02/27/2012 Women's Education - Women's Environment

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

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Esquina E ditorial

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elcome to our annual Women in Higher Education Issue, which recognizes Latinas in academia who are making a positive difference. And some of the many who do so after graduation.

Arizona got the year off to a scary start with enforcement of its law banning ethnic studies, passed in 2010. It’s reported that “officials” of the Tucson school district entered classrooms to gather up banned books with students looking on. Among those to be “removed” are works by well-known Mexican-American and Native American authors, and at least one, The Tempest, by noted rabblerouser William Shakespeare. The reason for The Tempest “removal” is the likelihood that it would engender classroom discussion of “colonization, enslavement and racism,” according to a quotation in the Wall Street Journal. Oh, and anyone teaching English who has a heavy accent has to lose it or get fired.

Former Mexican-American studies teacher Norma González is among those lodging a legal challenge to the law. She also launched a petition on Change.org.

Another former instructor of Mexican-American studies, Yolanda Sotelo, of Pueblo High School, reportedly asked what writers were acceptable and was told to teach British authors. Presumably the old and dead and male White ones.

An article last month by Tatiana Lam in “Broad Recognition,” a feminist publication at Yale, reminds us that in 2010, the Texas Board of Ed changed its history curriculum to delete lessons on figures such as suffragist Carrie Catt, César Chávez and “even a segment on Thomas Jefferson (because of his espousal of the separation of church and state).”

As February, which is Black History Month, comes to a close, let us lift a glass to the many activists of all colors and cultures who have devoted their lives – and sometimes lost their lives – to the pursuit of an equitable and just America. ¡Adelante!

Suzanne López-Isa Managing Editor

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Po lit i cal Beat

Spanish Aphorisms the Mexican Way

by Carlos D. Conde

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anguage is mankind’s greatest tool and asset. Can you imagine a world without human communication – where the form of speech and eloquence was thumping your chest and expressing yourself with growls and grunts like in a Mel Brooks movie?

They say that’s the way it was millions of years ago when cavemen roamed the earth in loincloths courting their sweeties with a club’s blow to the head.

The art of speech comes in many forms and styles, and eloquence is in the eyes of the beholder. There are about 5,000 languages spoken in the world today, a third in Africa.

The Indo-European language is the most common, spoken by onehalf of the world’s population, ranging from Hindi to the European languages and dialects descending from the nomads who roamed those continents.

Among these are the Romance languages, which include Spanish, whose origins are in the Iberian Peninsula. Today more than 500 million in the world speak Spanish, and a majority are in Mexico and Latin America where the locals adopted, or were coerced to learn, the lingua franca of the conquerors.

I love the Spanish language; its elegance, expressiveness and simplicity. I claim no special talent for

elocution or flair in its communication but, as a writer, I like the challenges of expression it offers and the satisfaction it brings in speaking and writing it well.

Which brings me to the raison d’être.

I am of Mexican heritage, and so I speak Spanish in the Mexican vernacular. More precise, I was born and raised on the TexasMexico border, so you could say I speak the Tex-Mex Spanish variety. ¡Esele bato!

I did postgrad in South America and spent a large part of my career there as a journalist and ex-pat, so I learned the various Spanish idioms known as la jerga, or the local jargon.

But it’s the Mexican Spanish that can stir the passions; some of it very colloquial and even profane or coarse, depending on the way you use it.

I was piqued by a New York Times article that centered on today’s Mexicans indulging more and more in local idioms that are close to being or are profane, and saying they have become part of the Mexican vernacular.

Mexicans don’t have an exclusive franchise on this rap.

Argentines, Venezuelans, Peruvians and Chileans can be just as bad.

Mexicans prided themselves as speaking, if not impeccable, at least proper Spanish – but they can also pull out the spicy language when it serves the purpose.

Like guey, a word I was using when still in short pants. Literally, it means an ass or donkey and is generally used to tell someone he’s stupid or coarse or both.

Eres un guey is derogatory, but orale guey can be used affectionately.

Friends use it on friends jocularly, or it can slip into a groseria, as a profane and insulting term.

Don’t take my word for it. The Times article said a Mexican polling firm, Consulta Mitofsky, asked 1,000 Mexicans 18 and older their use of groserias. They said they used an average of 20 or more bad words a day for all occasions.

A popular word in the Mexican lexicon is pinche, an indecorous term I learned early, notwithstanding my moral upbringing, and which I still use frequently, usually without malice. So it is with every other street language I know and which over the years has lost its sting or been watered down to ordinary slang.

Pinche has endless meanings from stingy to female privates to despicable to cursed or any other novel way – noun, pronoun or adjective – you can think of.

A labor organization at odds with President Felipe Calderón publicly called him a pinche ladron, so how bad can it be calling a politician a lowdown crook.

Tush, tush, said Mexico’s Nobel Prize author Octavio Paz, who long ago teed off at the downside of such language.

“The forbidden words boil up in us, just as our emotions boil up.

They are projectiles, knives. They cause wounds,” he wrote in The Labyrinth of Solitude.

Paz’s erudition on ethics notwithstanding, his views and admonitions have never set in. While etiquette may be ageless, this is the Age of Aquarius where nonconforming rebels and rebellion dominate the new social order. Words once offensive have become part of the lexicon even when some are blue.

If there is one word that is authentically Mexican and traces its origins to Mexico’s early history, it’s chinga.

It has countless meanings any way you want to use it – from

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praise to scorn to insult – and among Mexicans it can be a fighting word and a virtuous expression in the same sentence.

Folklore or history, chinga supposedly comes from the nickname of La Malinche, an Aztec princess whom Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés took as his mistress and aide-de-camp when he plundered Mexico.

What chinga originally meant is not exactly known, but every Mexican knows what it means today, and he can probably describe every part of his life and of others with that seemingly innocuous word.

I recall sitting in a Guadalajara tavern one lazy afternoon with some friends when the word game of chinga was started, with each one trying to outdo each other in its descriptive use.

It was endless.

El mas chingon, the leader; el chingamas, the boss; el chinga quedito, a pest; me lleva a la chingada, beats me; paso en chinga, he sped by; Dame esa chingadera, give me that; vale una chingada, he’s worthless; hubo chingasos, there was a fight; esta de la chingada, looks bad; vete a la chingada, get lost; hablar chingaderas, talk nonsense; se chingo, tough break.

