecruitment away from the usual suspects, such as competitive high schools,to reach deeply into the neighborhoods of New York.” The Latino acceptancerate has been incrementally rising, and the program has been stepping upworking with nonprofit groups and community organizations that appeal toLatino and African-American students to raise the minority acceptance rate.

Advising Makes a DifferenceThe program creates camaraderie among Macaulay students in several

ways, explains Rich Dikeman, head of marketing for the program. Duringthe first two years, Macaulay honors students must take four seminarsabout New York City for 12 credits including: 1) New York arts and cul-ture, 2) immigrants in New York, 3) science, technology and the future, 4)New York’s history and sociology.

The Macaulay program opened a new academic building close toLincoln Center where students attend the seminars. Dikeman says the pro-gram builds cohesiveness through sponsoring events such as food festivalsand arts nights and encouraging participation in clubs and organizations.

Macaulay students are required to take a minimum of 12 credits in hon-ors-designated classes. The most popular selections are honors sections inscience, humanities or English, explains Tim Caron, associate dean of acad-emic affairs. In their major, they must take courses in the honors track,which could mean taking a Shakespeare class in the English department.

One distinctive feature of the Macaulay program is the intensive, one-on-one advising and counseling of each student. Each student develops an individ-ualized, academic program that includes research, global learning, mentoringand tapping New York City’s more than 200 museums and libraries. Counselingis critical because “many of our students come from families where they’re thefirst to go to college. They don’t have the same familiarity with navigating thesystem, particularly a system as complex as CUNY,” Kirschner explains. She

says Macaulay advisors are full-time academic counselors, not faculty who aremoonlighting and devote only partial attention to advisement.

The advisors play multiple roles in helping the Macaulay studentschoose their college curriculum but also to helping them to think holisti-cally about selecting classes that direct them toward a future career. “Manystudents are perfectly happy with a traditional major, and other studentswant to color outside the lines,” saysKirschner, an alumnus of PrincetonUniversity who once taught Victorianliterature.

Most of Macaulay’s honor stu-dents spend the bulk of their acade-mic time in classes, interacting withother CUNY students. “The personnext to you may be a returning GI, asingle mother, a person working fulltime and struggling to get throughschool,” Dikeman says, suggestingthey encounter urban life, not ivorytower academics.

The most popular majors atMacaulay are biology, chemistry,mathematics, finance and business.Some students create more person-alized majors, such as combiningenvironmental science and worldpeace. Academic advisors guide stu-dents to think about studying abroadfor a semester, working on aresearch project, interning at agreen consulting firm, or consider-ing what it takes to become aRhodes Scholar (which twoMacaulay graduates have attained).

Every student also can apply fora $7,500 Opportunities Fund.Working with an advisor, the studentsubmits a proposal, and if accepted(most are), the money can pay forstudying abroad, stipends for unpaidinternships, research projectexpenses, conference registrationand even expenses associated withapplying to graduate schools.

Why One Student Chose MacaulayWhen Chris Figueroa was graduating from St. Raymond High School for

Boys in the Bronx in 2001, he saw a poster in his college counselor’s officefor the new Macaulay Honors program at CUNY. Figueroa was interested infilm production, applied to Macaulay, New York University (NYU) Film Schooland Boston University, and was accepted by all three. Though NYU Film washis first choice, it offered little financial aid, and he didn’t want to burden hismom and family with excessive debt. He opted for Macaulay and was a filmproduction major at Brooklyn College, where he graduated in 2006.

Figueroa said he had a “dual identity” at Brooklyn College as a film majorand Macaulay Honors student. He was one of the few film majors in the pro-gram. Since the film department didn’t have honors classes, Figueroa workedon special projects or was given additional assignments to upgrade his classes.

Moreover, Figueroa was nourished by studying overseas. He obtained agrant to attend a winter’s intersession program in Introduction to the

Caribbean Culture at the University of West Indies in Barbados. He feltimmersed in the Caribbean culture and says that experiencing the culturein person deepened his knowledge beyond what reading about it in a his-tory book could convey.

The toughest part of the Macaulay program for Figueroa was maintain-ing the 3.5 academic index to keep his scholarship, but he did. His acade-

mic advisor encouraged him andkept telling him that he could do it.

After graduating from BrooklynCollege in 2006, he earned an M.F.A.from the City College of New York in2008. In 2008, he earned a two-year$25,000 Van Lier fellowship atBronxnet, a regional TV networkowned by Cablevision. He shot andedited video and still works there asa professional, though his fellowshiphas ended. He also launched ChrisFig Productions, which specializes incorporate videos, weddings andevents. He has a full-time employeeand part-time staff.

Figueroa says the biggest impacton him of attending the MacaulayHonors program was financial. “Tograduate college without having aburden of debt, you can’t put that inwords,” he says. Academically, helearned “how to tell a story in film.Film must do more than look andsound good,” he says.

Hunter College attracts the largestnumber of Macaulay students, financeand business majors gravitate to BaruchCollege, and engineering majors leantowards CCNY. In addition, students areencouraged to take courses at any ofthe other six CUNY campuses, so anenvironmental science major atBrooklyn College might take a specialmarine course at Queens College.

Kirschner says Macaulay’s facultyis chosen based on teaching exper-

tise, not just academic research. Macaulay faculty include notables such asurban planner Owen Guttfreund; Roslyn Bernstein, a former New YorkTimes, Village Voice and New York magazine journalist; and Sondra Perl,author and co-founder of the New York City Writer’s Project.

Most of Macaulay’s graduates don’t stop at a bachelor’s degree. More than90 percent of the 2011 class expressed interest in obtaining advanced degrees.Thirty-eight percent intend to pursue a master’s degree; 23 percent, a doctoraldegree; and 31 percent, a professional degree such as medicine or law.

But not everyone succeeds in the program. In the class of 2009, 78 per-cent of its students graduated from the Macaulay Program, and about 12 per-cent more, or 90 percent, graduated from their senior CUNY college. About10 percent of entering students dropped out of the program, which CUNYdoesn’t track, but we are told some transfer to other four-year colleges.

Students in the Macaulay Honors program epitomize the best that CUNYhas to offer. The honors program exemplifies “the highest level of academ-ic achievement at CUNY. We are proof positive that a student can attendCUNY and become a Rhodes Scholar,” Kirschner says.


Ann Kirschner, university dean, Macaulay Honors College, CUNY


Nontraditional Students:Time Isn’t Always on Their Sideby Jeff Simmons

Themessage was as clear as the titleemblazoned on the cover of thereport: Time Is the Enemy.

For so many nontraditional students, timehasn’t always been on their side. What thisgroundbreaking report found was that thesenontraditional students were morelikely to drop out the longer theyspent in college.

And this group traditionally hasincluded large numbers of Hispanicstudents, who were taking moretime, and were more likely to beheaded for the exit door beforegraduation.

“The core message is: the longerstudents take to graduate, the lesslikely they are to graduate,” saidStan Jones, president of CompleteCollege America and former com-missioner of higher education, long-time state legislator, and senior advi-sor to the governor in Indiana.

“They need to start to go to col-lege right after high school. Theyneed to go in a deliberate way andgraduate on time, and they need togo full time as much as possible,”Jones said.

The two-year-old, nonprofitComplete College America, which isbased in Washington, recently issuedthe 242-page Time Is the Enemy aspart of NBC’s Education NationSummit.

Besides finding that nontradition-al students who spent too long trying to earn adegree were more likely not to be around comegraduation, the report determined that manystudents who needed remediation were failing toeven show up for class.

Complete College America requested infor-mation on public college and university gradua-tion rates from all 50 states, and 33 elected toshare their enrollment records.

“It was huge,” Jones said of the responsefrom states. “It’s the first project that’s ever been

done. And, I think we were initially hoping to get10 or 15 states. Thirty-three states doing thiswas pretty significant.”

Collectively, more than 10 million studentsenroll in public institutions annually in the statesthat participated in the study, a clear majority of

American students in public colleges and univer-sities today.

“The significant number of students repre-sented means that the most alarming trends canbe traced across all of the states represented inthese findings,” the report stated.

The report centered on five troubling findings:First, nontraditional students are the new

majority on college campuses.The report pointed out that nearly 75 percent

of students seeking a certificate or an associate

or bachelor’s degree were part-time collegecommuters who were often juggling families,work and classes. Additionally, 25 percent ofstudents attended full time at residential col-leges; and if they attended part time, the federalgovernment did not even track their success, as

if they were “invisible.”Second, part-time students rarely

graduated even if they had twice asmuch time to reach that goal.

Third, graduation odds wereespecially low for students whowere Hispanic, African-American orpoor. Even though there were moreof these students than ever beforeenrolling in college, too few endedup with certificates or degrees.

The report found that 46 percentof full-time Hispanic studentsearned a four-year degree in sixyears, and that an alarming 17 per-cent of Hispanic students earnedtheir diploma in six years.

That’s better than African-American students – with 40 per-cent of those enrolling in a full-timeprogram having earned a diplomain six years and 14 percent of part-time ones having earned a degree insix years – but substantially worsethan White students.

Fourth, many students were wast-ing time on excess credits, taking toomuch time to earn a degree anddecreasing their chances of graduat-ing by staying in school longer.

And finally, too many students needed reme-diation, but too few succeeded when they got it.

Nearly 50 percent of students who started ata community college and 21 percent of thosewho started at a four-year college need remedia-tion, which the authors call the “BermudaTriangle” in higher education.

About 30 percent of students in remediationclasses failed to show up on the first day ofclass, the report stated. Simply put, remedialstudents are much less likely to graduate than

REPORTS


nonremedial ones.“Obviously, we have to figure out a way to

help students who need to catch up academical-ly, but the way we are doing it right now isastoundingly ineffective,” said Hilary Pennington,director of postsecondary success, U.S.Program, at the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation, which along with the LuminaFoundation and others financed the founding ofComplete College America.

“That is a lot of the focus of the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation. We are very focusedon trying to crack the code and ask how wouldyou improve the system,” she said.

Overall, the report found that just over half ofstudents who sought a bachelor’s degree on afull-time basis completed their edu-cation in six years, and such com-pletion rates remained relativelystagnant despite a 35 percent col-lege-enrollment growth over the lastfour decades.

“The findings have been receivedwith a lot of shock,” Penningtonsaid, noting how it questioned anumber of myths. “Most peoplebelieve that if you start college inAmerica, you finish, but that’s nottrue. It’s shocking how hard it is forpart-time students to finish, andpart-time students are the majorityof college students.”

A sizeable portion of today’s col-lege students might be going toschool part time, but part-time stu-dents have substantially lower gradu-ation rates than full-time ones, andoften because of obstacles they facejuggling multiple responsibilities, thereport stated.

Experts considered the report“landmark” because of the way inwhich its data have been studied,noting that the federal IntegratedPostsecondary Education DataSystem does not analyze graduationrates of nontraditional students.

“The data have not been collect-ed,” Jones said. “The federal govern-ment is the only good source of data, and theydon’t have graduation rates on all students, suchas part-time students. This information has beenrather spare, and so that’s why this is the firstreport of its kind.”

“To me, one of the best things of the reportwas about how incredibly user-friendly it is,”Pennington said, noting how the state-by-state

breakdown allows more personalized advocacyby geography. “It was pretty much developed insuch a way that you could get all of the impor-tant information on one page that a policy-maker needed to understand.”

The statistics were less than glowing inmany states.

For example, in California, the average CalState student took between 5.2 years to 5.7 yearsto graduate with a degree that should normallytake four years to complete. Only 9.8 percent ofHispanic students attending full time in pursuitof a bachelor’s degree graduated on time, 43.9percent within six years and 53.7 percent withineight years.

Utah witnessed some of the longest periods

for degree completion: Full-time students gradu-ated in an average 6.7 years while part-time stu-dents took nearly eight years to finish school. Inthe state, of every 100 students who enrolled in apublic college, 71 chose a community college,45 enrolled full time, and 26 enrolled part time.But after four years, only 14 of the full-timersand one of the part-timers had graduated.

Of full-time Hispanic students seeking associ-ate degrees in Utah public colleges, only 2.6 per-cent graduated on time, within two years, 8.4 per-cent graduated within three years, and 11.5 per-cent graduated within four years. The reportnoted that those on a part-time schedule faredmuch worse: only 1.2 percent graduated withinthree years, and 3.6 percent graduated withinfour years.

In Arizona, 5.5 percent of Hispanic full-timestudents seeking associate degrees in two yearsgraduated on time, 11.9 percent took threeyears, and 16.8 percent took four years. Amongthose seeking bachelor’s degrees, 24 percent offull-time Hispanic students graduated on time infour years, 53.7 percent graduated within six

years, and 59.3 percent graduatedwithin eight years.

In Texas, of every 100 studentswho enrolled in a public college, 79began at a community college – yetonly two received a two-year degreeon time. More time didn’t necessari-ly yield better results: after fouryears, only seven had graduated.And of the 21 of those 100 whoenrolled at a four-year college, fivegraduated on time, and after eightyears, only 13 earned their degree.

Hispanic graduation rates weretroubling, with only 2.4 percent offull-time Hispanic students in Texaspublic colleges earning their associ-ate degrees on time in two years,7.2 percent within three years and11.3 percent within four years.

As far as bachelor’s degrees,only 15 percent of Hispanic studentson a full-time track at public Texascolleges earned a degree on time infour years while 44.7 percentearned degrees within six years, and52.9 percent earned degrees withineight years.

There’s no easy fix, but there aresolutions that need to be embracedon both local and national levels,recommending a new system ofscheduling, embedding remediation

into regular curricula, and reducing class time.“Part of addressing the issues concerning

Latinos is that higher education has to becomemore productive, has to become more efficientand effective, and that means quality,” saidJim Applegate, vice president of program devel-opment at the Indianapolis-based LuminaFoundation. “Everybody has to get on board and

Jim Applegate, vice president of program development at the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation


start asking the tough questionsabout why its taking so many creditsand so long for students to get to asuccess point.”

He added: “We know the stu-dents who come from the poor highschools. We know who they are, andthey tend to be students of color andlow-income students, and we needto create a system where we putthem on the escalator toward suc-cess and degrees.”

The report sets forth a blueprintof five “essential” steps that statesshould take immediately – inessence, a complete reshuffling ofpriorities.

Jones said, “There need to besubstantial changes in the way col-leges are structured. We’ve gotgreat leadership, great faculty andgreat college and university presi-dents, but the system is broken.They are not really designed forthese students.”

Initially, they need to strengthenreporting. For instance, statesshould count all students, set state-and campus-level goals, and uni-formly measure progress and suc-cess. The report’s authors note thatby even providing data, the 33 statesalready proved that it is possible to count thesuccess of each student.

And the 29 governors who pledged to fulfillthe commitments of membership in the Allianceof States are clearly setting goals and reinventinghigher education to create the conditions forhigher achievement, the report noted.

“More states should do the same,” it read.“And the federal government should try to catchup by filling damaging gaps in the national data-base, raising the standard of measurement, andcounting every student in our country.”

Additionally, there needs to be a movementto reduce the time it takes to earn a certificate ordegree. The authors recommended that schoolsensure that unnecessary credit requirements arenot added to certificate and degree programs.

Instead, the authors noted, they shoulddemand “robust,” comprehensive transfermechanisms that reach across campus wallsso students can bring credits with theminstead of losing valuable time when beingasked to start over.

Another strong recommendation is thatremediation must be transformed so that stu-dents can earn college credits that count asquickly as possible. This, the report noted, is thebest thing that can be done to increase collegecompletion.

For example, schools should start as manyunderprepared students as possible in first-year,full-credit classes, and accomplish this byadding extra class time and tutoring support,instead of delaying their entrance into theseclasses by shuttling them into remedial courses.

Also, programs should be restructured inrecognition of the busy lives many students have.The authors recommended the establishment ofblock classes so that students can attend fulltime by learning from, for instance, 8 a.m. to 2p.m., five days a week.

“For example, with block scheduling, stu-dents will take classes in a single block and goevery day for three or four hours a day. “Theywill be more likely to graduate and graduate ontime,” Jones said.

Finally, the authors recommendthat policymakers follow in thefootsteps of 29 governors and getinvolved with Complete CollegeAmerica. This has allowed them tobenefit from access to a band ofreformers and experts in highereducation policy and practice whounderstand the need to makechanges to improve college com-pletion.

Pennington said the hope is thatcolleges, universities and policymak-ers will absorb the findings andchannel that into substantive reform.“It’s not just the responsibility or thefault of the students,” she said.

This, she said, is beginning tobreak through into regular publicdiscourse, but the level of engage-ment is nevertheless “soberingbecause it doesn’t rise to the top ofmost policy addresses. They are stillpretty focused on K-12 education.We still have a lot to learn aboutwhich interventions make the biggestdifference.”

The lower college completionrates of Hispanic and other minoritystudent populations warrant particu-lar attention.

“If we do one thing that wouldhelp secure the country’s future, it would beto increase the college success of Latino stu-dents,” she said. “I think that is a big oppor-tunity that will get more focus not just becauseof this report but because of the work ofothers as well.”

Stan Jones, president, Complete College America


Duncan Urging College Officials toThink More Creatively and UrgentlyAbout Reducing Student Debtby Peggy Sands Orchowski

Public college tuition is up 8.3 percent forthe 2011-12 academic year; private collegetuition has increased 4.5 percent. Both fig-

ures far exceed the U.S.’s relatively low rate ofinflation (about 3.5 percent). And few of the ris-ing costs have anything to do with the core mis-sion of postsecondary educational institutions –educating students, increasing the nation’s col-lege graduation rates and building a well-edu-cated competitive future work force to assureAmerica’s future prosperity.

Until recently, however, efforts by the U.S.Congress and presidential administrations toaddress rising college costs have mainly consist-ed of broadening access to college loans (at firstvia third-party bankers, then directly through thestudent’s colleges at reduced interest rates).Concurrently (some say as a result), the averagestudent loan debt of recent graduates rose to anunprecedented $25,250 – up from about$20,000 a couple of years ago. This does notcount personal credit card debt that, for manystudents, averages well over $5,000 to cover col-lege costs.

But what costs?“Much higher education institutional spend-

ing is connected only remotely to the core mis-sion of educating students,” U.S. Secretary ofEducation Arne Duncan often says these days.“Too many universities today actually have a per-verse incentive to invest in expensive nonacade-mic perks to drive ratings and attract students –such as new buildings, gilded athletic centersand residency dorms.”

Duncan has urged college administratorsand financial officers “to think more creativelyand with much greater urgency about ways tocontain costs and reduce student debt.”

At a recent college financial aid conferencein Las Vegas, Duncan’s remarks were character-ized by U.S. Department of Education officers as“the start of a national conversation about highcosts.” “College costs are in the spotlight asnever before,” said Patrick M. Callan, presidentof the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

But the urgency might come from the factthat the issue has hit the streets. Literally! Themulti-issue Occupy protest movement that isproliferating across the country has found avocal and visible place on American college

campuses as universities and even communitycolleges raise tuition fees to unprecedented lev-els. Fifty-seven percent of Americans polled bythe Pew Research Center said they believed that“college is no longer a good value.” “Three infour Americans now say that college is tooexpensive for most people to afford,” Duncanreports. The Occupy Student Debt Campaigngroup demands the immediate forgiveness of allstudent debt or face a mass boycott of studentdebt payment.

