07/11/2011 Preparing the next Generation Entrepreneurs

JULY 11, 2011

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VOLUME 21 • NUMBER 19

Also available in Digital Format

School Violence

Education Crisis

AACTE Conference

Assistant Professor – Environment, Science and/or Health Communication Department of Communication – Cornell University – Ithaca, NY College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Teaching (50%) Research (50%) Tenure Track - 9 month appointment • Appointment to begin July 1, 2012 The Department of Communication seeks to fill a tenure track faculty position at the Assistant Professor level. We seek a colleague to conduct research and teach in the areas of environment, science, and/or health communication. Scholars with specific expertise in analysis of public opinion, public policy or media related to these social issues are particularly encouraged to apply. We welcome innovative and imaginative scholars who approach the study of individual and societal decisions on the environment or human health from psychological, sociological, or institutional vantage points using qualitative and/or quantitative methods. The environment, science, and health area constitutes one of the Department’s core strengths.

Applicants whose work also contributes to other core strengths in communication and media studies, information technology, and/or social influence are encouraged to apply. Our position in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell’s commitment to interdisciplinary work would provide the successful applicant with unique opportunities to undertake projects with faculty in Cornell’s David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future and/or Weill Cornell Medical College.

Our faculty focus on a number of subfields including social psychology of communication; language and communication; science, risk, environment, and health communication; human-computer interaction; social media and mobile computing; media and society; group communication; social networks; and organizational communication. The position involves 50% research and 50% teaching responsibilities. Communication faculty teach two to three undergraduate and/or graduate courses per academic year and advise students in the Department’s B.S. and Ph.D. programs. Publishing in peer-reviewed literature in relevant fields is expected, as is securing external research funding.

The Department is a national leader in the study of communication as a social science. Our faculty and students are dedicated to understanding the role and enhancing the effectiveness of communication processes, systems and infrastructure in society.

We explore communication in its many forms and contexts as a fundamentally social phenomenon. Our faculty members are recognized for developing and applying novel theoretical perspectives to the most pressing social and policy issues of the day.

The department ranked among the top ten in the nation in a recent poll by the National Research Council. This ranking reflects the productivity and quality of the faculty and the diversity and success of our students.

Required Qualifications: A successful candidate will have a completed Ph.D. in Communication or a closely aligned field and will have (or show promise of developing) a national and international reputation doing theory-based empirical research. We seek innovative scholars of social science who will develop a research program connected to college and university priorities in applied social science, information science, life sciences, environmental or health issues, and/or public outreach.

Salary & Benefits: Cornell offers a highly competitive salary and benefits package. Support for start-up research costs will be available.

Application: Qualified applicants should send a letter of application addressing position qualifications and goals, vita, official graduate program transcripts, a writing sample, a teaching statement, and names and contact information of three references to communication@cornell.edu or by mail to Dr. Jeff Niederdeppe, Department of Communication, 328 Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Please also have each reference submit a letter of recommendation. For additional information, email communication@cornell.edu or call Dr. Niederdeppe at 607.255.9706.

Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply.

Applications will be reviewed beginning October 1st, 2011 until a candidate is selected. For more information about the Department of Communication, please visit our website: http://communication.cals.cornell.edu.

Cornell University seeks to meet the needs of dual career couples, has a Dual Career program, and is a member of the Upstate New York Higher Education Recruitment Consortium to assist with dual career searches. Visit http://www.unyherc.org to see positions available in higher education in the upstate New York area.

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Developing Leaders. Improving Lives. Shaping the Future.

Cornell University is an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer and educator.

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® Editorial Board Ricardo Fernández, President

Publisher – José López-Isa

Lehman College

Vice President & Chief

Mildred García, President

Operating Officer – Orlando López-Isa

California State University-Domínguez Hills Editor – Adalyn Hixson

Juán González,VP Student Affairs

Executive & Managing Editor –

University of Texas at Austin

Suzanne López-Isa Carlos Hernández, President

News Desk & Copy Editor – Jason Paneque

New Jersey City University

Special Project Editor – Mary Ann Cooper

Lydia Ledesma-Reese, Educ. Consultant Administrative Assistant & Subscription

Ventura County Community College District

Coordinator – Barbara Churchill

Gustavo A. Mellander, Dean Emeritus George Mason University

DC Congressional Correspondent –

Loui Olivas,Assistant VP Academic Affairs

Peggy Sands Orchowski

Arizona State University Contributing Editors –

Eduardo Padrón, President

Carlos D. Conde

Miami Dade College

Michelle Adam

Antonio Pérez, President

Online Contributing Writers –

Borough of Manhattan Community College

Gustavo A. Mellander

María Vallejo, Provost Palm Beach State College

Art & Production Director – Avedis Derbalian

Editorial Policy

Graphic Designer – Joanne Aluotto

The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® is a national magazine published 25 times a year. Dedicated to exploring issues related to Hispanics in higher education,The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® is published for the members of the higher education community. Editorial decisions are based on the editors’ judgment of the quality of the writing, the timeliness of the article, and the potential interest to the readers of The Hispanic Outlook Magazine®.

From time to time,The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® will publish articles dealing with controversial issues.The views expressed herein are those of the authors and/or those interviewed and might not reflect the official policy of the magazine.The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® neither agrees nor disagrees with those ideas expressed, and no endorsement of those views should be inferred unless specifically identified as officially endorsed by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine®.

Sr.Advertising Sales Associate – Angel M. Rodríguez Advertising Sales Associate – Cyndy Mitchell

Article Contributors Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Braulio Colón, Frank Dimaria, Marilyn Gilroy, Taryn Ozuna, Miquela Rivera, Jeff Simmons, Gary M. Stern

Advertising Sales TEL (201) 587-8800 ext. 102/106 FAX (201) 587-9105 email: Outlook@sprintmail.com The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® is a member of

Editorial Office 80 Route 4 East, Suite 203, Paramus, N.J. 07652 TEL (201) 587-8800 or (800) 549-8280 FAX (201) 587-9105

and a sponsor of

“‘The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education’ and ‘Hispanic Outlook’ are registered trademarks of The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Publishing Company, Inc.”

Want a Subscription?

Visit: www.HispanicOutlook.com or call toll free 1 (800) 549-8280 ext. 108

Article Reprints: Available through “The Reprint Dept.” Tel: 800-259-0470

Letters to the Editor The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine ®

Postmaster: Please send all changes of address to: The Hispanic Outlook, P.O. Box 68, Paramus, N.J. 07652

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Esquina E ditorial

J

ames Sunshine writes in “The Huffington Post” that “low income Americans will need to work regularly into their eighties.” The study he’s citing, by EBRI, the nonpartisan, nonlobbying Employee Benefit Research Institute, is talking about folks who earn below $11,700 a year – and claims they’ll have to work longer so they don’t run out of money during retirement. Given that many low-income and even middle-income fields such as the trades, nursing and catering are notoriously hard on the body, extending retirement within the same field sounds like mission impossible.

Then again, the life expectancy for men in the U.S.A. is only 78.37 years; and for women, 80.93 – so a lot of workers will have breathed their last without having to face an underfunded retirement. Oh happy day.

With the many moves to reduce benefits of public workers – making them more consistent with the vanishing benefits of private employers – and the joblessness of our current economic scene, it seems possible that none but the very wealthy would have sufficient capital no matter what the retirement age.

But not all the news is bad. Another 2011 report by EBRI notes that during the recession period of 2008 to 2009, employer-provided health care coverage declined for high school dropouts and high school grads, but showed no significant decline for workers with an undergraduate or graduate degree.

As for regulations to curb the excesses of some of the for-profit colleges and universities, “Huffpost” reporter Chris Kirkham writes that the White House caved in to pressure, that the for-profit industry’s “lobbying was so well-financed and well-coordinated that it altered the view of what was possible inside the Obama administration.” It’s opting now for “incremental progress” to avoid “congressional intervention aimed at protecting the industry.” ¡Adelante!

Suzanne López-Isa Managing Editor

DEAN OF THE LIBRARY Middle Tennessee State University is seeking a creative and dynamic individual to lead the university library and invites applications and nominations for the position of Dean. Located 35 miles south of Nashville in historic Murfreesboro, Tennessee, one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the state, MTSU currently enrolls more than 26,400 students.

The James E. Walker Library, located in the academic center of the campus, serves a large comprehensive university with a broad array of baccalaureate, masters, and Ph.D. programs.

The award-winning library lies at the heart of the MTSU educational experience. More information about the library is available at http://library.mtsu.edu.

The Dean provides leadership that promotes excellence among the library’s faculty and staff, enhances the quality of library programs and services, evidences a strong commitment of service to constituencies, and advocates for the library on campus, locally, regionally and nationally. The Dean reports to the University Provost, serves on the Deans’ Cabinet, and is expected to contribute to strategic planning for the library and the university.

Appointment date is open to availability of successful candidate. Salary is negotiable and competitive with generous employee benefits.

Filing procedures: Interested applicants should go to https://mtsujobs.mtsu.edu and follow the instructions on how to complete an application, attach documents, and submit your application online. Nominations should be mailed to Middle Tennessee State University, ATTN: Dr. Brad Bartel, University Provost, 111 Cope Administration Building, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.

Filing deadline: Review of applications will begin August 22, 2011, and will continue until the position is filled.

If you have questions, please contact MTSU Academic Affairs.

MTSU is an AA/EOE.

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JULY 23–26 WASHINGTON,, DC

Po lit i cal Beat

Peru’s Renaissance ... aka Ollanta Humala

by Carlos D. Conde

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IMA, Peru – As in many Latin American countries, Peru’s long history has been about the struggles between the underclass and the bourgeoisie, or “los de la high,” recounted in that classic saying about the Spanish conquistadors who came, fell on their knees and then on the natives.

It’s been a long time coming, but the long neglected and disenfranchised indigenous class may start to share in some of the current Peruvian economic renaissance or at least work toward it by having elected Ollanta Humala, a populist ex-military officer, as the country’s next president.

Humala defeated Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, whose economic policies and police tactics rescued Peru from an abyssal collapse and who is currently languishing in jail for corruption and other political crimes.

Papa Fujimori’s supporters and even some of his detractors akin his fate to the usual style of Latino politics, suggesting an assessment of a U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, in our great depression, “saved the country and the people never forgave him for it.”

Humala’s background and nationalistic politics are as exotic as his name, and at first sight, with his high cheek bones and caramel complexion, he looks certifiably “cholo,” or of the mestizo class.

His early career was in the military, and he once tried unsuccessfully to overthrow a sitting president.

His brother Antauro is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for kidnapping 17 police officers. His father is a radical liberal lawyer with strong ethnocentric beliefs. His mother thinks all homosexuals should be shot.

But if there is one thing Humala has, it is political charisma and chutzpah and an undeniable talent for rallying the masses against the country’s bourgeois, who shudder at the thought that Humala’s policies are going to shatter Peru’s newly found prosperity and downgrade their current good-times lifestyle.

Peru is doing very well now economically after many meager, turbulent years of military dictatorships, inept caudillo leaders and a society kept in harness and destitution by political and socioeconomic policies slanted toward the elite classes.

Is Humala up to the task? Who knows, since he has never held a leadership position beyond his mediocre military career. Humala wants to forge a society with a more equitable, egalitarian government.

Humala was pardoned for his insurrection and was sent abroad as a military attaché, and also fought against the rebel army, the Sendero Luminoso, which Papa Fujimori quelled.

He resigned from the army to concentrate on politics – ultimately, the presidency. Alan García, another checkered, twice-elected and now outgoing president, beat him in 2006 and continued Papa Fujimori’s prosperity-fueled policies.

In this race, Humala made Papa Fujimori’s corruption the overarching issue, much to the dismay of Keiko’s campaign and Peru’s business community, which countered that Humala’s policies are a threat to the country’s fledgling prosperity.

His winning margin was narrow – 51.5 percent against 48.5 percent for Fujimori – and he won overwhelmingly in Peru’s provinces in the antiplano and rural communities where most of Peru’s poor live.

Fujimori won in Lima, where most of the industry and business exists, and the next day the Lima stock market plunged 12 points and was closed for several hours while the panic subsided.

Business and industry leaders still think Humala is a flaming socioeconomic wrecking ball who threatens Peru’s spectacular growth and comes with a Robin Hood attitude of taking from the rich to give to the poor, which is 31 percent of the population, 9.8 percent being extremely poor.

Humala says he only wants to spread the wealth that Peru is generating, which is the envy of other Latino states trying to figure out if it’s good timing, good resources, good leadership or maybe just God’s good graces.

I was in Lima during the elections.

I visit frequently because my daughter and grandchildren live there. I can vouch for Peru’s growing prosperity compared to a decade or more ago.

I did my graduate work in political science in Lima when Peru was a tumultuous nation under military dictatorship and where one of the country’s most prominent political leaders, Raúl Haya de la Torre, once spent five years exiled in the Colombian embassy in midtown Lima.

I later returned as an international executive with a diplomatic passport, and even though I had duty-free privileges, I still had to go around with the rest of the populace bartering bottles of imported wine for scarcities like limes, sugar and meat.

The change today is incredible, supported by its projected nearly 9 percent economic growth and gross domestic product of $167 billion, making it the 42nd-largest

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economy in the world.

Some parts of Lima look like a Latin Dubai, with exquisite restaurants, designer clothing shops, soaring condo complexes and SUVs and other expensive autos replacing the ancient vehicles once rattling around the city.

What cannot be denied – and Humala has it right – is that there is still extreme poverty in Peru, particularly the indigenous communities outside Lima, and that the wealth is not being equitably distributed.

“Los de la high,” the business community and the emerging middle class overwhelmingly rejected Humala, fearing a threat to this long-awaited prosperity. His promises to the underclass of jobs, equitable pay, health services and education opportunities are going to be his biggest challenge.

Meanwhile, Humala is the toast of the hemisphere where other radicals, like Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, are welcoming him to the club that specializes in political mayhem against the U.S. Hillary Clinton called, but Humala pleaded a bad connection, and little communication ensued.

Then there’s that political gadfly, Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, who once ran for president against Keiko’s father and befuddled some of his cholo supporters with his pretentious political phrases in French.

He said Peru had been spared a return to dictatorship, which was a cause for celebration, but few seemed to be listening even if it was Vargas Llosa.

Carlos D. Conde, award-winning journalist and commentator, former Washington and foreign news correspondent, was an aide in the Nixon White House and worked on the political campaigns of George Bush Sr. To reply to this column, contact Cdconde@aol.com.

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MAGAZINE® JULY 11, 2011

CONTENTS University of Miami Program Enabling Entrepreneurship by Gary M. Stern

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Shedding Light on an Education Crisis

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by Jeff Simmons

School Violence: When the School House Is a Jail House by Frank Dimaria

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AACTE Conference Looks Toward the Future

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by Michelle Adam

Online Articles

Page 8

What Does It Take to Earn Tenure?

by Marilyn Gilroy

Institute for Recruitment of Teachers Celebrates 20 Years of Helping Minorities by Jamaal Abdul-Alim To view these and other select articles online, go to our website: www.HispanicOutlook.com.

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DEPARTMENTS Political Beat

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by Carlos D. Conde

Peru’s Renaissance ... aka Ollanta Humala

Scholars’ Corner

In the Trenches ...

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by Taryn Ozuna

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by Braulio Colón

To Lead the World, Accelerating Hispanic College Completion Is a Must

Uncensored

by Peggy Sands Orchowski

Interesting Reads and Media...

Book Review

by Mary Ann Cooper

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Working with Difficult People

H igh S ch oo l Fo ru m

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Traditional H.S. Diploma Still Preferred over GED for Hispanics by Mary Ann Cooper

FYI...FYI...FYI...

Hispanics on the Move

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Targeting Higher Education: Immigrants: A Boon to Economic Success?

by Gustavo A. Mellander (Online only)

Priming the Pump...

by Miquela Rivera

Handling Rejection Positively a Strength for Latino Students

Back Cover

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

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Page 18 Cover photo courtesy of University of Miami

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INNOVATIONS/PROGRAMS

University of Miami Program Enabling Entrepreneurship A

by Gary M. Stern fter launching a job-creation program in 2010, President Obama said, “We’re starting with small businesses because there’s where most of the new jobs will be.” Seizing on this trend, colleges are creating programs to spur entrepreneurship and appeal to an increasing number of minorities who are attracted to starting businesses. The Kauffman Foundation reported that 2,000 colleges and universities offered entrepreneurship courses in 2011 compared to 500 programs in the early 1990s.

Miami, said Launch Pad is co-curricular and voluntary and doesn’t offer credits or certificates. “Entrepreneurship is not a spectator sport and stresses experiential learning and forming real ventures,” he explained.

Launch Pad isn’t part of the business school and doesn’t include formal classroom learning. Instead it offers one-on-one meetings with advisors, networking sessions and workshops at the college and in different venues in Miami. If progress is made, entrepreneurs present a business plan to venture coaches, who are successful Miami businesspeople. About 5 percent of participants are M.B.A. students at the college.

Launch Pad has two main goals: to present entrepreneurship as a viable career option and to encourage students to start their venture in the South Florida region to strengthen the local economy. Prior to its launching, many students didn’t consider entrepreneurship as a career option or as a way to make a living. Indeed, Green says that 80 percent of its participants are not involved in the business school but hail from liberal arts, medical school and other disciplines.

The impetus for the program emerged in 2007 when Green met with deans of nine undergraduate schools, including arts and science, education and nursing, to discuss Pictured (l. to r.): Lucas Sommer (former program director, now alumnus), Susan their involvement with the Toppel Amat, executive director of the Launch Pad, and former student Severin Romanov.

Career Center. The deans said that many students in liberal arts were In 2008, the University of Miami created Launch Pad, a program that inclined to start businesses. Why not connect an entrepreneurial program promotes entrepreneurship through coaching and mentoring of current stu- with the career center, Green suggested. He enlisted Susan Amat, successful dents and alumni, outside of a traditional business program. Since its incep- entrepreneur, as executive director, and together they started Launch Pad. tion, students have started 45 companies that have created 100 new jobs.