Then there’s one word you never, ever want to utter to a Mexican because you have just bought yourself a knockdown, knockout brawl.

It’s chinga tu madre, and well, you get the meaning.

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® FEBRUARY 27, 2012

CONTENTS Latina Faculty Reshaping Higher Education

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by Susan Feinberg

Brava, Autoras! by Mary Ann Cooper

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Pursuing a Career in Communications

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by Stephanie Marie Guzmán

Scholarships for Latinas on the Rise

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by Marilyn Gilroy

Elsa Núñez – Charging Ahead at Eastern Connecticut by Jeff Simmons

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Latinas in the Professoriate by Michelle Adam

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Turning a Nearly Fatal Tragedy into an Opportunity

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by Frank DiMaria

Race to Nowhere:Tradeoff for the Fast-Track Student by Sylvia Mendoza

Online Articles Some of the above articles will also be available online; go to our website: www.HispanicOutlook.com.

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DEPARTMENTS Political Beat

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by Carlos D. Conde

Spanish Aphorisms the Mexican Way

Scholars’ Corner

by Ruth María López

Interesting Reads Book Review

by Mary Ann Cooper

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Latinas in the Workplace – An Emerging Leadership Force Page 25

Hi gh Sc ho ol For um

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Second-Generation Latinas vs. Third-Generation White Women by Mary Ann Cooper

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

Hispanics on the Move Priming the Pump...

by Miquela Rivera

Helping Latino Youth Set Achievable Goals Underscores the Need for Education

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Back Cover

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

Page 28 Cover photo, Women’s Education – Women’s Empowerment,

by Raúl Martínez, courtesy of HMS

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WOMEN/FACULTY

Latina Faculty Reshaping H

by Susan Feinberg

ispanic enrollment is surging at U.S. colleges and universities. From 2009 to 2010, the number of Hispanic college students in this country rose 24 percent, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hispanic women faculty members play a key role in helping these students recognize the full range of their academic and career possibilities and guiding institutions to broaden their understanding of their mission and methods.

These pioneering Latina professors around the country are making outstanding contributions in their fields as scholars, researchers, authors, and social activists and are reshaping higher education.

Christine Ortiz – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Christine Ortiz is the dean for graduate education and a professor of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As dean, and as an active scientist and researcher, her primary goal is to facilitate a transformative, holistic, rigorous, supportive and exciting educational experience for MIT graduate students. She hopes to empower them “to push the boundaries of their disci-

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plines ahead by generating new knowledge and understanding it in a broad context, establish lifelong mentors and colleagues, and develop self-confidence and important transferable skills such as communication, collaboration, tenacity and critical thinking.”

Ortiz obtained a BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MS and Ph.D. from Cornell University, all in the field of materials science and engineering. After graduation, she was granted an NSF-NATO postdoctoral fellowship, which she used to carry out research in the Department of Polymer Chemistry, University of Groningen, in the Netherlands.

Ortiz’s research program focuses on the ultrastructure and nanomechanics of structural biological materials (musculoskeletal and exoskeletal), with the primary goal being to quantify and understand new nanoscale mechanisms, phenomena and design principles and how they determine function, quality and pathology. She has more than 140 scientific publications in more than 20 academic journals, and has presented more than 120 invited lectures, many of them international.

Ortiz has received more than 20 national and international honors, including most recently the National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow Award. She was a Lady Davis Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, where she received the Hadassah Appreciation Medal. She was also awarded the MIT Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award; a recognition award for “Outstanding Alumni” by the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, and the National Science Foundation Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, presented to her by President George W. Bush at the White House.

Marietta Vázquez – Yale University Dr. Marietta Vázquez is an associate professor of pediatrics (general pediatrics) at Yale University. Her research interests include evaluating effectiveness of pediatric vaccines – varicella vaccine, Lyme vaccine, pneumococcal con-

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jugate vaccine, influenza vaccine and rotavirus vaccines; assessing the long-term outcomes of children infected with Lyme disease; and describing the clinical epidemiology of newly diagnosed respiratory infections in children. She is involved in research collaboration with University of West Indies, Jamaica, evaluating the seroepidemiology of newly discovered respiratory viruses in pediatric patients in Jamaica.

Vázquez earned a BA from Yale University and an MD from University of Puerto Rico. Prior to that, she served as a fellow at Yale University School of Medicine, Pediatric Infectious Diseases (1997-2000), and did her internship and residency at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, Pediatrics, from 1994 to 1997.

Vázquez was honored with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Minority Medical Faculty Development Award (2000-04); the May Gailani Junior Faculty Award, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University (2004-05); the Charles C. Shephard Science Award, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007); the Morris Y. Krosnick Award; and the Children’s Hospital of Yale-New Haven Residency Program Award (1997). She is board-certified in infectious disease and pediatrics.

Higher Education Clarissa Rojas – California State University-Long Beach

Dr. Clarissa Rojas, professor in the Chicano and Latino Studies Department at California State University-Long Beach, first encountered racism when she immigrated to Chula Vista, Calif., from Mexicali, Mexico, with her family. She was 12 at the time.

“I arrived at a junior high school yard just across the border in Chula Vista, Calif.,” she said. “It was there that I first came across a slew of racial epithets that classify Mexicans as an inferior class of citizens in the U.S. I struggled to make sense of this bitter homogenizing racial tactic and ran home to my mother asking her to explain what ‘we’ (Mexicans) were. She spoke of the complex histories, cultures and peoples that make up México and affirmed their gifts, their brilliance. It sparked a profound desire, born perhaps out of an interest in reclaiming my own humanity, to better understand the ways injustice maps itself onto the social landscape.

This inquiry has taken me to pursue ongoing study in ethnic studies, women’s studies, sociology and decoloniality.”