“Stretching out loan payments at reducedinterest rates is only, at best, a palliative solu-tion,” snarled a Dec. 2 Washington Post editori-al. “Postsecondary educational institutions mustget serious about actually controlling costs andpromoting much improved cost effectiveness.”

Ideas for doing so are prolific. In lateNovember, the Congressional Subcommittee onHigher Education and Work Force Trainingbrought the CEOs of the Lumina Foundation andthe College Cost Accountability think tank, togeth-er with the presidents of a Colorado public uni-versity and a private Indiana-based college. Thesubject: “keeping college costs within reach: waysto reduce tuition.” Panelists and elected repre-sentatives seemed to agree with committee chairRep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., that the trend of highercosts was caused by “weak local economies,increased spending on student services and acad-emic support, and state budget crisis.”

Cost-cutting ideas ranged across the spec-trum. Most popular seems to be the “accelerat-ed degree” program that reduces the amount oftime needed to complete all requirements for afour-year degree (which increasingly takes a stu-dent five to six years to complete) to three years.Such programs often use online courses, oftenat half the credit price. Grace College andSeminary in Indiana provides such courses freeto full-time students who take 12 hours of sum-mer courses.

Many colleges also are beginning to awardcredits for demonstrated knowledge, whetherobtained in a (recent) classroom or not.

Colorado Mesa University developed a 20-hour-a-week campus work program for students(MavWorks) that gives students jobs whilereducing on-campus employment costs.“Institutions are being more strategic in their

approaches to spending,” said Jane Wellman,executive director of the Delta Project onPostsecondary Education Costs.

Rep. Susan A. Davis, D-Calif., extolled thetwo-year college option for lower-division andeven high school students as one of the bestcost-saving measures for families, especiallythose whose children want to go on to earn aB.A. degree or more. Not only are costs for thefirst two years much lower, but better articula-tion and transfer agreements for credits earnedin high school/community college and universityclasses would encourage more students to usethat option. Lumina Foundation CEO JamieMerisotis said it was an idea his foundation wasstudying eagerly.

In fact, the Lumina Foundation is looking tofund four strategies to reduce costs by collegesforced by state deficits to confront core assump-tions about how higher education is structured,funded and delivered. According to foundationofficials, the strategies include performancefunding criteria; student incentives to degreecompletion (including a student success tuitiondiscount); new models of delivery (such as con-sortia of traditional and nontraditional learningmodules now being developed by CarnegieMellon’s Open Learning Initiatives); and imple-menting better business efficiency (such as col-laborative shared purchasing). Lumina sees afederal role in better financial aid managementand flexibility.

“It was nice to participate in such a civilalthough intense discussion,” said Rep. RubénHinojosa, D-Texas, in an interview afterwards.“It doesn’t happen much around here any-more,” he lamented in a soft voice.

Still there were obvious partisan themes tothe debate. “The increasing costs of employeebenefits is one of the primary factors affectingtuition costs,” said Wellman. All the Republicansnodded.

“Today’s hearing is an opportunity for thiscommittee to reaffirm its commitment to afford-ability, accessibility and equity,” said Hinojosa,who admitted later that that was a strongDemocratic focus. “We must continue to addresshow to provide all students with a high generaleducation.”

FINANCE

Keeping College Freshmen from

Falling Through the Cracksby Sylvia Mendoza

Charlene Collazo’s father had been a radio broadcaster in Cuba, butwhen he became a political prisoner, his dream of going back toschool to study economics was shattered. When Collazo was later

raised in Miami, she had a support system of her grandparents and parents,and her father’s words sounded in her ears: “You have to go to college.”

Even with that type of encouragement and support, Collazo was still afirst-generation Latina when she started at Florida International University(FIU) in 2003 as a political science and journalism major. She is certainthat her journey would not have been successful if she had not been a partof FIU’s First Year Experience, as well as a First Year Interest Group (FIG).

The First Year Experience course at FIU is mandatory for every fresh-man. “It strives to help ease first-year students’ transition to university lifeby introducing them to resources available to support their academic,intellectual, personal and social growth and success,” explains Dr. CharlesAndrews, director of the Academic Advising Center and First-YearPrograms for Undergraduate Education at FIU.

“It was a one-credit class with homework, readings and the same corestudents in your group,” says Collazo. “This program created confidencebecause most of us didn’t feel high school prepared us for the transition.”

Overwhelmed with college at first, the experience most importantlyhelped Collazo bond with other students, find groups and clubs to getinvolved with, find academic resources, not be intimidated by professorsand find others who shared her interests. Friendships were formed, and asupport system was established.

Social aspects of the transition are often just as important as their acad-emics, maybe more, says Andrews. Collazo took part in fun activities likescavenger hunts to help students find departments on campus and whereto go for counseling or health services. There were practical lessons thatshowed them how to move forward and expose them to more than theclassroom, such as the Writing Center and math labs, tutoring services,online advising system, academic advisors, internship programs and studyabroad opportunities. They learned about social clubs, culturally basedclubs and Greek organizations. The students wrote about events theyattended, events that they normally would have skipped if they hadn’t beenassigned.

Presentations from different organizations, such as the victim advocacycenter, enlightened them about harassment, abuse, rape and how to dealwith them; the health and wellness center talked about alcohol abuse, STIsand depression. Students learned how to help themselves and be proactivethrough the registration process, financial management, stress release,finding a major, time management, health, relationships, mental health,lifestyle practices, and juggling work.

For a one-unit course, the lessons learned seem priceless. The FirstYear Experience and FIG program so positively impacted Collazo, she is

INNOVATIONS/PROGRAMS


Social aspects of the transition

are often just as important as

their academics, maybe more,

says Dr. Charles Andrews,

director of FIU’s Academic

Advising Center and First-Year

Programs.

currently a graduate assistant at FIU’s College of Education. “It’s meant forme to be back here,” she says. “It led me to get involved. I saw the differ-ence between cultures. Experiences became more and more interactive.Now I want others to succeed.”

She has come full circle. Collazo now works with Dr. Glenda Musoba,FIU associate professor in the Department of Leadership and ProfessionalStudies/Higher Education, to research how the First Year Experience pro-grams can be an integral tangent of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI)that can benefit the student, the university and the community at large.

First-Year ProgramsThe first year at college often proves to be the toughest. Dropout rates

can skyrocket when students feel disconnected, overwhelmed or simplylost. In addition, colleges want students to do more than survive their firstsemester. “Universities need to develop programs to assist students withmaking a successful transition to college,” Andrews says. “Academically,they are typically not prepared for the rigor of university-level work andthe time associated with instruction (less than what they are used to) andpreparation for class (significantly more than what they are used to).”

FIU is an HSI with a two-thirds Hispanic enrollment; of 32,000, 77 per-cent are minorities, 62 percent are undergrad Latinos. If students whomostly come from working-class or immigrant families do not have anyoneto precede their experience and enlighten them, they will not understandbasic transitional concepts, and so they are at risk of dropping out,Musoba explains. “We don’t teach survival and resourceful skills in highschool, but students are somehow expected to know how to cope with theshift to college life.”

For this reason, FIU also developed FIGs, where students are placed insmall “learning community” groups of about 25, based on their intendedcareers and majors so that they will get to know others with similar inter-ests. They take three to five classes together, and that connection is likelyto help students complete a semester with higher grades than those stu-dents who do not participate in a FIG program – and continue their educa-tion with more confidence. Andrews says, “This helps with making a largeuniversity feel less overwhelming and creates natural opportunities forforming study groups and making connections.”

Many universities, colleges and community colleges are attempting tointroduce and implement First-Year programs and can customize theirprograms to reflect their enrollment population, in alignment with univer-sity goals and mission statements. The course at FIU, for example, includesan FIU-specific textbook that addresses topics such as transitioning to col-lege, FIU history, academic policies, study skills, becoming a global citizen,leadership, community standards, and the career exploration process.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions and First-Year ProgramsThe U.S. Department of Education defines Hispanic-Serving Institutions

as those at which total Hispanic enrollment constitutes at least 25 percentof the total. Total enrollment includes part or full time. Fewer than 300institutions are deemed HSIs.

The purpose of an HSI is to expand educational opportunities for andimprove the attainment of Hispanic students in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Inaddition, an amendment to the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008authorized HSI program activities to “improve student services, includinginnovative and customized instruction courses designed to retain studentsand move the students into core courses; articulation agreements and stu-dent support programs designed to facilitate the transfer of students fromtwo-year to four-year institutions; and providing education, counseling ser-vices, and financial information designed to improve the financial and eco-nomic literacy of students and their families.”

The First Year Experience and FIG program fall under Title V guide-lines. Latino or minority students often face added challenges when tryingto mainstream into a predominately White institution because they feelmore marginalized. There are not as many people they can relate to, andthey might especially feel disconnected from their own families and/or cul-ture. Underrepresented groups can and do benefit greatly from exposure


“We don’t teach survival andresourceful skills in high school,

but students are somehowexpected to know how to copewith the shift to college life.”

Dr. Glenda Musoba, Department

of Leadership and Professional

Studies/Higher Education, FIU

to those they can relate to on a cultural or ethnic level, says Andrews. Inaddition, FIU takes into consideration a feeling of displacement and/orsegregation that comes from low income, as with ethnicity or first-genera-tion students.

With such a large Latino population, FIU faces a unique twist in thatthere are struggles with retaining Anglo/White students from places outsideof South Florida, says Andrews. “In a similar fashion as to what manyminority groups experience in predominately White communities, theyoften feel out of place or like they don’t belong at FIU or in the surround-ing Miami community.”

Most minority or underrepresented students need extra guidance andneed to incorporate their culture to feelconnected. Latino students are more likelyto survive the transition if they do not feelcut off from their cultural lifeline. Beyondimplementing programs such as First-Yearor FIG programs to help form that connec-tion, community outreach and continuingeducation courses can specifically servethe Latino and underrepresented popula-tions. All of these efforts can elevate thesuccess rate of FIU students.

Do the Programs Work? The FindingsWith a grant from the Lumina

Foundation, which strives to help peopleachieve their potential by expandingaccess to and success in education beyondhigh school, Musoba and Collazoresearched the first-year experience relat-ed to Hispanic-Serving Institutions andpresented their findings at the 2011AAHHE conference. After interviewing stu-dents in four focus groups through class-room observations, questionnaires andevaluations over the course of severalyears, they have seen what is working andwhat needs improvement.

A first-year course or program can be alifeline. Feeling connected helps raise confidence levels and reassures stu-dents they can succeed and that they belong in college. Most students whoenroll in FIG programs do better academically and socially. In both thecourse and the FIG program, the greatest strength is connecting first-yearstudents with their peers. The most surprising and positive benefit was thatall had at least one professor who took extra time for them and helped them;that alone made them feel connected, no matter the size of the campus.

A practical approach is to help freshmen students become proactive intheir own planning, but certain steppingstones should be set in place tohelp that transition. If they can learn about the library, academic miscon-duct and plagiarism, housing, options for honors students and undecidedmajors; can take part in discussion groups led by experts on personal top-ics like finances and debt; and have access to mentors – then they mightbe better able to manage stress, improve study habits and deal with time-management issues.

Students also learned about the consequences of not staying informed.What they didn’t know included deadlines for applying to financial aid ordropping and adding courses, the link between GPA and scholarships, orsimply, what classes they did and did not need. “When they withdraw, theycan get lost and their dream goes out the window,” says Musoba. It is diffi-cult to get back on track.

Improvements are needed in reaching out to commuters, adding acareer exploration component to the programs, and educating undeclaredstudents on the variety of majors available. In addition, providing virtualtours online is a great idea, says Collazo. “All students seem to respond tothat interaction.”

Specific changes are already underway,including a major overhaul of the topicscovered in the First-Year textbook. The FIGprogram is being tweaked to make it moreuseful for students in historically challeng-ing majors, such as math and the sciences.

Musoba wants to continue finding waysto improve student-college connections,especially freshmen. “I’ve always had aheart for the underdog,” Musoba says.“What I hope for when I go home at nightis that what I do on a bigger scale will stillaffect the individual student to have a bet-ter college experience.”

From the Practical to the ProfoundFor every success story attributed to

First Year Experience programs or FIGs,there are those who find the course awaste of time, and that is disheartening tohear, says Andrews. Often these are thestudents who could have used the informa-tion the most.

“Knowing we help a student conquerhis/her fears and overcome academicchallenges is great, so it’s still sad to knowwhen a freshman drops out,” says Collazo.

Yet the research showed there is reten-tion through the programs, and success stories abound. For example, ittook a lot for Shoshannah Asione’s Italian father and Korean mother toconvince her to attend FIU. The marketing major says, “I wasn’t reallyhappy in the beginning, but after getting very involved on campus I foundmy pride in this university.”

She attributed that pride and involvement to the programs that helpedher find her place at FIU. “Because we would interact so much in ourclasses, the First Year Experience course would feel like a social gathering.I met one of my very close friends in my FIG class.”

Those connections gave Asione confidence; she went on to work as analternative breaks communication chair, panther camp director of activi-ties, dance marathon morale captain and global community engagementparticipant, among others. “The more involved on campus, the more Igrew to love my school,” she says. “Right now, I will recommend this uni-versity to anyone.”


Charlene Collazo, graduate assistant, College of Education, FIU

Long before the 1776 signing of theDeclaration of Independence and morethan 150 years before 59 Texans signed a

Declaration of Independence from Mexico,which was 1836, Spanish explorers, friars, sol-diers and royal Mexican subjects traversed “ElCamino Real de los Tejas” trail.

The 2,580-mile route, which stretches fromMexico through Texas and Louisiana, is one ofonly a handful of designated historic trails in theUnited States. In 2004, Congress officially desig-nated the El Camino Real de los Tejas a NationalHistoric Trail.

“For some people, 1836 is where Texas his-tory begins. They know about the Alamo and fivemissions. But they don’t know much about thetrail, and they should know because it’s part ofTexas history,” said David Rex Galindo, whoholds a doctorate in history, specializing in U.S.-Mexico borderlands, from Southern MethodistUniversity (SMU) in Dallas.

To grasp the complexity of El Camino Real delos Tejas, which is the focus of a historicalexhibit and a Texas nonprofit’s efforts toenhance tourism, it is important to understandthe trail’s equally complex colonial history.

Officially, El Camino Real de los Tejas was theprimary overland route used by the Spanish andMexicans from 1680 until 1821 when Mexicodeclared its independence from Spain. AfterMexican independence, the trail continued to betraversed until the 1860s, when it was replacedby the railroad system.

Unofficially, the tangle of footpaths, fords andriver crossings was used by explorers, mission-aries and settlers soon after the conquest ofMexico in 1521. It is one of the oldest historicroutes in the Lone Star State.

The original trail blazers were NativeAmericans from a number of tribes, includingthe Adaes, Nacogdoches, Natchitoches and theTejas Indians, for whom the trail is named.Thus, El Camino Real de los Tejas has been botha witness and silent participant in this nation’shistory.

“We call it El Camino Real, but it’s really anetwork of Indian trails. They were really justrough paths called “traces” used to traverse, butwhich shifted depending on weather condi-tions,” said Jesús Francisco “Frank” de la Teja,regents and university distinguished professor,Department of History, Texas State University(TSU)-San Marcos.

As early as 1716, Spain had established sixmissions and a presidio, or fort, in East Texas.Following Mexico’s independence from Spain,the trail continued to be the main route for ser-vices, commerce and communication betweenMexico and far-flung Texas settlements.

Monclova and Saltillo, towns in the Mexicanstate of Coahuila, played a major role in com-merce during the colonial era. From Mexiconorth, the trail meandered to Laredo, Guerreroor Villa de Dolores. From there, it crossed theRio Grande, wound its way to San Antonio andcontinued to eastern Louisiana.

The lengthy trail is part of a Spanish coloniallegacy of “royal roads” or caminos reales alongwith the old mission roads of New Mexico andCalifornia. Now, the old Spanish trails arereferred to as “mission trails,” “royal roads” or“king’s highways” by historians and travelersalike.

Technically, caminos reales were roads con-necting royal posts or seats of government, suchas Monclova and Mexico City, with Spain’s north-ern-most settlements. The royal roads were notstraight and narrow paths. Weather conditionsoften forced detours. So the trail didn’t begin ata specific place.

“That would be like saying that I-10 starts inHouston. So you could say El Camino Real de losTejas was that part of the royal road networkthat connected Texas to the rest of New Spain,including the viceroyalty of Mexico City,” said dela Teja, a native of Cuba who earned his doctor-ate at the University of Texas-Austin, and whoteaches the history of Mexico, Texas and border-lands at TSU.

Historical accounts repeatedly refer to “NewSpain” in recounting the history of Texas and theSouthwest. And both Galindo and de la Tejaagree that this refers to Spain’s “viceroyalty,” avast and expansive domain colonized by Spain.

The viceroyalty extended halfway around theknown “new world” and included Cuba, PuertoRico, Central America, Florida, California. Inwhat is now the United States, New Spain was allof the Southwest. Spain founded Santa Fe, N.M.,


HISTORY

El Camino Real –

2,580 Miles of

American History

El Camino Real –

2,580 Miles of

American History

by Rosie Carbo

in the 1600s and Los Angeles, Calif., in the1700s.

Native Americans laid the first trails, but pro-longed efforts by Spanish authorities to forgetrails connecting Mexico to New Spain domainsin New Mexico, California and Texas left anindelible mark.

“Long before the familiar Interstate highwaysystem established by President Dwight D.Eisenhower in the 1950s, indigenous people andcolonists cleared trails to communicate, trans-port and move along the lands that now com-prise the second largest state,” de la Teja writesin the exhibit’s handbook.

During the colonial era, 1600 to 1700, theEuropean imperial powers were Spain, Franceand England. France was Spain’s chief rival inLouisiana, though at one point they co-existedalongside the native tribes.

In Natchitoches Parish, once Spain’s mosteastern Louisiana province, the trail becameknown as Highway 6. It leads to Nuestra Señoradel Pilar de los Adaes, a mission and fort estab-lished by Spain in 1721 and designated the firstcapital of Texas in 1722. Today the mission andpresidio is called Los Adaes historic site.

In Bastrop, east of Austin, the trail is nowpart of Highway 21. Laredo in South Texas has a

historic site near the trail. In Goliad, NuestraSeñora del Espiritu Santo de Zúñiga mission andfort La Bahia is still visible. But the mostemblematic landmarks along the trail are in andaround the city of San Antonio.

Founded in 1718, the fort was once calledSan Antonio de Bexar. A few days prior to thefort’s construction, a Spanish friar foundedMission San Antonio de Valero. Today this his-toric landmark is visited annually by myriadtourists who know it as the Alamo.

While the Alamo is under the auspices of thestate of Texas and managed by the Daughters ofthe Republic of Texas, four other landmark mis-


sions are under the purview of the San AntonioMissions National Historical Park.