Many Launch Pad students “have a dream of wanting to be an entrepreMinorities are attracted to entrepreneurship as a way of pursuing the neur to solve a problem or see an opportunity – and oftentimes we’re the American Dream. They comprise 20 percent of Launch Pad’s students and first people they share the concept with,” explained Amat.

30 percent of its venture coaches. Minorities also exert a major presence Companies started by Launch Pad participants include Audimated, an at the University of Miami since 29 percent of its 9,900 undergraduates are online site that enables fans to make money by marketing their favorite Hispanic and 8 percent are African-American. independent musical artists; Coral Morphologic, which raises and sells William Green, dean of undergraduate education at the University of corals to aquarium owners; and Sinha Astronautics, a satellite company.

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Other entrepreneurs have created a device that receives BlackBerry, iPad and Android messages, and Step Up – skate parks that serve as a community center and site of after-school programs.

Student entrepreneurs are tapping interests that are outside of the University of Miami curriculum. For example, Green notes that about 30 students are developing fashion-related companies, though the college offers no fashion program. “Without Launch Pad, where would they go?”

Green asks.

Why create Launch Pad rather than steer students to its business major and M.B.A. program? Curriculum-based entrepreneur programs grade students and could force them to conform to educational standards rather than explore groundbreaking ideas, Amat said. “Students change their vision because the teacher rating recommends it.” Launch Pad is more freeflowing and organic; students come in for a session with a staff expert, then revise their business plan and return in three months for consultations.

In addition, Launch Pad is scalable and can attract more students, Green said. “We serve many students who aren’t constrained by class schedules or degree requirements.”

Minorities Attracted to Entrepreneurship Minority students are particularly attracted to Launch Pad. “Entrepreneurs,” says Green, “have to perceive unmet needs. Often people from the outside can see what works and what doesn’t work.” Moreover, Miami’s large Latino population has had a strong history of starting successful small businesses. Many Latino students “saw their parents come to this country with nothing and start to grow their business,” Amat noted.

While many business programs set up strict criteria for acceptance, Launch Pad accepts every student who applies. Any University of Miami student or alum can enroll on the Launch Pad website and become involved in the program. All services are offered free of cost, and the University of Miami does not receive any compensation if the business succeeds.

Since its inception, 1,700 students have joined Launch Pad by writing their profile and accessing the website for entrepreneurship information.

Then students compile their Venture Assessment Form, which enables them to meet with one of Launch Pad’s five full-time employees and 12 partners, who are students with M.B.A.s and expertise in areas such as law, engineering or finance. The Launch Pad staffer serves as a project manager for the budding entrepreneur.

In its three years of operation, 725 students have completed venture assessment forms, and staff meets with about 300 students annually.

Launch Pad has about 400 active entrepreneurs involved in the program.

Entrepreneurs operate at several levels. Some are just beginning to investigate a concept while others have already hatched a business. Some students need to write a business plan, others must learn to target a market, and others are ready to find investors.

Amat says students are encouraged to start thinking about generating revenue at an early point. Successful businesses “are all about the money you bring in,” she said.

Most freshmen who join Launch Pad explore campus-based businesses. They want to develop on-campus nail salons, valet services and latenight food delivery services. Many technology-minded millennials pursue an array of apps for mobile devices.

Once entrepreneurs have a clear sustainable plan for developing the business, they are invited to collaborate with Venture coaches.

Entrepreneurs present a business plan to the 60 Launch Pad venture coaches, who can opt to work with them.

Green says Venture coaches offer practical advice and connect students to the local business community. “One of the most effective outgrowths of Launch Pad is creating networking opportunities. It’s an exercise in community building, and learning about which entrepreneurs to connect with,” Green said.

One Venture coach, Marco Scanu, a native of Venezuela, runs the Three Four Five Group in Miami, a restaurant consulting group. Scanu says Venture coaches function like a “sounding board, coach and mentors all combined.” Venture coaches guide student entrepreneurs but hold them accountable for their business plan decisions and execution.

Scanu says many budding entrepreneurs fail to target a customer. He encourages them to pinpoint the customers, determine their needs and ascertain how the business can meet those needs.

Scanu helps entrepreneurs execute their business plan. He says, “70 percent of businesses collapse because of failed implementation.”

Regardless of the company’s size, entrepreneurs can run it like a Fortune 500 company, he suggests.

Student entrepreneurs often undergo a shift in thinking about their careers. “Most are raised to find a job, but Launch Pad encourages them to focus on creating jobs,” Scanu said.

When Emily Gonzales, a 31-year-old 2002 alumnus of the University of Miami, was looking to start SpaSession, an Internet site to help people book spa and salon services, she joined Launch Pad in 2010. “In Miami, there aren’t that many options to help you start a business. It’s not like the Bay area,” she said.

After clarifying her business plan, Gonzales presented it to a variety of Launch Pad Venture coaches to see if they were interested in working with her. An Internet entrepreneur and business attorney expressed interest.

She’s been working with them one-on-one for a year now. The Internet entrepreneur has helped her with marketing and search engine optimization, and the attorney has helped her structure the business and negotiate an agreement with a website designer.

Gonzales calls this venture coaching invaluable. “It’s saved time. Rather than stumble and make 10 mistakes, they help me consider the pros and cons of making a decision,” she said.

Gonzales needs to find out how much spa and salon owners are willing to pay, and the next stage would be working with a website designer to launch a prototype. So far, she has self-funded the initial investment and needs to find out if the business is viable before seeking further capitalization.

If SpaSession gets off the ground, it could benefit the Miami economy.

There are 1,700 spas and salons, and most generate under $500,000 in revenue. “They have empty spots and don’t have money for mass marketing. If SpaSession helps bring them customers at the last minute for a manicure, small businesses will be assisted,” Gonzales said.

Another budding Launch Pad entrepreneur is Joel Salinas, a Cornell University graduate and fourth-year medical student majoring in neurology at the University of Miami’s Leonard Miller School of Medicine. He is developing NoteWrx (Note Works), which provides day-to-day medical solutions via mobile apps. After winning the $10,000 grand prize at the annual University of Miami Entrepreneurship competition, he joined Launch Pad and started working with venture coaches. The cash prize provided seed money for launching the business.

NoteWrx is out of the concept phase and moving into the next stage of design and development. Salinas isn’t quite ready to look for financing, though he’d be open to an angel investor helping to capitalize the start-up business.

The venture coaches helped Salinas “re-evaluate the fundamental value

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Dean College of Nursing and Health Innovation ASU is committed to building a model for an American research university that measures impact by the success of its students, a faculty committed to the public good with solution-focused research that expands interdisciplinary thinking, and a university that accepts major responsibility for the health, economic, and social development of its community.

Arizona State University is seeking a visionary leader that embraces these values and is committed to moving the College of Nursing and Health Innovation forward in dynamic and creative ways continuing to educate the next generations of nursing and healthcare professionals through baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degree programs as well as Continuing Education programs. It is similarly important that the College’s research profile be sustained and enhanced and commensurate with a national research institution. The dean will be expected to work collaboratively on innovative health-related initiatives with other deans and directors at ASU. Deans are responsible to the Executive Vice President and Provost of the University. The dean is responsible for budgeting, enrollment management, faculty development, fund raising, and the development and maintenance of successful partnerships, such as the ongoing relationship with the Mayo Clinic.

Required Qualifications: The successful candidate will possess an academic or professional record that merits appointment as a full professor with tenure. This must include a doctoral degree and at least one graduate degree in nursing. In addition, candidates must be eligible for licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the State of Arizona. There must also be a demonstrated commitment to excellence in research and quality undergraduate and graduate instruction.

Launch Pad front door

of the business and helped troubleshoot any potential challenges.” Coaches helped him price the business and made him aware of legal issues.

Launch Pad has been so successful that President Obama used it as an example when he launched Startup America in January 2011, a program funded by $2 million from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation to stimulate economic growth, entrepreneurship and job creation. That grant is funding two Launch Pads at Wayne State University and Walsh College in Detroit modeled on the University of Miami’s program. Amat says that Launch Pad has offered training, consulting and resource materials to the Detroit colleges.

What does it take to succeed as a Launch Pad entrepreneur? Amat says entrepreneurial success stems from a “clear vision, total passion and focus.” The biggest mistake she sees students making is giving up too quickly. Faced with some initial setbacks or rejections, too many students flee rather than persist. “If students have the background, they become the experts. Often it’s only a matter of time until they succeed,” she said.

Desired Qualifications: Demonstrated leadership, organizational and management experience; effectiveness in written communication; proficiency in budgeting and resource management; demonstrated understanding of the issues facing nursing education, research and practice; demonstrated ability to work in shared governance with faculty, staff and students and administrators; demonstrated ability to facilitate external funding; a commitment to team administration including an ability to support group objectives and to take university-wide perspectives on academic programs; and, a demonstrated ability to develop and enhance relationships with alumni and other external constituencies.

For more information about the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, applicants should review the web site at http://nursingandhealth.asu.edu/.

The position is a full-time, 12-month academic administrative appointment with a preferred starting date of July 1, 2012. The date is negotiable and the salary is competitive.

The committee will begin reviewing applications August 1 and will continue to do so in a weekly cycle until the position is filled or until the search is closed. Qualified applicants should forward electronic versions of their curriculum vitae (using Microsoft Word or .PDF files as attachments) and letter of application that highlights important qualifications and basis of interest in the position. Please include “Dean CONHI” in the subject line of the email and send to Peggy.reid@asu.edu.

Nominations and applications may also be addressed to: Maria T. Allison, Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Dean (maria.allison@asu.edu).

Chair, College of Nursing and Health Innovation Search Committee c/o Peggy Reid, Administrative Specialist Office of the Executive Vice Provost & Graduate College Dean Arizona State University P.O. Box 871003 Tempe, AZ 85287-1003

Diversity is a key component of excellence at ASU and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation supports the value of diversity among faculty, staff, and students.

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Shedding Light on an Education Crisis REPORTS

by Jeff Simmons

“We felt it would really help students, freshmen and transfers, by recruiting them, going out to the schools.”

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Michael Deas, Director

of the Urban Male Leadership Program oreal Torres is an example of progress. The 23-year-old from Manhattan’s Lower East Side recently graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and is getting her first post-collegiate taste of the work force.

For Torres, steering the course of this career track may prove daunting in this sputtering economy. But she sought to gain an edge, something to set her apart from many other applicants. That edge, she said, was ensuring she not only attended college, but graduated.

“It was always my dream. I was determined to go to college,” said Torres, who attended New York City’s Leadership and Public Service High School. “One of my teachers made it a dream that seemed possible.”

Yet, like legions of students before her, Torres faced challenges. A guidance counselor once told her to “aim low,” although she had grades that ranked her fourth in her class. She

also needed financial aid.

“I knew that if I wanted any of my dreams to come true – college was the way I had to go,” she said, adding that her mother’s encouragement was an additional driving force.

Torres is one of the fortunate ones. And her story belies the challenges and obstacles faced by students from myriad ethnic and racial groups. But when it comes to Hispanic students, their path to success is often a lonely one.

Two recent reports by the American Council on Education (ACE) highlight the trend of Hispanic students advancing to – and completing – higher education. But while there have been gains, they have paled in comparison with those of other groups. One of the reports stated that: “Young Hispanics and African-Americans have made no appreciable progress.”

The more recent report, Minorities in Higher Education 2010 – The 24th Status Report, positioned its findings in the context of President Barack Obama’s call for the goal of having the country lead the world, by 2020, in its proportion of college graduates.

The report’s authors noted that the United States no longer is gaining ground in the educational attainment of its population from one generation to the next, and that its postsecondary attainment rates are flat-lining.

Overall, that report found that each generation of younger women in the United States is reaching higher levels but the attainment of younger men has dropped, and strides by women are mostly being driven by AsianAmerican and White women. Further, younger generations of Hispanic women have shown some increases, but the youngest group (from ages 25 to 34) has come to a standstill.

ACE reported that among all racial and ethnic groups, Hispanics continued to exhibit the lowest educational attainment levels, even though they represent the fastest-growing population in the country. And the gap between men and women is widening.

Earlier last year, ACE released another analysis that highlighted the higher education gender gap, reporting that the gap apparently plateaued for most groups, but widened between Hispanic men and women.

That report, Gender Equity in Higher 0 7 / 1 1 / 2 0 1 1

“We are pleased that we are a college of choice for many Latino male and female students.”

José Magdaleno, Lehman’s Vice President of Student Affairs Education: 2010, was a follow-up to two earlier studies in 2000 and 2006. It found that generally, for the first time, the size of the overall gender gap in higher education had stabilized. The only group in which the size of the female majority did not yet appear to have stabilized was Hispanics: The percentage of male Hispanic undergraduates 24 years old or younger dropped from 45 percent in 1999-2000 to 42 percent in 2007-08.

Additionally, young Hispanic men had the lowest degree attainment level – 10 percent – of any group, while Hispanic women increased their degree attainment rate, continuing to outpace their male peers since the late 1980s.

The study’s author factors immigration into the lower educational performance among Hispanics, pointing to dramatic differences in educational attainment rates between those Hispanics who were born outside of the United States with those born in the United States.

For instance, only 51 percent of young

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“Latino males have a very unique challenge in terms of attending college, let alone graduating.”

Luis Ponjuan, Assistant Professor, College of Education, University of Florida Hispanic adults born outside of the country completed high school. But 81 percent of those born in the United States did so.

Male immigrants, who represented one out of every three Hispanic young adults during the study period (using figures available prior to the most recent Census results), were particularly disadvantaged. Less than half of these young Hispanic men completed high school, and only 6 percent earned a degree.

Hispanic women, meanwhile, made significant strides. Of those born in the United States, 18 percent attained a degree, a rate on par with African-American women.

ACE further examined these disparities in its subsequent Minorities in Higher Education report later in 2010, devoting a special section specifically to analyzing the characteristics of the Hispanic population, particularly immigrants, to spotlight the challenges for improving educational attainment.

Some of the barriers faced by Hispanic immigrants included placement in low-wage and lowskilled jobs, legal status, English fluency, economic needs, immigration while older, and the lack of a high school degree and interrupted schooling before immigrating to the United States.

Mikyung Ryu, associate director of the Center for Policy Analysis at ACE, noted that the gender gap has been in existence for three to four decades, but is garnering greater attention and scrutiny now as

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educators, government leaders and organizations look to address President Obama’s goal to raise the country’s educational attainment level by 2020.

“The main impetus for creating this special essay was to take a closer look at this huge chunk of the U.S. population as a way to raise awareness of what needs to happen,” Ryu said.

“Racial and ethnic gaps and gender gaps are so closely intertwined.”

Ryu said that women have been gaining more access to education, particularly postsecondary education, and completing degrees at higher levels, not just in America but worldwide. And, she noted, often the challenge has become to ensure that their posteducation work force salaries do not remain significantly lower than those of their male counterparts.

Hispanics, she said, are one of the groups that continue to struggle the most, and largely because of immigration. Fifty percent of Hispanic adults were immigrants, but less than 10 percent of school-age Hispanics were immigrants. “Without addressing the unique educational needs among immigrant Hispanics, we will not be able to get where we want to be. Addressing the immigrant population is the first key,” she said.

The country’s lingering economic woes further fuel the divide, prompting more lower-educated, low-skilled workers to potentially leave, or struggle to make ends meet rather than seek schooling as a path to success. “If the economy gets worse and worse, then these people will leave the country and move somewhere else,” she said.

“Without educating this population, we won’t be able to reach the world’s best rate of attainment.”

This quandary has everyone from experts and educators to community leaders asking: What does all this mean? What can be done? Is simply highlighting the trend enough to advance a concerted, specific effort to assist Hispanics?

“We need to continue to raise this to a higher level,” said Luis Ponjuan, an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Florida who, with Víctor Sáenz, assistant professor, University of Texas-Austin, has been analyzing the trends. “Latino males are the fastest-growing group in America, and this is an issue that clearly is deserving of attention. The reality is: we can never have enough press on this issue.”

One outgrowth of that attention: more focused programs at college campuses hoping to attract, retain and graduate Hispanic males. At the University of Texas-Austin, Project MALES aims not only to provide consistent research but to offer mentors, resources and pathways to young, male Hispanic students.

A similar effort is underway at Lehman College in New York City. The Urban Male Leadership Program is designed to increase the numbers of Hispanic and African-American males in college, 0 7 / 1 1 / 2 0 1 1

and concentrates heavily on facilitating the successful transition of first-year and transfer students to the college, located in the Bronx.

“The gender gap is alive and well at Lehman,” said José Magdaleno, Lehman’s vice president of student affairs, noting that more than 70 percent of its students are female and, within that group, Hispanic females predominate. In the current academic year, there were 1,492 undergraduate Hispanic males at Lehman and 3,571 undergraduate Hispanic females.

“We are pleased that we are a college of choice for many Latino male and female students,” Magdaleno said, but added, “When considered in perspective, overall, in our nation and in our region, there are not enough African-American or Latino students in general who are making it through the pipeline and graduating successfully from high school and going on to college. The college-going rate for African-Americans and Latinos is not what it needs to be nationally.”

Michael Deas, director of the Urban Male Leadership Program, founded in 2007, said the program provides “a circle of support” to students through mentoring, assistance in strengthening academic skills, and character enrichment.

“We felt it would really help students, freshmen and transfers, by recruiting them, going out to the schools,” he said. “We reach out to the

“I don’t think I’m ready to use the word ‘plateaued’ or make it seem like the problem is getting better.”

Ron Williams, Vice President at the College Board

Hispanics are one of the groups that continue to struggle the most, and largely because of immigration.

Mikyung Ryu, Associate Director, Center for Policy Analysis, ACE students by going to middle schools, high schools, and giving them a full knowledge as to the transition from high school to college.”

Faculty members surround the students with a strong support network, navigating them through academic challenges and often-personal ones.

“We are committed to creating more than just leaders. We seek to change lives,” Deas said.

The program, in fact, does not turn students away because of gender.