Prior to her current academic appointment,

Rojas taught for nine years in raza studies, ethnic studies, urban studies and sociology at San Francisco State University. She also served as a faculty member at the University of San Francisco and at University of California (UC)Davis. Rojas’ current research explores young Latinas’ experiences with and conceptualizations of multiple and intersecting manifestations of violence. Her transdisciplinary research and teaching interests include: violence; sex/gender/sexuality studies; race/racialities; Chican, Latin, Latin American, Zapatista, Transnational, Decolonizing/Post-Colonial, and women of color literatures.

Rojas co-edited Color of Violence: the INCITE Anthology. Her article “Fighting Violence Against Women and the Fourth World War” appears in The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: The NonProfit Industrial Complex, which was awarded the 2007 Gustav Myers Outstanding Award for Advancing Human Rights. She received her Ph.D. in medical sociology at UCSan Francisco. She holds an MA in ethnic studies from San Francisco State University and a BA in women’s studies and Chicano studies from UCSanta Cruz.

A long-term community activist and organizer, Rojas’ community work has focused on resisting and transforming violence against and within raza and communities of color. She has been invited to speak throughout the United States and internationally, and co-founded INCITE: Women of Color Against Violence.

Iraida Carrión – University of South Florida Dr. Iraida Carrión is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at University of South Florida’s College of Behavioral and Community Sciences. She first perceived the needs of the poor while living in housing projects in the South Bronx in New York City.

“As a clinical social worker, I have been committed to serve oppressed and underserved communities,” she said. “As a researcher and educator, I now have the privilege of conducting collaborative scholarly research which impacts policymaking in elimi-

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nating health disparities among Latinos living in the United States. My goal is to instill my passion, commitment and determination in social work students so that they too may impact the world. Due to the foundation laid before me by other Latinos, I now have the opportunity to influence and provide leadership for the next generation of scholars.”

Carrión’s research focuses on issues of aging and health disparities among Latinos, with areas of concentration including end-of-life care, palliative care communities and health care decision preferences of patients with an end-stage cancer diagnosis. She is currently collaborating with colleagues at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, the Department of Aging and Mental Health Disparities, and in the Department of Anthropology.

Carrión received a BSW and MSW in the School of Social Work at Adelphi University, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in applied anthropology at the University of South Florida. Among her many awards and accolades, she was named Educator of the Year 2011 by the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. And received the 2008 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Connections Emerging Scholars Second Annual Symposium Award.

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Maribel Vázquez – City College of New York

Dr. Maribel Vázquez is a founding member of the City College of New York (CCNY) Department of Biomedical Engineering, established in 2002.

Her research focuses on the usage of microfluidics and nanotechnology to examine the migration of cells in the nervous system. She has received numerous federal funding awards from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

Vázquez received a Doctor of Science and Master of Science in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. She worked in industry as a mechanical engineer for Intel Corporation for several years, and completed internships with NASA research centers as an undergraduate. Vázquez has published numerous articles in journals such as Analytical Chemistry, Nanomedicine, the Journal of Nanobiotechnology, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, and the Journal of BioMechanical Engineering. She has presented several invited seminars to audiences in universities such as Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania State, City University of New York and State University of New York campuses, as well as to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the New York Academy of Sciences.

A native New Yorker, Vázquez was raised in Washington Heights by a family of immigrants from the Dominican Republic.

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Agnes Lugo-Ortiz – University of Chicago Dr. Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, assistant professor of Latin American literature at University of Chicago, is a specialist in 19th-century Latin American literature, and in 19th- and 20th-century Caribbean cultural history. Her work focuses on questions concerning the relationships between cultural production and the formation of modern sociopolitical identities. These are the subjects of her book Identidades imaginadas: Biografía y nacionalidad en el horizonte de la guerra (Cuba 1860-1898) and of her current book-length project “Riddles of Modern Identity: Biography and Visual Portraiture in Slaveholding Cuba (1760-1886).”

She also is the author of numerous essays that address the interconnections between queer sexualities, gender and anti-colonial politics in 20th-century Puerto Rico. Since 1994, she has been on the advisory board of the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, and is co-editor of Herencia, The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States, En otra voz. Antología de la literatura hispana de los Estados Unidos, and Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage, vol. V. Lugo-Ortiz earned a BA from University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and an MA and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. She received the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for Minority Scholars and the Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. Prior to her appointment at University of Chicago, Lugo-Ortiz taught at Northwestern University and Dartmouth College.

Norma Cantú – University of Texas-Austin

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Dr. Norma Cantú brings exceptional practical and policymaking experience to her new joint appointment in the Education and Law Schools at University of Texas-Austin. Cantú was influenced early in her life by the words of Barbara C. Jordan: “Let each person do her part.” She discovered the part she would play when she attended an underfunded, overcrowded high school in South Texas in which 5,000 students were crammed into a building designed for 1,500.

“Despite the dropout rates for MexicanAmericans exceeding 50 percent, my dream as a teenager was to earn a graduate degree so I could work in an air-conditioned court room, not in an overflowing, humid, poorly maintained classroom,” said Cantú. “With my law degree in hand, I advocated for minority and low-income students in offices which included the courts, classrooms, congressional hearing rooms, and parts of the West Wing of the White House. My part, it appears, included advocating for equitable and adequate funding for students in schools and colleges. Today I am honored to serve as a role model for lawyers, teachers and administrators.”

For eight years, Cantú was assistant secretary of education for civil rights in the Clinton administration, where she oversaw a staff of approximately 850, implementing governmental policy for civil rights in American education. Within the first two years, her office increased the number of illegal discrimination complaints resolved by 20 percent; more than a third of the cases were disposed of without adversarial proceedings based on voluntary corrective action. By her final year in office, the number of cases resolved each year had risen almost another 20 percent.

Prior to her service as the nation’s chief civil rights enforcer in the education arena, Cantú worked for 14 years as regional counsel and education director of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In that capacity, she litigated scores of important cases affecting educational funding, disability rights, student disciplinary policies, access to special services for English-language learners, and racially hostile environments.

Cantú graduated from the University of TexasPan American at age 19, taught high school English, and then enrolled at Harvard Law School, where she graduated at the age of 22.

Her areas of specialization include education law and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Virginia Domínguez – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign A native of Cuba, Dr. Virginia R. Domínguez is professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is immediate past editor of the American Ethnologist and the forthcoming president of the American Anthropological Association. Domínguez is also co-founder and now consulting director of the International Forum for U.S. Studies. Domínguez earned a Ph.D. at Yale University in social anthropology. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois, she taught at Duke University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of California-Santa Cruz, Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, and the University of Iowa.