Mission Nuestra Señora de la PurísimaConcepción de Acuña, Mission San José y SanMiguel de Aguayo, Mission San Juan Capistranoand Mission San Francisco de la Espada werebuilt along El Camino Real de los Tejas.

“In colonial times, there were four differentroutes: Old San Antonio Road, the Lower Road,the Laredo Road and the El Camino Road. Butnow, the National Park Service has merged theroutes into one and called it El Camino Real delos Tejas,” said Steven Gonzales,executive director of El Camino Realde los Tejas National Historic TrailAssociation.

The association is a nonprofitofficially formed in 2007. The orga-nization’s two main goals are preser-vation of missions, forts, and historicsites along the trail, and raising pub-lic awareness of the historic trail andlandmarks as a tourist destination.

“Most people haven’t heard ofthe trail. But we’re working tochange that. Texans are very proudof their state, and without the trail,we would not call this state Texas. Soour efforts along with the exhibit aregoing to help raise awareness,” saidGonzales, who holds a Bachelor ofArts from the University of Texas-Austin and a Master of AppliedGeography from Texas State University-SanMarcos.

Titled “El Camino Real de los Tejas: Past andPresent,” the historical exhibit is being curatedby Galindo. The exhibit chronicles the trail’s his-tory and importance through digitized, originalSpanish maps from the archives in Seville,engraved reproductions, photographs and his-torical documents.

Created by Miguel Angel FernándezMazarambroz, former consulate general of Spainin Houston, the exhibit has been on display atpublic forums and Texas universities since sum-mer 2010. It has been on display at RiceUniversity, College Station in Bryan and St.Edward’s in Austin. The exhibit will be at St.Thomas University in Houston through March.

“I was recruited by Mr. Mazarambroz tocurate the exhibit. It was serendipity, since I washere at SMU and he was in Houston. The con-sulate wanted to start with an overview of thethree Spanish trails in this country. Most of themaps are digitized copies of originals fromSpanish archives, so when I saw them, I gotgoose bumps,” said Galindo, a Madrid, Spain,

native who hopes the exhibit teaches students toquestion existing myths.

“I teach history, and when I ask studentswhen the history of the United States began theysay it began with Jamestown in Virginia andPlymouth (Rock) and moved from east to west.So my goal with this exhibit is to teach and helpstudents question some of those myths andstereotypes.”

Lectures by history professors have accom-panied the exhibit at host venues across thestate. Professors have spoken to students about

revisiting what they’ve learned about Americanand Texas history.

“The caminos were natural pathways thatled to the development of Texas and other areas.The Spanish land grants are the best way toprove this. We get our concept of water rightsfrom the Spanish. They protected a woman’sproperty interests. So it’s not all about Anglodevelopment. And I don’t think we give enoughcredit to the Spanish heritage,” said CharlesPorter, a history professor at St. Edward’s.

Earning the designation of “camino real” or“royal road” was not easy. Historical accountskept by early 16th- and 17th-century Spanishexplorers reveal the importance of having routesthat enabled the Spanish empire to convertNative Americans to Catholicism through themission-building system.

“The caminos were the arteries that keptTexas alive. Not only did they carry informationvital to the survival of the province – orders forits administration, reports of danger, andappeals for help – they were the sole avenue ofcommerce throughout the colonial period,” dela Teja wrote in an essay for the Gulf Coast

Historical Review.But those arteries suffered from constant

erratic weather changes, forcing the trail to rein-vent itself in the form of swales, swells and vari-ous other natural markers. Some of these rem-nants today have been overlaid by housing devel-opment.

“I moved to Nacogdoches seven years ago.The street I live on is called El Camino. One day,my neighbor told me the historic trail runsacross my front yard. So every day that I crossmy front yard, I cross the Camino Real,” said

Christopher Talbot, associate profes-sor, Stephen F. Austin University’sSchool of Art.

The surprising discoveryinspired Talbot to begin chroniclingthe trail through photographs. Hestarted with his driveway, but a visitfrom the National Park Service(NPS) inspired him to take it on asa project.

“I had worked on projects aboutthe history of Nacogdoches. So thiswas a segue for me,” said Talbot,who was awarded a grant from theNPS and SFA to work on pho-tographing the trail. “The good thingabout the exhibit is that it’s gettingout to the public.”

A subsequent grant from boththe NPS and SFA enabled him totravel from Mexico’s border through

Texas and up to Louisiana documenting the trail.His treasure trove of colorful photographs ispart of the current exhibit.

In 1911, the Texas Legislature officially rec-ognized the trail and followed up with an $8,000grant to the Texas Society of Daughters of theAmerican Revolution to fund official route mark-ers. In 1918, TSDAR members gave $2,500. Thetotal sum funded the purchase of 123 individual-ly engraved pink granite markers. They wereceremoniously installed along more than 500miles of the trail.

Despite economic development, urbansprawl and population growth, many of themarkers have been located and renovated. Insome parts of Texas, visitors who stray off thebeaten path will discover them.

“In parts of Texas, businesses are alreadyaware of the trail. You’ll be driving along andsee El Camino hotel or the El Camino taquería orOld Spanish Trail. So some businesses are moreaware than others. And we’re going to build onthis with a symposium on the El Camino nextspring,” said Gonzales.


Miguel Angel Fernández Mazarambroz, former consulate general of Spain,in Houston with Steven Gonzales, executive director of El Camino Real de

los Tejas National Historic Trail Association

Report Identifies 32 Schools that Help Low- Income and Minority Students Succeedby Frank DiMaria

Each school year is a brand new chapter in theeducational journey of an individual and there-fore a time for optimism. However, for many

low-income, minority and adult students, the oddsthat they will successfully earn a degree are stackedagainst them from the very beginning of their col-lege endeavors. Their hopes are often dashed.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has sup-ported the Beating the Odds project. A report onthe initiative, Beating the Odds: What It Meansand Why It’s Important, features 32 colleges anduniversities that are models for helping studentswho are most at risk of dropping out of college.

“The odds of a low-income American com-pleting college haven’t changed in at least 20years. The six-year graduation rate for full-timefreshmen at four-year institutions is just 57 per-cent. It is even worse for low-income and minor-ity students, putting America further behind inmeeting future work force needs,” says KristinConklin, founding partner at HCM Strategists, theWashington, D.C., public policy and advocacyfirm that published the report.

Each of the colleges and universities featuredin the Beating the Odds report is considered anational model for achieving results and pursu-ing promising approaches to increasing collegecompletion rates, particularly for underrepre-sented students.

The Hispanic Outlook in Higher EducationMagazine contacted four of the 32 institutionsthat HCM Strategists featured in the report andasked them to share some of their best practicesand programs. Here is what HO found out.

Valencia Community CollegeAt Valencia Community College in Orlando,

Fla., the three-year graduation rate stands at37.7 percent. Hispanics graduate at a rate of34.1 percent; Whites, 42 percent. Valenciaimplements a blend of programs, projects andstrategies that help at-risk students graduate.Supplemental Learning, for example, is a pro-gram in which students who previously succeed-ed in a particular course tutor current students,offering them a variety of learning strategies.Supplemental learning sections now supportdevelopmental mathematics courses like pre-algebra, beginning algebra and intermediate

algebra, as well as three high-enrollment gate-way courses – freshman composition I, U.S. gov-ernment, and college algebra.

“Like other colleges, we target courses inwhich students have the most difficulty; however,we also target developmental education, some-thing that is unique to Valencia. By offeringSupplemental Learning in developmental mathand writing, we provide peer-led review sessionsthat help students develop college success skillsthat help them, both with the content in thatcourse, and their other courses as well,” saidDr. Catharine Penfold Navarro, director of stu-dent success at Valencia.

Valencia’s Learning in Community programlinks two courses and provides coordinatedinstruction for students. In most instances, theprogram links a developmental mathematicscourse and the three-credit Student Life Skillscourse, one that has a long association withimproved student performance. Valencia alsorequires students who test into the reading, writ-ing and mathematics developmental disciplinesto enroll in a Student Life Skills course.

Valencia’s Bridges to Success program, now25 years old, is designed to keep disadvantagedstudents from dropping out of college and closesthe achievement gap for students of color byoffering them the opportunity to begin college inthe summer following high school graduationand receive special advising and mentoring andthe opportunity to attend a set of workshops.The college has been expanding the number ofstudents served in this program and is on targetto admit 400 new students each year, starting inthe summer of 2012.

Finally, Valencia’s College Success InfusionProject integrates course curricula with collegesuccess skills. Having analyzed and revised thecourse outlines for developmental English, mathand reading courses as well as key gatewaycourses such as college algebra and freshmancomposition, staff and faculty at Valencia haveinfused success skills like critical thinking, read-ing, motivation, note-taking, goal-setting andstudy skills. As part of this project, faculty mem-bers have created integrated lessons that teachcollege success and content skills.

“Hispanic students are more likely to begin

their higher education at community colleges thanat four-year universities, so it is incumbent on com-munity colleges to foster their success. Throughinitiatives like Learning in Communities,Supplemental Learning and Student Success,Valencia provides opportunities for students tolearn in community, making individual connectionswith other students and, in particular, with faculty.Research continues to show that students with indi-vidual connections to other students and faculty aremore likely to be successful,” says Navarro.

Montclair State UniversityMontclair State University in Montclair, N.J., has

a full-time enrollment of nearly 11,000 studentsand a part-time enrollment of just over 2,000.Hispanics at Montclair State have a graduation rateof 59 percent; and Whites, 63 percent. The school’ssix-year graduation rate is 62 percent.

To help low-income, at-risk students in theirpursuit of a college diploma, Montclair Staterequired its faculty to develop a rational progressionto course offerings that allows faculty to scaffold stu-dent learning, creating a natural development tostudents’ acquisition of knowledge. By using acohort approach, students do this as a group. Theyform and maintain learning communities through-out their academic careers, develop relationshipswith faculty and form supportive learning groupsthat carry them through this process.

To help students who work or have responsi-bilities off campus by providing flexibility,Montclair State offers online instruction. Onlinecourses can be in general education as well asselect upper-level major courses and are availablein the fall, winter, spring and summer semesters.

Montclair State’s first-year experience programtargets both freshmen and sophomores. Accordingto Dr. Michele Campagna, executive director of itscenter for advising and student transitions, studentoutcomes in the first year create “a foundation forthat cohort’s future performance and progress.”

By front-loading services that enhance theacademic, personal and social development ofthis cohort, says Campagna, Montclair State pro-motes its holistic learning and growth, anapproach that also sets the tone for the cohort’sengagement on campus. These services seem towork – Montclair’s National Survey of Student

REPORTS


Engagement results demonstrate that its first-year students are well connected to its campusboth in and out of the classroom.

“The decision to support sophomores cameas a result of our evaluation of our second-yearretention rate. While this rate wasn’t especiallylow in comparison to our peer institutions, thedrop was not at a level with which we were com-fortable. As we evaluated the success of the first

year in comparison to the second year, we real-ized there was a need for a comparable level oftransitional support. As a result, we launched asophomore program that addresses the issuesconfronted by this cohort at this stage of devel-opment at the university,” says Campagna.

Montclair State is committed to ensuring thatstudents are on a timely path to graduation, shesays, and the school has taken several steps toensure they remain on that path. Montclairrecently instituted a summer bridge programand developed connections with community col-leges so that incoming first-year students cancomplete basic skills requirements before theystart in the fall. “We believe that making use ofthese alternatives prior to their enrollment

allows students to fully immerse themselves inthe academic environment of the university andto focus on the goal of graduating in four years,”says Campagna.

Winthrop UniversityAt Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.,

Hispanics graduate at a 35.7 percent rate;Blacks, 61.6 percent; and Whites, 58.1 percent.

Winthrop believes that students’ retention andpersistence is highest when the courses they takeare connected and coherent, rather than discon-nected and discrete. The school’s approach toretention and graduation rates for minorities isthe same as its approach for all students.Winthrop enrolls students who do not meet regu-lar admission standards, because of a disconnectbetween their SATs and their high school GPA,into a provisional admissions program. Thesestudents, totaling about 100, must attend studyhalls three nights per week so administration cancarefully monitor their grades.

“Winthrop also offers the TRIO Program,which provides heavy academic and social supportfor about 160 students who are first-generation,

minority, and/or learning disabled. Their retentionrate is about 96 percent,” says Judy Longshaw,news and media services manager at Winthrop.

Student learning and engagement are beingimproved through work across usual boundariesbetween academic and student life areas, to focus onspecific student learning needs. Winthrop’s currentprograms begin with a transition to college class andinvolvement with residential learning communities,

including a writing center and a pilot program forAfrican-American students in the STEM (science,technology, engineering, mathematics) fields.

These residential learning communities aretheme-based and include themes like the world,honors, learning for life, healthy you, business andeconomics, creative habitat, math and science,technology, etc. Longshaw says students who par-ticipate in learning communities tend to stay in col-lege, have improved grades and interact with facul-ty members and the community more.

Winthrop established its Eagle STEMScholars Program to increase the number ofunderrepresented and disadvantaged studentswho directly matriculate into biomedical sciencePh.D. programs immediately after graduating


Report Identifies 32 Schools that Help Low- Income and Minority Students Succeed

Dr. Michele Campagna, executive director,Center for Advising and Student Transitions,

Montclair State UniversityKristin Conklin, founding partner,

HCM StrategistsDr. Ronald Williams, assistant VP for academic

affairs, Western Illinois University

from Winthrop. The program builds onWinthrop’s historical role of providing highereducation opportunities to underrepresented,first-generation and low-income students. It pro-motes the success of individuals from groupsthat have been historically underrepresented inbiomedical science, bioengineering, biochem-istry, biology and chemistry.

Western Illinois UniversityWestern Illinois University (WIU) in

Macomb, Ill., has a six-year graduation rate of55 percent. Whites graduate at a 56 percent rate;and Hispanics, 46 percent. WIU retains its

minority and low-income students by developingrelationships with schools in the surroundingcommunities. WIU’s Dual Enrollment program iscommunity-based and bridges the transferbetween a community college and WIU whilepromoting the timely completion of associateand baccalaureate degrees. This program allowsstudents to enroll in classes at WIU and a com-munity college simultaneously – choosing toattend classes at either campus – while fulfillingdegree requirements.

“The program assists students in becomingacclimated to a university environment whilepaying a lower cost to take the majority of their

lower-division coursework hours at a communi-ty college,” says Dr. Ronald Williams, assistantvice president for academic affairs.

To further help students financially, those whoenroll at a community college and WIU are eligi-ble for the cost guarantee program, which fixesthe per-hour rate students pay for tuition and feesand room and board for four years. Additionalbenefits include: students continuing their educa-tion in the region; students taking advantage ofthe lower tuition charges at community collegesand WIU; students achieving both an associatedegree and a baccalaureate degree from twoquality institutions, in a seamless manner, withsupportive academic and career advisingthroughout; students receiving academic advisingeach semester; students having the ability to viewentire degree plans at the onset of their collegecareers; and students being prepared for upper-division courses at WIU in major fields of study.

Williams says dual enrollment offers commu-nity college students a seamless educationpipeline to WIU in their junior year if they com-plete the requirements for an associate degree.In addition, WIU faculty, administrators and staffwork with dual-enrolled students to providefinancial aid counseling, academic advising andpersonal and career counseling. Dual-enrolledstudents have full access to academic and studentservices, programs and events on the WIU cam-pus. At the end of each semester, students receiveWIU’s audit degree requirements, which providestudents details on how their community collegecourses will transfer to the university.

Not Doing EnoughMany freshmen, no matter their institution,

must take one or more remedial courses thatdon’t count toward a degree. And many fail thesecourses and ultimately drop out of school.

“Our system of higher education is simply notdoing enough to make sure all students are gettingthe support they need to stay on track,” saysConklin. “The Beating the Odds report highlightswhat many innovative institutions are doing toreverse this trend and increase completion rates.Many are exposing students – including first-gener-ation students – to the college environment sooner,allowing them to complete remedial courses morequickly and at a lower cost and making sure thatstudents have the academic and social support tokeep them on track to graduation,” she says.

Conklin contends that the 32 institutions fea-tured in Beating the Odds, along with their leaders,represent a growing movement and an overdue tip-ping point toward a more affordable, student-cen-tered higher education system. “Their work isworth watching and learning from,” she says.


DALLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

The Dallas County Community College District is anticipating filling anumber of full-time faculty positions for the Fall Semester 2012contingent upon funding availability.

Brookhaven CollegeNursing Developmental Writing Emergency Medical Services ArtRadiology Technology ChemistryDevelopmental Reading Visual Communications

Cedar Valley CollegeBiology GovernmentResidential & Commercial Building Performance Technology

Eastfield CollegePolice Academy Instructor/DirectorAutobody/Welding Faculty

Mountain View CollegeDevelopmental Math Developmental WritingGovernment PsychologySpeech History (Visiting Scholar)Music Engineering (Visiting Scholar)Education 1300 Learning FrameworksNursing (1 - FT, 1 - Visiting Scholar)

The Educational and Experiential Requirements for faculty in the DCCCD are: Faculty teaching associate degreecourses designed for transfer to a baccalaureate degree must have a doctoral or master's degree in the teaching disciplineor a master's degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours). Facultywho teach workforce education degree or certificate courses must have a combination of academic preparation and workexperience, including three years of direct or related work experience other than teaching. Potential candidates mustmeet these criteria established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Texas HigherEducation Coordinating Board (THECB). A minimum of one year of teaching experience is required. Demonstratedskills in successfully working with diverse populations through experiences such as formal training and past workexperiences are desired. In addition, some locations may request a teaching demonstration to validate teaching ability.Specific details will be available from the hiring locations as candidate status is confirmed.

Application Requirements: Interested individuals should visit our website at https://dcccd.peopleadmin.com

For additional information on specific positions, please contact location HR offices:

Brookhaven College972-860-4813

Cedar Valley College972-860-8224

Eastfield College972-860-7630

Mountain View College214-860-8703

Dallas County Community College DistrictAttn: Faculty Hiring Initiative 20121601 South Lamar St.Dallas, TX 75215

The DCCCD is the largestundergraduate institution in thestate of Texas-comprising sevencolleges located strategicallythroughout Dallas County.Together the colleges enrollapproximately 77,396 credit

and more than 23,000continuing education studentseach semester. The Districtemploys approximately 2,985

full- and 4085 part-timeadministrators, faculty, and

support staff. In addition to thecolleges, the DCCCD includes

other locations providingservices to the citizens of

Dallas County.


by Peggy Sands Orchowski

RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS ON THE CARPET AGAIN – Just a year before the next presidential election, the Obama administration is reachingout to affirmative action supporters. In December, Obama issued joint departments of Justice and Education guidelines that seemingly expandthe use of race as a basis of admissions in American schools. But institutions of higher education should be careful about turning back to oldrace-based preferences. College admission competition is still essentially merit-based, and the Supreme Court is majority conservative. TheObama guidelines only suggest colleges use race preferences as a final measure. They urge that more creative race-neutral criteria be devised(such as admitting more students based on the socioeconomic demographics of their secondary schools and community colleges). As Americaincreasingly slides right politically, there also are growing questions about the benefits of diversity and warnings of its dangers. “Race-basedadmissions can be harmful to students who are ‘academically mismatched,’ writes pundit George Will. “Admitting students with weak academ-ic skills into elite colleges just for the sake of their race or ethnic heritage has led many to fall behind, lose confidence, drop out, and foreverfeel they are not as good as they really are. But if they had gone to a less elite school, they would have been at the top. Race-based admissionsalso can rob second tier schools of their best students, as well as prevent those students from the chance to be stars.”