Since the program’s inception, 1,553 students have been part of Urban Males. Of that group, 831 have been male; and 722, female. Hispanics comprise less than half of those involved, with 454 males and 302 females, a 60-40 percent split.

“We are a state institution, and while the primary focus is on assisting Latino males and AfricanAmerican males, we do not exclude women from participating in any aspect of our program,” Magdaleno said. “We welcome them. We are talking about creating anchors and connections for all of our students with our faculty and staff.”

Ponjuan’s research points to similar avenues being paved by institutions across the country to remedy the problem, particularly in the wake of a growing spotlight on the Hispanic gender disparities.

Programs, though, aren’t limited to higher education. In his report with Sáenz, The Vanishing Latino Male in Higher Education, Ponjuan applauds the “promising” Boys Project outreach program, which provides a wealth of information with regard to young boys in the edu-

cational system. The Puente Project, co-sponsored by the University of California and California Community Colleges, specifically addresses the transition of Hispanic males to higher education; in part, it returns Hispanic graduates to communities to serve as leaders and mentors.

In Austin, Texas, the XY-Zone outreach program seeks out students in high schools to guide them to college and helps them navigate personal relationships and academic ones.

Ponjuan notes that often postsecondary educational programs – run by student organizations, institutions or broader, statewide entities – often focus on recruitment and retention, while other, federally funded ones, such as Upward Bound, Talent Search and Student Support Services, continue to provide essential tools for underrepresented students.

“For a lot of these students, they are a small minority in large institutions, and they feel helpless,” Ponjuan said. “It’s not an easy process.

Latino males have a very unique challenge in terms of attending college, let alone graduating.”

Despite the ACE description of gender gap levels, Ron Williams, vice president at the College Board, cautioned against using the word “plateaued.” “I don’t think I’m ready to use the word ‘plateaued’ or make it seem like the problem is getting better,” he said. “It’s still a huge challenge.”

Further, he said, part of the problem of

Hispanic males continuing their schooling reverts back to the youngest grades, when statistics show they have higher rates of suspensions.

“One of the things we do not know a lot about is the potential conflict between boys of color – African-American and Hispanic – and White, female teachers, particularly in elementary schools, where you see large numbers of suspensions on the basis of behavior,” he said, questioning whether a “fundamental clash in styles” is a factor.

“Many of these students need much more than schools can traditionally provide,” he said.

“There is a tremendously powerful conflict with their responsibilities to their families and responsibilities to get themselves educated.

Often, that choice leads to them giving up on their education, which is a longer-term gain, for a short-term gain. It becomes a dynamic where many of them are leaving school.”

Torres said she was fortunate that in her circle of friends, her male Hispanic peers had a similar direction. In her case, she has sown the seeds for her siblings. One sister is attending Nyack College in New York, and the other is in high school, also hoping to follow in Torres’ footsteps.

“I knew that I wanted to do something no one else in my family ever did, and that was complete college,” Torres said. “But now I will be in good company.”

9-month Faculty, Open Rank Located at the John H. Daniel Campus, Keysville, VA Positions begin August 16, 2011 Southside Virginia Community College, a comprehensive community college, is seeking individuals to complement our quality facilities. The successful candidate must be committed to our mission to provide quality education to a diverse constituency. The following positions are available:

Welder or Welding Instructor, Position F0096 Developmental Math Instructor, Position F0095 Health Education Instructor, Position F0094 Responsibilities include: Teaching 15 credit hours (day, evening, and/or weekends) per semester at locations served by the college, including local area high schools, correctional facilities and off-campus centers, and maintaining 10 hours of scheduled office time per week. Serves on committees; advises students, participates in professional activities; mentors adjunct instructors, and program development and assessment. Responsible for student recruitment; internship supervision.

Visit our website at www.southside.edu/about/employment for additional information on qualifications for each position. Positions are full-time, 9-month, teaching faculty and include state and VCCS benefits.

Salary commensurate with experience, qualifications, state and VCCS guidelines. Satisfactory reference and background checks are a condition of employment. Positions dependent upon available funding.

Application process requires submission of a Commonwealth of Virginia application and resume electronically through the RMS website at http://jobs.virginia.gov/ Applicants must create an RMS user account to apply. Official transcripts will be required of successful candidate. Review of candidate materials will commence July 6, 2011 and position will remain open until filled. Auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

SVCC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Peter Hunt, Vice President of Finance and Administration, 109 Campus Drive, Alberta, VA 23921, 434-949-1005.

Women, minorities, and those with disabilities are encouraged to apply. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA and ADAAA), SVCC will provide, if requested, reasonable accommodation to applicants in need of access to the application, interviewing and selection processes.

SVCC is committed to Diversity, Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action.

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COMMENTARY

School Violence: When the School House Is a Jail House

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by Frank Dimaria

ometimes things are just not as they seem. Case in point: school violence. During the late 1990s, it was a common misperception that many of America’s high schools were unsafe, and it is easy to understand why the public would harbor this misperception.

In October of 1997, 16-year-old Luke Woodham of Mississippi stabbed his mother to death, then went to school and killed two students and wounded seven others with a rifle. Later that year, Michael Carneal, 14, killed three students and wounded five others with a handgun in his Kentucky high school. Then in March of 1998, Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, sat outside their school and killed four students and one teacher with firearms as they exited the building for a fire drill in Arkansas. Just months later, Kipland Kinkle, 15, shot and killed his parents and went to his high school and shot and killed two students and wounded 20 others in Oregon.

Then came Columbine. In April of 1999, in an upper-middle-class suburb just 12 miles outside of Denver, 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-yearold Dylan Klebold orchestrated an assault on their high school using semiautomatic firearms and homemade explosives. They killed 12 students, one teacher and themselves. The death toll at Columbine was the largest of any school shooting.

After Columbine, some Americans feared sending their children to school, and the press played on their fears. In reality, despite the spate of high-profile school shootings in the late 1990s, violence in American schools was actually waning throughout the 1990s. According to Annette Fuentes, author of Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jail House (Verso Books), after reaching its apex in 1993, youth crime began to plummet. From 1993 to 1998, juvenile homicide arrests dropped by 56 percent, reaching their lowest rate since the FBI began recording this statistic in 1964. Between 1992 and 1998, the rate of nonfatal violent crimes for students ages 12 to 18 dropped from 48 per 1,000 students to 43 per 1,000. During that time period, students were feeling safer in their schools, with 5 percent in 1999 saying they avoided one or more places in the school compared to 9 percent in 1995.

Fuentes calls the early 1990s a time of public hysteria about youth crime, hyped by pop criminologists like James Q. Wilson, who predicted a violent juvenile crime wave, and John DiIulio, who coined the term “superpredator,” a vicious young criminal, usually Black or Hispanic. Fuentes

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writes that “racial coding and stereotypes infused such theories and fed the public’s rampant fear of young minority males.”

Today nearly 6 percent of public schools of all levels employ random metal detector checks on students. In America’s middle schools, 10 percent have some type of metal detectors, as do 13 percent of high schools.

Security cameras are in 36 percent of all schools – nearly 64 percent of high schools, 42 percent of middle schools and 29 percent of elementary schools – according to Fuentes’ research.

When the trade magazine Security published its first ranking of the biggest and the best security programs in the U.S., it gave public schools a prominent place on the list. Dubbed the “Security 500,” the magazine’s list included 14 public school districts. Ranked 291, the Houston Independent School District was tops among schools and just one step above Intel, Fuentes writes.

Today’s preoccupation with school security has its roots in the Reagan administration but blossomed under President Clinton. It is ironic, says Fuentes, that Clinton, considered the liberal president, ushered in a time of harsh zero tolerance in the schools during the early ’90s with the Safe and

Gun Free School Act, legislative reaction to a rash of crime in urban America, mostly fueled by the crack epidemic and drug trafficking.

“Juveniles in the criminal justice system were increasingly being treated as adults. By the mid- to late 1990s, just about every state had changed its criminal justice code to allow prosecutors to try juveniles as adults for certain violent crimes. In schools, we see, similarly, the harsh attitude of the criminal justice system creeping into how schools were treating kids,” says Fuentes.

In Lockdown High, Fuentes discusses the school-to-prison pipeline, the trend of schools failing students and setting up the conditions that funnel them into the criminal justice system, but builds on that premise and explores how the system feeds its practices and policies into schools.

“I would say there is a school-to-prison pipeline, but there is also a prison-to-school pipeline,” says Fuentes. The use of security hardware (cameras, metal detectors and retina detectors) and the practice of treating students as suspects are strategies of the criminal justice system, and they have been flowing into the schools. “It’s like a two-way street, a twoway system that mixes the educational and criminal justice systems. The end result is that we have schools in which the learning environment has been degraded and undermined because we are teaching kids to fear and feel that they are suspects at any particular time,” says Fuentes. “Educators talk about the teachable moments. Unfortunately, public fear of kids, public hysteria around another Columbine, has prevented people from remembering that the mission of public schools is to educate and help kids who have lost their way to find their way,” she says.

Some corporations have spun the public’s fear of schoolchildren into profit while some individuals have used it to advance their personal agendas and line their pockets. Michael Dean, the technology director of Plumstead Township School District, a district of 1,700 students in rural New Jersey, is one of those individuals. By most accounts, Plumstead is a very frugal and a very safe district. In 2002, Dean sent a grant proposal to the National Institute of Justice for money to create a first-ever iris-recognition-cum-access-control-system for the district’s four schools. As Fuentes writes, Dean’s proposal seemed incongruous because “The biggest security breach in recent memory ... happened when a parent forgot to sign in at the office before delivering cupcakes to a child’s classroom.” But Dean had an ulterior motive. He was interested in using the grant to fund fiber optics between the four schools in the district.

“The upshot was that he had a partner, and they were looking to begin a for-profit business developing this security system, which was doing these iris scans. This was a township that had no crime, and there never had been an instance of people kidnapping children from a school. ... there was no violence, there was no crime. But they were perusing this for their own personal gain and profit and using the school as a way to get this R and D money,” says Fuentes.

The Plumstead story is not unique. In Sutter, Calif., a security company keen on developing radio frequency identification tag technology “used the students (of Brittain Elementary School) as guinea pigs. Companies can do this because they convince people that the technology is necessary because schools are so dangerous and kids are either vulnerable or dangerous,” says Fuentes.

In both Plumstead and Sutter, parents were not buying into the new security systems. When offered the opportunity to opt out of the system and use an old-fashioned buzzer to gain access to the school rather than having their irises scanned, nearly 60 percent of Plumstead’s parents chose the buzzer. And in Sutter, the parents pressured the district to cease tracking students with radio frequency identification tags. The situation came to a boil, and the district pulled the security technology out of the schools.

Fuentes says that Americans have almost a schizophrenic attitude

towards youth. On the one hand, Americans see kids as vulnerable, needing protection from predators. But on the other hand, they are also afraid of them and have to protect themselves from kids, so they turn schools into fortresses, because kids are not trustworthy and can do anything.

Another misperception Fuentes clears up in the book is one in which urban schools are dangerous while rural and suburban schools are safe.

Without exception, the mass killings at America’s schools have taken place at suburban or rural schools and were perpetrated by White males. Yet the public perceives that a dangerous school is in the inner city and has a minority population.

“Despite the evidence, despite the numbers, it almost doesn’t matter what reality tells us. If people believe that kids are violent and schools are dangerous, their fears will trump reason and rationality. In the case of rural and suburban versus urban schools, I think a lot of it comes down to race. In people’s minds, urban schools are where Black and Latino kids go to school, and there is such persistent racism among many people in this country that the image of the superpredator, talked about in the 1990s, the urban thug, persists today. People believe that urban schools are where gangsters rule and therefore they are dangerous. All these euphemisms are code for Black and Latino kids,” says Fuentes.

Fuentes is not naïve and realizes that there has been, and still is, gun violence in urban schools. But she points out that all the mass shootings have taken place in suburban and rural schools, and that fact alone shatters the idea that Black and Latino high school students are thugs.

The profile of a school shooter is that of a disaffected young, White male. Shootings in urban schools are often tied to gang and drug activity.

“As horrible as they are, there is at least some kind of logic (to these shootings). The Columbine shooting is a completely different animal, and of course that is the one that people become very fearful of. It is expected that there is going to be crime in urban schools. People living in Denver, Colo., don’t expect it,” says Fuentes.

While researching her book, Fuentes visited Columbine High School and found the experience “fascinating.” When she arrived, there was no security officer at the door, no metal detector to walk through, just an unlocked door. She walked right it. Frank DiAngelis, the current principal at Columbine High and the school’s principal at the time of the shootings, told her that after the shooting parents were unwilling to turn the school into a fortress. The school added a few more security cameras (it had security cameras on the day of the shootings) and hired a few retirees to serve as hall monitors. “They’re unarmed, kind of friendly older guys who know the students. ... They patrol the hallways and the perimeter of the school. Very little has changed at Columbine High School itself. They did not want to turn to security hardware as a solution to their problem,” says Fuentes.

Fuentes would like to see other schools follow Columbine’s lead.

Rather than investing in security hardware, Fuentes suggests that school districts invest in their students. In her book, she discusses the Dignity in Schools Campaign, a national initiative that employs lawyers and civil rights activists who urge school districts to abolish their intolerance policies, policies that are mandated by the Safe and Gun Free School Act. Rather than zero tolerance, the campaign looks to restore students’ dignity through positive behavioral supports, a paradigm that refuses to treat kids as suspects or criminals. “Instead of pouncing on kids constantly when they do things wrong, teachers, administrators and staff have to emphasize,” says Fuentes, “when they do things well.”

One school that has invested in its students rather than security equipment, with positive results, is the Urban Academy, an alternative school started

by Herb Mack and Ann Cook in New York City. When Mack and Cook moved

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into the school building that now houses the Urban Academy, they removed the metal detectors and other security hardware. “They have a system of treating the students respectfully, and they employ a resource officer who treats them with respect. They have created a completely different environment,” says Fuentes. Students of the Urban Academy, says Fuentes, enjoy being in school, are appreciated and have opportunities to learn and grow. When they make mistakes, administrators deal with them in a positive manner.

Fuentes also features the Resolving Conflicts Creatively program, run by a nonprofit called Morningside Center for Social Responsibility. This program comprises educators who teach students how to resolve conflicts through peer mediation, through a series of trainings. “It’s an amazing program to watch if you’ve ever seen kids, even little kids, do it at the elementary level. It’s phenomenal; it actually works. I’ve seen schools where they

do this, and the kids found incredibly sophisticated solutions. Kids are really smart, and they’re willing to learn anything. We just need to teach them the behaviors that make them into the kind of citizens we want. When we treat them like criminals, that’s how they are going to behave. But when we treat them as young people who can learn and can be good citizens, that is who they will be,” says Fuentes.

During her research, Fuentes spoke with an expert from the U.S. Department of Justice working in a unit that researches and develops security hardware. He told her that schools and prisons are very similar; they both have a captive audience. In one sentence, says Fuentes, this expert summed up her theory. But in one sentence, Fuentes summed up her book: “People think technology is a fix for things that really just need more human involvement.”

Scholars’ Corner Walking off the airplane in Orange County, Calif., I was eager to begin the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) Graduate Student Fellows Program. My advisor (Dr. Víctor B. Sáenz), mentors (Dr. Erica Yamamura and Dr. Margarita Arrellano) and peers (Dr. Erik Malmberg, Tracy Arambula-Turner and Juanita García) had attested to the quality of the program and strongly encouraged my application and participation. When I was notified of my acceptance, I was not confronted with questioning or uncertainty; serving as an AAHHE graduate student fellow was a “must do” for my academic and professional career.

After checking into the hotel and meeting my roommate, the graduate students and faculty mentors met for an introductory dinner. Everyone shared their educational and personal backgrounds, and our time was quickly filled with laughter, support and solidarity in experiencing similar challenges. During this time, we also met our faculty mentor for the duration of the conference and beyond. My faculty fellow, Dr. Ivonne García, shared my affinity for Starbucks coffee and inspired me through her passion for teaching, her students and educational equality.

Before the conference began, the graduate and faculty fellows participated in a pre-conference.

The purpose of the pre-conference was to continue the conversation from our first night, provide insight into the dissertation process and share scholarly work conducted by graduate students and faculty members. The classroom community we were able to create was incredibly supportive, but still fostered feedback and critiques. It enriched my understanding of sound scholarship, initiated conversations for future partnerships and bolstered my desire to further research Latino college student experiences.

Life in the fellowship program was hectic as we shuttled equipment, set up rooms, met and introduced presenters and leaders from all over the country. We were always on the go, but we had each other to lean on. Unlike some conferences I have attended in the past, AAHHE offered a wide variety of presentation topics (e.g., best practices, leadership development, emerging research on Hispanic-Serving Institutions, supporting STEM, etc.). Furthermore, the audience was extremely diverse, representing different institutions, academic disciplines and employment sectors. AAHHE provides a distinctive opportunity for emerging scholars to share their interests with a broad spectrum of institutional and community leaders.

The opportunity to discuss research possibilities with other graduate fellows further distinguishes AAHHE. Some of the most memorable experiences I have as a fellowship alumna encompass the peer relationships we developed. We encouraged one another, shared our challenges and accomplishments and bonded through tejano, bachata and cumbias. To this date, we keep in touch through e-mail, text or Facebook and seek each other out for advice and guidance. We look forward to seeing each other at conferences and make time to acknowledge each other’s milestones and achievements.

Although I was initially unsure of what exactly I was walking into that afternoon in March, I can honestly say the AAHHE Graduate Student Fellows Program has significantly influenced my academic trajectory.

It offered an immediate support network and critical resources for graduate school success. And unlike other conferences, it also provided familia.

By Taryn Ozuna Higher Education Administration, University of Texas-Austin, 2010 AAHHE Graduate Fellow

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In the Trenches...

To Lead the World, Accelerating

Hispanic College Completion Is a Must

by Braulio Colón

T

oday in Florida, 37 percent of working adults hold a postsecondary degree or credential. Yet economists predict that by 2018, 59 percent of all jobs will require some form of postsecondary training. If Florida continues to increase its college-degree attainment at the rate it did over the last decade, the state will have a college-attainment rate of 46 percent in 2025 – far short of what its economy will require.