Domínguez has served as a consultant to the National Faculty of the Arts and Sciences, the Ford Foundation, the Office for Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Kettering Foundation. Grants she has received include the

Rockefeller Foundation grant to extend the work of the International Forum for U.S. Studies to specific collaborations with Latin American specialists in the U.S., 2001-04; and University of Iowa Arts and Humanities Initiative Competition grant for a project titled “Comparative U.S. Studies: Cuba, Russia, and the United States” in 1999. She was co-recipient of the Reciprocal American Studies section of the three-year Ford Foundation’s Crossing Borders grant to the University of Iowa in 1999.

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Brava, Autoras!

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by Mary Ann Cooper

celebration of Latinas would be complete without a nod to Latina authors. In this issue devoted to Hispanic women, we acknowledge the achievements of five notable Latina writers. Their cultural backgrounds are diverse. Two were born in Cuba; one, in Puerto Rico; one, in New York City; and another, in Texas, but their common bond is their passion for writing and their ability to inspire future generations of literary Latinas.

Alma Flor Ada “Books were wonderful companions and I found myself many times marveling at finding similarities between the people around me and the characters in books. I never believed I would be a writer – although as a teenager I thought I would be a journalist – and became a teacher instead. But my love for words and books made it inevitable that I would become an author.

And what a joy it is!”

Born in Camagüey, Cuba, Alma Flor Ada grew up in a house with a rich history. Some of her neighbors even believed it to be haunted. It had been a place where revolutionaries plotted to oust Spain so Cuba could become independent. It also was a place where plantation owners and their slaves had coexisted. And for Ada, it was arguably the place where her passion for storytelling took root.

“Every evening my grandmother and I sat on the porch to wait for the sunset,” she explains on her website. “As we watched the bats come out from their den in the ceiling, and fly into the darkening sky, I listened to her stories of the struggle for freedom, equality and justice that had been carried on by people who lived in that same house, who perhaps had conspired on that same porch.”

Looking back on that time, Ada came to realize that children’s literature could cover important social topics if they were presented in an engaging and relevant manner. Her father was also a great storyteller who had the ability to tell true historical stories in a way that fascinated her. She spent much of her childhood closely observing nature. It is no surprise that many of her observations of birds, flowers and river life would be incorporated into the pages of her best-selling books, which promote her life’s advocacy for peace through personal realization and social justice.

The author of numerous children’s books of poetry, narrative, folklore, personal memoirs and nonfiction, her books have received prestigious awards; among many: Christopher Medal for The Gold Coin; Pura Belpré Medal for Under the Royal Palms; Parents’ Choice Honor for Dear Peter Rabbit; NCSS and CBC Notable Book for My Name is María Isabel; and Junior Library Guild for Tales Our Abuelitas Told. She is also the author of a book of memoirs, Vivir en dos idiomas, two novels for adults, En clave de sol and A pesar del amor, and several professional books for educators, including A Magical Encounter: Latino Children’s Literature in the

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Classroom, as well as a wealth of educational materials. She has received the American Education Research Association Hispanic Issues Award for Research in Elementary, Secondary and Postsecondary Education and the California Association for Bilingual Education Life Long Award.

A former Radcliffe Scholar at Harvard University and Fulbright Research Scholar, she is an internationally recognized speaker on issues of bilingualism and multicultural education as well as professor emerita at the University of San Francisco.

Julia Alvarez “When I’m asked what made me into a writer, I point to the watershed experience of coming to this country. Not understanding the language, I had to pay close attention to each word – great training for a writer. I also discovered the welcoming world of the imagination and books. There, I sunk my new roots.”

Although Julia Alvarez was born in New York City, she and her family moved back to her parents’ native country, the Dominican Republic. But under the dictatorship of Trujillo, she and her family had to flee that country in 1960 when the government began to crack down on the underground movement that her father joined. Four months later, the group’s founders, the Mirabal sisters, were murdered. That event later became the inspiration for Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies.

Fitting in at school was a challenge for Alvarez in grade school. She knew some English, but Spanish was her first language. But once she reached high school and college, she pursued a writing career with a vengeance, after completing a graduate program in creative writing.

“I was a driven soul,” Alvarez explains on her website. “I knew that I wanted to be a writer. But it was the late ’60s, early ’70s. Afro-American writers were just beginning to gain admission into the canon. Latino literature or writers were unheard of. Writing which focused on the lives of nonWhite, non mainstream characters was considered of ethnic interest only, the province of sociology. But I kept writing, knowing that this was what was in me to do.”

In order to finance her dream, she taught creative writing, first in high school, then in college and finally a tenure-track position at Middlebury College (Vt.). As an academic, she published her first novel, How the

García Girls Lost Their Accents, at the age of 41. The success of her novel allowed Julia the opportunity to become a full-time writer. She reluctantly gave up her tenured position at Middlebury, but was delighted to be offered the position of writer in residence there. That gave Alvarez, who had fallen in love with teaching as well, the best of both worlds for her – advising students, doing readings and giving the occasional lecture.

Alvarez’s writing takes the form of many different genres: writing poetry and children’s books and stories and novels and essays. She explains the eclectic nature of her work this way, “You go where your life takes you and the song comes out of that adventure.”

Her works include How The García Girls Lost Their Accents, picked

by NY Librarians as one of 21 classics for 21st century; Before We Were Free, awarded the 2002 Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP); and In the Time of the Butterflies, chosen as one of the Best Books for Young Adults, 1995, by the Young Adult Library Services Association and the American Library Association. One of her nonfiction efforts, Once Upon A Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA, also is autobiographical, about her own coming of age in the United States and on finding her voice as a woman and as an American writer.

Her personal achievements include being selected by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs as among the 15 most prominent Hispanic Americans in the arts contributing to the American cultural scene, as well as being named Latina Magazine’s Woman of the Year in 2000.

Lulu Delacre “I create my bilingual books out of love and the conviction that they are sorely needed, and I’ve seen them succeed. I’ve measured their success in the proud smiles of many Latino children as they join hands with their schoolmates and myself in the game song of “Arroz con Leche.”