THE ETERNAL QUEST FOR FAIRNESS – AND AMNESTY – A new book on justice, fairness and awards explores the eternal philosophical ques-tion of how significant rewards (cash, goodies, recognition) to individuals should be distributed without causing damage (jealousy, loss of

morale and loyalty, destructive anger) in the larger community. It is a good question these days when the “Occupy” movement is stirringup deep fury among the 99 percent of Americans against the 1 percent who are rewarded with everything disproportionately. Paul

Woodruff, author of The Ajax Dilemma, writes that “we grow angry when rewards are given (by our leaders) to those whodo not live by our values; when it is perceived that justice has failed.” The conflict over amnesty is a vibrant example.

Of course it is highly improbable (and arguably totally unfair) for every one of the 12-20 million foreign nation-als currently living and working illegally in the U.S. to be summarily deported. But it is equally unjust and

goes against our values about the rule of law that every illegal immigrant should be given legal sta-tus and full work permits as well. Amnesty will and should go to some illegal immigrants.

But who? What is just? That is the quest that the majority of Americans seek; theextremes on either side just make people angry because they are unfair.

LATINO, MORMON AND REPUBLICAN? – It is commonknowledge among active Mormons that a majority of

those who practice their faith in the next 20 yearswill be of Latino heritage. While much of the

growth is in Latin America, growing numbersof Latinos in the U.S. Southwest are Mormon, espe-cially in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Many say it’s naturalsince those states’ dominant religion also match traditionalLatino cultural values of strong families, business and entrepreneur-ial interests, conservative outlook on social issues such as same-sex mar-riage and abortion, a vibrant support network and bilingualism (Mormons areAmerica’s most multilingual population, as many serve in language-immersion mis-sions abroad). Politically, Mormons tend to lean Republican, and the increasing MormonLatino electorate might as well; of the five new Latino U.S. congressmen elected in 2010, all areRepublicans, and one is also Mormon – Raúl Labrador of Idaho. One wonders why Mormon presi-dential candidate Mitt Romney doesn’t take advantage of this “Latino connection.” Perhaps the church lead-ership might even realize soon that Latinos should be numerous members of its top circles.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A COLLEGE BUILDING IS MIS-NAMED? – OMG! Can you imagine. There are actually college campuses (usually public) through-out the United States (especially in California) that, when they were built, named their buildings after – shock! gasp! – professors! No fundraising was done! Nomoney was made! Now the universities are faced with how to renovate to get a million-dollar donation. After all, capital donations are the most lucrative!

NO SURPRISES ABOUT SORRY STATE OF YOUNG PEOPLE, EXCEPT THE REPORT – The label of the report’s authors should have been a signto its exuberant emptiness: “Young Invincibles.” But even the liberal Center for American Progress should have checked to make sure thatits recent 70-page colorful, graphics-filled report on The State of Young America by those highly confident young “Invincibles” had somemeaty conclusions. Full of “duh” facts (i.e., “Student loan debt continues to climb!”), the report concludes with President Obama’s favoriteverb: “through youth engagement ... we will push our leaders and the media to address the barriers of opportunity.” Grade: C-minus!

Margaret (Peggy Sands) Orchowski was a reporter for AP South America and for the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. She earned a doctor-ate in international educational administration from the University of California-Santa Barbara. She lives in Washington, D.C., where she was aneditor at Congressional Quarterly and now is a freelance journalist and columnist covering Congress and higher education.

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Pew and ACT ReportsShow Gains forLatino Students –But More Neededby Angela Provitera McGlynn

College-age Latino students are makingprogress in narrowing the college-enrollmentgap. Historically, there has been a double-

edged gap between White students and Latinos.Fewer young Latinos were enrolling in college andfewer were persisting to a college degree.

Two new reports show promise on bothfronts. A Pew Hispanic Center report by RichardFry, Hispanic College Enrollment Spikes,Narrowing Gaps With Other Groups (Aug. 25,2011), based on census data, showed that 18- to24-year-old Latinos had the largest college enroll-ment among all major ethnic and racial groups.Latino college enrollment had a 24 percentincrease from 2009 to 2010 for a historic high of12.2 million students in college in October 2010.

The results presented in this Pew report indi-cate that the college-enrollment surge goesbeyond the surge in Latino population growthand that young Latinos are actually narrowingthe education achievement gap.

Latinos are now the largest minority groupon college campuses, passing Black college stu-dents within the same age group despite thesteady growth of Black student enrollment andtheir own surge in college enrollment in recentyears. The Pew report revealed other positivenews: Latino high school completion ratesincreased from 59 percent in 2000 to 72 per-

cent in 2010.Despite that progress, Latinos still lag in the

percentage of their college-age populationenrolled in college. In 2010, those enrolled aged18-24 included: 32 percent of Latinos, 38 per-cent of Blacks, 62 percent of Asian-Americansand 43 percent of White students.

College and Career-Readiness ReportThe other report, released by ACT in August

2011, The Condition of College and CareerReadiness 2011, showed that Latino ACT testtakers achieved marked improvement in collegeand career readiness.

ACT, an independent, not-for-profit organiza-tion providing assessment, research, information,and program management services in educationand work force development, defines college andcareer readiness as “the acquisition of theknowledge and skills a student needs to enrolland succeed in credit-bearing first-year coursesat a postsecondary institution (such as a two- orfour-year college, trade school, or technicalschool) without the need for remediation.”

ACT recognizes the importance of measuringthe knowledge and academic skills learned inschool that have been validated as key factorsrelated to college success. Their research, how-ever, points to other essential dimensionsimpacting college and career success beyond theacademic. The other key factors are behavioralreadiness and education and career planning.

“Assessing what students have learned so faris a vital element in helping them to improve, butcollege and career readiness is very complex,says Jon Erickson, president of ACT’s EducationDivision. “With more and more students acrossthe country participating in testing, it’s importantthat test results are not overemphasized as a sin-

gle answer to the readiness problem.”The ACT report showed that the number of

Latino ACT test takers continues to increase dra-matically. In addition, Latino high school graduatestaking the ACT test have shown slow but steadyimprovement – particularly in math and science.

ACT College Readiness Benchmarks arebased on the grades earned by students in col-lege. The benchmarks specify the minimumscores needed on each ACT discipline test (suchas English, math, reading and science) to pre-dict that a student would have a 50 percentchance of earning a B grade or higher or abouta 75 percent chance of earning a C grade orhigher in a credit-bearing first-year collegecourse in that particular subject area.

A first glance at the data is not as encourag-ing as a more in-depth look.

Only 11 percent of Latino graduates in 2011who took the ACT exam met or surpassed allfour benchmarks in English composition, col-lege algebra, introductory social science andbiology without the need for remediation.Although this is the same percentage as the pre-vious year, it is up from 10 percent for the threeyears before that.

Latino high school graduates have shown themost improvement in college readiness in math-ematics. Thirty percent of Latino ACT test takersmet or exceeded the ACT College ReadinessBenchmark in math. This is up from 27 percentin 2010 and 26 percent in 2007.

Forty-seven percent of Latino test takers metor exceeded the ACT English Benchmark in 2011compared to 46 percent in 2010 and 49 percentin 2007. In reading, 35 percent met or exceededthe ACT Reading Benchmark in 2011 comparedto 34 percent in 2010 and in 2007. In science,15 percent of Latino ACT test takers met or

REPORTS


exceeded the ACT Science Benchmark comparedto 14 percent in 2010 and 13 percent in 2001.

While it is encouraging to see that moreLatino students are ready to succeed academi-cally at the next educational level, there is greatroom for improvement.

“Too many students are still falling through thecracks,” says Erickson. Indeed, it is dishearteningto note that 45 percent of Latino test takers in the2011 high school graduating class did not meet anyof the four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks.

The ACT exam has been offered for morethan half a century. The graduating class of2011, more than 1.62 million students, took theACT, and this represents an all-time record num-ber of test takers for the seventh year in a row.This year’s high school graduates who took ACTare not only the largest group in ACT’s history,but are also the most ethnically diverse.Combining the shares of Black and Latino ACTtest takers shows an increase from 19 percent in2007 to 26 percent in 2011.

The growth in Latino test takers has beendramatic in the last five years, and this risingnumber of students is moving closer to actualpopulation representation among all students.Strides in enrollment must continue. Even moreimportantly, we need to increase readiness to docollege-level work.

The ACT report offers suggestions for poli-cies and practices geared to do exactly that –increase readiness for success. It proposes sixpolicies and practices that can increase the per-centage of students ready to be successful in col-lege-level courses:

1. Promote essential standards: In 2008, ACTreleased the report Making the Dream aReality. At that time, it asked states to adopteducation standards that would prepare studentsfor college and career training success. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia adoptedwhat ACT called “Common Core StateStandards.” So most states have taken a firststep. ACT suggests that all 50 states get on boardand that policymakers and practitioners contin-ue the readiness initiative by aligning all aspectsof their systems to college and career readiness.

2. Create common expectations: College andcareer-readiness standards should be aligned toa rigorous core curriculum for all high schoolsstudents whether they are bound for college orfor work. ACT proposes that expectations for col-lege readiness and career-training readinessshould be comparable. ACT supports the core

curriculum recommendations of the report ANation at Risk: The Imperative for EducationalReform. Specifically, that report called for stu-dents to take a core curriculum consisting of atleast four years of English and three years each ofmath, science and social studies.

3. Establish clear performance standards: ACTsuggests that states adopt a consistent, rigorous setof core K-12 content standards and define perfor-mance standards so that students, parents, andteachers all know how well students must performacademically in high school to have a reasonablechance of success in college or on the job.

4. Make sure states offer rigorous high schoolcourses: ACT proposes that a core curriculumwith appropriate and aligned standards will ade-quately prepare high school students for collegeand career success only if the courses are chal-lenging. ACT suggests that more important thantaking the correct number of courses is takingthe right kinds of academically rigorous courses.According to ACT, high school students who takea rigorous, challenging core curriculum shouldbe ready to do well in first-year college creditcourses without the need for remediation.

5. Practice early monitoring and interven-tion: Students’ progress through K-12 should becarefully monitored so that academic deficien-cies in foundational skills can be identified andremediated early – in upper elementary andmiddle school. Additionally, students should beengaged in age-appropriate career exploration,assessment, and planning so they can tailor their

high school course work appropriately.6. Continue and accelerate data-driven deci-

sions: States have developed longitudinal P-16data systems, and these should be promoted.States must create systems that allow schoolsand districts to monitor student performance atevery stage of the learning pipeline, frompreschool through high school and all throughcollege. A longitudinal data system gives teachersand students time to strengthen students withdeficiencies through remediation before theystart college. Such systems also provide tools forschools to ensure that all their students take the

right number and kinds of courses before theygraduate from high school. There are two morebenefits of longitudinal assessment systems. Theypermit schools to determine the value added byeach core course in helping students becomeready for college and career success. And col-leges can offer feedback reports to high schoolsthat examine how well prepared their graduateswere for college, with this data being used tostrengthen high school curricula.

Once again, we have empirical data showingthe importance of the P-12 preparation pipelinein promoting college success and more evidencethat this is especially crucial for low-income andminority student populations.

Angela Provitera McGlynn, professor emeri-tus of psychology, is a national consultant/presenter on teaching and learning.


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Over the last few decades, there has beenquite a bit of discussion about how toencourage undergraduates to attend grad-

uate school. This is particularly important in thecase of students from Hispanic and other minor-ity backgrounds who do not attend graduateschool in sufficient numbers, a loss that anincreasingly diverse society can ill afford. Oftenfaculty members give pep talks to undergraduatestudents about how they too can join the profes-soriate or enter other occupations that require agraduate degree.

The problem is that the road is long, andthere is no roadmap showing students how toget where they want to go. So, a few years ago, Idecided to create a freshman seminar that wouldmake my students – minority and otherwise –take a virtual tour of the five levels of learning atthe research university by interviewing studentsat each of these levels. The rationale behind thisexercise was that, from the point of view of thelearning process, there is not a sharp dividebetween graduate and undergraduate education,but rather a series of relatively small steps: lowerdivision, upper division, master’s, doctoral andpostdoctoral, as I had suggested in a previousarticle titled “Undergraduate Research, GraduateMentoring, and the University’s Mission,”(Science, Volume 293, Number 5335, 31 August2001, pp. 1624-1626). If students couldprogress from high school to lower-divisionstudies, they could move from that level to thenext one, and so on.

The freshman seminar I developed, called“Introduction to the University of California,”combined some readings about the history of theinstitution with lectures by guest speakers whoreviewed the resources available to students atthe University of California (UC)-Davis. The mainrequirement for the course, however, was areport on interviews with one representativeengaged in each of the five levels of learning,which accounted for more than 50 percent ofthe grade. This got the attention of the students,who put much effort into the project.

Knowing that it would be difficult for them tolocate postdoctoral scholars, I provided my stu-dents with names of members of the campus’Postdoctoral Scholars Association who hadexpressed a desire to participate in the project.For doctoral and master’s students, I advised thestudents to contact any academic department oftheir choosing. Many did this and found volun-teers without difficulty. Others simply inter-viewed their TAs, which they found to be aninteresting experience. As for undergraduate stu-dents, they relied mostly on people they knewsocially, oftentimes students from their dormito-ries. In terms of the interviewees’ disciplines, Ileft this up to the students to choose. I did notrequire that all interviewees be from the samefield. Most students chose interviewees from avariety of disciplines, which gave them an insightinto fields about which they knew very little.

In preparation for the interviews, I asked thestudents to draft a list of questions for me toreview. Some lists were too long – others tooshort – but in general they were appropriate andcovered a wide variety of relevant topics fromthe professional to the personal.

One issue that students consistently failed toinclude on their own was funding. Perhaps theythought that asking questions about money wasindiscreet. I advised them to find out how theirinterviewees had financed their education ateach level.

Once I approved their lists of questions, theyproceeded with the interviews, which they told meusually took between one half-hour and one houreach. Some took longer, because the intervieweesbecame very engaged in the conversations. In afew cases, the interviewees struck up friendshipswith my students and remained in touch withthem after the project was over. Thus, the exerciseopened venues for informal mentoring.

With respect to the reports, my instructionswere for the students to describe their findingsin narrative form, to offer as much interpretationas possible and to explain what they had learnedfrom the process. The particular structure was

left up to them. Some chose to present the infor-mation in the form of portraits of the five inter-viewees. Others decided to pick some themesand compare the five interviewees’ perspectiveson them. Overall, their narratives were straight-forward and readable. As was to be expected,some students offered more analysis than others,which was reflected in their grades. But allseemed to have profited from the interviews.

Many students marveled at the variety ofexperiences they encountered, from the recentlyenrolled freshman to the seasoned postdoctoralscholar. Before this exercise, very few of themeven knew what a postdoctoral scholar was. Forthat matter, they did not know very much aboutdoctoral or master’s students either. Except forsome well-known professions like medicine andlaw, their ideas about the various educationaloptions available to college graduates werevague in the extreme, so their interviews withgraduate and postdoctoral students were a reve-lation to them. Even the interviews with upper-division undergraduate students were helpful,providing ideas about what majors they mightwant to choose and how to go about this, includ-ing information regarding fellowships and stu-dent employment opportunities of which theywere not previously aware.

Many students noted a difference in passionamong the people they interviewed: the higherthe level, the more passionate the intervieweegenerally was about his or her field of study. Forexample, one of my students was amazed by apostdoc’s statement that he had not chosen hisfield, but, rather, it had chosen him. Many stu-dents also noted that the reasons people came tothe Davis campus varied according to their levelof study. For example, undergraduates oftencited lifestyle motives, like the atmosphere of thecampus or its proximity to their hometowns,while graduate and postdoctoral students tendedto give professional reasons, such as the rank-ings or particular intellectual orientations oftheir departments. My students were particularlystruck by the fact that graduate and postdoctoral

GRADUATE SCHOOL


students often cited the possibility of workingwith a specific faculty member as the main rea-son they chose the Davis campus. This madethem realize how much students change overtime as they became more and more engaged intheir areas of expertise. Such changes extend totheir social lives.

My students observed that the social and per-sonal lives of graduate and postdoctoral studentswere dissimilar to those of undergraduates. Onone hand, they experienced much less pressurefrom parents. In contrast, they encounteredwork-life balance issues, since many graduateand postdoctoral students have partners and/orchildren to consider.

In a significant number of cases, the intervie-wees were members of minority groups andreported feelings of isolation. In spite of suchcomplaints, these interviewees expressed astrong desire to do well and to give back to thecommunity, which my students noted with inter-est, as this was not a comment that White stu-dents made often. My students also noted thatmany interviewees at the graduate and postdoc-

toral levels were from other countries. Althoughthey knew that the university had internationalstudents of various kinds, for the most part, theyhad not had a chance to talk to any of them indepth. To have conversations with foreign stu-dents and to hear about conditions in theirhome countries and the reasons why they camehere was enlightening. There were also quite afew cases of American interviewees who hadstudied abroad and shared information abouttheir host countries with my students, whoseemed very interested in their experiences,judging by the level of detail with which theydescribed them. These interactions obviouslymade my students more aware of issues relatingto ethnic and cultural diversity.

The interviewees, being mostly older andmore experienced than my students, oftenoffered them advice. In particular, they warnedthem against procrastination, which the studentsseemed to appreciate, perhaps because theywere beginning to see how fast homework couldpile up and realized that this was only going toincrease with time. More surprising for my stu-dents was the advice they received about thebenefits of internships, community service andnetworking. Many graduate and postdoctoralstudents said that they had come to UC-Davisbecause of personal connections they made atprofessional venues. My students were aston-ished that meeting a faculty member at a confer-ence might result in an appointment to a post-doctoral position or acceptance to a graduateprogram. Accustomed to the anonymous systemof undergraduate admissions, it had notoccurred to them that things could be so per-sonal. The conversations they had with the inter-viewees made them think about the importancenot only of doing quality work, but also of lettingother people know about it.

One thing that my students found striking wasthe fact that the higher students go on the acade-mic ladder, the more financial support theyreceive, which was the opposite of what many ofthem expected. They were very surprised to hearthat the support graduate students obtained fromthe university in the form of TAships, RAships andfellowships was enough for them to live indepen-dently, albeit modestly, and that this was true notonly in the natural sciences and engineering, butin the humanities and social sciences as well. Anumber of students remarked that this discoverymight change what they decided to do with theirlives in the future.