Most U.S. states are on a similar trajectory to fall short in this measure. However, this gap can be closed in Florida and elsewhere. The key is to begin increasing degree production, and continue to increase it each year until 2025.

Increasing degree production will require all sectors of the community to be engaged. A successful effort involves building public will to support policies at national, state and institutional levels that will lead to greater college-readiness, access and completion rates for all students. A successful effort also involves building the capacity of community-based organizations to deliver high-quality college access programming within communities surrounding our most struggling schools. A good-faith effort that engages municipalities, parents and the media by providing each with platforms to play a constructive role will also move us closer to achieving this goal.

The Florida College Access Network (FCAN, formerly ENLACE Florida) is engaged in all these efforts. It is building upon the foundation established by ENLACE Florida to sustain a strong and viable statewide college access network that engages all communities for higher education.

We are doing this by securing buy-in, collaboration and agreement on policy options and strategies that will help propel Florida’s talent pool and industries toward future employment and economic success.

We begin by looking at Florida’s fastest-growing future talent pool. The U.S. Census Bureau recently released detailed state population totals including demographic characteristics such as race and Hispanic origin. According to 2010 Census results, Florida experienced a 57.4 percent increase in its Hispanic population since 2000. Hispanics in Florida now represent 22.5 percent of the overall population and 28 percent of PreK-12 students.

Understanding the implications of such growth, FCAN, in partnership with Washingtonbased Excelencia in Education, is working with multiple institutions and leaders in Miami, Orlando and Tampa to develop strategies for improving college retention and completion rates among Hispanics. The status quo is simply unacceptable. For every 100 undergraduate students who enter a college classroom as freshmen in Florida, only 43 will graduate within six years. We must do better.

There are institutions in Florida showing success in retaining and graduating Hispanic students. A recent report by Excelencia in Education provided a few examples. Miami Dade College has instituted the Tools for Success program.

This five-year program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is designed to increase graduation rates of minority students who are interested in the high-demand fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Each cohort of students in Miami Dade’s Tools for Success program – 60 students per year, most of whom are Hispanic – receives academic and financial support to complete an associate degree in a STEM field within a two-year period.

The overall retention rate for Tools for Success thus far is 77 percent, compared to the average retention rate of 19 percent for all STEM majors.

The program boasts a two-year graduation rate of 75 percent compared to the average two-year graduation rate for STEM majors of 27 percent.

At Florida International University (FIU), the Academic Advising Office has more than doubled the number of its academic advisors over the last three years and has instituted a successful program to help students at risk of dropping out. FIU

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researchers found that among students who dropped out, 75 percent had never applied to enter a major. In contrast, once students were admitted to a major, 87 percent graduated. The program targets at-risk students who had more than 60 credits but were not yet admitted to a major. Students are required to meet with an advisor before registering for courses. In the program’s first semester, more than 2,800 at-risk students met with advisors and were guided toward appropriate majors.

These are just two examples of institutional efforts that have shown some promise in boosting completion rates among our fastest-growing population. Throughout Florida, the State University System and the Florida College System (formerly community college system) member institutions are all engaged in seeking out new strategies to increase the state’s overall college degree attainment rates. These include interactive online degree audit systems, course redesign efforts, innovative financial aid packaging, student mobile alerts, and simply encouraging students to take 15 credit hours per semester to reduce their overall costs and get into the work force faster. FCAN and the national community of state access networks are committed to partnering with all communities to promote collegepreparation, access and success efforts that work, especially for Hispanic students.

For the U.S. to regain the top ranking in the world for college degree attainment, Hispanics will need to earn more than three million additional degrees by 2025. Toward this end, I’m happy to report we are seeing positive momentum in Florida.

Braulio Colón, executive director, Florida College Access Network (formerly ENLACE Florida), earlier was a regional field director in Florida supporting its K-12 reform initiatives. He was also general manager, TampaHillsborough County Public Library System, helping launch an early literacy program and designing Netsmartz, a countywide Internet safety program for children. Colón earned two B.A.s and an M.A. from the University of South Florida.

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CONFERENCES/CONVENTIONS

For

by Michelle Adam

Conference Looks Toward the Future

more than six decades, members of the American Association and beyond are alienated, distracted, lost and disconnected from adults of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) have gathered to who should be guiding them.” ensure that colleges adequately prepare teachers for the world Noguera added that, “we have way, way too many children who are not of education. This past February, from the 23rd to the 26th, more than 2,000 being educated,” and that the “problem of American education is first and participants congregated at AACTE’s 63rd Annual Meeting in San Diego, foremost a problem of inequality.” He pointed toward the fact that many Calif., to focus on “Writing the Next Chapter” for colleges of education.

African-Americans, Hispanics and poor White kids are not performing well, Titled “Telling the Story: Writing the Next Chapter,” the conference drew and particularly because we are not addressing the poor conditions that are from its membership of 800 teacher education institutions and explored impacting learning, focusing instead on testing and on attacking and firing the best ways to educate the next generation of students. In doing so, mem- teachers. In addition, we have not adequately supported and respected bers looked at the latest developments in testing, technology, publishing, research and other areas that need to be incorporated into teacher education programs to adequately educate 21st-century students.

During dozens of sessions, attendees also discussed ways in which teacher candidates can be socially, technologically, professionally, ethically, culturally, linguistically and globally astute enough for the needs of the future.

“We were surprised by the good turnout during these times,” said Alicia Ardila-Rey, director of research and dissemination at AACTE. “With this economy, we thought we wouldn’t have the numbers. Several years ago, we had 2,500 when the economy was good, but this time we got 2,000 when we only expected 1,500.”

Beyond the 2,000 who attended the event in San Diego, many more were able to partake of the workshops through YouTube and a media website where the sessions were Alicia Ardila-Rey, Director of Research and Dissemination, AACTE, shaking hands recorded. “We had a positive response from members who were tweeting the sessions,” said Ardila-Rey. teachers, the teaching profession and schools of teacher education.

The conference keynote speaker, Dr. Pedro Noguera, spoke about “We stopped fighting the war on poverty, and schools have become all issues close to his heart: education reform, diversity and the achievement that remains of the social safety net for our poor kids,” he said. “Why is gap. As educator, activist, author and professor in the Steinhardt School of the Department of Education not doing its part?”

Education, he spoke about the influences of urban social and economic While Noguera addressed inadequacies in the world of education and conditions on schools and student education, and how we as a nation are failed policies, conference forums and sessions looked at program particulars falling short in educating our children. within teacher education. Topics included measuring teacher effectiveness, “We have a major problem in our hands, and we are implicated in it,” trends and tools for teacher digital age learners, clinical preparation, the he said at the onset of his address. “I don’t think our policymakers get it. ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) reauthorization, preparing We need to prepare teachers with the task of educating all of our students. and retaining diverse teachers and teachers for diverse students, how children Yet we are a nation becoming afraid of our children. ... the urban youth learn and develop, building capacity in educators for the new millennium, evi-

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dence of effectiveness in teachers from teacher education programs, implications of the common core standards, P-12 longitudinal data and educator preparation, and preparing millennial educator candidates.

Within the session focusing on clinical preparation (when future teachers practice what they have learned in an actual classroom), presenters looked at the growing importance of clinical training within teacher education programs.

“Schools are trying to move toward making their programs more clinical like the medical model. This will give our student teachers more practical experiences before getting into the classroom professionally,” said Ardila-Rey. In recognizing the importance of diversity within teacher education and the teaching profession, a forum also studied the demographics of students, teacher candidates, and preparation program faculty and explored the progress and obstacles in preparing a teacher work force that mirrors the diversity of the K-12 population. Panelists discussed the role of minority-serving institutions in preparing diverse teachers and the successful programs that aim to increase preparation, recruitment and retention of effective teachers for urban, diverse schools.

“Teachers are still not as diverse as the children. We are seeing what schools are doing to attract more teachers from minority backgrounds, and how to retain them,” said Ardila-Rey. “We have around 800 member institutions, and around 60 percent of them are ones that prepare teachers in higher education. Only 5 percent of all of students enrolled in teacher education programs full time are Hispanics. For part-time students, it’s 8 percent. Nine percent of the full-time students are African-American, and the Whites are 79 percent.”

According to AACTE data gathered from its member institutions, 3,052 education degrees at the bachelor’s level were awarded to Hispanics at non-Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) institutions (577 for males and 2,475 for females) from 2007 to 2008. This compares to the total national number of bachelor education degree recipients of 77,449 among all races. At HACU institutions, Hispanics made up 886 of these same degree recipients out of a total of 2,507 in 2007-08.

“HSIs [Hispanic-Serving Institutions] prepared 22.2 percent all of the Hispanic teachers, and 39 percent at the master’s level,” said Ardila-Rey. In addition to studying statistics on diversity, the forum on diversity looked at what major institutions are doing to recruit and retain diverse students. “The dean of California State University at San Marcos has a great program. They are finding teacher aids in Southern California and recruiting them to complete teaching programs. We also had a session where someone from the University of Massachusetts in Boston talked about getting more minority teachers from the urban areas,” said Ardila-Rey. “But HSIs still don’t have enough Hispanics in these programs.”

AACTE has focused much attention itself on improving diversity within the teaching profession, and has done so through its program, the Holmes Scholars Program. The 20-year-old program, which the organization has been managing since 2001, works to establish equity, diversity and cultural competence in programs of higher education and PK-12 schools. It helps enrich the scholarly experience and professional training of talented graduate-level students from underrepresented minority backgrounds or students with disabilities pursuing careers in education. In addition, the Holmes Scholars Program supports the recruitment and retention of those scholars and promotes their development as future leaders in educator preparation programs.

While the AACTE Annual Conference took place, a parallel gathering existed for the Holmes Scholars students. “We organize an annual conference where 600 Holmes Scholars attend and meet with members of the group’s alumni association who help the new scholars. In the opening session, we recognized these students and provided mentoring sessions for them,” explained Ardila-Rey. “We also had a job fair here with 18 universi-

ties. We heard that some institutions hired people as a result of this. Yet we’d like to increase the number of institutions that attend every year.”

In addition to forums presented based on topics such as diversity and clinical experiences, one specific group, Eduventures, revealed the results of its recent study titled Outcomes of University-Based Teacher Education. The study outlined whether differences exist between “alternative” and “traditional” teacher programs, the impact of a master’s degree on student achievement, and the components of teacher education programs that have had an impact on student achievement.

Eduventures, a collaborative of 50 education schools nationwide, embarked on this project to help its members and policymakers better understand the effectiveness and importance of these two types of programs. (The “traditional” teacher program is one in which a future teacher obtains his or her teaching license after pursuing a degree program at a college or university.

The alternative program allows for these same individuals to achieve their teacher certification without going through a degree-granting program.)

“These schools – our members – wanted us to synthesize scholarly research and to outline flaws in existing research to easily communicate this information to policymakers and others,” explained Mindy Anastasia, senior analyst at Eduventures and lead author of the report. “Second, they wanted to understand where there were gaps in existing scholarly research so their faculty could undertake additional research. And finally, this work was designed to be a tool for schools of education to understand which programs were correlated to teacher-student achievement, and help inform those decisions related to teacher education programs.”

As a result of this research conducted, Eduventures discovered that teacher-preparation programs are most effective when they include strong aspects such as child development coursework, in-depth pre-service fieldwork, or coursework on teaching pedagogy. Less important was whether the program was actually “alternative” or “traditional.” In addition, the importance of a master’s degree and its contributions to the success of a teacher and student in the classroom was not necessarily clear. Yet the public perception that master’s degrees do not make a difference in preparing teachers isn’t necessarily an adequate conclusion.

“When I began looking at reports, it became clear to me that in some cases research done on teacher education programs had been simplified, and because of this the programs have been misunderstood by the public,” said Anastasia. “A lot of policies that are being changed are eliminating links between teacher salary increases and whether a teacher is pursuing a master’s degree. They are saying that research has not shown a big difference between student outcomes with teachers with master’s and without master’s degrees. But I would be hesitant to eliminate any link between a master’s degree and classroom outcomes until we look more closely at the kind of master’s degrees being pursued.”

While the Eduventures study did dispel some myths in the field of teacher education, it also revealed the strong need to conduct more research that could demonstrate whether alumni of teacher education programs are truly successful in the classroom. “We want to see which programs are linked to student achievement. Now states are implementing data systems that will make it possible to make these links,” said Anastasia.

As schools of education became more introspective about their programs through the Eduventures report, hundreds of others discovered ways to best prepare for the needs of 21st-century students. From learning how to best incorporate technology into the classroom to diversifying the pool of teachers educating a new generation of diverse students – all attending the 63rd AACTE conference had a chance to begin writing the next chapter in teacher education for a new millennium.

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UNCENSORED

by Peggy Sands Orchowski

DREAM ACT NOW A DEMOCRATIC IMMIGRATION BARGAINING CHIP – The Democrat’s most powerful leader, President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Whip Richard Durbin in early May put the failed DREAM Act back on the legislative table. They even wrote back in most of the controversial features they had taken out in December to try to get Republicans to pass it (such as the eligibility age back up to 35 years old and the inclusion of in-state tuition). Everyone agrees that such a bill will never pass by itself. So why did the Democrats do it? The only logical reason is to use it as a bargaining chip. It will be interesting to see which parts of the DREAM Act the Dems will trade away or fight for, in exchange for other immigration pieces the Republicans want. Some examples: lower DREAM Act age eligibility and remove instate tuition in exchange for required E-Verify; or keep the whole banana in exchange for limiting birth rights citizenship? Stay tuned!

UN

CE

RHEE BLAMED FOR ATTACK ON TEACHERS UNIONS IN WISCONSIN – Uncensored has been following the tumultuous career of former D.C. Chancellor of Schools Michelle Rhee. Her aggressive actions to improve public education for the district’s minority children the past three years resulted in the closing of dozens of schools, the firing of hundreds of teachers and the raging antipathy of the local teachers’ union leaders. While she admits she was harsh on the unions, she also says she recognizes they were performing excellently their duty to protect their teacher members. But now some teacher advocates are blaming her for the loss of their collective bargaining rights for benefits in Wisconsin. “The Governor’s arguments that greedy teachers are putting their own interests over those of students echoes the clashes Rhee had with the Washington Teachers Union,” education writer Richard D. Kahlenberg explained in a Washington Post editorial on Feb. 27. Her confrontational approach “paved the way for Governor Scott Walker,” he concludes.

NS

OR

JOB PROSPECTS GOOD FOR COMPUTER TECH GRADUATES – Despite the doom and gloom about the difficulty college graduates of the class of 2011 are facing finding jobs, some graduates in two fields have found themselves with multiple job offers: technology engineering and computer science. Ninety percent of the graduates in these fields at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston have either been offered a job or are in graduate school, the director of career services told the Boston Globe. Companies are competing for graduates who can develop software and design apps for mobile electronic devises like iPhones and tablet computers. Experts in computer storage and security are also in high demand.

ED

ED LEADERS QUESTION NEED TO RECRUIT H1B TEACHERS – There are more Americans who have teaching credentials and years of experience but no longer teach than there are active teachers in schools today,” said Cynthia Brown, vice president for education policy at the Center for American Progress. “Our challenge is retention.

We need incentives and new programs to get experienced teachers to come back into the field and new ones to stay.” In early May, the liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., had just concluded a panel discussion on innovative strategies that charter schools were implementing to build “a human capital pipeline” – i.e., teachers. According to the panelists, teacher-training programs at charter schools run by such programs as the KIPP Foundation and IDEA are getting hundreds more applications from college graduates who want to enter their programs than the placements to be filled. Asked about the need to recruit teachers from abroad on H1B visas, as many public school districts are doing, the charter school panelists shook their heads. “I just don’t know about any deficit,” Orin Gutlerner, founding director of the MATCH Teacher Residency program shrugged; he was formerly the director of alternative teacher recruitment and training programs for the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Brown agreed, saying that she doesn’t know why some say there is a need to recruit teachers from abroad.

HARVARD MAKES $2.45 MILLION FROM REJECTED APPLICATIONS – Why have applications to Harvard increased 50 percent to nearly 35,000 annually when the famous university can only accept about 2,200 – a little more than 6 percent? This was the question posed last April by Warren Olney, host of Santa Monica California’s NPR show To The Point. According to a New York Times article, Jacques Steinberg, one of the guests on the show, pointed out that: “Some schools,” implying Harvard as well, “spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on slick marketing campaigns begging kids to apply for the privilege of being rejected. And yet the colleges will tell you there are so many kids who get this material, apply, get in and go who would have never known to do so had they not received it.” Recruiting or not, Harvard made a tidy sum from the rejected applications: $2.45 million. Do the math yourself: 35,000 applications received, minus 2,200 accepted, equals 22,800 rejected applications, times $75 application fee for each, equals $2,450,000.

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

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Interesting Reads The Man Who Could Fly

By Rudolfo Anaya This volume represents 18 stories penned by Rudolfo Anaya, who has been called the godfather and guru of Chicano literature. These short stories are set in the American Southwest and Mexico and reflect on the character and ethics of the region.

2006. 216 pgs. ISBN: 978-0806137384. $12.95 cloth. The University of Oklahoma Press, (405) 325-2000. www.oupress.com.

Políticas

By Sonia R. García, Valerie Martinez-Ebers, Irasema Coronado, Sharon A. Navarro and Patricia A. Jaramillo.

Five Latina political scientists profile the women who have been the first Latinas to hold key elected and appointed positions in Texas government. The analysis is based on interviews with these lawmakers and their associates.

2008. 170 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-292-71788-6. $19.95 paper. University of Texas Press, (800) 252-3206. www.utexaspress.com.

Sueños Americanos

By Julio Cammarota Interviewing Latino youth between the ages of 17 and 24 who lived in the barrio in a city on the California coast, the author investigates how working affects Latino education, and how they try to maintain their ethnic identity without being marginalized.

2008. 200 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-8165-2593-5. $39.95 cloth. The University of Arizona Press, (520) 621-3920. www.uapress.arizona.edu.

and Media...