When these Latino children feel their classmates’ enjoyment of their language and heritage, they feel acceptance.

They may even glimpse the value of retaining their parents’ traditions and tongue as they embrace new ones.”

Born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, Delacre was the middle child in a family of three daughters. Her parents were from Argentina. At the tender age of 5, she developed a passion for drawing, while staying at her grandmother’s house. She told Scholastic.com, “My grandma, Elena, was from Uruguay. She baby-sat my sister and me, in the second floor apartment of an old pink house, while my parents taught at the University of Puerto Rico. She would give me white sheets of paper on which I would draw as I lay on the floor of her bedroom and listened to the classical records she played. I don’t remember her ever throwing away one of my pictures. She kept them neatly piled in a corner of her closet.”

When she was 10 years old, her family moved to Argentina while her

father was on sabbatical. That’s where her formal art training began. She joined a painting class conducted by a friend of her mother. Years later, when she reached the Fine Arts department of the University of Puerto Rico, she knew she wanted a career in art. Later she was accepted into L’École Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques, in Paris, France. Her writing career was a natural progression and perfect complement to her drawings. She wanted to create books inspired by her Hispanic heritage, folklore and traditions that she was exposed to as a child.

Wearing two hats is not always easy, however. Delacre also noted to Scholastic.com, “Being an author-illustrator is the most challenging and rewarding work I’ve ever done. Striving to achieve a high standard in both text and art and being responsible for the whole project can be draining.

So with each new book, I eagerly await the point where I can finally witness the accomplishment of my goal: seeing the many parts come together as a cohesive whole.”

Her works include Arroz con leche, A Horn Book Fanfare Book; Carnaval!; Cuentos con Sazon, a Críticas Best Book of 2002; De oro y Esmeraldas; Golden Tales, A CCBC Choices Book and An Américas Commended Title; Las Navidades; and Nathan & Nicholas Alexander.

Cristina García “What I am attracted to, in terms of my own reading, and drawn to, in terms of my own writing, are stories that are part of a larger historical sweep. I’m hooked by stories that reverberate both ways, from the individual fictional characters out into the history and from the history back to and affecting, dislocating, and variously traumatizing or enhancing the lives of my characters. I think my writing may be a variation on the tradition, but I guess I never think of where my writing fits in with traditions or other writing while I am actually doing the writing.”

Cristina García was born in Cuba, and went into exile with her parents, a Guatemalan father and Cuban mother, when they fled the Castro regime and came to the United States. Although she was raised in New York City and her first language is English, García was raised with a strong affinity toward the land and language of her birthplace, and this has permeated her published works.

“I was lucky enough to grow up speaking Spanish at home,” she explains in her blog. “It wasn’t like I had a choice, at first. Although my mother had studied English back in Cuba, she could barely get around a supermarket or through a checkout stand without my help. Before I knew what the word meant, I was “code-switching”; translating meanings and nuances from one language to another. I took for granted the fact that I had double the number of words and double the amount of music for everything in the world. I didn’t know then what a privilege it was to be my mother’s tiny ambassador. At the time it felt more like a burden, something that made me stand apart from everyone around us.”

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Although her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College was in political science, a course she took in English literature spurred her interest in being a writer. However, she first pursued a career in journalism before making her foray into fiction. Although she excelled as a journalist having risen to the position of Miami bureau chief for Time magazine, she was drawn to writing fiction. Her first novel, Dreaming in Cuban, established her with readers and critics alike. This first effort was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Award. Her second novel, The Agüero Sisters, follows the lives of two sisters who experience great tragedy at a young age and come together as adults to sort out the awful truth about their parents’ lives and deaths.

Other works of García include Monkey Hunting and A Handbook to Luck. In 2009, García was hired as the Visiting Affiliate Professor and Black Mountain Institute Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where she was a visiting professor.

Thelma Reyna “Our society, and ultimately the international community, needs to hear the voices of all its people in matters of the heart and mind. Thus, America needs to hear its Latino voices on a grander scale than at present. Let’s educate ourselves regarding what these voices have said so far in history and what the current voices are expressing.

Let’s nurture in upcoming generations the ability and willingness to embellish through literary expression the rich tapestry of diversity that represents the true United States.”

Reyna was born and raised in Kingsville, Texas, as a fourth-generation American. She came from humble beginnings. Her parents were high school dropouts who married as teenagers and raised a family of nine children. She had no role models for education in her family. Her grandparents never went to school either. But Reyna credits her mother with provid-

ing her with a striking role model of what a strong, independent professional woman could be. Despite her mother’s lack of formal education, she improved her skills and served as an example to Thelma of the value of hard work.

“Though I didn’t fully realize it as I was growing up, because we had good times and bad times, my family was poor,” Reyna told Storiad.com, “especially when my parents divorced after 20 years of marriage, and my mother became a single mom. My father couldn’t afford to send her child support money, so she was our sole provider. She commuted about 100 miles a day to go to work. She was my first role model of a professional woman, a strong, independent, “workhorse” woman. She had a good government job and was a supervisor, but her paycheck had to cover the cost of raising nine kids, pay all the bills, etc. So we often did without.”

Reyna found that her career path ran through California, not Texas. She taught high school for 16 years in Pasadena before going into school administration. She received her Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of California-Los Angeles and an MA in administration from California State University-Los Angeles, where she became an adjunct professor. A truly renaissance woman, she also found her passion and her voice through her writing.

Reyna is author of The Heavens Weep for Us and Other Stories (2009: Outskirts Press), which has received four national honors: National 2010 “Best Books” Award (USA Book News), Finalist, Short Story Fiction; 2011 Eric Hoffer Award, Honorable Mention, Grand Prize Round, General Fiction; The Montaigne Medal 2011, Finalist; and 2011 National Indie Excellence Book Award, Finalist, Multicultural Fiction. Her stories, poems, essays, book reviews and other nonfiction have been published in literary and academic journals, textbooks, anthologies, blogs and in regional media for over 30 years. Her first poetry chapbook, Breath & Bone (2011), was a semifinalist in the 2010 National Poetry Chapbook Competition by Finishing Line Press. She writes for www.LatinoWritersToday.blogspot.com and www.TheLiterarySelf.blogspot.com and is a monthly guest blogger for www.PowerfulLatinas.com. She is an editor, ghost writer and writing consultant with her business, The Writing Pros, based in Pasadena, Calif. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she has also done her civic duty, as a city commissioner in Pasadena.