In general, my students found the informa-tion they unearthed through their questioning to

be very useful. Meeting higher-level studentsmade the future real for them. They felt privi-leged to be able to share confidences about theirexperiences to date and their hopes for thefuture. Many students expressed amazement atthe variety of career paths they saw among thepeople they interviewed. While some had linearpaths, focusing on a given field from the begin-ning, others tried different things before they set-tled on a specific discipline. The students weresurprised, for example, that an English majorcould obtain a Ph.D. in biology and become aresearch scientist. Although some might haveknown that such moves were theoretically possi-ble, they did not really believe this until theytalked to people who had actually done it. Thestudents also were surprised to find that pathsnot taken could be useful experiences. Forexample, the biologist who was an English majordid not consider that training a waste of time.This made my students realize that the array ofoptions open to them was much larger than theyhad previously envisioned and that exploring dif-ferent career options was a positive thing.

Although my students appreciated the infor-mation the interviewees gave them, whatimpressed them most was the motivation theyprovided. The older students’ passion for theirstudies was contagious, as was their belief thatwhat they had achieved was within anyone’sreach. Realizing that success was a matter ofpersistence, of moving on to the next level ratherthan giving up, was an important discovery formy students, many of whom had never envi-sioned themselves as graduate and postdoctoralstudents. Thus, interviewing more advanced stu-dents gave them a glimpse of potential futures,which was the point of the exercise. At the end ofthe class, everyone seemed to have gained somedegree of understanding and confidence.

Students stated that the exercise was an eye-opener. Saying that they never would haveexplored the five levels of learning on their own ifthey had not been asked to interview one repre-sentative from each, some of my pupils, includingstudents from Hispanic and other minority back-grounds, went as far as expressing the opinionthat this kind of exercise should be mandatory.Although that might be a bit extreme, the virtualtour of potential futures described here could beadopted profitably by other instructors, whomight want to encourage undergraduate students– minority and otherwise – to attend graduateschool by helping them interview their way up thefive levels of learning.


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Smithsonian in the 21st Century:A Haven for High School Hispanicsby Mary Ann Cooper

Times have changed and museums like theSmithsonian have changed with them. It’snot enough to be a brick-and-mortar mon-

ument to the past unless it can be seen asinstructive and relevant to today’s population.Museums like the Smithsonian can also make ittheir business to answer the clarion call to helpan educationally underserved population suc-ceed in secondary and higher education. This iswhat the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents had inmind when they established the SmithsonianLatino Center in 1997 (previously known asCenter for Latino Initiatives). It was a natural fitfor this institution, established in 1846 on prop-erty bequeathed by Englishman James Smithson,who had the vision to create an “establishmentfor the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

In the more than 160 years since that time,the Smithsonian has grown to include 19 muse-ums, the National Zoological Park, and nineresearch centers located in Washington, D.C.,and its metropolitan area; New York City;Cambridge, Mass.; Fort Pierce, Fla.; andPanama. The Smithsonian employs approximate-ly 6,900 staff, has over 137 million collectionobjects, and hosted more than 23 million visi-tors at its core museum locations and over 150million visitors to its public websites.

The Smithsonian Latino Center (SLC) hasgrown since its inception 25 years ago tobecome an educational outreach and researchcenter focused on ensuring that Latino contribu-tions to art, science and the humanities are high-lighted, understood and advanced through thedevelopment and support of public programs,scholarly research, museum collections and itsaffiliated organizations across the United States.It is a pan-institutional unit that works with theentire network of Smithsonian museums,research centers, the National Zoo and over 140affiliates nationwide. In establishing the SLC, theSmithsonian Institution Board of Regents statedthis as its rationale and mission, “The Latinopresence in the Americas is centuries old, cul-turally rich, and demographically vast and grow-ing. ... The Center is established so that

American history and culture may be displayedin all of its diversity.”

The center promotes the inclusion of Latinocontributions in Smithsonian programs, exhibi-tions, collections and public outreach. It doesthis through its support – either through fundingor technical assistance – of cultural, historicaland scientific projects across the Smithsonianthat represents significant Latino achievement. Italso develops and manages educational pro-grams, products and outreach to the Latino com-munity as well as promotes public awareness ofLatino programs at the Smithsonian museumsand its affiliates across the United States.

A natural outgrowth of the SLC and of partic-ular interest to high school seniors who areHispanic is the SLC’s Young AmbassadorsProgram. It is a national, interdisciplinary lead-ership development program for graduating highschool seniors. The mission of the program is tofoster the next generation of Latino leaders inthe arts, sciences and humanities through theSmithsonian Institution and its resources.

Up to 24 graduating high school seniors withan interest in and commitment to disciplines inthe arts, sciences or humanities as it relates toLatino communities and cultures are selected toparticipate in an all-expenses-paid training semi-nar in Washington, D.C., and a four-week intern-ship in museums and cultural institutions acrossthe U.S. and Puerto Rico. The program seeks toempower Latino youth to develop leadership andacademic skills and foster pride in their owncultural heritage. The SLC also administers theYoung Ambassadors Program, which is a nation-al leadership development program for highschool seniors that cultivates the next generationof Latino leaders in the arts and culture fieldsthrough a one-week seminar at the Smithsonianwith artists, curators, historians and other muse-um and arts professionals. Following the semi-nar, students return to museums and other cul-tural institutions in their local communities,including Smithsonian-affiliated organizations,for a four-week summer internship to gain prac-tical experience and promote Latino heritage.

The internship placements are in 12 citiesacross the United States and Puerto Rico. Forthis program, the Smithsonian has partneredwith the Ford Motor Company, which helps fundthe project. “Education is one of our top priori-ties, which is why we are proud to support theadvancement of young Latino leaders and pro-vide them with this once-in-a-lifetime opportuni-ty through our nation’s museum complex”explains Jim Vella, president, Ford MotorCompany Fund and Community Services.

Of interest to Hispanics who are graduatestudents or are professionals already in the workforce is the Latino Museum Studies Program – afour-week program established in 1994 anddesigned to increase the representation, docu-mentation, knowledge and interpretation ofLatino art, culture and history. The seminarseeks to provide participants with the tools toenhance their leadership, research and creativeskills through lectures, workshops and practicalexperiences at the Smithsonian and otherresearch facilities in the Washington, D.C., met-ropolitan area. Fifteen mid-career professionalsand graduate students are selected from anationwide pool of applicants.

Also available at the graduate level is theSmithsonian Institution Latino Studies FellowshipProgram. Fellowships in Latino studies areoffered by the Smithsonian Institution to provideopportunities for U.S. Hispanic predoctoral stu-dents and postdoctoral and senior investigatorsto conduct research related to U.S. Latino histo-ry, art and culture in association with membersof the Smithsonian professional research staff,and utilizing the resources of the institution.Fellowship awards under this program are con-tingent upon the availability of funds. This pro-gram has been supported by federal funds forLatino programming, administered by the SLC.The 2012-13 financial stipends and allowancesfor predoctoral fellows is $30,000 per year (12months). The stipend for postdoctoral andsenior fellows is $45,000 per year (12 months).In addition to the stipend, allowances to assistwith the fellows’ research-related expenses and


for temporary relocation to the Smithsonian arepossible. A maximum research allowance of$4,000 is available.

More than 42 million Latinos live in the UnitedStates. One out of eight Americans use labels likeLatino, Hispanic, Tejano, Chicano, Mexicano,Nuyorican, Cuban, Nuevomexicano, Salvadoreñoand Colombiano to distinguish themselves andtheir heritage. Hispanics are the largest minoritygroup and the fastest-growing segment of thepopulation, having more than doubled since 1980and accounted for half the total populationgrowth since 2001. In the past decade, the highestrates of Hispanic growth have been not inCalifornia, Texas, New York, Miami, Chicago andother longtime Latino strongholds, but in statessuch as Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, NorthCarolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. Latinos are nowthe largest minority in the United States and will

account for 46 percent of U.S. population growthin the next decade.

The Smithsonian has tapped into Hispanicmusic to promote cultural pride in the Latinocommunity and to enhance Latino educationalexperience, recognizing that hand in hand withthe burgeoning Latino population has come anequal infusion of Latino music, usually calledmúsica latina, in brick-and-mortar recordstores and for downloading online.

At the turn of this century, SmithsonianFolkways Recordings and the Center for Folklifeand Cultural Heritage partnered with the SLC tobring grass-roots Latino musicians and music toSmithsonian programming and American life.Since then, 19 new recordings of Latino music,three major programs of the SmithsonianFolklife Festival, and a new virtual exhibit in themaking, “Música del Pueblo,” have taken the

sounds and faces of música latina to many mil-lions of visitors and listeners. Radio Latino is thelatest addition to this collaboration. It drawsfrom the Latino audio holdings of the FolkwaysCollections – old and new – of sounds, stylesand cultures from the variety of music and cul-tural expression in the Latino world.

In the last 10 years, SLC has provided themechanism for more than 300 Latino-themedprojects, from living exhibitions to live arts per-formances, underwritten with federal and pri-vate-sector support. The SLC boasts that it high-lights vibrant cross-sections of culture from thePuerto Rican santos to the Chicano rhythms ofTexas and East L.A. The SLC’s goal is not only to“foster understanding of how Latinos haveshaped our nation thus far,” it also aims to “helpLatinos influence the America of tomorrow.”


Theory into PracticeTheory into Practice

High school teachers who wish to inspire their Hispanic students with ethnic pride and a desire to excel have the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum– an avatar-based, 3-D learning environment featuring immersive learning activities that is focused on the representation of cultural heritage using cut-ting-edge technology at their disposal. The Latino Virtual Museum is the first digital institution-wide initiative designed to improve access to SmithsonianLatino collections and exhibitions. It allows increased opportunities for research, interactive learning and innovative classroom instruction and curricu-lum development.

The SLC project is titled Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum in Second Life and is in partnership with the Virtual Immersive Technologies and Arts forLearning Lab at Ohio University and Linden Labs, the creators of avatar-based virtual communities.

The program includes a welcome video using the latest in virtual-world filmmaking technologies known as “Machinima” that guides users throughkey areas of the museum. Tour sites include the “placita”; the Sin Fronteras Café; the Afro-Cuban instrument room; the “Son Clave” music lounge, featur-ing digital collections from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings; the amphitheater and the Smithsonian Expedition Wing, where users can learn about keyarcheological expeditions in Mexico through the work of Matthew Sterling; and the Olmec Legacy Collection at the National Museum of Natural History.

“More than just increasing access for the many people who may not ever make a trip to Washington, D.C., the Latino Virtual Museum offers theSmithsonian Latino Center an effective outreach tool to impact what is being taught in classrooms by offering quality Latino content,” says Eduardo Díaz,director of the Smithsonian Latino Center. “These are stories that risk never being told and are now being offered via an engaged, global online community.”

In 2008, the Smithsonian Latino Center purchased five islands in Second Life to build the virtual museum. Together with the VITAL Lab and an advisoryteam that includes Smithsonian curators, scholars, researchers, museum educators, media artists and other specialists, the team developed the conceptu-al, technical and design framework for the museum.

“The VITAL Lab is excited to be partnered with the Smithsonian Institution as it furthers our belief in the value of immersive experiences for learning,”said Arnold Jonas, Virtual Worlds and Social Interactive designer at the VITAL Lab. “The opportunity to work on such a high-profile project with expertsin the field demonstrates the potential of synthetic worlds to be a part of the future of interpretive museum design.”

No stranger to virtual world animation, the Walt Disney Company is supporting the multiphased project that, upon completion, will feature 16 wingsdedicated to the Latino presence at the Smithsonian in arts, science and humanities.

While in the Latino Virtual Museum, users will have access to the collections, research and scholarship, exhibitions and educational activities of theSmithsonian as these items relate to U.S. Latinos and Latin Americans. The SLC cites these examples of such items: Celia Cruz’s costumes at the NationalMuseum of American History, Frida Kahlo’s letters at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, and oral histories from the exhibition “BittersweetHarvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964.” Users – particularly educators and students – can engage and participate in educational activities such as vir-tual science fairs with noted Latino astronauts and physicists or collaborate with featured artists on art-based activities using gaming technologies.

Educators interested in bringing the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum into their classrooms should check out two websites. For more informationabout the VITAL Lab, a multidisciplinary research and development facility at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, visit http://vital.cs.ohiou.edu. For moreinformation about the Smithsonian Latino Center, visit www.latino.si.edu.

College Board Report Finds thatU.S. Will Fail to Meet CollegeCompletion Goals by 2025 ifCurrent Rate of Growth Continues

BOSTON, Mass.

As the economy continues to struggleand as the need to ensure that our studentsare college and career ready is even morecritical to the economic future of the nation,the College Board Advocacy & Policy Centerreleased the results of The CollegeCompletion Agenda 2011 Progress Report.The report tracks the progress being madeacross the country toward the goal ofincreasing the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds who hold an associate degree or higherto 55 percent by the year 2025.The report finds that the current per-

centage nationwide is 41.1 percent, 13.9percentage points away from the goal of 55

percent. While the percentage increasedmarginally from 2000 (38.1 percent) to2009 (41.1 percent), if the U.S. continuesto follow this sluggish rate of growth, it isprojected that the country will only reach a46.0 percent completion rate by 2025. Eventhe five states with the highest percentage ofresidents with college degrees –Massachusetts (53.7 percent), NorthDakota (50.5 percent), Minnesota (49.4percent), New York (49.2 percent) andNew Jersey (46.2 percent) – have still notreached 55 percent.“Increasing the number of Americans

with a postsecondary degree must be one ofour highest priorities over the next decade,”said Gaston Caperton, College Board presi-dent. “Education is strongly tied to econom-ics, and our future prosperity will dependon how well we balance this relationship.Reports like The College CompletionAgenda shed critical light on these efforts

and should be studied by anyone interestedin understanding where we are and how wecan get where we need to be.”The comprehensive report includes rig-

orous indicators (aligned to 10 interdepen-dent recommendations). It charts theprogress of the nation and each of the 50states toward the goal of 55 percent by2025. It highlights areas of progress instates yet also notes that formidable chal-lenges remain at every level of the educationsystem for students who aspire to enroll andsucceed in college.The report cites promising strategies

implemented within the past year. For exam-ple, there has been continued movement bystates to adopt the Common Core StateStandards in English-language arts andmathematics. To date, 45 states have adopt-ed these standards to provide a clear andconsistent framework to prepare all stu-dents for college and work force success.

MALDEF Announces Winners of the2010-2011 Law School ScholarshipProgram

LOS ANGELES, Calif.

The Mexican American Legal Defenseand Educational Fund (MALDEF) recentlyannounced the 2010-2011 MALDEF LawSchool Scholarship winners.Since MALDEF’s founding, the civil rights

organization has awarded scholarships tostudents who are committed to working toadvance the civil rights of the Latino com-munity in the United States. In recent years,MALDEF has annually awarded five to 10scholarships of $5,000 each.

The 2010-2011 winners are:• Paul AguilarSouthwestern Law School

• Glenda Aldana MadridYale Law School

• Edith CastañedaLoyola Law School

• Aidin CastilloUniversity of California (UC)-DavisSchool of Law

• Roberto ChávezUniversity of Texas-Austin School of Law

• Oscar EspinoUCLA School of Law

• Lizbeth Najera MuñozSanta Clara University School of Law

• Susana NaranjoUC-Hastings College of Law

• Esmeralda SantosUC-Hastings College of Law

• Rosa Erandi ZamoraColumbia Law SchoolMALDEF’s Law School Scholarship

Program is open to all law students who willbe enrolled at an accredited United Stateslaw school. Applicants are evaluated ontheir academic and extracurricular achieve-ments, background and financial need, and,most importantly, their demonstrated com-mitment to advancing Latino civil rights intheir careers.

The Hispanic Outlook In Higher Education www.hispanicoutlook.com February 13, 2012


Pew Hispanic Center: As DeportationsRise to Record Levels, Most LatinosOppose President’s Policy

WASHINGTON, D.C.

By a ratio of more than 2-to-1 (59 per-cent vs. 27 percent), Latinos disapprove ofthe way the Obama administration is han-dling deportations of unauthorized immi-grants, according to a national survey ofLatino adults by the Pew Hispanic Center, aproject of the Pew Research Center.Deportations have reached record levels

under President Obama, rising to an annualaverage of nearly 400,000 since 2009,about 30 percent higher than the annualaverage during the second term of the Bushadministration and about double the annualaverage during George W. Bush’s first term.

More than eight in 10 (81 percent) ofthe nation’s estimated 11.2 million unautho-rized immigrants are of Hispanic origin,according to Pew Hispanic Center estimates.Hispanics accounted for an even largershare of deportees in 2010 – 97 percent.Not all Latinos are aware that the Obama

administration has stepped up deportationsof unauthorized immigrants. A plurality (41percent) says that the Obama administrationis deporting more unauthorized immigrantsthan the Bush administration. Slightly morethan a third (36 percent) say the twoadministrations have deported about thesame number of immigrants. And one in 10(10 percent) Latinos say the Obama admin-istration has deported fewer unauthorizedimmigrants than the Bush administration.Disapproval of Obama’s policy is most

widespread among those who are aware

that deportations have risen during histenure. Among this group, more than three-quarters (77 percent) disapprove of the wayhis administration is handling the issue ofdeportations. Among those who are notaware that an increase has occurred, slight-ly more than half disapprove.The Pew Hispanic survey also reveals

that, heading into the 2012 presidentialcampaign, Obama and the Democratic Partycontinue to enjoy strong support fromLatino registered voters.Asked which party has more concern for

Hispanics, 45 percent of Hispanic registeredvoters say it’s the Democratic Party while 12percent say it’s the Republican Party. Theshare that identifies the Republican Party asthe better party for Hispanics is up six per-centage points since 2010.

STEM Education Key to Innovationand Economic Growth

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The National Governors Association (NGA)has released a guide, Building a Science,Technology, Engineering, and MathEducation Agenda, focused on strengtheningscience, technology, engineering and mathe-matics (STEM) education. Economic growth inthe 21st century will be driven by our nation’sability to both generate ideas and translatethem into innovative products and services,says the NGA. Governors have been working toincrease the proficiency of all students in theseareas and grow the number of students whopursue STEM careers and advanced studies.As governors look for the best strategies

to strengthen state economic performance, it

is important to focus on STEM occupationsbecause they are among the highest paying,fastest growing and most influential in drivingeconomic growth and innovation. Individualsemployed in STEM fields enjoy prosperity,career flexibility and low unemployment.“STEM education is a powerful foundation

for individual and societal economic suc-cess,” said North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue,who recently hosted a national STEM summitin Durham. “Governors have been workinghard to improve education and to ensure theUnited States does not lag behind.”Unfortunately, the country has fallen

behind in fully realizing the benefits ofSTEM education. The United States currentlyranks behind 25 countries in math and 12countries in science, as evidenced by slowgrowth in postsecondary degrees awardedin STEM fields over approximately the past

decade. That lack of degree growth isoccurring as other countries are experienc-ing rapid growth in their STEM talent pools.States and their education institutions

have taken the following actions to addressthese challenges:• Adopted rigorous math and science stan-dards and improved assessments• Recruited and retained more qualifiedclassroom teachers• Provided more rigorous preparation forSTEM students• Used informal learning to expand mathand science beyond the classroom• Enhanced the quality and supply of STEMteachers• Established goals for postsecondary insti-tutions to meet STEM job needsFor more information on NGA’s STEM work,

visit the website, www.nga.org/cms/stem.