The Banana Wars This documentary addresses the history of the banana trade and its political impact on the United States and its trading partners. It is an ideal case study for coursework focusing on the economics of globalization.

2008. DVD (52 minutes) ISBN 978-1-61616-723-3. $169.95. Films For the Humanities and Science, (800) 257-5126. www.films.com

Working with Difficult People

by William Lundin, Kathleen Lundin and Michael S. Dobson 121 pages. American Management Association Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8144-0168-2. $12.00 paper.

In

these troubled economic times, it is not easy or feasible to change jobs as often as has been possible in the past. Consequently, many people are biding their time at jobs they don’t particularly like until the recovery reaches their industry or neighborhood. This is not the time, they reason, to explore the marketplace for another place of employment. Meanwhile, they may be frustrated and miserable where they are.

There are many reasons why people are disenchanted with their jobs. Sometimes it’s a matter of compensation; sometimes it’s a matter of personality clashes in the office.

And until things change, they are trapped in a loveless “marriage,” dreading every workday.

The authors of this book offer a lifeline for those who are treading water until they can make their great escape to a better work environment. And while this book can’t guarantee a raise or a personality transplant for the person who is driving you to distraction, it does point out specific ways to cope.

The authors point out that working with difficult people can destroy your morale and energy. It can be a colossal waste of time and make you less productive. They also explain that the first step in dealing with difficult people is to understand how you react to different kinds of challenging coworkers. Some people might discover that they are the difficult person, in some instances, not the person they are blaming for their misery.

Once readers understand their own emotional reaction to their coworkers, the authors present nine fundamental types of difficult people and present a complete system for opening lines of communication, resolving differences and avoiding office headaches. There is little distinction made between co-workers and bosses in this volume. The techniques are similar no matter where you are in the corporate food chain. Readers will learn how to take a proactive approach to manage working relationships with people who are angry, suspicious, pessimistic, shy, narcissistic, overly competitive, controlling and just plain nasty or mean.

One point that the authors stress is that ignoring or internalizing the problem won’t make it go away. They say there are always going to be difficult people in the marketplace, and it’s better to have a game plan to make things as comfortable as possible at the office than to grit your teeth and try to tough it out. The book has planning work sheets to plot your course and make changes in the way you react to people within and without your workplace.

The Lundins have a track record of offering workplace advice for unhappy employees, including their book When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses. Their co-author, Michael S. Dobson, is a consultant and seminar leader in communications, personal success and project management.

Reviewed by Mary Ann Cooper

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HIGH SCHOOL FORUM

Traditional H.S. Diploma Still Preferred over GED for Hispanics

B

by Mary Ann Cooper eyond the high numbers of Hispanic high school dropouts is an even more striking statistic. These same dropouts are less likely than non-Hispanics to avail themselves of the safety net available to them – one that would prevent them from freefalling through the cracks of a fractured economy. The Pew Hispanic Center report titled Hispanics, High School Dropouts and the GED, written by Richard Fry, indicates that only 10 percent of Hispanic high school dropouts go on to get their General Educational Development (GED) certificate, compared to 20 percent of Black and 30 percent of White high school dropouts. The Pew Hispanic Center uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey.

What makes the 10 percent figure even more significant is that Hispanics also have up to twice the rate of dropouts as White or Black students.

According to the Pew report, 41 percent of Hispanics 20 years of age or under do not possess a traditional high school diploma. That compares with 23 percent of Black students and 14 percent of White students. What drives up the Hispanic numbers could be language difficulties.

Foreign-born Hispanic adults make up 52 percent of the Hispanics lacking a high school diploma; 25 percent of Hispanics without high school diplomas were born in the United States.

The percentage of Hispanics who acquire a GED shows a similar native-born incidence. In that case, 21 percent of U.S.-born Hispanics have

Number and percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who were high school status droupouts, by nativity and race/ethnicity with Hispanic and Asian subgroups: 2007

Race/ethnicity

Population

Dropout rate Dropout rate for for born Number of born within the outside the 1 status Status dropout United States United States 1 (percent) (percent) dropouts rate (percent)

Total2 White Black Hispanic Mexican Puerto Rican Cuban Dominican Salvadoran Other Central America South American Other Hispanic or Latin Asian Asian Indian Chinese 3 Filipino Japanese Korean Vietnamese Other Asian Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander American Indian/Alaska Native

38,491,300 23,350,100 5,535,400 6,766,000 4,459,300 604,100 180,200 192,500 215,300 323,60 319,900 471,20 1,565,400 286,200 356,700 192,900 266,900 63,200 164,600 234,900

3,582,600 1,425,900 634,600 1,349,500 991,100 89,200 10,900 25,100 55,600 94,500 25,500 57,500 46,600 3,900 10,100 2,300 6,900 800!

6,600 16,000

9.3 6.1 11.5 19.9 22.2 14.8 6.0 13.0 25.8 29.2 8.0 12.2 3.0 1.4 2.8 1.2 2.6 1.3!

4.0 6.8

7.7 6.1 11.8 11.5 12.1 12.8 5.3 8.7 10.1 8.6 5.4 11.3 2.2 0.8!

1.0!

0.4!

2.6 1.3!

3.9 4.8

21.2 5.4 7.6 34.3 38.8 23.0 8.0 18.1 41.1 40.8 9.8 18.8 3.7 1.8 4.6 1.7 2.6 1.4!

4.1 9.7

72,400

5,500

7.6

5.5

12.0

317,700

48,600

15.3

15.4

1.8!

! Interpret data with caution.

1 United States refers to the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

2 Total includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.

3 Excludes Taiwanese. Taiwanese is included in the “Other Asian” category.

NOTE: The data presented here represent status dropout rates. The status dropout rate is defined for this table as the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in high school and who have not earned a high school credential (either a diploma or equivalency credential such as a GED). It includes all dropouts, regardless of when they last attended school, as well as individuals who may have never attended school in the United States, such as immigrants who did not complete a high school diploma in their home country. This table uses a different data source from table 18.1a. In addition, this table includes institutionalized persons and noninstitutionalized persons, whereas table 18.1a includes only noninstitutionalized persons. Therefore, estimates are not directly comparable to the 2007 estimates in table 18.1a. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007.

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GEDs compared to 5 percent of those not born in the United States.

In its report, Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups (July 2010), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) presents a snapshot of 16- to 24-year-old dropouts, examining status dropout rates for those born within the United States (the 50 states and the District of Columbia). The rate in 2007 was higher for Hispanics born in the United States (11 percent) than for Whites (6 percent), Asian-Americans (2 percent) and Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders (6 percent) born in the United States. However, the status dropout rate for Hispanics born in the United States was lower than that of Native Americans, and there was no measurable difference in the dropout rate between Hispanics and Blacks born in the United States.

According to NCES, the overall Hispanic high school dropout rate is skewed by the education pattern of those Hispanics not native born. “For Hispanic 16- to 24-year-olds who were born outside the United States, the 2007 status dropout rate was 34 percent – higher than the rate for Hispanics born within the United States (11 percent).”

In its report, NCES also breaks down the Hispanic dropout rate by country of heritage. It states that “among Hispanic subgroups, Other Central Americans (29 percent) and Salvadorans (26 percent) in the United States had the highest percentages of young adults who were status dropouts, followed by Mexicans (22 percent), Puerto Ricans (15 percent), Dominicans (13 percent) and Other Hispanics or Latinos (12 percent). Cubans (6 percent) and South Americans (8 percent) had the lowest percentages among all Hispanic subgroups of young adults who were status dropouts. Among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, Other Central Americans, South Americans, and Other Hispanics or Latinos, the status dropout rate was higher for young adults who were born outside the United States than for those who were born in the United States.”

NCES also presents a 10-year analysis of dropouts based on ethnicity. And looking at those figures supports the premise that dropouts are decreasing. As the report states, “Between 1997 and 2007, the percentage of 16- to 24year-olds who were status dropouts decreased from 11 to 9 percent. Status dropout rates and changes in these rates over time differ by race/ethnicity. In 1997, a higher percentage of Hispanics were status dropouts (25 percent) than were Blacks (13 percent), Whites (8 percent), Asians/Pacific Islanders (7 percent), and Native Americans/Alaska Natives (15 percent).

In 2007, a similar pattern was evident,” with Hispanic dropouts at 21 percent, Blacks at 8 percent, Asians/Pacific Islanders at 6 percent and Whites at 5 percent.

While the slow decline of high school dropouts between 1997 and 2007 is a positive education development, the status of Hispanics as lagging behind Whites and Blacks in progress in this area is evident in the raw numbers.

Hispanics continue to have an achievement gap with non-Hispanics when it comes to completing high school. That gap is not only evident in 1997 and 2007 but in every other year of that time period, but the gap narrowed between 1998 and

2007.

The NCES report noted that the decreases in dropout rates did not favor one gender over the other, but that the gap between Hispanic males and non-Hispanic males was higher than the one between Hispanic females and non-Hispanic females. “In addition, the rates varied by race/ethnicity for each sex. A higher percentage of Hispanic males (25 percent) were status dropouts than were Black males (8 percent) and White and Asian/Pacific Islander males (6 percent each) in 2007. Similarly, a higher percentage of Hispanic females (18 percent) were status dropouts than were Black (9 percent), White (4 percent) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6 percent) females. Overall, males had a higher status dropout rate than females for each year between 1997 and 2007. In addition, in 2007, White and Hispanic males had higher status dropout rates (6 and 25 percent, respectively) than their female counterparts (4 and 18 percent, respectively).”

The Pew report, similarly, drew some distinction in regard to gender in the 16- to 24-year-old Hispanic group. It pointed out that slightly more Hispanic males (4 percent) than females (3 percent) have a GED. Speaking English fluently

seems to tip the scales in favor of a GED with Hispanics, as well. English-speaking Hispanic adults are slightly more likely to have a GED (5 percent) than Hispanics with no or limited English-speaking skills (3 percent). Since the GED is administered in both English and Spanish, language does not appear to be a determining factor in the English-speaking statistical advantage. Country of origin seems to be more of a consideration, with Hispanics originating in Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic gravitating more toward GEDs than other Hispanics.

GED attainment seems to have a U.S. geographical element to it as well. The NCES report states, “The prevalence of GED attainment among Hispanic adults varies across states.

Nationally, 4 percent of Latinos have a GED as their highest educational credential. In some states, as little as 2 percent of Latinos have GEDs, while in Wyoming, 10 percent of Hispanic adults report their highest degree is a GED. The state variation likely reflects the nativity differences of Hispanics across states as well as the nature of each state’s adult education systems.”

Theory into Practice There is one last opportunity to influence the decisions of Hispanic students who seem determined to drop out. Teachers and counselors can and should present a compelling case for continuing education before losing contact with students who are leaving the system. They might even convince such students to stay and finish their education. The case should also promote a mindset that a student’s decision to leave school can be and should be reconsidered.

The Pew Hispanic Center report points out that while GEDs give Hispanic students an edge over those Hispanics who drop out and don’t get a traditional or GED diploma, there are some tangible differences and advantages in the marketplace for those attaining a traditional high school diploma.

These are important facts to present to any potential dropout for consideration: • According to statistics Pew has gathered about the labor market for Hispanics ages 20 to 64, two-thirds of Hispanics with GEDs are in the work force, but nearly three-fourths of Hispanics with a traditional high school diploma.

• The edge goes to the traditional diploma when it comes to rate of unemployment among Hispanics. Those with a GED suffered a two-point disadvantage when compared to Hispanics with a high school diploma. Hispanic GED recipients had an unemployment rate of 9 percent; Hispanics with a high school diploma, a rate of 7 percent. And according to the Pew report, “Hispanics with a high school diploma were more likely than Hispanic GED holders to be full-year workers (80 percent vs. 75 percent).

• Hispanics who have GED degrees seem to have a slight edge when it comes to earnings on a full-time, full-year salary over Hispanics with high school diplomas. The mean average for Hispanic GED recipients ages 20 to 64 was $33,504; and for Hispanics with a traditional high school diploma, $32,972.

Drilling down deeper on those numbers, however, shows that those Hispanics born in the U.S. and obtaining a high school diploma earn more than those native-born Hispanics who receive a GED. As the report indicates, “median earnings for immigrant men who are high school graduates were $26,478, compared with $30,552 for immigrant men with a GED.” Before concluding that this presents a case for dropping out and pursuing a GED for non-native students, however, it should be noted that male GED recipients are on average about 2 and a half years older than male high school graduates, perhaps giving them more work force experience and higher earnings.

• Hispanic dropouts with military aspirations need to know that 99 percent of Hispanics on active duty in the United States military have their high school diplomas or are GED recipients. This seems to bear out the opinion that completing high school or obtaining a GED is a success factor in the military. But a Pew report from 2003 indicates a preference among military recruiters for high school graduates.

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The Hispanic Outlook In Higher Education

www.hispanicoutlook.com

Research Confirms Positive Impact of In-State Tuition for Noncitizen Long-Term Residents.

BRISTOL, R.I.

States across the nation continue to debate whether to grant in-state college tuition rates for noncitizen, long-term residents. The Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University has revealed findings from its report analyzing the effects of instate college tuition for noncitizens in states implementing such legislation.

The Effects of In-State Tuition for NonCitizens: A Systematic Review of the Evidence is the first rigorous systematic review of original research on in-state tuition legislation and the first to apply such research

Pell Institute Report Examines Promising Practices and Recommendations for Better Supporting Low-Income, First-Generation Students at DeVry University WASHINGTON, D.C.

Citing a lack of independent research on for-profit education institutions, the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Education conducted a comprehensive review and analysis of DeVry University’s academic and support services for low-income, first-generation college students. The study’s findings show nontraditional students at DeVry University receive high levels of personal and academic support, which similar institutions could look to replicate.

The goal of the study, Promising Practices Supporting Low-Income, First-Generation Students at DeVry University, was to catalogue 24

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in a way that predicts the potential impact of in-state tuition on the state of Rhode Island.

Key findings of the report include: • In-state tuition is significantly correlated with a 31 percent increase in noncitizen enrollment rates at institutes of higher education.

• In-state tuition is significantly correlated with a 14 percent decrease in noncitizen high school dropout rates.

• Empirical evidence confirms that two previously published reports produced by anti-immigration groups on in-state legislation used biased calculations that make several incorrect conclusions on the alleged costs of such legislation.

According to the report, in-state tuition legislation in Rhode Island could result in 24 more noncitizen, long-term residents attending college at Rhode Island public universi-

ties each year. Using current tuition rates, the report finds these students would contribute more than $162,000 in revenue over instructional expenses per year. The report also finds that in-state tuition legislation could result in 71 more noncitizen high school graduates in Rhode Island per year.

“Historically, debates around in-state tuition legislation have centered on emotional decisions rather than comprehensive analysis,” said Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco, director of the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University. “Providing citizens the opportunity to make more informed decisions results in better evidence-based policies. This is the first report that systematically reviews the evidence on the effects of in-state tuition, and we hope will encourage further research in this area.”

the academic and social support services offered at one of the nation’s largest proprietary universities and benchmark them against similar programs designed to support individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. According to the Pell Institute’s previous research in other sectors, effective support services can have a positive impact on low-income, first-generation college students, helping them to persist in their studies and graduate.

The Pell Institute highlighted the following three guiding strategies behind the practices at the university as key to their support for these students: • Approaching support services for students as customer service • Providing early, in-depth, on-campus student opportunities • Establishing and sustaining a shared sense of community Among the essential elements of DeVry’s support services cited by Pell are: a one-stop

shop advising model, an early intervention warning system, degree progress tracking, academic success centers, and career and job placement services. The Pell report also describes the university’s many programs offering early, in-depth, on-campus student opportunities for high school students, such as the DeVry University Advantage Academy. In addition to its study findings, Pell made several recommendations on ways DeVry could enhance its practices to serve low-income, first-generation students, including: expanding the use of disaggregated data to track student outcomes, clarifying and reconsidering rigid attendance tracking policies, and better acknowledging the contributions of faculty and staff that excel in supporting these students. Pell also recommends that the university establish greater transparency around student services and outcomes so that the supportive practices observed by researchers are more apparent to consumers.

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College Board Report Profiles Teachers on Current Teaching Practices of ELLs and Immigrant Students NEW YORK, N.Y.

In May, a panel of nationally recognized teachers shared their experiences teaching English-language learners (ELLs) and immigrant students, and offered recommendations to policymakers and educators on how schools must improve to better serve today’s student populations for college and career readiness. Highlighting the importance of this topic in the national education debate, the 2008 Biennial Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Title III State Formula Grant Program by the U.S. Department of Education identifies approximately five million K-12 students in the United States as “limited English proficient.” This was one of many notable ELL statistics cited in

WCET Receives Grant for Groundbreaking Higher Education Analytic Research BOULDER, Colo.

WICHE, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, announced that WCET, the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, has been awarded a $1,000,000 grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund an initiative to unify student data from six U.S. institutions and demonstrate the effective use of predictive analytic methods for improving student outcomes. The goal is to identify variables that influence student

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Teacher Voices: Immigration, Language and Culture, a report by the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, the National Writing Project and Phi Delta Kappa International.

College Board President Gaston Caperton said, “At the College Board, we are committed to supporting students without regard to race, background or nationality. Unfortunately, some do not enter the classroom with a strong grasp of English, and as such require extra help. As a group of educators, citizens and parents, the College Board is proud to play a role in the effort to serve this important and rapidly growing group of students and the teachers that support them.”

The report makes several recommendations at the national, state and local levels to meet the challenges of improving student achievement, especially for ELL and immigrant students. Among the national and statelevel recommendations: • A set of mutually agreed-upon standards for English-language teaching and profession-

al development • Assessments that accurately measure ELL progress, strengths and weaknesses, and school accountability • Passage of an immigration bill that encourages all students to achieve academically at all levels • Support for school reform to ensure safe and effective learning environments for all students Among the local and classroom-level recommendations: • A vision of ELL and immigrant students as assets to our schools, communities and country • A wide variety of teaching methods, including collaborative learning • Teaching and learning based on the needs of individual students • Teaching many means of communication, including a strong focus on writing The report is the fifth in the ongoing “Teachers Are the Center of Education/ Teacher Voices” series.

retention and progression, and guide decisionmaking that improves postsecondary student completion in the U.S. This grant for the Predictive Analytics Reporting (PAR) Framework will aggregate data representing more than 400,000 student records from across six WCET member institutions: American Public University System, Colorado Community College System, Rio Salado College, University of Hawaii System, University of Illinois Springfield, and the University of Phoenix.