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Pursuing a Career in Communications WOMEN/CURRICULUM

W

by Stephanie Marie Guzmán

hen asked about their decision to emigrate from the Dominican Republic to the United States in the 1960s, my grandparents agreed that they wanted their children to have a chance at achieving the American Dream.

All of my grandparents’ sacrifices paid off, but the pressure was put on the next generation.

We were expected to go above and beyond; to grasp every opportunity and achieve much more than our parents did. I had no interest in disappointing anyone. I have allowed the experiences, opportunities and people who have come into my life to shape my interests. From these developed interests, I have organized my career ambitions, and now here I am. I’m a secondgeneration Dominican-American, ready to begin my career in the communications field.

Arriving to the conclusion that I would pursue a career in communications was not a realization that came easily. It wasn’t until I became a member of the speech and debate team at my alma mater, St. Joseph High School, that I paid attention to what I was good at and enjoyed.

Competing in weekly speech tournaments became a staple of my weekends. I enjoyed writing and delivering speeches. I once mentioned that I could see myself doing this for the rest of my life. Little did I know, I actually could.

I began researching the field of public relations and learned of all of the opportunities available to me. To test out my potential, I became a staff writer for my school newspaper and planned events for the student body. Not only did I excel in the tasks that came along with these projects, but also I enjoyed every moment of the long hours and attention to detail required.

By my senior year of high school, I’d convinced a small New York public relations firm to hire me as an intern. I went in a few hours after school and quickly moved up from researching media opportunities to pitching stories to reporters. My college applications went from undecided major to public relations.

Unfortunately, no one around me really knew much about this industry. I went on my own to research networking opportunities, and I found what I like to call my fairy godmother. Endless Web searches led me to a scholarship for young

women aspiring to a career in the communications field. I applied for and was honored to be a 2010 recipient of the New York Women in Communications Foundation scholarship.

As one perk of winning the scholarship, the young women are presented at the yearly MATRIX awards, which honors outstanding women in the communication field. That year, I met Oprah Winfrey, who was presenting an award to Gayle King, and Katie Couric, who presented an award to Anne Keating, among many others. From the stage, I was able to see editorsin-chief of my favorite magazines, the news anchors I admired, idolized columnists and heads of communication corporations.

Having all of these women who I looked up to applaud and congratulate me was monumental. I refer to this moment as the one that cemented my decision to follow a career in the field. This catapulted me into a web of astounding professional women who had jobs I only imagined ever achieving.

With the scholarship win, I also became a member of the organization, which puts together regular networking events. Through New York Women in Communications, I have found the most amazing opportunities. I have been led to volunteer for causes that helped me figure out my concentration within the vast world of communications. I understood the importance of staying active in New York Women in Communications and decided to go to school near the city. I attend the City College of New York, where I am completing a double major of political science and, of course, public relations.

Due to the manner in which the curriculum is structured at City College, I have only taken one course pertaining to communications, however, I have not passed up the opportunities to learn outside of the classroom. Through New York Women in Communications, I have acquired an internship at the public relations firm Kellen Communications and, as a result of another scholarship win in 2011, will be completing an internship at the Interpublic Group this summer.

I am only in my second year of university, but I already know where I would like my career to lead me. I am coupling my talents of communications and awareness of my country’s govern-

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ment and working toward a career as a campaign consultant. Working behind the scenes and with the public to assure that the right representatives are elected will be what drives me.

Not only will I be doing something I absolutely love but also remain engaged in the country that allowed my family to progress.

Hopefully, my hard work will see that we get a leader who will make it even more possible for sons and daughters of other grandparents to achieve their goals.

Stephanie Marie Guzmán, a second-generation Dominican-American, is a sophomore at the City College of New York where she is double majoring in political science and public relations.

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WOMEN/SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarships for Latinas on the Rise The

by Marilyn Gilroy number of special scholarships for Latinas keeps growing as more Hispanic women than ever seek higher education and professional training. Some of these earmarked scholarships are being offered by national corporations, such as Microsoft and Goldman Sachs, and are specific to Latinas seeking careers in science, technology or business.

But many scholarships are awarded by local or regional organizations that are making a dif-

support for select students, including mentoring from Goldman Sachs professionals.

When the program was announced, Goldman Sachs released a study showing Latinas as the fastest-growing group of minority entrepreneurs in the United States, making them a potential source for top talent. However, statistically it is more difficult for Latinas to pursue nontraditional fields of study, thus limiting their postgraduate career options. Research shows many Latinas

nities emerging. In fact, Latina scholarship candidates often have an advantage, especially those who have a passion for math, science or computers. Corporations are seeking to increase the presence of minority women working in these fields, a factor that gives leverage to strong Latina applicants. For example, Microsoft has a scholarship specifically for both minorities and females who want to study in various fields of science or technology. The program provides

Olga Talamante, executive director, Chicana/Latina Foundation

Eva Jiménez, president, Latina Leadership Network

Violeta Moser, LAWA’s executive director

ference in the lives of Latinas, hoping to expand their educational horizons. The financial awards give a much-needed helping hand to those who want to get started at a community college or who already are enrolled in a four-year school and are trying make it to the finish line.

The scholarship initiative from Goldman Sachs began two years ago when the company joined forces with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) to invest in the next generation of Latina business leaders and entrepreneurs. They created the 10,000 Women Business Leadership Award. The initiative provides comprehensive

feel isolated and lack solid role models.

The initiative provided for 20 Latinas to receive $10,000 toward their education. It is the first program managed by HSF that puts students on a targeted track while offering them the additional resources of Goldman Sachs. Awardees have included Latinas from Fordham University, Rutgers University, Baruch College and University of Texas-Austin.

Goldman Sachs is just one of the companies showing interest in supporting Latinas. Although scholarships for this subgroup of Hispanics have been limited in the past, there are new opportu-

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full and partial scholarships to undergraduates in an accredited four-year curriculum.