The Hispanic Outlook In Higher Education www.hispanicoutlook.com February 13, 2012



Carnegie Corporation HonorsPadrón

Carnegie Corporation of New York inNovember honored Eduardo J. Padrón (pic-tured), president ofMiami Dade College(MDC), with the foun-dation’s CentennialAcademic LeadershipAward at a dinner cel-ebrating the founda-tion’s centennial.Padrón was selectedfor innovations thathave contributed to a culture of success thathas produced impressive results in studentaccess, retention and graduation rates, andoverall achievement at a school with a pre-dominantly low-income and minority studentpopulation. A Cuban immigrant and graduateof what was then Dade County Junior College,Padrón has earned a national reputation asan advocate for underserved populations andinnovative teaching. Freeman A. HrabowskiIII, president of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, also received the award.

Molina Heads Los Angeles DentalSociety

The Los Angeles Dental Society (LADS)recently elected Dr. Sonia Molina, president ofMolina Endodontics, tohead its 1,200-mem-ber organization for2011-12. She becomesthe first Latina presi-dent in the organiza-tion’s 76-year history.Molina is a respectedclinical lecturer andactive communityleader who devotes her time, energy andresources to many charitable dental enterpris-es. She has a bachelor’s degree in biomedicalscience from California State University-LongBeach, a Master of Public Health degree fromthe Harvard School of Public Health and aDoctor of Dental Medicine from the HarvardSchool of Dental Medicine. She completed herpostdoctoral in endodontics at the University ofCalifornia-Los Angeles School of Dentistry.

Núñez Wins Lifetime AchievementAward

The Connecticut Latino and Puerto RicanAffairs Commission (LPRAC) honored EasternConnecticut StateUniversity PresidentElsa M. Núñez (pic-tured) with its LifetimeAchievement Awardduring its 14th AnnualScholarship AwardsCeremony in October.Prior to joining Easternin 2006, among otherpositions, Núñez served as vice chancellor ofacademic and student affairs in the Universityof Maine System and provost and vice presi-dent for academic affairs at Lesley University.She has a bachelor’s degree from MontclairState College, a master’s from FairleighDickinson University and a doctorate in lin-guistics from Rutgers University.

Belmont University College of LawAppoints Gonzales asDistinguished Chair

Former U.S. Attorney General AlbertoGonzales recently began teaching at BelmontUniversity Collegeof Law (Tenn.) asthe Doyle RogersDistinguished Chair ofLaw. After attendingthe United StatesAir Force Academy,Gonzales graduatedfrom Rice Universitywith a bachelor’sdegree and Harvard Law School with a JurisDoctor. He was nominated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush and confirmed by the UnitedStates Senate as the 80th attorney general ofthe United States on Feb. 3, 2005, and servedin that capacity until September 2007.

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Oakton Community College employs individuals who respect, are eager to learn about, and have a willingness to accept the many ways of viewing the world.

Oakton serves the near northern suburbs of Chicago with campuses in Des Plaines and Skokie.

Individuals with a commitment to working in a culturally competent environment and who reflect the increasing diversity of Oakton’s student body and community are sought for the following administrative opening:

• Associate Vice President

To learn more about this position and to apply visit our Web site at:

www.oakton.eduClick on “employment”

Oakton Community College is an equal opportunity employer.

Start Here. Go anywhere.

The anticipated start date is July 1, 2012.

for Continuing Education, Training and Workforce Development

Welcoming

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Oakton Community College employs individuals who respect, are eager to learn about, and have a willingness to accept the many ways of viewing the world.

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Welive in an age that would have beenthe envy of the most diabolicalpoliticians in the book 1984. Big

brother is not just a popular TV reality show, it’sthe way society has voluntarily structured itself.We go to the supermarket and have our“bonus” cards scanned, recording our buyinghabits and providing a road map to what ourfamily unit is all about. Rack up enough dispos-able diapers on your list and you’ll soon be get-ting calls, mail and e-mail about family-friendlyvacation spots or baby food. Sign up for EZ-Pass, and the state knows exactly what your travel itinerary is every day.

And the examples above don’t even account for social networking.College students routinely sign up for Facebook or LinkedIn. They tweet,they text, or imail. Each venture into cyberspace reveals more and moreabout them for the world to see. It’s insidious. The downside of this greatsocial experiment is not only a self-imposed invasion of privacy, it is also adangerous entry into a world that can destroy reputations, leave open thepossibility of cyberbullying and risk identity theft.

Author Matt Ivester has addressed these issues in his new book,lol...OMG! What every student needs to know about online reputationmanagement, digital citizenship and cyberbullying.

Ivester has some idea about how dangerous online destinations can be.He was the founder of the once-popular anonymous online campus hang-out, JuicyCampus.com. What started out as a fun place for students to sharetheir stories about campus life soon turned into what Katie Couric describedas a “malicious cesspool of barbs, disses and insults.” The site provokedinvestigations by two state attorneys general, generated hundreds of com-plaints from users, administrators and parents, attracted the attention ofnational media, and made student governments vote to ban it. So it can beargued that Ivester is a credible source to offer advice on this topic.

In lol...OMG! Ivester explains the unanticipated negative consequences ofstudents’ digital decisions – from lost job opportunities and denied collegeadmission to national scandals. Ivester argues that everyone looks at yourrecord online now: prospective employers, love interests, teachers, admis-sions officers, even the students’ own parents. The book also illustrates howeasy it is to bully someone without suffering exposure or consequences. Thisis ripped straight from today’s headlines detailing campus suicides that someargue were prompted by vicious cyberbullying.

Ivester not only highlights the problem, he also prescribes strategies toempower students, including seven steps they can take right away to beginguarding and repairing their online reputations. He also enables readers tojudge their online decision making with 10 important tests. Two of theseare the Offline Test and the Real-Name Test: Would you be willingto do the offline equivalent of this online action? And howwould you change your behavior if you knew yourreal name would be associated with it? This bookis a must read for students and their families.

Reviewed by Mary Ann Cooper

lol...OMG! What Every Student Needs to KnowAbout Online Reputation Management, DigitalCitizenship and Cyberbullying.by Matt Ivester2011. 162 pages. ISBN: 978-0-615-52889-2. $24.95, cloth. SerraKnight Publishing.

IInntteerreessttiinngg RReeaaddss

Adoring the SaintsBy Yolanda Lastra, Joel Sherzer and Dina Sherzer

This book is a study of two of Mexico’s patron saintfiestas in the state of Guanajuato, near San Miguel deAllende. They are the fiesta of the village of Cruz delPalmar and that of the town of San Luis de la Paz.

2009. 211 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-292-71980-4. $55.00 cloth. University ofTexas Press, (800) 252-3206. www.utexaspress.com.

Domestic EconomiesBy Ann S. Blum

This book explores the way family, work and welfareevolved in Mexico City from 1884 to 1943. It analyzes theways in which family-oriented public policies and institu-tions affected cross-class interactions as well as relationsbetween parents and children.

2010. 396 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-8032-1359-3. $30.00paper. University of Nebraska Press, (402) 472-3581. www.nebraska-press.unl.edu.

Education Malpractice By Nelson R. Reidar

The author’s experiences as an instructional coach atan underperforming high school with a graduation rate of30 percent is chronicled in this volume. The book discuss-es why children are failing high school, and offers sugges-tions for improving the school.

2011. 88 pgs. ISBN: 978-14634-360-70. $16.99. paper.AuthorHouse, (800) 839-8640. www.authorhouse.com.

Test Success!By Dr. Ben Bernstein

This book contains tools to deal with any kind of test –oral, written, computer, practical exam or physical perfor-mance. It also has tips on staying confident, avoidingstress, and remaining calm and focused during test taking.

2012. 216 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-9819949-3-9. $19.95paper. Spark Avenue Publishing, (858) 456-0707.

www.sparkavenue.com


The University is pleased to solicit applications and nominations for faculty positions for the academic year 2012-2013. Unless otherwise indicated, faculty appointments are tenure-track at the rank of Assistant Professor and require an earned doctorate or appropriate terminal degree in the field. (ABD’s may be considered for appointment at the rank of instructor, with projected completion of degree requirements by June, 2013). Candidates should send letter of application, current curriculum vitae, with contact information for at least three professional references to the Chairperson of the respective Department (as cited below), William Paterson University, 300 Pompton Road, Wayne, NJ 07470. Please reference Job Code. Commitment to a high level of teaching effectiveness, to ongoing scholarship or creative expression, and to academic service is required. Review of applications will commence immediately and continue until the position is filled. All positions are subject to available funding. The academic year commences September 1, 2012.

COLLEGE OF THE ARTS AND COMMUNICATIONDEPARTMENT OF MUSICCarol Frierson-Campbell, Chairperson([email protected]) Job Code 130-HO

• Assistant or Associate Professor, Music Management/Popular Music.Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in music management programs with a specialization in issues of copyright and licensing, as well as courses in the new B.A. in Popular Music with an emphasis on song writing (including issues related to copyright) and social media. Assist the music management program coordinator in the development of curriculum. Strong commitment to teaching, scholarship and creative expression, and service to the department, college, and the University required. College teaching experience and terminal degree in a relevant field required. Credentials including publications representing an interdisciplinary grasp of some combination of music, law, and and/or management preferred.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATIONDEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND COUNSELINGPeter Griswold, Chairperson ([email protected]) Job Code 131-HO

• Assistant Professor, Special Education. Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Special Education teacher preparation programs and supervise candidates in field experiences. Requirements include expertise in adapting curriculum, instruction, and assessment for students with special needs and in strategies for supporting students in inclusive classrooms (i.e., Universal Design for Learning). Doctorate in special education or related field required (ABD considered). Teaching experience at the K-12 level and eligibility for teaching certification in special education required. Experience with language and literacy for students with special needs, inclusive classrooms, and culturally and linguistically diverse populations preferred. Evidence of prior scholarship or potential for scholarship and research required.

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIESAND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF AFRICANA WORLD STUDIESLawrence Mbogoni, Chairperson ([email protected])Job Code 132-HO

• Assistant Professor, Africana World Studies. To teach courses pertaining to the African-American experience related to sociology, political science, or urban and community development. PhD in relevant discipline required. Evidence of scholarly productivity and potential contributions to curriculum development, ongoing assessments, engaged service, and innovative classroom activities expected. Preference for candidates with college level teaching experience and expertise in civic and community engagement.

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND HEALTHDEPARTMENT OF KINESIOLOGYKathy Silgailis, Chairperson ([email protected]) Job Code 133-HO

• Assistant Professor, Exercise Science. Teach undergraduate exercise science courses such as physiology of exercise, survey of athletic injuries, exercise programs for special populations, essentials of strength and conditioning, aerobic and anaerobic exercise leadership, and graded exercise testing and prescription. Opportunities to teach graduate-level courses in the master’s degree program in Exercise and Sport Studies. Ph.D., strong commitment to teaching, research, scholarly activities, and service are required.

• Assistant Professor, Sports Pedagogy. Teach courses in curriculum and teaching physical education, movement education, adapted physical education, and individual, dual and team sports/games. Opportunities to teach graduate-level courses in the master’s degree program in Exercise and Sport Studies. Assist the Program Coordinator of the Physical Education/Teacher Education program in all aspects of administration including maintaining accreditation. Doctorate in Physical Education or related area required, strong commitment to teaching, research, scholarly activities, and service are required. Familiarity with National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) accreditations preferred. Training and experience in sport pedagogy, adapted physical education, and teaching sport skills and experience in teaching at the collegiate level and supervision of undergraduate physical education students preferred.

The William Paterson University of New Jersey is a comprehensive public institution of higher learning. The university offers more than 250 undergraduate and graduate academic programs which range from liberal arts and sciences to pre-professional and professional programs; it enrolls over 11,500 students from across the country and from over 40 nations. It is situated on a beautiful suburban campus in Wayne, New Jersey, twenty miles west of New York City.

Faculty Positions – Academic Year 2012-2013

The University community values and supports diversity among faculty, staff and students. Minority and women candidatesare encouraged to apply. Further information about the positions, the University, and the departmental programs

can be obtained electronically through access to its website at http://www.wpunj.edu.


Founded in 1956, the University of South Florida is a public research universityof growing national distinction. The USF System is comprised of memberinstitutions; USF Tampa, the doctoral granting institution which includes USF

Health; USF St. Petersburg; USF Sarasota-Manatee; USF Polytechnic, located inLakeland, separately accredited by the Commission Colleges of the SouthernAssociation of Colleges and Schools (SACS). USF is one of only four Florida publicuniversities classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching inthe top tier of research universities. More than 47,000 students are studying on USFcampuses and the University offers 228 degree programs at the undergraduate,graduate, specialty and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. USF is amember of the Big East Athletic Conference. And, USF is listed in the PrincetonReview as one of the nation’s 50 “Best Value” public colleges and universities.

The university is currently recruiting for the following positions; the number inparentheses represents the number of positions available to that specific title:

Administrative Positions:Director, Counseling Center (Student Affairs)Director of Housing Facilities (Student Affairs)

Director of Development (University Advancement)Director of Development (Health Development)

Faculty Positions:College of Arts and Sciences EngineeringAssistant/Associate Professor (1) Assistant Professor (6)

Assistant Professor (5) Assistant/Associate Professor (1)

College of Medicine BusinessAssistant/Associate (1) Assistant/Associate Professor (2)

Assistant Professor (2) Dean (1)

Assistant/Associate/Full Professor (1) Associate/Full Professor (1)Director/Professor (1)

Education College of ArtsAssistant/Associate Professor (1) Dean (1)Assistant Professor (6)

Public Health PharmacyAssociate Professor (1) Assistant/Associate Professor (1)

Sarasota College of NursingAssistant Professor (1) Assistant/Associate Professor (1)Assistant/Associate Professor (1) Nursing Faculty (3)Associate or Full Professor (1)

St. Petersburg Campus Academic AffairsAssociate/Full Professor (1) Director&FacultyAdministrator (1)

Associate Professor (1)

LakelandAssociate/Full Professor (1)

For a job description on the above listed positions including department,disciple and deadline dates: (1) visit our Careers@USF Web site athttps://employment.usf.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/Welcome_css.jsp; or(2) contact The Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, (813) 974-4373; or(3) call USF job line at 813.974.2879.

USF is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution,

committed to excellence through diversity in education and employment.

www.usf.edu • 4202 E. Fowler Ave,Tampa, FL 33620

DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Boston, MassachusettsNortheastern University seeks an outstanding scholarly and entrepreneurialleader for the position of Dean for the College of Engineering. Reporting tothe Provost/Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, a member of theNational Academy of Engineering, the Dean will have an opportunity toshape a college that will enhance Northeastern University’s distinctiveeducational mission and national and international reputation for joininginnovation in engineering research and education in an interdisciplinaryenvironment. Located in the heart of Boston, in the arts district and the biomedicalresearch corridor, Northeastern University is a private national researchuniversity offering a wide range of programs leading to degrees through thedoctorate in eight schools and colleges. Over the past ten years,Northeastern has experienced extraordinary growth in admissionsselectivity, research activity, campus life, donor support, and academicreputation. Today, Northeastern is the second largest private researchuniversity in Boston proper, comprising more than 15,000 undergraduateand 5,000 graduate students and over 4,200 faculty and staff. Theuniversity operates with a $798 million budget and over $95 million inresearch funding in FY 2011 of which over $30 million went to the Collegeof Engineering. Northeastern’s College of Engineering comprises 111 tenured and tenure-track faculty members and 27 full-time, non-tenure-track professionalfaculty members organized in four departments: Chemical Engineering;Civil and Environmental Engineering; Electrical and Computer Engineering;and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. With over $30 million in newawards in both FY2010 and FY2011, the College of Engineering is aleading contributor to Northeastern’s success in securing external funding.The College vigorously pursues transformative research that supports thebroader interdisciplinary research interests of the University, specifically inthe areas of health, sustainability, and security. In 2006, under the leadership of newly appointed President Joseph Aoun,the University embarked on an institution-wide planning process thatinvolved reflecting on the institution’s purpose and envisioning its future.Today, with a new Mission Statement and Academic Plan in place,Northeastern is a vital, optimistic institution moving forward with confidenceand energized by a sense of collective momentum and ambition. Inaddition, the University has implemented a new hybrid budgetary modelbased on responsibility based management that will provide its deans withheightened autonomy, financial control, and decision-making authority.This is an unusual and exciting opportunity to join a university that is on adramatic upward trajectory, led by a strong executive leadership team anda highly collaborative council of college deans. Northeastern Universityseeks a Dean for the College of Engineering who combines exemplaryachievements in engineering with strategic leadership ability;entrepreneurial ambition; collaborative and creative energy; outstandinginterpersonal and communication skills; and a passion for the uniquemission of the College and the University. Northeastern University has retained Isaacson, Miller, a nationalexecutive search firm, to assist in this recruitment. Review of candidateswill begin immediately and continue until an appointment is made.Applications, including cover letter, vita, and three references, should besubmitted in electronic form, to: Nancy Maull, Vice President, VivianBrocard, Vice President, Nureen Das, Senior Associate, Isaacson, Miller, E-mail: [email protected]. Electronic applications are stronglyencouraged.

Northeastern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Persons of color and women are encouraged to apply.

www.neu.edu


Lorain County Community

College

An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity

Employer

Provost/Vice President

for Academic and Learner Services

Lorain County Community College invites applications for the position of Provost/Vice President for Academic and Learner Services.

The Provost reports directly to the President and serves as the Chief Academic and Student Services Officer for the College responsible for the curricula and assessment of the institution, providing leadership to and assuring professional development for the faculty, managing the processes through which teaching is conducted and administered and establishing academic policies on admissions, retention and graduation.

For detailed position announcement, visit

www.lorainccc.edu/employment.Forward application materials to:

Lorain County Community CollegeHuman Resources Office

1005 N Abbe Road, Elyria, Ohio 44035

Review of applications will begin March 1, 2012.

For further information, confidential inquiries or to submit a nomination, please

contact John Steinecke, ACCT Search Services Specialist

at 202-775-4468, [email protected] Dr. Narcisa Polonio, ACCT VP for Education, Research and Board

Leadership Services at 202-276-1983, [email protected].

AN ACCT SEARCHThe College of Health and Human Services at NorthernArizona University is seeking a full-time (12 month) faculty memberat the rank of Assistant or Associate Clinical Professor to assist the Program Director with the teaching and administrationof a newly-established Physician Assistant Program in Phoenix. This Program provides a unique opportunity to develop aninter-professional curriculum with the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy and Public Health. Theprogram will reside in a new state-of-the-art Phoenix Biomedical Campus to be completed in downtown Phoenix in July 2012to be shared by health science educational programs from both University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. Thisindividual will assume responsibility for the development and coordination of parts of the curriculum and associatedevaluative processes. The successful candidate will ultimately assist the Program Director with many aspects of the programincluding teaching, recruitment, admissions, student advising, program administration, and the development, delivery andevaluation of the curriculum associated with the program, as well as scholarship and service activity. This position will beginJuly 1, 2012 or the earliest convenience of the successful candidate. Review of the applications will begin Feb. 13, 2012.Please send electronic letter of interest, CV and names and contact information for three professional references [email protected]. More information can be found at http://hr.nau.edu/node/2796&job_req=559011.