Each participating institution has been exploring or implementing descriptive, inferential or predictive analytics projects on their own student data; the PAR Framework expands on this work through

exploration of patterns that can be derived when the six institutional datasets are considered as a single, unified sample.

“We all have a vested interest in improving student outcomes in the United States.

WCET is thrilled that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given us the opportunity to convene this exemplary team of member institutions,” says Dr. Ellen Wagner, executive director, WCET. “Our ability to bring public and proprietary institutions together to cooperate on solving big education problems like the ones that the PAR research will address is one of the things that make WCET unique.”

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HI S PAN I C S O N T H E MO VE DĂ­az-Herrera Selected as New President at Keuka College

SolĂ­s Receives Honorary Doctorate from NJCU

Keuka College (N.Y.) has named Dr. Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera, dean of the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology, to be its new president. DíazHerrera completed his undergraduate education in Venezuela and has a master’s degree and doctorate in computing studies from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.

He earned a graduate certificate (management leadership in education) from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

New Jersey City University (NJCU) presented an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to the Honorable Hilda L. SolĂ­s, U.S. sec-

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CortÊs-Suårez Named to SACS Commission on Colleges Dr. Gina CortÊs-Suårez, president of Miami Dade College’s InterAmerican Campus, has been tapped to represent the institution in a leadership capacity with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, as a member of its Principles Review Committee. CortÊsSuårez is a lifelong educator who has held several key positions both at the college and within the local school district.

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De la ViĂąa Receives Outstanding Educator Award Dr. Lynda de la ViĂąa, dean of the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) College of Business and Peter Flawn Professor of Economics, received the 2011 Federation of Business Disciplines Outstanding Educator Award from the Southwestern Society of Economists. With more than 24 years of teaching, research and service at UTSA, de la ViĂąa was president of the Southwestern Society of Economists in 1989 and vice president in 1988.

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retary of labor, at its May commencement ceremony. SolĂ­s graduated from California State Poly-technic University-Pomona with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California.

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The Hispanic Outlook Is Now Also Available As A

Digital Magazine!

President The Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning is conducting a nationwide search for President of Mississippi University for Women. A Carnegie Master’s S public institution, Mississippi University for Women provides high-quality undergraduate and graduate education for women and men in a variety of liberal arts and professional programs, while maintaining its historic commitment to academic and leadership development for women.

The Board of Trustees invites letters of nomination, applications (letter of interest, resume/CV, and references), or expressions of interest to be submitted to the search firm assisting the Board. Confidential review of materials will begin immediately and continue until the appointment is made. It is preferred, however, that all nominations and applications be submitted prior to September 2, 2011. For a complete position description, refer to Current Opportunities on www.parkersearch.com. For more information on the search, visit http://www.mississippi.edu/ieo.

www.hispanicoutlook.com

for additional information RIO HONDO COLLEGE Whittier, CA

is currently seeking a highly motivated professional to join our team:

DEAN, PHYSICAL EDUCATION/ ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Full-Time, 12 month Educational Administrator

To obtain a brochure, District application, and/or additional information, please visit the employment opportunities section of the Rio Hondo College website at:

www.riohondo.edu/hr

Laurie C. Wilder, Senior Vice President and Managing Director Porsha L. Williams, Principal 770-804-1996 ext: 109 pwilliams@parkersearch.com || danielparker@parkersearch.com MUW is an AA/EOE Employer

Five Concourse Parkway Suite 2900 Atlanta, GA 30328 770.804.1996 parkersearch.com

University of Cincinnati ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (WORKING TITLE: DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC ADVISING) (211PV0685) Raymond Walters College, a 2-year regional campus of the University of Cincinnati, located in Blue Ash, Ohio, seeks a high performing individual to serve as the Associate Director of Educational Services in the Raymond Walters College Advising Center.

The Assoc Director manages the Advising Center, supervises and trains the staff academic advisors and other center staff, and serves as a professional staff advisor. The Assoc Director will direct the delivery of accurate, timely and professional academic advising services to students for a college.

Major responsibilities include management of office staff and budget, oversight of academic advising initiatives, and coordination of staff advising with faculty academic advisors. The Assoc Director will be a DARS super-user and coordinate exceptions with advisors, faculty, and department heads.

Advise a caseload of students and serve flexibly as relief advisor. Supervise, train, and evaluate the staff advisors and other center staff. Work in collaboration with the faculty advisor coordinator and faculty advisors. Manage and update online college curriculum guides in coordination with academic departments. Serve as DARS exceptions manager and super-user. Serve as point person for the IAP process during semester conversion. Work with Academic Affairs and Student Affairs on orientation, FYE, and retention initiatives.

Perform additional duties as needed.

Job Description: Under general supervision from a designated administrator, provide leadership for the administrative and operational activities of Central Academic Advising Center.

Min. Quals.: Bachelors degree with 5 years experience; OR associate degree with 7 years experience; OR 9 years experience.

Degree must be in a related field. Experience must be in college student personnel, higher education, or a related area. Experience may also require at least 3 years supervision.

Ideal Qualifications: Master’s degree or higher in relevant area. At least 5 years successful academic advising experience at an institution of higher education. 3 or more years in a supervisory role. The individual should have a commitment to the regional campus mission, strong interpersonal and communication skills, and a student-centered attitude.

To apply for position (211PV0685), please see www.jobsatuc.com

EEO

The University of Cincinnati is an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer. UC is a smoke-free work environment.

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Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh The University PROVOST AND ACADEMIC VICE PRESIDENT

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

APPOINTMENT: January 1, 2012 (Preferred)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: An earned doctorate from an accredited institution; demonstrated record of distinguished teaching, research/scholarship and service consistent with a tenured faculty appointment at the level of Professor in one of the University’s academic units; successful administrative and budget management experience in an academic setting; demonstrated record of academic achievement and progressive administrative responsibility; ability to be an articulate spokesperson on behalf of the institution; demonstrated success as a creative leader and in generating external resources; outstanding listening and communication skills; ability to bring individuals and groups with diverse perspectives to consensus and common action; demonstrated commitment to ongoing diversification of faculty, staff, and student body; ability to formulate and communicate a clear vision; commitment to enhancing nontraditional program delivery; knowledge of current issues and trends in higher education, including emerging technologies; and a commitment to shared governance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: An ongoing record of scholarship/research in an academic field or in the applicant’s area of administrative responsibility; and experience with nontraditional program delivery, a multicampus environment, and collective bargaining and contract implementation on a unionized campus.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The Provost and Academic Vice President serves as the chief academic officer of the University with responsibility for academic and internal leadership. The Provost and Academic Vice President reports directly to the President and is the primary representative of the President in his absence. The Provost and Academic Vice President leads the University-wide community to promote the highest academic standards and the University’s core values at both the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses; provides leadership in planning, developing, implementing, and assessing all academic programs; has primary responsibility for contract administration of Collective Bargaining Agreement for faculty and support staff and a significant portion of the University budget; provides overall leadership for continued growth of international and life-long learning programs, distance education, faculty development, and the Honors College; and supervises senior staff and many service areas that are responsible for achieving the University’s established major goals identified by the President and the Board of Trustees.

RANK & SALARY: Professor, with Tenure. Western Illinois University offers a competitive benefits package that includes domestic partner benefits. For full benefit information visit: http://www.wiu.edu/hr/benefits.php.

THE UNIVERSITY: Recognized as one of the “Best in the Midwest Colleges” by the Princeton Review and one of only 20 public universities ranked a “Tier 1 Midwestern Masters Institution” by U.S. News and World Report, Western Illinois University (WIU) serves approximately 13,000 students in the heart of the Midwest through its traditional residential, four-year campus in Macomb and its upper-division urban commuter location in Moline, Illinois.

Western’s campuses are dedicated to providing a high quality, accessible and affordable education. The WIUMacomb and Quad Cities campuses are comprised of accomplished faculty, state-of-the-art technology and facilities, and a wide range of academic and extracurricular opportunities. The four core values at the heart of the University are academic excellence, educational opportunity, personal growth, and social responsibility. WIU’s GradTrac and Cost Guarantee programs ensure that students can achieve their degrees within four years while paying a fixed rate for tuition, fees, plus room and board. WIU remains the only university in Illinois to guarantee the cost for tuition, fees and room and board over a four-year period at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

WIU is a comprehensive university offering 66 undergraduate and 37 graduate degree programs. With a studentto-faculty ratio of 16:1, the University’s 762 full-time faculty members teach 93 percent of all undergraduate and graduate courses, in addition to eight preprofessional degree programs and 18 certificate programs.

Western offers a broad-based athletics program, sponsoring 20 NCAA Division I intercollegiate varsity sports.

Football competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision through the Missouri Valley Football Conference; all other varsity sports compete at the Division I level through The Summit League. WIU is the cultural center of the region, with 12 major theatrical and dance productions and more than 12 studio shows presented annually in Western’s three theatres. The Bureau of Cultural Affairs and the University Union Board present outstanding concerts, lectures, dramatic presentations, films, and dance attractions.

The University Libraries contain more than 1 million cataloged volumes, 20,000 current periodicals, and access to over 100 electronic databases of information. WIU’s librarians answer approximately 10,000 research questions per year. The library system encompasses the main Malpass Library and four branch libraries. The Physical Sciences Library, the Music Library, the Curriculum Library, and the Quad Cities campus library are integral parts of the University’s system that provides full service to students, faculty, and staff.

Western Illinois University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association.

APPLICATION: Interested candidates should submit a letter of application, a current curriculum vitae, and the names and telephone numbers of five professional references. Individuals wishing to nominate candidates for the position may submit a letter of nomination, including the name, position, address, and telephone number of the nominee. Send applications or nominations either by mail to: Dr. Dennis DeVolder, Chair, Provost and Academic Vice President Search Committee, Western Illinois University; 1 University Circle; Macomb, IL 61455-1390, or by email to: facultysenate@wiu.edu.

Review of applications will begin August 1, 2011 and continue until the position is filled.

Western Illinois University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and has a strong institutional commitment to diversity. In that spirit, we are particularly interested in receiving applications from a broad spectrum of people, including minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. WIU has a non-discrimination policy that includes sex, race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, religion, age, marital status, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

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School of Information Sciences School Sciences THE SCHOOL OF INFORMATION SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE SEARCH FOR “THE DOREEN E. BOYCE CHAIR IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE” The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences is seeking applications for the endowed Doreen E. Boyce Chair. Named in honor of Dr. Doreen E. Boyce, who served many years as President of the Buhl Foundation, and in recognition of Dr. Boyce’s leadership in supporting the use of technology to contribute to the quality of life, the Boyce Professor will be a prominent scholar interested in the broad roles of the library and of information in modern society.

The School of Information Sciences’ faculty of Library and Information Science is committed to interdisciplinary research and teaching in library and information science and archival studies. The School is seeking a senior scholar who has examined the interaction among information, technology, and human behavior from a broad social perspective. The Boyce Professor is expected to lead in the shaping of a research agenda and a revised curriculum on the changing role of libraries in the networked environment, and in crafting a new definition for 21st Century libraries and librarians in response to the continually changing needs of our networked global society. Within the broad context of building a sense of cultural and civic community, areas of interest include, but are not limited to, public policy, the dynamics of information in contemporary society, communication in a networked society, and the economics of information.

It is expected that the Boyce Professor will be appointed with the rank of Professor. Candidates applying for the position are expected to hold an earned doctorate or the equivalent in academic or professional experience and to demonstrate: • visionary leadership to serve as a catalyst for positive change in the profession; • an exemplary record of scholarship and publication and a commitment to reach a wider public through colloquia and publishing; • experience in interdisciplinary and collaborative research • a record of substantial achievement in research design and funding.

The candidate will be expected to teach and to direct doctoral research and to take a leadership role in building a strong research and publications program within the School.

As a leading educator of information professionals, the School of Information Sciences is prepared to support a scholar with such interests and qualities. The Boyce Professor has the opportunity to work with established research centers and to lead educational ventures such as the Sara Fine Institute for Interpersonal Behavior and Technology. The School is home to leading scholars and educators in archives and records management, library science, information science and telecommunications, providing the Boyce Professor with a strong cadre of colleagues for collaborative research and teaching.

Electronic applications to: Dean Ronald Larsen, boycechair@sis.pitt.edu Mailed applications should be sent to: School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh 135 N. Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

The position will remain open until filled, although candidates are encouraged to submit their applications by September 30, 2011; earlier applications are strongly encouraged, with the expectation of appointing an individual to the Chair for fall 2012. Individuals applying should provide a statement describing their research and teaching interests, and a statement of how they envision these complementing the School and the University, curriculum vitae, and the names and addresses of at least twelve references.

The University of Pittsburgh is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer and strongly encourages women and minority candidates to apply.

VICE PRESIDENT

DID YOU KNOW...

FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

California State University, Fullerton is a large, comprehensive, urban university with approximately 1,670 full- and part-time faculty and a diverse student body of approximately over 35,500 enrolled in Fall 2010. The university offers a broad spectrum of degree programs in liberal arts and sciences as well as applied and professional fields with 55 at the baccalaureate level and 50 graduate programs including a doctorate in education. Learning is preeminent at Cal State Fullerton.

We combine the best qualities of teaching and research universities where actively engaged students, faculty and staff work in close collaborations to expand knowledge.

Research and other creative activities are enhanced by the proximity of the campus to nationally recognized business, cultural, and educational institutions. Faculty members were awarded more than $28.7 million in grants and contracts for research and scholarly activities in 2009-10.

The university has a longstanding tradition of collegial governance.

Cal State Fullerton is strongly committed to achieving excellence through cultural diversity. CSUF is a designated Hispanic Serving Institution (the only one in Orange County) and an Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institution.

We are ranked 5th in the nation in terms of baccalaureate degrees awarded to minorities. In addition to meeting fully its obligations under federal and state law, Cal State Fullerton is committed to creating a community in which a diverse population can live, work and learn in an atmosphere of tolerance, civility and respect for the rights and sensibilities of each individual. To that end, all qualified individuals will receive equal consideration without regard to economic status, race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin or cultural background, political views, sex or sexual orientation, disability or Veteran's status or other personal characteristics or beliefs.

POSITION SUMMARY: The Vice President for Academic Affairs is the chief academic officer of the University, is a member of the President’s Administrative Board, and reports directly to the President. The Vice President for Academic Affairs is one of five vice presidents of the University. The Vice President for Academic Affairs provides academic leadership for all the University’s undergraduate, graduate, research and public service programs. The Vice President for Academic Affairs is responsible for managing more than 3,000 faculty and 300 staff members, eight colleges, contracts and grants, institutional research, outreach, admissions and records and international partnerships.

Academic programs are initiated, developed and recommended by the faculty through the Academic Senate and its many committees. The Vice President for Academic Affairs’ leadership and administrative style must complement this process and be effective in stimulating collegiality and cooperation. The academic Vice President works closely with the President, the academic associate vice presidents, college deans, and program directors regarding all instructional related planning and operational matters.

Responsibilities include: academic program planning, budgeting, development and implementation; faculty recruitment, review and development; institutional and funded research; external funding and partnerships; university library and extended education. The Vice President chairs the Council of Deans which includes Deans from the Colleges of the Arts, Communications, Education, Engineering & Computer Science, Health & Human Development, Humanities & Social Sciences, Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Mihaylo College of Business & Economics, University Extended Education, Irvine Campus and the Director of the University Library.

QUALIFICATIONS: • An earned doctorate acceptable for appointment at the rank of full professor within a discipline encompassed in the university.

• Distinguished record of achievement in university teaching, scholarship and/or creative activity.

• A minimum of six years administrative experience. A minimum of three years of responsibility for a major academic unit at the level of dean or higher.

• Demonstrated ability to provide sustained leadership in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment.

• Demonstrated competencies in budget planning and administration; faculty/staff development and management; program planning, development and evaluation, and resource allocation.

• Broad knowledge of various facets of a large multi-disciplinary university.

• Keen understanding of the instructional, research, and creative needs of undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, professional disciplines, and interdisciplinary studies as well as doctoral programs in Education and Nursing.

• Commitment to providing leadership that encourages external grants and contracts.

• Ability to collaborate effectively with faculty, staff, students, and all other major units of the university as well as the broader educational community.

• Demonstrated commitment to shared faculty governance in a collective bargaining environment.

• Demonstrated effectiveness working in a multi-cultural environment with a commitment to campus-wide educational equity and retention.

• History of communication and cooperation with faculty, staff, and students in a clear, open and democratic manner.

• Familiarity with the application of instructional technology.

• Flexible working style.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS: • Experience working in a large public system of higher education.

• Experience developing external support, both private and public.

COMPENSATION: The University seeks to fill this position by September 16, 2011. Starting salary will be competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications. The position includes a broad attractive benefit package.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: To assure full consideration, submit application materials by September 16, 2011. Position will remain open until filled. Applicants are asked to provide a cover letter with statement of qualifications, a curriculum vita, and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least five (5) references. All materials should be sent to: Chair, Search Committee for Vice President for Academic Affairs, Office of the President, California State University, Fullerton, P.O. Box 6810, Fullerton, California 928346810, Attention: Cassandra Newby, Executive Secretary to the President, Email: cnewby@fullerton.edu ACHIEVING A CLIMATE OF SUCCESS THROUGH DIVERSITY & EQUITY An Equal Opportunity/Title IX/503/504/VEVRA/ADA Employer

07/11/2011

We now have Web Packages Available?