Many other national organizations fund scholarships for Hispanic students, both male and female, but some groups are designing scholarships specifically for Latinas because they face unique social, economic and cultural barriers to advancing their education. The majority of these scholarships are being distributed at the local level by small foundations and networks of professional Latinas who are determined to help the next generation of women.

More Scholarships, More Need As might be expected due to demographics, California has several organizations offering scholarships for Latinas. The Chicana/Latina Foundation (CLF) provides tuition assistance for students in 12 counties in Northern California.

Last year, the foundation awarded $1,500 scholarships to 41 Latinas enrolled in undergraduate or graduate institutions. The foundation continues to offer the same number of scholarships, but the number of applicants has increased dramatically because of the economy and the steep rise in tuition at all California public colleges.

“We received the highest number ever of applications, a 35 percent increase over the previous year,” said Olga Talamante, CLF executive director. “Our students are finding it increasingly difficult to afford a college education.”

Although applicants must have been area residents for two years, their backgrounds are varied and include those who have grown up in war-ravaged countries, such as Guatemala, before immigrating to the United States.

“Most of our students are low-income and the first generation to attend college,” said Talamante. “They work and attend school in order to finance their education as most of their parents are not in a position to assist them.”

Scholarship recipients attend the CLF Leadership Institute that prepares them to become “change agents.” The students discuss community issues but also get practice in public speaking, and attend sessions in financial literacy and job readiness.

Those lessons have paid off, with many past recipients achieving success and serving as an inspiration to others.

“We have past recipients like Dr. Adriana Ayala, who received her Ph.D. and now teaches at the National Hispanic University in San Jose,” said Talamante.

Women attending California community colleges also can apply for scholarships from the Latina Leadership Network (LLN). Every year, the organization awards 10 scholarships, worth $500 apiece, to women studying at the associate degree level.

LLN is more than a scholarship organization; for the past 25 years, it has advocated for the participation and advancement of Latinas as community college students, faculty, staff administrators and trustees. It has 600 members from all levels within community colleges and holds an annual leadership conference every March.

Eva Jiménez, LLN president, says the number of scholarship applicants has ranged from 90 to 140, and those numbers have been steadily increasing in the last five years.

“Financial barriers, such as the rise in unemployment and the increase in textbook costs and general fees, have added to the need and demand for more assistance via scholarships,” she said.

Among last year’s scholarship recipients were two Latina community college students who transferred to UCLA to study engineering and medicine.

In Arizona, the top Latina scholarship program is sponsored by the Hispanic Women’s Corporation (HWC). Last year, HWC and its corporate and community partners, including the foundations of Arizona State University, Maricopa Community College District, the University of Arizona and Pima Community College, awarded more than $328,000 to 52 Latina scholars. The awards went to students who are pursuing bachelor’s, master’s, Ph.D.s, and medical degrees.

The 2011 scholarships also included 10 high school students taking college-level coursework through various community colleges.

Monetary awards are based on grade point average, need, interest, volunteerism and dedication for applicants at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Awards range from $1,000 to $20,000 annually.

But the HWC Scholarship Program goes beyond tuition support. The program offers young Latinas advice, encouragement, peer contact with the colleges, role models, an alumni base and success stories to motivate students.

“The Hispanic Women’s Corporation has made a clear difference in the academic and professional lives of our students,” said Linda Mazon Gutiérrez, HWC president and CEO. Latina residents of Texas are eligible for scholarships through the Hispanic Women in Leadership (HWIL) organization, a service organization committed to promoting the advancement of Hispanics and women in education, professional interaction, leadership training and mentorship.

Founded in 1988, HWIL awards scholarships based on academic performance, leadership and economic need. Applicants must be a current high school senior within the Houston vicinity and/or adjoining counties or be a current student attending a college or vocational/technical school within the state of Texas. The organization has sponsored several successful fundraising campaigns, including a yearly golf tournament and annual gala, to collect funds for its scholarships.

The 2011 recipients were a diverse group of Latinas, with majors in criminal justice, accounting, diagnostic cardiovascular sonography and cosmetology.

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Supporting Older Latinas The goal of Latinas Unidas in Rochester, N.Y., is to provide encouragement and networking opportunities for Latinas. The organization describes itself as one that “unites Latina women from different segments of the Greater Rochester Community to promote the interests and concerns of their community.” As part of that mission, the group offers scholarships to help older women attend college, seeking out those who are not receiving education funding from traditional sources.

The scholarship awards support women who have entry-level work experience and who are seeking additional training to develop skills required for job advancement and financial independence.

Applicants must be Latina women, age 25 and over, who are trying to complete education that will further their careers and improve their earning potential. Scholarship amounts vary and are awarded through the Latina Women Scholarship Fund, developed in partnership with the Women’s Foundation of Genesee Valley.

Latinas Unidas has been awarding these scholarships since 2002 and has continued to be a force that impacts and improves the lives of Latinas in the local community.

“We create an environment in which Latinas have the tools to overcome social and economic barriers while realizing their full potential,” proclaims the Latinas Unidas website.

For nearly two decades, the Latin American Women’s Association (LAWA), located in Charlotte, N.C., has been committed to supporting the educational advancement of Latino youth, women and families. The organization was founded in 1992 with the mission of promoting equity and access to quality education for Latino families in the region. They have helped more than 150 students pursue higher education.

Although LAWA has several scholarship programs, it has created one especially to encourage the educational advancement of adult Latino women who live in a six-county area in North Carolina. The goal of the scholarship is to help older Latinas pursue a new career, advance in a career, or work toward developing a business. Applicants must be at least age 20 and be accepted into an accredited educational program or certified course that will lead to a trade, business or academic degree.

Unlike many other scholarship programs, LAWA allows past recipients to apply for a renewal until they complete four consecutive years in college.

Violeta Moser, LAWA’s executive director, says the scholarship awards are small but can be life changing.

“We hear that one or two thousand dollars makes a difference in the applicant’s final deci-

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sion concerning whether or not they can go to college,” she said. “These individuals do not have the money so our small awards ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 do help. We also renew them for a total of four consecutive years.”