Assistant, Associate, or Professor ofMedical Education

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT IN

SIMULATIONThe Department of Medical Education at theUniversity of Michigan is seeking a faculty member toprovide educational leadership for the MedicalSchool's Clinical Simulation Center (CSC). Thisindividual will join a dynamic, multidisciplinary groupof social science and physician faculty in contributingto cutting-edge research and development. This is afull-time tenure-track position with rank and salarycommensurate with the individual’s education andexperience.

The CSC is a highly collaborative, well-establishedcenter designed to develop uses of simulationtechnologies to promote the education of physicians,nurses and other medical staff members. The CSCseeks to improve the effectiveness of simulation-basededucation and develop assessment models to measureand evaluate the competencies of learners andpractitioners.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Collaborating with clinical faculty to develop andimplement curricula utilizing simulation.

• Conducting collaborative research to evaluate theeffectiveness of simulation as an educational andassessment tool.

• Promoting scholarly activity of faculty active in theCSC.

• Pursuing external funding for CSC development andresearch activities.

• Working closely with other providers of health-related education (e.g., Nursing, Pharmacy) to deliverthe highest quality learning and assessment scenarios.

To qualify for the position, applicants must have:

• A terminal degree (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D.) in a relevantsocial or behavioral science discipline (e.g.,education, psychology, public health).

• Scholarly professional experience demonstratedthrough previous research and innovation ineducation with a publication record in peer-reviewedscholarly journals.

• Experience in education (ideally medical education),curriculum design, educational outcomes assessment,or educational/behavioral research.

• Experience with simulation in educationalapplications, medical education, or health-relatedbehavioral/clinical research (desirable, but notessential).

• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills andwritten and oral communication ability.

It is desirable (but not essential) for applicants to haveexperience with simulation in educational applications,medical education, or health-related behavioral/clinicalresearch.

Application review begins on March 1, 2012, and willcontinue until the position is filled. Interestedapplicants should consult the full position description at: http://med.umich.edu/meded/faculty_openings/index.htm

Questions can be directed to:

Tana O'Lone, Associate Administrator

Department of Medical Education

[email protected]

(734) 936-1664

Women and minority candidates are stronglyencouraged to apply. The University of Michigan is

an equal opportunity employer.


Dean of the School of Social Work

Wayne State University is seeking the next dean of the School of Social Work.

Founded in 1868, Wayne State University is a nationally recognizedmetropolitan research institution that offers more than 370 academic programsto over 30,000 students. Located in midtown Detroit, Wayne State’s maincampus consists of 102 buildings which span over 200 acres, and its fiveextension centers offer higher education to people throughout SoutheastMichigan. The 13 schools and colleges at the university include the School ofBusiness Administration; the College of Education; the College of Engineering;the College of Fine, Performing and CommunicationArts; the Graduate School;the Irvin D. Reid Honors College; the Law School; the College of Liberal Artsand Sciences; the School of Library and Information Science; the School ofMedicine; the College of Nursing; the EugeneApplebaum College of Pharmacyand Health Sciences; and the School of Social Work. Annual researchexpenditures for the university exceed $250 million.

For the past 76 years the Wayne State University School of Social Work hasprepared ethical and competent social work practitioners to promote social, culturaland economic justice for the betterment of poor, vulnerable, and oppressedindividuals, families, groups, communities, organizations, and society. The Schoolof Social Work offers Bachelor of Social Work, Master of Social Work, and Ph. D.in Social Work degrees, with students enrolled across the three degree programs;in addition, the School has five graduate certificate programs and a continuingeducation program. The SSW is also home to the Center for Social Work Practiceand Policy Research. There are 22 full-time faculty and 6 academic staff, and 16administrative and support staff members.As of the Fall 2011 term, there were 942students enrolled (702 graduate students, 240 undergraduates).

Reporting to the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, thedean is the chief academic and administrative officer. The successful candidatewill be expected to provide visionary leadership for the School’s academic andresearch programs including budget management, faculty recruitment andresource development. The candidate should be able to build bridges andencourage interdisciplinary scholarship.

The successful candidate will have strong administrative skills, preferablydeveloped in a large, complex environment; the ability to raise funds effectivelyand develop resources; and excellent interpersonal and communication skills.This individual also should have a commitment to diversity consistent with theuniversity’s mission as an urban public research institution. Candidates musthold a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree from an accredited institution (MSWnot required) and have a record of teaching and scholarly or professionalattainment that merits appointment as a professor with tenure. For additionalinformation on Wayne State University, please visit: http://wayne.edu/.

Initial screening of applicants will begin by January 23, 2012, and continueuntil the position is filled. Inquiries, nominations and applications should bedirected to the address below. Nominations of qualified candidates areencouraged. Candidates should include a curriculum vitae and letter of interest(electronic submissions preferred).

Dean Jerry HerronChair, Social Work Dean SearchIrvin D. Reid Honors CollegeWayne State UniversityDetroit, MI [email protected]

Wayne State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunityemployer, which complies with all applicable federal and state laws regardingnondiscrimination and affirmative action. Wayne State University is committedto a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all personsregardless of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability or veteranstatus, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Want a Rewarding Career Helping Students Succeed?

Dean, Student Support Services

FT position responsible for areas of Academic Advising, Admissions,

Assessment Center, Counseling Services, Disability Access Services,

International Student Advisor, Career Services, & Student Life. Supervises

the planning, organizing, & implementing of related program activities.

Provides supervision of these areas in staffing, budgeting, & program &

personnel evaluation. Serves as the ADA & Affirmative Action Officer for

students & serves as Chief Disciplinary Officer for students.Qualifications:Min Master’s Deg in an area relevant to Student Services. Min 5 yrs

demonstrated successful admin exp, preferably at the post-secondary level.

Strong leadership, communication skills, problem solving, decision making

skills & human relations skills. Ability to manage multiple tasks &

responsibilities. Demonstrated mediation skills req’d. Knowledge of relevant

legislation/regulatory requirements affecting students in post-secondary ed.

Acceptable background check req’d. Visit our website www.gtcc.edu formore information & application. Open until filled. As an EqualOpportunity Employer, GTCC is strongly committed to diversity &welcomes applications from all qualified candidates, particularlyminorities and faculty under-represented in higher education. EOE

Where YOU can make a difference!


PRESIDENTElkins Park, Pennsylvania

Salus University invites applications and nominations for theposition of President. Established by the Pennsylvania College ofOptometry (PCO), Salus is the only fully accredited, privateacademic institution in the country offering professional andgraduate degree programs in optometry, audiology, physicianassistant studies, public health, and education and rehabilitation inblindness and sensory impairments. PCO’s transition to SalusUniversity in 2008 represented a genuine transformation inrecognition of the breadth and interconnections in the healthsciences and one that affirms the institution’s deep commitment toinnovation and leading the development of future healthpractitioners across the globe.With a 92-year history of innovation in education and science,Salus currently enrolls 1,010 students, both on-campus andaround the world, and has over 12,000 alumni. The Universityoffers 15 degree and certificate programs, including severaldistance learning programs. Salus University’s main campus islocated just outside of Philadelphia in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.The University’s facilities also include an expanding group ofclinical sites in the greater Philadelphia area. The University seeks a new leader to usher Salus into its next era ofsuccess. Reporting to the Salus University Board of Trustees, thenext President will be charged with strategically developing andexpanding the University’s academic and research programs tomaximize interdisciplinary strengths and assets. The University seeksa President who will embrace the commitment to providing high-quality health education, and the value of community engagementthrough clinical service. Individuals with senior executive experiencein academia, healthcare, industry or other appropriate settings areinvited to apply.Review of nominations and applications will begin immediately andwill continue until the position is filled. All inquiries, nominations andapplications (including curriculum vitae and letters of interest) shouldbe sent electronically and in confidence to: Philip Jaeger, VicePresident, Denise O’Grady Gaffney, Vice President and Director,Amy Segal, Associate, Isaacson, Miller, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW,Suite 710, Washington, DC 20009, Phone: (202) 682-1504, E-mail:[email protected]

Salus University is an equal opportunity institution and provides equalopportunity for employment to all individuals as it relates to benefits,wages and other terms, conditions or privileges of employ, withoutregard to race, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, marital

status, gender, sexual orientation and any other factor prohibited underapplicable federal, state, and local civil rights laws, rules and

regulations. Applications from women and minorities are encouraged.

Non-Tenure Track LecturerEnglish Education

The successful candidate will teach methods courses in English education for initial certification candidates, conduct the practicum, and supervise practicum students. The position may include teaching of reading in the content areas and supervision of the practica in reading.

Qualifications: An earned doctorate in Literacy, English Education, or a related field, and at least five years of successful 5-12 English Language Arts teaching experience. Experience teaching reading or English as a second language preferred.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell is a comprehensive University committed to educating students for lifelong success in a diverse world. The Graduate School of Education prepares individuals to become elementary and secondary teachers while completing a Master of Education degree. Additionally, MEd, EdS degrees, and in-service programs are offered for professionals seeking to continue their education. The Department offers on campus and online programs. Three research-oriented EdD degrees serving more than one hundred part-time students and a vibrant community of research-active faculty enrich and support the educational programs of the Graduate School of Education.

Interested applicants should apply online at jobs.uml.edu. Thank you for considering the University of Massachusetts Lowell as an employer of choice. We look forward to receiving your application.The University of Massachusetts Lowell is committed to increasing diversity in its faculty, staff, and student populations, as well as curriculum and support programs, while promoting an inclusive environment. We seek candidates who can contribute to that goal and encourage you to apply and to identify your strengths in this area.

Careers with Mass Appeal

H I S P A N I C O U T L O O K • 0 2 / 1 3 / 2 0 1 2

P.O. Box 68 Paramus, NJ 07652-0068

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in theright direction. –

John C. Crosby, American politician (1859-1943)

Mentoring can be a source of meaningful support for Latino stu-dents preparing for higher education, Effective mentorship ofHispanic students starts with understanding its purpose and the

expectations of both mentor and protégé. Latino high school studentsand their parents need to know that mentorship is a two-way processbetween someone who is established and successful in a given field orenterprise and a student or protégé seeking guidance and support incareer preparation or development, Mentoring is also helpful for Latinostudents who are not sure about their future path but are open toexploring the options.

Most important, though, is that Hispanic students and their familiesunderstand that mentoring is reciprocal. Unlike many traditional teach-ing situations, the mentor is not solely responsible for setting up orhanding things to the student while the student passively accepts orrejects what is offered, a wise mentor knows that a teen protégé learnsmore by seeking information, so the student may be expected to occa-sionally suggest or initiate activities to do. In the process, the mentorlearns, too.

In a mentoring relationship, the student is expected to set goals, par-ticipate, ask questions, seize opportunities and try out new things as partof learning. As the mentor must extend himself to access opportunitiesand resources for the student, the student must leave his comfort zone totry something new. The Latino student who decides that he does not likesomething before he has experienced it either because he fears theunknown, is undertaking something friends have not done, or becausethe family has criticized it prematurely is shutting himself off from thepossibilities that mentoring can offer. The Hispanic student and familyneed to view mentoring as an opportunity to try out new things safely,with an open mind and without binding commitment. And the Latino stu-

dent, concerned about how he isperceived by peers, would benefitfrom the family’s support for doingsomething different. The Hispanic family is key to encouraging its youthto build a respectful, responsive relationship with the mentor. And thementor who understands the role and importance of friends and familyin the protégé’s life might welcome them at times to join in a new ven-ture with the student.

Ideally, the mentor and protégé should be well suited to each other.Before assigning a mentor, the Latina student should write down a fewgoals, her expectations of the mentor, her own attributes that can sup-port the process, and personal characteristics or traits that might inter-fere with developing an effective relationship with the mentor. Onceassigned to a mentor, students might realize that they might have differ-ent work styles, but each must respect the other person’s abilities andintentions. For mentors with minimal experience working with Latinoyouth, an orientation to the Hispanic culture, traditions and values and areview of the developmentally appropriate expectations and tasks of ado-lescents is helpful to understand the protégé better and determine if thestudent is on track. The student, on the other hand, must be coachable.The youngster who already thinks he knows everything (a commonaffliction among teens) and flippantly dismisses whatever the mentoroffers will not launch in the process. Listening attentively, inquiringrespectfully and interacting positively will assure that the mentor canoffer guidance that will be considered with an open mind.

An agreement about goals, activities and expectations can then bedeveloped, and the mentoring work can begin. In the process, the Latinostudent may be offered information about the unwritten rules of work,diplomacy, stress management, how to ask useful questions and size upwhat not to say or ask. Those lessons might spare some tough lifelessons that can otherwise be very costly.

MENTORING – POSITIVE SUPPORT FOR LATINO YOUTH PREPARING

FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

PPrriimmiinngg tthhee PPuummpp......

Miquela Rivera, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist withyears of clinical, early childhood and consultativeexperience. She lives in Albuquerque, N.M.

These articles appearedonline only in the

02/13/12Issue


Money Realitiesand College Costs

Money Realitiesand College Costsby Gustavo A. Mellander

When candidate Bill Clinton challenged George H. W. Bush for presidentin 1992, he was a long shot.

President Bush was very popular in early 1992. He had conducted asuccessful invasion of Kuwait. He intelligently secured the support of all theArab countries, secured a favorable United Nations resolution andpromised to pull our troops out after Iraq was expelled from Kuwait. Hekept his word.

Our victorious troops returned home to parades and festivities thathelped the nation heal its lingering Vietnam wounds. There was a renewedsense of optimism and pride.

Bush was so popular that well-known Democrats, who were widelyconsidered strong presidential candidates, decided not to challenge himfor the presidency. Bush seemed unbeatable.

The relatively unknown Arkansas governor, Clinton, however, stayed inthe race. He was a long shot. Then the economy began to go south. Itslipped through the spring and summer of 1992.

It became a major campaign issue. Clinton’s team seized the momentand modified the old managerial bromide KISS (keep it simple, stupid) toITES (it’s the economy, stupid). It became their drum beat. Led by JamesCarville, they were relentless, to put it mildly, in keeping Clinton’s cam-paign on that message. They peppered the Bush administration persistentlyabout the sagging economy. It worked. The comeback kid was elected.

The nation is now engaged in another presidential campaign, and theeconomy is wobbly and outright disastrous for those who are unemployed.Unemployment at an implacable 9 percent is devastating. It will be a signif-icant problem for the incumbent administration.

But this is not 1992. News headlines recently screamed that“Americans are making a little more money and spending a lot more.”

Under normal circumstances, that would be a troubling sign for theeconomy. But a closer look at those government figures suggests anotherpossibility: People are saving less money because it earns next to nothingin interest.

Saving is also difficult because inflation is raging in those areas thatmost affect Americans, i.e., gasoline and food prices keep rising.

Interest rates have been kept artificially low by the Federal Reservesince 2008 to help the economy. Unfortunately, super-low interest ratesleads to lower returns. This discourages those who want to save and hurtsretirees who have historically depended on higher interest rates to makeends meet.

Critics say the Fed’s policy is punishing those who play by the rules –those prudent enough to set aside money or those who built up a nest eggand are living on fixed incomes that depend on interest.

So are Americans really spending more? Well, yes, they spent 0.6 per-cent more in September, three times the October increase. Spending wasstronger among durable goods: cars, appliances and electronics, which isgood news for manufacturers.

At the same time, earned income was quite flat. Salaries increased 0.3percent; and overall income, just 0.1 percent. After deducting taxes andadjusting for inflation, income actually fell for a third straight month.

So to make up the difference, many Americans cut back on savings.The savings rate fell to its lowest level since December 2007, the firstmonth of the recession. That was also when the Fed started its series ofinterest-rate cuts.

Considering how little one receives for bank deposits, and given pricerises in products everyone needs to buy, it is not surprising Americans aresaving less.

Consumers have hit a level of saturation in their savings. The propensityis to spend, not invest or save. That cannot be good for the economy or forindividuals long term.

The annual yield on six-month certificates of deposit has been low formonths on end. Recently at around 0.23 percent, it is a far cry from 3.62percent five years ago.

Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, believes thetrend of Americans spending more will continue for years. To get the econ-omy going again will take robust personal spending along with improve-ment in the depressed housing market. Both may take longer than manyanticipate.

Ashworth indicated he is not too concerned with the decline in savingsbecause it represents “a sharp decline in debt servicing costs.” In otherwords, low interest rates mean it’s cheaper to borrow money. I wonder ifthat habit should be encouraged.

To re-cap, the Fed began cutting interest rates four years ago at thestart of the financial crisis. The rate cuts reduced the federal funds rate,the key for short-term interest rates, from 5.25 percent down to near zero,where they have lingered since December 2008. The goal of getting busi-ness to invest, to produce just hasn’t happened.

The Fed has announced it will keep these super-low rates into 2013and has implied longer if the economy stays weak. That means low returnsfor savers, and a borrowing mind-set which is problematic if it becomes

TARGETING HIGHER EDUCATION

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part of the national fabric.Studies indicate that many borrowers tend to be young families who

spend most of their income, and then borrow. They are not profligate, butthey certainly don’t have the saving habits of generations gone by. The lossin interest income tends to hit older households more, which are savingfor retirement or in retirement. They depend more on bonds and otherfixed-income securities.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for about70 percent of the nation’s economic activity. A sharp rise in spending overthe summer helped the overall economy grow in July, August andSeptember at the fastest pace in a year. But it slumped thereafter.

Still, the economy would have to grow twice as fast to put a dent in theunemployment rate, which has stubbornly stayed near 9 percent since therecession officially ended more than two years ago.

The academic world has not been immune. Some faculty cut monthlycontributions to retirement savings accounts in half to meet pressingneeds. It may seem foolish for those who should know better, but if one ispinched to purchase groceries, one can understand that mind-set.

On the other hand, some families have benefited from lower interestrates by re-financing their mortgages over the past year. The lower mort-gage payments have freed up more cash for necessities.

How About Hispanics?“Current Hispanic households will outspend White non-Hispanic

households by more than $400,000 over the balance of their lifetimes.” Sopredicted Geoscape in its 2012 American Marketscape Report.

It also noted that Hispanic population will reach 54 million and willconstitute nearly 60 percent of U.S. growth in 2012.

The report is a summary of current and forecasted demographic, eco-nomic and consumer data at various geographic locations in the U.S.