For complete information on web advertising packages that suit your needs contact us at

(800) 549-8280 ext. 102 or 106 OR

E-Mail us your text to: outlook@sprintmail.com Fax us at: (201) 587-9105 And Visit us on the web www.HispanicOutlook.com

Serving the Hispanic Academic Community for 21 years

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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND College Park (UMCP)

MANAGER, PLANT PROJECTS ACCOUNTING AND EQUIPMENT ABOUT THE POSITION (#117378): The manager will assist with front-line oversight for the operations and activities of the University’s Plant Projects Accounting and Equipment Inventory (PPE) unit, and its two component groups: Inventory Control and Plant Accounting. Inventory Control is responsible for the planning, coordination, and capitalization of all the University’s fixed assets, including land, buildings, and equipment. The equipment inventory currently includes approximately 18,000 items, valued at over $246 million. Within Project Accounting, the team works closely with the Department of Capital Projects, as well as all Facilities Management, to track and record funding and expenditures for all University construction projects. In the near term, the manager will assist with the redesign and update of the Unit’s operating model, to include team staffing requirements and resource deployment. Additional information on responsibilities is available at https://jobs.umd.edu.

REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE: The candidate should have a bachelor’s degree, with four years of functionally relevant, and progressively responsible, leadership in a complex organization.

University setting is a plus. The ability to interact with all levels of campus administrators and external personnel, while working collaboratively in a decentralized environment is critical. The candidate should show a history of “rolling up sleeves” to get the job done. Effective communication, both orally and in writing, with a level of style, grammar, organization, and technical construction expected at a management level in a major research university is expected. CPA Certificate and experience with public-private partnerships are strongly preferred.

FOR BEST CONSIDERATION, apply on line at https://jobs.umd.edu by July 31, 2011.

AA/EEO Employer.

Faculty Position Available in Biomaterials Engineering - Cornell University Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, is an inclusive, dynamic, and innovative Ivy League university and New York's land-grant institution. Its staff, faculty, and students impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas and best practices to further the university's mission of teaching, research, and outreach.

Position: Assistant Professor: Biomaterials Engineering. Tenure Track.

Location: Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Responsibilities: This biological engineering tenure-track position requires a balanced effort between research (50%) and teaching (50%) on an academic year basis. The successful candidate is expected to develop a nationally recognized research program and become a leader in the field of biomaterials engineering. The department seeks a distinguished and productive junior scholar who shares our passion for outstanding teaching and advising in the context of a leading research university with a top-ranked, accredited undergraduate biological engineering program.

The ideal candidate will work in the area of biomaterials engineering with a focus on biologicallyderived materials with broad applications in biological, environmental, agricultural or food systems.

Innovative research may be focused at the nanoscale, molecular, cellular or organism level. Examples of possible research emphases include the following areas: bio-derived and bio-inspired materials and biomaterials engineering based on self-assembly, biomolecular engineering, and nanobiotechnology. We are looking for candidates who would excel in the multidisciplinary research environment which is a hallmark of Cornell University.

The successful candidate will also support the teaching of core courses at the undergraduate and graduate level .

Qualifications: • A Ph.D. in an appropriate discipline is required with demonstrated capability and success in developing research and teaching programs at the interface of engineering and biological sciences.

• A strong background in engineering and biology is required and an engineering degree is preferred.

• Continuing with an already strong record of success, the department especially encourages women and underrepresented minorities to apply for this position.

Application: Submit online at: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/721 Reply by: Applications will be reviewed starting August 15, 2011 and will be accepted until this position is filled.

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Developing Leaders. Improving Lives. Shaping the Future.

HISPANIC

OUTLOOK

•

SCCC seeks a distinguished scholar and an experienced administrator to serve as Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. The successful candidate will report to the President of the College, and will be responsible for all academic, campus, student affairs and workforce development programs and services. The successful candidate will lead, through the Associate Vice Presidents, the development of college policy on academic affairs, student affairs, continuing education and workforce development. The Vice President for Academic and Student affairs will be an advocate for the vital role of academic leadership at SCCC and acts as chief executive officer of the College, when so designated, in the absence of the President.

For the full Position Profile, please go to http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Administration/ HumanResources/employment.asp?id=428

Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs

SCCC seeks highly qualified candidates for the role of Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. The successful candidate will be an experienced administrator who will foster collaboration among disciplines and work with faculty and academic administrators both at the campus level and collegewide. The Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs reports to the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs and among other duties is responsible for working with the faculty on the development of academic programs, supervising associate deans and leading the coordination of disciplines across the institution.

For the full Position Profile, please go to http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Administration/ HumanResources/employment.asp?id=433

Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs

For additional information, nominations or confidential inquiries, please contact Dr. Narcisa Polonio, ACCT Vice President for Education, Research and Board Leadership Services at npolonio@acct.org, 202-276-1983 or John Steinecke, ACCT Search Services Specialist at jsteinecke@acct.org or 202-384-6539.

A link to each position can be found at www.acctsearches.org/vice-presidentprovost

Cornell University is an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer and educator.

30

Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) is an outstanding multi-campus community college with an excellent reputation for high quality instruction, programs and services. The College is the largest community college in New York State and educates over 26,000 credit students and 10,000 non-credit and workforce training students on its three campuses Ammerman (Selden, NY), Eastern (Riverhead, NY), and Michael J. Grant (Brentwood, NY), as well as the Sayville Center and the Riverhead Culinary Arts and Hospitality Center. There are 493 full-time faculty and 1,458 adjunct faculty teaching 71 degree and certificate programs. Suffolk County is the largest suburban county in the State of New York, with a population of over 1.5 million people. The attractive county includes rural and suburban communities. For more information visit the College web site at www.sunysuffolk.edu.

07/11/2011

Samuel Merritt University, founded in 1909 and located in Oakland, California, educates health science practitioners to be highly skilled and compassionate professionals making a positive difference in diverse communities. Over 1,400 students are enrolled at SMU, with campuses in Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Mateo.

The University offers an undergraduate degree in nursing; master’s degrees in a variety of nursing fields, occupational therapy, and physician assistant; and doctoral degrees in physical therapy and podiatric medicine. For more information visit the SMU website:

www.samuelmerritt.edu

Persons of color are encouraged to apply.

Samuel Merritt University is an Equal Opportunity Employer

BILINGUAL BILINGU AL ONLINE E ADJUNC ADJUNCTS TS NEEDED Liberty Univ Liberty University ersity en Español añoll is look looking ing ffor or a bilingual al adjunc adjunctt pr professor offessor tto o tteach each ach under undergraduate graduate gener general a al education students.

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07/11/2011

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HISPANIC

OUTLOOK

31

P.O. Box 68 Paramus, NJ 07652-0068 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

P ri min g the Pump. ..

HANDLING REJECTION POSITIVELY A STRENGTH FOR LATINO STUDENTS

Miquela Rivera, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with years of clinical, early childhood and consultative experience. She lives in Albuquerque, N.M.

Despite the rejection, and in violation of all the rules, I came back year after year. – Joseph Barbera, American Animator, Director and Producer

One

could assume that Latino students – often considered “underprivileged” – would be good at handling rejection because it might be all too familiar to them.

If that were the case, Hispanic academic achievement rates would most likely be higher; and dropout rates, lower.

Whether it is being jilted by one’s first love, getting passed over for an athletic team or dramatic role in a school play, losing a coveted academic prize or being excluded by the mean girls in middle school, rejection hurts. Excessive criticism of academic assignments without full explanation or support by the instructor can feel like rejection for a Hispanic student, too, especially if the student judges the content area by whether or not he likes the instructor.

While rejection seems inevitable in life, we can help young Hispanic students learn that handling it is a matter of choice, training and experience.

Every time people are rejected, they experience the cycle of grief – the shock, denial, anger and depression that, in a healthy situation, ultimately results in higher functioning as the cycle is completed. There are ways we can teach Latino students how to resolve that grief positively, for their own benefit.

First, the Hispanic student’s feelings about rejection should be taken seriously. A parent or teacher telling the student that the rejection “was nothing” or minimizing it in other ways is actually promoting another rejection. Instead, acknowledge and validate the student’s feelings of disappointment, loss, sadness, shame, guilt or worry. After those feelings are acknowledged, the student will be more ready to move beyond them and objectively consider what actually happened.

Hispanics (and women in general) more often take rejection personally, assuming it is about them and because of them. The Hispanic student, then, would benefit by learning to objectively ask herself if the rejection is personal or not. If, in fact, she was turned away because of poor performance, questionable behavior or some other valid factor,

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then she can determine what to change in the future. If, however, she was rejected by people who do not really know her for reasons not understood, chances are the rejection was not about her, and she need not take it personally.

Latino students can also learn to handle rejection by finding something good in the process, as difficult or unrealistic as it might seem. An effort that results in rejection might be viewed as preparation for a future attempt, and an allotment of more time to further develop skills while waiting for the next opportunity. Whatever is learned from the rejection can be used to one’s advantage in the future, if the lessons are deciphered in a helpful way.

While goal setting is important and should be encouraged among Latino students, it is also important to help them learn to handle rejection by learning to let go of the outcome. Aiming for a goal and keeping the desired end in mind is crucial, but rigidly adhering to only one possible outcome might be unduly limiting. Letting go of the outcome and being open to other options is important to healing after rejection. Just ask anyone who has been jilted romantically, only to find a kinder, better-suited partner later.

Finally, Latino students need to remember that rejection might be devastating, but personal power lies in the choices they make after it happens.

Supporting their choices and continued efforts might prevent Hispanic students from walking away indifferently, exploding with rage or imploding with self-blame. Simply keep trying, altering your course if necessary.

Those teaching, raising and supporting Latino students who are preparing for higher education also experience rejection – sometimes more often than we would like to admit. Whether your cooking is rated as “interesting” (code for “don’t make this again”), your manuscripts require multiple revisions and submissions before acceptance, or your dog chooses to lie on her pillow instead of giving you the comfort you expect after a tough day, take heart. The word “rejected” texted on an old cellular flip phone using the auto-correct feature is initially displayed as “selected.” After hearing “no” enough, “yes” is bound to come.

These articles appeared online only in the 07/11/11 Issue

TARGETING HIGHER EDUCATION

Immigrants:

A Boon to Economic

T

Success?

by Gustavo A. Mellander

his month, July 2011, commemorates yet another year of independence for this country. In 1776, a motley and hugely underpopulated land mass was waiting to define its destiny. It would, on the strength of wave after wave of immigrants.

There was a time when the nation bragged proudly that the United States was “a country of immigrants.” But that was late in coming. Before that, there was a lot of discrimination against every single immigrant group that came to our shores. Some was based on old national-origin bias against the Irish, the Italians, the Swedes, etc.

Interspersed was religious discrimination. Catholics and Jews were not welcomed in many WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) communities.

Oh, they might serve as servants, one of their few accepted functions.

But that veritable immigrant flood kept growing, surging to millions on end. Why? Because America held greater promise for them and their children than their native lands.

Most immigrants fled religious discrimination, political oppression and flaccid economic opportunities. Those have been the historic reasons for immigration since the settlement of the colonies.

For some, the trip was relatively easy at the beginning, although many coming from Europe found the trans-Atlantic voyage to be gruesome. Some died on the way over, others carried the effects of that voyage all the days of their “x” numbers of years, usually seven, to pay for their passage. Even those who could afford to pay soon found that the streets of the New World were not paved with gold. Instead they found low wages, backbreaking work and cruel discrimination.

In spite of these setbacks, virtually all of them felt they were better off in America.

Most of them stayed. Yet not an insignificant number returned home.

They worked hard, saved all they could and then returned with enough money to secure a better life than they had before. That return trip and reestablishment syndrome was particularly evident among the Italians.

But the majority of immigrants never returned, not even to visit. It led to the creation of plaintive, emotional songs written in America about their yearned-for homeland. We have all heard Irish, Italian and German songs of that genre.

They provided the labor for the immense expansion westward. Later, day laborers from Asia pushed eastward to build the great railroads that united the county. Others made their contributions in our cities, on our farms and factories.

Many are surprised to learn that there were no or very few immigration policies or restrictions until the 1880s. If you could get over here and if you did not have an infectious disease, you could in all likelihood stay.

Such was the need, the hunger for labor.

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“Illegal aliens” or “undocumented immigrants” simply did not exist in the national lexicon. Present-day Canada mimics America’s free immigration era.

There wasn’t any assistance either for the newly arrived. In short, every immigrant group had to earn its right to succeed; it had to pay its dues.

Many talented immigrants brought their professions. Others learned the ones that were needed in a developing country.

Hispanics are the most recent wave. It began in earnest after World War II. It was led by Puerto Ricans, who had been citizens since the early part of the 20th century, so their circumstances were quite different.

Others had to contend with restrictive immigration regulations. There were laws that discriminated against Asian and Southern European countries for decades on end. It was easier to immigrate if you were British or from Northern Europe. Those discriminatory laws were washed away by the mid-20th century.

The great foreign-born Hispanic flood exploded in the latter part of that century. The movement was unprecedented in the history of the Western Hemisphere, if not the world. Discrimination crept in. But the hunger for cheap labor, growing prosperity in America versus the urgent financial needs of hundreds of thousands, and political repression in their homelands fueled an ever-growing trek to the United States.

As long as there were jobs for all, society looked the other way as millions slipped across our borders, landed in our cities and integrated into the American fabric.

But that casual attitude faded whenever economic constraints gripped the nation. Mumblings about “illegal immigrants” taking jobs away from Americans grew.

Given the severe financial problems here since 2008, migration has abated. Fewer have come, and thousands have returned home. The thorny political issue of undocumented workers and the failure of both political parties to solve the problem has led to new anti-immigrant canards – one being that immigrants are the cause of high unemployment and low wages among native minority workers.

However, solid research clearly indicates that immigration is not the cause

of dismal employment realities among American minorities. For instance, cities experiencing the highest levels of immigration tend to have relatively low or average unemployment rates for African-Americans. This should come as no surprise; immigrants go where the jobs are more plentiful. The grim job market that confronts many native minority workers is the product of numerous economic and social factors, not the province of more immigrants.

Among the reasons we can list – the decline of factory employment, the deindustrialization of inner cities, racial discrimination and hardcore dismal educational opportunities. The introduction of more immigrants plays a very small role in the diminishment of economic opportunities for the native born.

The immigrant role and contribution is generally positive. Why? Because immigrants are consumers and contributors. They buy local products, rent apartments/houses and contribute to the local economy.

Also, a high percent of Hispanic immigrants are entrepreneurs. They help create jobs and have actually given a slight boost to the wages of the vast majority of native-born workers.

Agreed, some unscrupulous employers have exploited undocumented immigrants. The effect has been to the detriment of wages and working conditions for both native-born workers and legal immigrants. But the most practical solution to this problem is an earned legalization program for undocumented immigrants and stronger worksite enforcement of wage and labor laws.

Let’s look at the issue rationally. If immigrants took jobs away from large numbers of minority workers, one would expect to find higher minority unemployment rates in those parts of the country that harbor a large number of immigrants.

Yet the 2009 American Community Survey, as analyzed for the Immigration Policy Center, indicates that there is no correlation between the size of the foreign-born population and the African-American unemployment rate in U.S. metropolitan areas. Interesting and perhaps even counterintuitive, but true.

Further, African-American unemployment rates in many low-immigration cities are far higher than in many high-immigration cities. For instance, immigrants were 17.6 percent of the population of Miami in 2009, but only 3.1 percent of the population in Toledo. Yet the unemployment rate for African-Americans in Toledo (30.1 percent) was much higher than that of African-Americans in Miami (17.6 percent).

So the widespread belief among many Blacks and others that Hispanic immigration translates into fewer opportunities for them just isn’t true.

According to Yale University economist Gerald D. Jaynes, the impact on less-educated native-born workers of competition from immigrant workers “is swamped by a constellation of other factors (such as declining factory jobs and other blue-collar employment).”

Professor Manuel Pastor of the University of California-Santa Cruz has written that “in the policymaking process, the small size of immigration’s impact on the labor market must be kept in perspective.” There are many other, far more significant factors that contribute to unemployment and low wages, among African-American men in particular. They include “the rising level of skill requirements of jobs, racial discrimination and spatial mismatch between the location of employment opportunities and residential locations of many Blacks.”

The most recent economic research also indicates that immigration produces a slight increase in wages for the majority of native-born workers. That sounds odd but is manifested in two ways.

First, immigrants and natives tend to have different levels of education, work in different occupations and have developed different skills. The jobs that immigrants and natives perform are frequently interdependent. This

increases the productivity of natives, which increases their wages.

Second, the availability of immigrant workers to the labor force stimulates investment. That is because new restaurants, stores and other establishments are created, and new homes are built, etc. The demand for labor increases, which exerts upward pressure on wages.

However, we have to keep this in perspective: the wage increase that native-born workers receive as a result of immigration is very small.

Nonetheless, it is an increase, not a decrease.

To be specific, a 2010 report from the Economic Policy Institute estimated that, from 1994 to 2007, immigration increased the wages of nativeborn workers by 0.4 percent. The impact of recent immigration on nativeborn wages varied slightly by the race, educational attainment and gender of the worker.

Supporting Data • Native-born African-Americans experienced an average wage increase of 0.4 percent, nearly the same as the 0.5 percent increase among nativeborn Whites.

• College graduates saw a wage increase of 0.4 percent; workers with some college, 0.7 percent; high school graduates, 0.3 percent; and workers without a high school diploma, 0.3 percent.

• Native-born men with only a high school education or less experienced a 0.2 percent wage decline, while native-born women with the same level of education saw an increase of 1.1 percent.

• Interestingly, only foreign-born workers experienced significant wage declines as a result of new immigration.

These data are revealing and belie the general belief that immigrants hurt native-born workers and dramatically so. Gerald D. Jaynes concluded that “the best statistical studies of the effects of immigration on the wages and employment of the native-born conclude that such effects are relatively small – and in any event, secondary to other causes of low wages and unemployment.”

Surprisingly, no matter how we approach the data, results showed either no effects or very modest effects for the least-educated Black men.

Further, it was revealed that if native-born and non-native-born work in the same occupation or industry, or even the same business, they usually specialize in different tasks, with native-born workers taking higher-paid jobs that require better English-language skills than many immigrant workers possess. In other words, immigrants and native-born workers usually complement each other rather than compete.

Bottom Line Immigrants create jobs as consumers and entrepreneurs. Immigrant workers spend their wages in U.S. businesses – buying food, clothes, appliances, cars, etc. Businesses respond to the presence of these new workers and consumers by investing in new restaurants, stores and production facilities.

Further, immigrants are 30 percent more likely than the native-born to start their own business. The end result is more jobs for more workers.

So immigrants expand the U.S. economy’s productive capacity, stimulate investment and promote specialization that in the long run boosts productivity.

There is no evidence that these effects take place at the expense of jobs for workers born in the United States.

Did you ever?

Dr. Mellander was a college president for 20 years and more recently a graduate dean at George Mason University.

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What Does It Take to Earn Tenure?

REPORTS

N

by Marilyn Gilroy

ewly hired faculty members who chase the brass ring of tenure often feel it is a moving target. Although most agree they are fortunate to be hired on a tenure-track line, they also know the road to actually achieving tenure can be a grueling one in which the rules of the game keep changing.

Even worse, many junior faculty members fear that the actual tenure decision will rest on unwritten criteria and standards that exist outside the official guidelines. All in all, it is a process of high anxiety for those trying to meet tenure requirements while getting conflicting

ments as institutional needs change.”

For faculty denied tenure, the loss of a job means the prospect of conducting a job search in a climate where they are viewed as “a cast-off from another institution,” says Rothgeb.

The Variables of Tenure What does it take to earn tenure? Do colleges and universities adhere to common standards and procedures for tenure review?

The answers to those questions are not definitive. While it is true that most institutions evaluate faculty members for tenure based on some com-

“Any institution can create confusion and ambiguity about tenure procedures when they want to,” he said. “But that’s all the more reason why we need to study it systematically.”

Although teaching excellence is still the preeminent credential for tenure at bachelor’s and master’s degree-granting institutions, the pressure to publish is real. In fact, some faculty scoff at the notion that tenure is about good teaching.

They say that colleges might publicly give lip service to teaching, but insiders know research is just as important. Rothgeb says there is some truth to that point of view because, in reality,

General Standards and Procedures Used When Evaluating Tenure Standard

Bachelor’s Master’s

Doctoral

External evaluation letters are required

39%

51%

84%

More than five letters are required

10%

15%

52%

Collegiality is an important factor

63%

62%

31%

Department standards guide tenure votes

52%

77%

89%

Research is the most important factor

6%

21%

76%

Teaching is the most important factor

48%

24%

3%

Teaching and research are equal

20%

37%

16%

Teaching, research, and service are equal

16%

17%

3%

Source: Rothgeb, J. and Burger, B. (2009) Tenures Standards in Political Science Departments: Results from a Survey of Department Chairs. signals from colleagues and administrators.

Dr. John Rothgeb, a political science professor at Miami University in Ohio who has studied tenure standards, says the tenure process is one of high stakes for both faculty members and the institution.

“For colleges and universities that grant tenure, there are potential financial commitments that can stretch for decades,” said Rothgeb in his 2009 article on tenure standards.

“It could lead to a loss of flexibility needed to shift faculty in and out of programs and depart-

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bination of research, teaching effectiveness and service, those standards can vary according to the highest degree offered at the specific institution.

“The emphasis on research remains dominant at doctoral-granting universities,” said Rothgeb, who surveyed tenure standards in 1,200 political science departments at four-year colleges. He became interested in the tenure process because of a perceived lack of clarity and consistency, which can be especially frustrating to new hires trying to cope with the rigorous demands of tenure review.

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individuals who do not publish probably will not get tenure at four-year colleges. In general, research on tenure shows that when it comes to publishing, more is better.

“For the most part, candidates should publish as much as they can,” he said.

As evidence of the pressure, the latest Higher Education Research Institute survey reported that more than 80 percent of those in tenure-track positions said that research and publishing demands were a source of stress in the last two years.

In some cases, publishing trumps teaching

effectiveness. Rothgeb’s findings indicate that when it comes to awarding tenure, superior research can compensate for mediocre teaching at 55 percent of Ph.D.- granting universities.

Perhaps the most worrisome standard in the quest for tenure is the category of collegiality.

According to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), most colleges do not list collegiality as a distinct criterion for tenure, but guidelines for service usually specify that candidates must work well with colleagues.

Collegiality can be hard to define and is often dismissed as trivial because it is confused with likeability or the feeling that someone “fits into” the department. However, others defend collegiality as important because it indicates a willingness to collaborate and contribute to the university as a whole. As with other standards, the importance of collegiality varies among types of institutions.

“We found that two-thirds of bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and two-thirds of master’s degree-granting colleges, but only one-third of Ph.D. institutions, judged a candidate on collegiality,” said Rothgeb.

Critics have said the category of collegiality is just a convenient way to get rid of colleagues who are controversial, thus making it a powerful weapon to be used against those who have politically unpopular views or speak their minds.

Saint Louis University, which counts collegiality in tenure reviews, defines it as meaning “to work constructively and professionally with colleagues in the department and across the college.” But the university’s main focus is on performance at the department level, and it requires each faculty member to make unique contributions to the mission of his or her department.

Written guidelines for tenure say that the primary emphasis is on teaching and advising, but scholarship is expected of all candidates.

Rothgeb says it is common for departments to hammer out specific standards that need to be met.

“For example, in the category of teaching, tenure candidates might be given extra points if they have contributed to curriculum development or created and taught new courses,” he said.

“In terms of service, the most positive effects are realized by those faculty members who have been active in student advising.”

But following department recommendations and receiving the endorsement of the department is not a guarantee of tenure.

Three years ago, Baylor University denied tenure to 40 percent of applicants, up from its average of 10 percent denials. Most of the rejected

The tenure application, itself, can be daunting, often consisting of more than 100 pages documenting proof of teaching excellence, research projects and committee work. candidates adhered to department guidelines and received the endorsement of their department and the universitywide faculty committee. However, the administration denied the applications, saying that department standards were not rigorous enough.

University officials indicated that candidates were judged on a different set of standards, reflecting Baylor’s desire to put more emphasis into research and become a top-tier university.

Although some of those cases were appealed and tenure was granted, the incident served as a textbook case on how tenure standards can change as candidates come to the finish line.

The question of clarity and consistency in tenure standards is not a new issue in academe.

AAUP has been calling attention to the problem for more than a decade, encouraging institutions to ensure that both the criteria and the process of tenure decisions are clearly delineated and uniformly applied. Research shows that lack of

clarity is often hardest on female and minority scholars, who have fewer insiders to provide them with clues about the process. In addition, women and minority faculty members who chose to examine gender, race and ethnicity issues have charged that their work is marginalized in tenure decisions because it is not considered “hardcore academic research.”

At California State University (CSU)-Fresno, the tenure process has been designed to eliminate issues by increasing fairness and decreasing stress on junior faculty. Ethelynda Harding, now a professor emerita of biology, says that tenure expectations are clear and explicit.

“My campus requires a probationary plan that is developed by the faculty member in concert with the department,” she said. “The probationary plan must be approved at all the levels involved in tenure decisions. The plan includes criteria for number and nature of publications,

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acceptable student ratings, and even collegiality, as long as it is appropriately defined.”

The university’s academic policy book contains very detailed instructions on the criteria for tenure as well as a sample probationary plan. It describes the role of faculty mentors who work with newer colleagues. Professor Jim Farrar, chair of the CSU-Fresno University Board on Retention and Tenure, says the process works.

“I think the system produces good results,” he said. “Most faculty who apply for tenure receive tenure. There are retention reviews for probationary faculty at years two and four if everything is going well and also in years three and five for people having difficulties meeting the standards.

Probationary faculty who are not meeting the standards generally find other positions and leave before the sixth-year tenure decision.”

Raising the Bar While CSU-Fresno seems to have an enviable model in place, it is not necessarily the same at other colleges. Sometimes tenure hopefuls are caught in a wave of institutional change or economic reversals that affect the tenure outcome.

When officials at the University of Texas-San Antonio announced the university had adopted the goal of becoming a premier research institution, the criteria for tenure clearly shifted to the new emphasis on research and scholarship.

According to published guidelines, faculty members must prove they are “active researchers, scholars and creative artists who engage in discovery and in exploring the nature of the world and the human condition in publications, exhibi-

tion, review, performance and presentation beyond the campus. In other words, projects should bring state or national recognition to the university. Those faculty members who might have been hired several years before the change and had hoped to work in a teaching-intensive position now face the prospect that their tenure application will be judged against the new emphasis on research.

Budget considerations and the changing nature of faculty composition also can force universities to examine tenure policies and make game-changing revisions.

Earlier this year, Brown University faculty voted to amend its tenure process by extending the probationary period to eight years from seven and requiring eight instead of five external letters of support. The changes were proposed after faculty and administrators took a hard look at the rate of tenured professors. Currently, 75 percent of tenurable faculty at Brown has tenure, and that number could go higher when the large cohort of junior faculty gradually hired since 2001 becomes eligible. As one administrator said, when a high percentage of faculty members are tenured, it limits the universities’ ability to recruit “new blood,” a reference to scholars with fresh ideas and energy to pursue new projects.

All of this adds to a degree of uncertainty for younger scholars who are overcommitted and overworked. Those who have written about the rigors of the pre-tenure years on blogs and websites describe 60-70 hour workweeks and the pressure to be a “super professor” in all categories.

The tenure application itself can be daunting,

often consisting of more than 100 pages documenting proof of teaching excellence, research projects and committee work. Faculty work hard to find something to give them an edge and boost their chances for tenure, such as applying for and winning a grant.

The good news is that, overall, most faculty members who apply for tenure receive it. Only 15 percent of bachelor’s degree-granting institutions and 26 percent of master’s degree-granting colleges in Rothgeb’s survey reported denying tenure to applicants.

“Tenure continues to have a relatively secure place in academia,” said Rothgeb.

However, the odds shift a little when examining research universities, in which 45 percent of those surveyed reported rejecting candidates for tenure.

And what about those faculty who thought they had done everything they were asked to do but did not receive tenure?

That question has intrigued Rothgeb, who is now conducting a study on reasons for denial of tenure. He is especially interested in those cases in which candidates were recommended by their departments but then were denied tenure at the college level.

“My current survey is looking at situations in which there was a reversal [denial] of tenure at the upper review level,” he said. “Although this is an area in which there is a lot of speculation, perhaps we discover what variables, if any, contribute to this decision.”

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Institute for Recruitment of Teachers Celebrates 20 Years of Helping Minorities If

by Jamaal Abdul-Alim you ask Natalia Ortiz what the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT) did to help prepare her for graduate school and the teaching profession, you would initially get a one-word answer: Everything.

But if you ask her to elaborate, Ortiz will make it clear that her experience at IRT is something that continues to guide what she does day to day as a founding teacher of the West Brooklyn Community High School, a school that serves overage, undercredited youths.

“IRT gave me the foundation of fundamental pedagogy, how to view my teaching, how important education is in terms of creating social change,” Ortiz said recently at a 20-year anniversary celebration of IRT at Phillips Academy, an elite boarding school in Andover, Mass., that houses the institute.

“It actually highlighted this notion of activism through the classroom and outside the classroom, the fundamental importance of building a community and cohort of people doing the same or similar things throughout the nation.”

The community to which Ortiz is referring is the growing number of educators who got started in their K-12 or postsecondary teaching careers through IRT. Founded just over two decades ago at Phillips Academy by longtime academy English instructor Kelly Wise, IRT is one of several initiatives on the landscape of American education that seek to increase the number of minorities in America’s classrooms.

But it is distinct in several ways, including the fact that it encourages its graduates to go on to graduate school before entering the classroom.

“One thing distinct about IRT is that students are encouraged to pursue an advanced degree and get trained before they enter the teacher corps,” said Asabe W. Poloma, director of IRT. “When we look at IRT along with other organi-

zations that are targeting this issue of teacher recruitment, particularly teachers of diverse backgrounds, that is perhaps one of the things we do uniquely.”

Thus far, 135 of the 1,400 students who’ve gone through IRT over the years have gone on to earn their doctoral degrees. About 200 more are currently working on their Ph.D.s. Overall, IRT’s alumni include 125 K-12 teachers, 95 school administrators, eight tenured faculty and 25 tenure-track faculty.

Among notable Hispanic IRT graduates is Steve Zrike, a widely heralded “turnaround principal” now chief area officer within the Chicago Public Schools.

Program leaders say the quality of the graduates of IRT reflects the care the institute gives to recruiting prospective teachers who are committed to the teaching profession, making the profession more diverse, and serving as agents of change, according to IRT founder Wise.

“The students we’re bringing into this program are not the run-of-the-mill kinds of students that for years just went into teaching because they didn’t know what they wanted to do and ended up teaching for a year or two,” Wise said during an interview after the 20-year anniversary celebration. “The students we are recruiting are in the upper 5 or 10 percent of their graduating class.

“They’re leaders on campus as well as very promising scholars. That makes a huge difference. It’s so important for American education to attract the brightest and most confident leader-scholars it can find. We will be doing that for a long time.”

Among those who say they benefited from IRT is Anthony Malagon, an adjunct lecturer at Queens College.

Malagon, who has completed all but his dissertation in philosophy, says IRT was key in helping him make the transition from under-

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graduate to graduate school.

He said the program gave him “a lot of guidance and pointers on the graduate school experience and they also helped me throughout the process of applying to universities, developing statements of purpose. They got all my materials together and sent them out for me. I don’t think I would have had the motivation to get all that together.”

As a result of IRT’s help, Malagon said he was able to apply to more than a dozen universities.

“I was able to apply to all of these universities that on my own I might not have even thought of,” Malagon said.

That is one of the major aims of IRT, according to Wise, who says the program encourages the students to apply to more selective schools than they thought they would have gotten into.

“Some never would have gone,” Wise said.

“Some would have gone to a less competitive or strong school.”

Wise says IRT has been criticized for mixing prospective K-12 teachers with prospective university instructors. But the criticism hasn’t fazed him.

“We’ve found that it’s very enhancing to get people who are seeking the Ph.D. together with people who want to teach high school, because there’s a lot in common that they can share and talk about,” Wise said. “All of our students are aware and all faculty are aware

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that right now the American educational system for elementary and secondary schools needs tremendous reform.

“What I’m very proud of is most of the students who pass through our program want change; they’re change agents. They don’t want to just sit on their hands and do the normal thing.”

IRT isn’t exactly on the radar screen when it comes to organizations that do teacher recruitment. While it has received some media attention, a check of archives at one leading educa-

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tion publication shows that it has never written even a paragraph about IRT. Officials at the National Council on Teacher Quality, a D.C.based nonpartisan research and policy group that advocates for reforms in order to increase the number of effective teachers, say they’ve never heard of IRT. “Granted it’s a small program,” concedes Wise, who says he rebuffed several universities’ offers to house the program on their campuses in order to retain control over how it operates.

“But I think it’s a perfect size for where it’s sited.

“If we can turn out 100 to 110 every year that are going into graduate studies and are going to be professors or principals or department chair for university or secondary or elementary school teachers, I’m more than happy.”

IRT is partially funded by Phillips Academy and partially funded by private donations. Its operating budget is $700,000 annually, and the institute is currently working on an endowment program.

Currently, the program serves approximately 100 prospective teachers per year. Of that number, 30 participate in a four-week summer workshop at Phillips Academy, and 70 are in an associate program that enables them to get mentoring where they are.

For those who go through the summer workshop, IRT underwrites the cost of GRE preparation courses for participants, as well as standardized tests, such as the SAT, required as part of the graduate school application. Participants

in the summer workshop also get a $1,2000 stipend, travel expenses and room and board.

Forty-one universities pay $1,000 to be members of an IRT consortium. As such, the universities waive graduate school application fees or program participants.

Among the consortium members is Duke University.

Alan Kendrick, assistant dean for graduate student development at Duke University, says one of the things Duke likes about IRT graduates is that “they are given a realistic version of the process of applying to graduate school.”

“That’s the first step,” Kendrick said. “It’s not just, ‘Here are these applications.’”

Kendrick says IRT is filling a crucial void by offering students of color and others from disadvantaged backgrounds the support they need to overcome the hurdles of graduate school, the first of which is the application process.

“By not going to IRT and kind of going it on your own, you don’t necessarily get the support of knowing it’s not just about applying to a bunch of schools, but you need to look specifically at programs,” Kendrick said. “It’s not so much about the school, but are they offering the

degree that you want? What kind of support are you going to be given? Especially for the Ph.D.s, because it’s a long process.”

Ortiz, who teaches history and government at West Brooklyn Community High School, says IRT helped her overcome the rigors of graduate school, as well as cope with the social isolation she sometimes felt as a minority at an Ivy League school.

“When I went to Harvard, I was the only Latino out of 60 people in my program,” Ortiz said. “For me, it was very difficult to get through that year.”

“Going to Harvard for me, seeing myself as the only representative of Latinas and Latinos, I knew this would happen,” she said of her difficulties at Harvard.

But leaders at IRT stressed the importance of keeping in touch with other members of her IRT cohort so that they could all see that their experience is not unique and they are not alone.

IRT also prepares students for the rigors of grad school by purposefully assigning a hefty amount of reading. Students generally praise the selection of the texts, such as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, because the texts

represent a more radical element that seeks to question the status quo.

At the same time, the reading assignments are so large that some students have remarked that at times they were ready to call it quits.

“I’ll say, ‘No, no, no,’” Wise said. “‘You’re halfway through this. You’re almost done. Stay in there. You’re going to be fine.’”

For Ortiz, the IRT experience has meant a stable career at West Brooklyn Community High School, a place where she has worked since she helped found the school back in 2006.

One of the things Ortiz says she tries to do in her post is build a sense of community with care and love. She organizes activities that range from holiday gift-wrapping to staff-student basketball games to career days.

“I can’t leave the school to go teach somewhere else,” Ortiz said of her commitment to West Brooklyn Community High School. “If I leave, it’s because I’m starting a new chapter in my life.”

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