Other key predictions are:• America is becoming less European-Caucasian; nearly 93 percent ofpopulation growth from 2012 to 2017 will come from Latin AmericanHispanics, Asian-Americans and African-Americans• On average, existing Hispanic households in 2012 will spend morethan $400,000 more than White non-Hispanic households for the remain-der of their lifetimes; that will be due in part to Hispanics’ younger agecohorts, rising expectations and longer life probabilities• The Hispanic population is gravitating towards biculturalism – current-ly at 70 percent – instead of fully assimilating into an American culture;that was more prevalent for all ethnic groups in the past; the melting potjust isn’t fashionable anymore• In 2012, Hispanic children will constitute more than 30 percent of thepreschool-age population; at the other extreme, White non-Hispanics willform nearly 70 percent of the elderly population over 75 years; the socialramifications and probable consequences are evident enough• If we include Puerto Rico, Hispanics will represent nearly 58 millionpeople in 2012; they will continue to provide the preponderance of growthinto the foreseeable future; at one time, most Puerto Rican migrants,migrants because they have been citizens since 1917, were lower-incomepersons, many displaced farmworkers; that has changed; for the past 20years there has been a brain drain of college graduates from the island tothe mainland; there are, for instance, more than 400 Puerto Rican engi-neers, all island-trained, at NASA; hundreds of medical doctors andlawyers have migrated as well• The U.S. Hispanic market represents a vibrant and rapidly growinginvestment opportunity; it will be valued at more than $1 trillion in 2012

and can be served largely by existing business infrastructureWe mentioned earlier the effects of low interest rates and continuing

inflation. They both affect Hispanics as well. At a time when Hispanic col-lege attendance is on the rise, it is distressing to see that colleges continueto raise their tuition and fees at an accelerated rate, far beyond the nation’sinflation rate.

It is surprising to note that an “increasing number of colleges arecharging more than what the average American earns.” The averageAmerican two-income family earns less than $50,000 a year. A couple ofyears ago it was nearly $52,000 and rising. Now the national average wagefor American workers stands at a little less than $42,000 a year, accordingto the Social Security Administration.

Tuition: More than $50,000 a YearThe number of colleges and universities with tuition, fees and living

costs totaling more than $50,000 for a single year rose to 123 for the2011-12 year. That is up from 100 institutions in the previous year.

Going back, we note that during the 2009-10 academic year, only 58institutions charged more than $50,000 a year, according to CollegeBoard data. And the year before that, only five colleges carried such ahigh price tag.

Today the elite club of colleges with combined tuition, fees, room andboard exceeding $50,000 per year are mostly Ivy League institutions likeHarvard and Yale, as well as liberal arts colleges, including Williams,Vassar and Oberlin.

Sarah Lawrence College is this year’s most expensive school, with aprice tag of $59,170. Rounding out the top five most expensive schools areLandmark College (a two-year college in Vermont for students with learn-ing disabilities), New York University, Columbia University and HarveyMudd College.

Major Tuition HikesIt does not end there. Yearly increases are rampant. This school year,

39 of the most expensive schools raised tuition, fees, and room and boardby more than 4 percent, and seven increased costs by more than 5 per-cent. The biggest jump, of 10.1 percent, was at Rose-Hulman Institute ofTechnology, followed by Berklee College of Music, which raised costs by8.3 percent.

While no public institutions made it into the $50K club this year, thatdoesn’t mean they haven’t been hiking tuition, and significantly so.

Given severe budget pressures in most states, many state colleges anduniversities have boosted tuition drastically in the past few years. So whileCalifornia State University still only costs $9,022 in in-state tuition for ayear, that’s a whopping 21 percent increase from the previous year.

Significant Tuition ReductionsSome good news. In a recent development, six institutions, including

Seton Hall University, have announced significant tuition reductions, some60 percent. But for only a selected few: those with exceptional high schoolrecords and very high SAT scores. Further, they must undertake 24 creditsa year and maintain a “B” average to continue to qualify for the lowertuition. It’s a bold step in the right direction.

But how do most students cope with ever-rising costs? In one word, fartoo many assume enormous loans. More on this wrinkle in a subsequentcolumn.

Dr. Mellander was a college president for 20 years.

U.S. Ed Secretary Tackles Long-Term Issue– More Academic Time in American Schools

by Peggy Sands Orchowski

Itis a perennial national education issuethat comes up year after year. The firstpress conference of every new secretary of

education for the past 10 years has inevitablyincluded a question about the issue, with theanswer – no matter from a Republican or aDemocrat – always the same: “This issue will beone of my priorities.” It seems like a simpleissue, a problem with a simple answer. But it isas complicated as America.

The issue is lengthening the number of hoursthat America’s children spend on academic sub-jects in school every year, month, week and day.

It is a fact that American children spendfewer hours in school (and fewer hours by farstudying academic subjects) than do adolescentsand teenagers in other countries in the industrialworld with far better achievement levels.Traditionally, the American school calendar is180 six-and-a-half-hour days a year (includingacademic courses, study halls, tutoring andextracurricular activities). Most schools abroadhave more than 200 days with almost only acad-emic subjects. The U.S. has one of few secondaryschool systems that enjoy an entire summervacation off from school. And American teachersand students are obliged to spend far moreschool time than in any other country inextracurricular, nonacademic activities such asschool spirit and fundraising rallies and teamsports support activities.

Few educators want to make a connectionbetween American students’ increasingly rela-tively low achievement levels in academic sub-jects and the fewer number of hours they spendon those subjects than their international coun-terparts. But just for the sake of equality ofopportunity, the solution seems obvious: expandacademic learning time in schools.

“It is a school reform that is emerging as akey strategy to turn around struggling schools.The Obama administration has made increasinglearning time a priority through the U.S.Department of Education’s School ImprovementGrant program,” said Jennifer Davis, co-founderand president of the National Center on Time &Learning, at a conference last September at the

Center for American Progress, a liberal thinktank in Washington, D.C.

“Schools, particularly high-poverty schools,simply need more time in the school calendar ifthey are going to effectively implement the prac-tices that lead to student success,” Davis, a for-mer assistant to Education Secretary Richard W.Riley, insists. “From Houston to Chicago, fromdistrict schools to charter school networks,more than one thousand schools across thecountry are currently implementing expandedschool schedules.”

But clearly America has one highly uniquefeature that makes even the study, not less thesolution, of expanding school time so difficultcompared to most other countries in the world.It is the tradition and commitment to localadministrative control, local funding, localteachers’ unions and local parent organizationsthat govern the more than 14,000 public schooldistricts in the United States.

The only effective approach to implementinga national solution is what U.S. Secretary ofEducation Arne Duncan increasingly turns to: astudy of best practices, followed by funded initia-tives that award government grants to districtsthat commit to adopting, implementing andshowing progress on those practices.

“This is a very personal issue for me,”Duncan, the former Chicago schools superinten-dant, told a packed audience at the center. “Ifwe are serious about closing the achievementgaps between Americans and other nations aswell as between various kinds of school districtsin the U.S., we can’t do it on an agrarian schoolcalendar. I was with teachers’ union and charterschool officials yesterday in Massachusetts, andwe all agreed, we can’t compete with childrenfrom India and China and the like who spend 30percent more time in school (and with academicsubjects) than our kids.”

“We don’t need to study the problem more,”Duncan continued sternly. “We know all our kids– not just the poor – lose educational gains dur-ing a long summer away from school.” Duncansupports using schools and U.S. educationalresources in different ways: year round, evenings

and longer days – making schools communitylearning centers for students of all ages.

He is hopeful. “Now there is a new trend,” hereported. “Increasing numbers of especiallycharter schools are committing more schooltime for students – including adult students.

“But I am impatient,” Duncan continued.“Only 1 percent of all American schools – about1,000 out of over 100,000 – have actuallyexpanded their school times. If in the next 10years we have even a few more thousands doingit, that is not enough!”

The NCTL’s report Time Well Spent focuseson “eight powerful practices of some of thenation’s outstanding expanded-time schools thatcan be duplicated. They include examples of“making every minute count,” focusing on indi-vidualized instructions and focused learninggoals, and building a school culture of highexpectations and mutual accountability, amongothers. The report shows how expanded timeprograms “relentlessly assess, analyze andrespond to student data, and set aside time tostrengthen teachers’ skills and instruction.”

While the teachers and administrators at theschools profiled in the study explained that“time alone is not enough,” they believe moretime well spent is an absolutely essential factorin the success of their school. The purpose ofthe report is to delve more deeply into what itmeans to use time well, drawing on successfulpractices throughout the nation as laboratoriesfor learning, the report concludes.

The study seems to support Duncan’s often-stated vision to have U.S. schools open longerand used more for art, music and all kinds ofcommunity activities as well as academics.“Schools should be partners with communities;should be used as true community centers.”

Luis A. Ubiñas, president of the FordFoundation, and Chris Gabrieli, NCTL boardchairman, agree. In a New York Times Op-Ed inAugust, they wrote: “For all the talk about bal-ancing the budget for the sake of our children,closing classrooms due to budget cuts is a per-verse way of giving them a brighter future.”

REPORTS


AAss CCoolllleeggee CCoossttss KKeeeepp RRiissiinngg,,CCrriittiicciissmmss aanndd QQuueessttiioonnss MMoouunntt by Marilyn Gilroy

Thesticker price for a college educa-tion keeps rising and that trendshows no signs of slowing down.

Despite talk about tuition freezes and wide-spread concerns about the debt burden of col-lege students, all sectors of higher educationcontinue to raise their tuition and fees at ratesthat far outpace inflation. These increasing costsare especially problematic for Hispanic students,who already cite financial constraints as one ofthe main reasons for dropping out of college.

According to a report from the College Board,Trends in College Pricing 2011, the nationalincrease in tuition and fees at public four-yearcolleges and universities between 2010-11 and2011-12 was 8.3 percent. The increase for publictwo-year institutions during the same time periodwas 8.7 percent, threatening to put even commu-nity college out of reach for some.

And although the comparable increase at pri-vate colleges (4.5 percent), and at for- profits(3.2 percent), was not as steep, it still meansthat students and their families must deal withsome hefty payments.

Here’s how the numbers stack up:• In-state tuition and fees at public four-yearinstitutions averaged $8,244 in 2011-12, $631(8.3 percent) higher than in 2010-11; averagetotal charges, including tuition and fees androom and board, are $17,131, up 6.0 percent• Tuition and fees at public two-year collegesaveraged $2,963, $236 (8.7 percent) higherthan in 2010-11• Tuition and fees at private nonprofit four-yearcolleges and universities averaged $28,500 in 2011-12, $1,235 (4.5 percent) higher than in 2010-11;average total charges, including tuition and fees androom and board, are $38,589, up 4.4 percent• Tuition and fees at for-profit institutions aver-aged an estimated $14,487 in 2011-12, 3.2 per-cent higher than in 2010-11

The report says tuition increases reflect aweak economy and lack of state funding that hasnot kept up with the growth in college enroll-ments. The percentage of state support for full-time equivalent students has been slashed deeplyin New Jersey, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, withsome states cutting funding by more than 20

percent. Other states such as Illinois, which hascash-flow problems, have fallen behind in meet-ing funding commitments to higher education.

For many public institutions, this meanstuition is being used to supplement revenue loss-es. California, which enrolls about 10 percent ofthe nation’s full-time, public four-year college stu-dents, has been hit hard. The state’s budget short-

fall has resulted in an overall 21 percent tuitionincrease, the highest in the nation. At some com-munity colleges, cuts in state and county supportnow mean that more than 50 percent of the insti-tutional budget comes from tuition.

Overall, across all sectors of higher educa-tion, data show that since 1981, tuition and feeshave increased sixfold, compared to a consumerprice index that has gone up two and half timesduring the same period.

The rising cost of college could continue to affectwhere and how long Hispanic students go to college.The majority already enroll in community collegesor four-year public universities, often bypassingmore selective colleges because of the expense. Thedropout rate for Hispanics is a national concern, andmany of those who leave say costs are a major factor.Several reports have indicated that Hispanic studentsand their families often suffer from a lack of infor-

mation about the true cost of college and subse-quently end up with unexpected expenses. Studentswho want to stay in school and pay the bills find thatthey must take on more hours at part-time jobs,which impacts the ability to succeed in their studies.

Why Does College Cost So Much?Although cuts in state spending are con-

tributing to the problem, they are only one of thereasons why college is so expensive. Severalexperts from the world of academia have offeredtheir opinions on the subject.

In a highly publicized book, HigherEducation? How Colleges Are Wasting OurMoney and Failing Our Kids – and What WeCan Do About It, authors Andrew Hacker, aprofessor of sociology at Queens College, andClaudia Dreifus, an adjunct professor atColumbia University, suggest one of the prob-lems is a glut of administrators and staff posi-tions. They described how many colleges, espe-cially private ones, have increased positions thatare service-oriented or are related to amenitiesthat universities have begun offering students aspart of the admissions race.

At one school examined by the authors,approximately 70 percent of employees wereinvolved in something other than teaching. Theroster of positions included an expanded numberof coaches, fundraisers, technology personnel,university museum staff and positions such as“babysitting coordinator” and “queer life coordi-nator.” Hacker and Driefus say these positionshave mushroomed at a time when the ratio of full-time faculty members-to-students has declined.

Other critics have joined the debate and laidthe blame for high costs on wasteful and, insome cases, extravagant amenities colleges areproviding for students. Colleges now offer big-ticket items, such as elaborate gyms and work-out facilities, extensive counseling departments,single dorm rooms and totally wired librarieswith cafés and comfortable sofas for seating.College presidents argue that these items havebecome part of parental expectations and arenecessary to stay even in today’s intensive admis-sions competition, in which everyone boasts thattheir campuses offer state-of-the-art facilities.

FINANCE


Anthony Carnevale, director, GeorgetownUniversity Center on Education and the Workforce

But two economists at the College of Williamand Mary, David H. Feldman and Robert B.Archibald, offer a slightly different analysis.Their book, Why Does College Cost So Much?,says the high cost of college is not about dys-functional administrators making wasteful deci-sions. Rather, they argue that education is alabor-intensive activity in which it has been diffi-cult to improve productivity.

“Students interacting directly with professorsand other students in small groups remain abenchmark of quality in education,” wroteFeldman and Archibald in Forbes magazine. “Askany family if they want their son or daughter tolearn in small group seminars taught by tenuredprofessors, or if they prefer giant impersonal lec-tures or online chat rooms monitored by adjunctteachers who answer lots of e-mail questions.”

The authors say that there has been no“magic bullet” that increases class size withouthurting quality.

Another factor contributing to cost ischanges in technology. This requires that institu-tions have up-to-date equipment and software inlabs and other facilities because, as Feldman andArchibald point out, colleges must offer an edu-cation that gives students the tools they need tosucceed in the modern economy.

“The contemporary chemistry student, forinstance, needs to be familiar with current laborato-ry tools, and they are more expensive than thechalk-and-test-tube world of the past,” they said.“As in modern medicine, there is a standard of carethat higher education must meet, and that standardis set in the labor market that hires our graduates.”

No one suggests that there any easy fixes onthe horizon, which has led many to questionwhether college is worth the investment.

The College PayoffThe steep rise in college costs and the con-

cern about increasing student loan debt havesparked a debate about the benefits of college,especially in the current climate of pushing morestudents to attend college. For many decades, theprevailing wisdom has been that a college educa-tion leads to a better job – and a better life – foreveryone. But some are challenging the wisdomof encouraging ill-prepared or unmotivated stu-dents to enroll in college, especially when statis-tics show they are unlikely to earn a degree.

Several recent studies have looked at theworth of college, addressing the issue and exam-ining the benefits by race, gender and occupation.

A 2011 study, The College Payoff: Education,Occupations and Lifetime Earnings, from theGeorgetown University Center on Education andthe Workforce, confirms that the value of a college

degree persists. The report says a college degree isthe key to economic opportunity because it hasbecome the new gateway to the middle class andconfers substantially higher earnings on those withcredentials than those without. Today, bachelor’sdegree holders can expect median lifetime earn-ings approaching $2.3 million. By comparison,workers with just a high school diploma averageroughly $1.3 million, which translates into a littlemore than $15 per hour.

“On average, people with more educationand higher attainment make more than peoplewith less education,” said Anthony P. Carnevale,the center’s director and co-author of the report.“But major and occupation matter just as muchas degree level. For example, 28 percent of peo-ple with an associate degree make at least as

much as the average bachelor’s degree holder –mostly due to occupational choice.”

Carnevale is aware of the backlash against goingto college as a universal standard and acknowl-edges that many are questioning the need for a cost-ly postsecondary education. In Op-Ed pieces, he hascriticized the rash of media articles that reinforcedoubts about the value of college by describinggraduates who wait tables and mop floors.

But he continues to press the case, sayingcollege graduates are still more likely to beemployed than their high school-educated coun-terparts, even during a recession. His researchshows that college still pays off even in occupa-tions where a degree is not essential.

“The idea of getting a high school diploma andworking your way up from the mailroom to thecorner office is a relic of an earlier time,” saidCarnevale. “A college degree provides greatercareer mobility opportunities, greater lifetimeearning power and a more promising future.”

Further support for the value of college waspresented by two other organizations. In its

Education Pays 2010 report, the College Boardpresents evidence of both individual and societalbenefits for higher education and takes a closerlook at the payoff for various groups.

For Hispanics, the report states the followingfindings:• Among Hispanic adults, the unemploymentrate decreases markedly as the level of educa-tional attainment increases; in 2009, Hispanicswith a high school degree had an unemploymentrate of 10.4 percent compared to a 5 percentrate for Hispanics with a bachelor’s degree• The college earnings premium for White andHispanic males was about 50 percent, meaningthat earnings for men between the ages of 25and 34 with a four-year college degree workingfull-time, year-round in 2008 were about 50 per-

cent higher than median earnings for men with ahigh school diploma; the college earnings pre-mium for Black males was smaller, about 42percent, or $12,500, per year• The college earnings premium was higherfor Hispanic women than for other women, withbachelor’s degree recipients working full timeyear-round, earning 74 percent ($17,500 peryear) more than high school graduates• The earnings differential between high schoolgraduates and those with some college but nodegree ranged from 7 percent ($1,800) for Whitewomen to 29 percent ($6,700) for Hispanic women

The bottom line is that higher education paysdividends. According to the Hamilton Project, aresearch and economic policy initiative of theBrookings Institution, higher education is a bet-ter investment than almost any other alternative,especially in today’s tough labor market. Theproject’s market analysis shows on average, thebenefits of a four-year college degree over thecourse of a lifetime are equivalent to an invest-ment that returns 15.2 percent per year.

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Education Level Not a High School High School Some College, Associate Bachelor's Advanced Graduate Graduate No Degree Degree Degree Degree

Asian Female $52,100 $67,200 Asian Male $31,900 $39,500 $60,300 $71,400

Black Female $24,500 $28,600 $29,100 $41,000 $51,400 Black Male $30,000 $34,400 $40,100 $42,500 $61,500

Hispanic Female $16,500 $23,500 $30,200 $30,100 $41,000 $51,800 Hispanic Male $22,200 $29,700 $34,900 $36,900 $45,000

White Female $16,500 $26,500 $28,300 $35,500 $41,500 $51,000 White Male $28,700 $36,300 $39,900 $42,400 $54,200 $66,200

Source, College Board, 2011.

Median Earnings of Full-Time Year-Round Workers Ages 25-34, by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Education Level 2008

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02/13/2012 Honors College Completes with the Ivies.

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