Moser says that all of the recipients are above average in their academic performance, with 3.0 GPAs and higher. Many have gone on to successful careers.

“Our recipients have become professionals in a variety of fields, from doctors to lawyers, and they now live in various states,” she said. “But one very local story is our own program coordinator, Luisa Agathon, who finished her career with a human and community services degree at Queens University in Charlotte and is now working for LAWA and helping us build the organization that helped her attain her college degree.

“That is a great success for us.”

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Chicana/Latina Foundation 1419 Burlingame Ave., Suite W2 Burlingame, Calif. 94010 CLFinfo@chicanlatina.org

Hispanic Women in Leadership P.O. Box 701065 Houston, Texas 77270-1065 www.hwil.org

Latina Leadership Network of the California Community College P.O. Box 14557 San Luis Obispo, Calif. 93406 www.Latina-leadership-network.org

Latin American Women’s Association 810 Ballantyne Commons Parkway Suite 300 Charlotte, N.C. 28277 lawa@lawanc.org www.lawanc.org

Hispanic Women’s Corporation P.O. Box 20725 Phoenix, Ariz. 85018-0725 602-954-7995 www.Hispanicwomen.org

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Latinas Unidas P.O. Box 67055 Rochester, N.Y. 14617 www.Latinasunidas.org

WOMEN/LEADERSHIP

Elsa Núñez – Charging Ahead at Eastern Connecticut

Dr.

by Jeff Simmons Elsa Núñez recalls her first day at Eastern Connecticut State University. It wasn’t what she expected; in fact, it was completely the opposite of what she desperately wanted.

“It was a very interesting day,” Núñez recently recalled, subsequently charging into a vivid description of her whirlwind introduction to the Willimantic campus as if it had just occurred yesterday.

Núñez hoped to hunker down in her office, going over paperwork and meticulously planning for the days ahead. Instead, she was hastily whisked away.

“I was greeted by the executive vice president, Dr. Michael Pernal, who had been acting president for a year, and he said to me that he was going to take me around all day,” Núñez said.

“So he took me to an office to get my identification badge, and so I did that. And then after I did that he wanted me to get my parking, so I did that. And then he came back and showed me around the President’s Office.

And then he said we had to go to a breakfast. I walked into the breakfast, and there were 300 people; it was full of faculty and staff.”

That wasn’t the half of it. “He took me to a local restaurant for lunch with all of the cabinet members, and they forced me to eat a bacon sandwich that they recommended, which was really nice,” she said, “and then, in the afternoon, he brought a group of students by.”

“I didn’t know anybody, so I just wanted get the lay of the land, find out where my books were,” she said. “I had everything in boxes, and I’m very organized, so I wanted to start off by getting organized in my office. But they threw me for a loop so I couldn’t do it!”

She paused, seemingly out of breath, and stated: “I wanted to be left alone to start my reading. “I didn’t expect any of this,” she said, laughing.

“I just wanted to be left alone to start my reading!”

While the characterization of that day is said with a heavy dose of humor, Núñez’s fast-paced recollection speaks volumes about her intro-

duction to and tenure at Eastern. Since that first day in mid-2006, Núñez has not appeared to slow down one bit.

“This was a very well run place,” she said, recalling that “nothing was broken. I came to that conclusion during the interview process. This was a place that I could make better, but it did not have any crisis. People were very competent, so I knew the challenges that were before me.”

Núñez sought to focus on academics, rather than facilities, a choice that spoke volumes about her background: she had served as vice chancellor for academic and student affairs in the University of Maine System from 2003 to 2006, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lesley University, university dean for academic affairs and vice chancellor for student affairs at the City University of New York (CUNY), and associate dean of Faculty at CUNY’s College of Staten Island.

Fortunately, Núñez said, she inherited a campus that structurally was on good footing, particularly because her predecessor had focused on building the campus’ infrastructure. Núñez, then, set out to improve its academics.

“There were certain things I didn’t have to pay attention to since they were working very well,” she said. “I felt very strongly that I could benefit from working very closely with the faculty and staff and administration to build the academic reputation of Eastern.”

Eastern is Connecticut’s designated public liberal arts college, a primarily undergraduate institution – offering 35 undergraduate majors and 56 minors – housed on about 180 wooded acres about 30 minutes from Hartford. Currently, more than 5,600 students attend Eastern, and about 4,700 of them are full-time. The average class size is 22 students, and Eastern has a student-teacher ratio of 16-to-1.

Over the last several years, Eastern has displayed momentum as it launched new initiatives and new facilities. And the accolades have been pouring in: Eastern was ranked the 28th top public regional university in

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the North Region by U.S. News & World Report; ranked as one of the best colleges in the Northeast by The Princeton Review; named a “Great College to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education; and its Honors program was listed by Peterson’s as one of New England’s most active.

Those who have worked at the campus for some time aren’t surprised, and handily credit Núñez with yielding results and providing a more enriching experience not just for students but for staff and faculty.

“All presidents are movers and shakers, but some people just have a personality that makes you want to do things because you know they are the right things to do, and not everyone has that,” said Dr. Carmen Cid,

dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.

“She is able to recognize students who have motivation but may not have the best of chances,” Cid said, “and maybe that’s because in her own life she was someone who didn’t have the best to begin with but was motivated to succeed.”

Núñez’s upbringing was faced with economic challenges. Her parents had very little when they arrived in America from Puerto Rico in the late 1940s.

Her father was a farmer, the son of a farmer, and struggled to find work.

She recalled a home without books. But there were newspapers everywhere, and her father would read the paper from front to back, always savoring the sports section. “He would talk to me about the Yankees,” she said. “I learned to read the papers with him.”

The importance of a strong education was not lost on him. From an early age, she said, “He told us, you’re in a hellhole – we lived in the projects – and the only way you’re going to get out of this hellhole is to get an education.”

The nuns at her Catholic school in Newark, N.J., didn’t exhibit a similar confidence in her potential. Núñez was a very good student, but the girls

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who seemed to grab attention were from wealthier families.

“I remember two things,” she said. “One was that junior year we had to give an oral presentation and the girls got up in front of the nuns and shivered and shook. I got up and gave a fantastic speech, and the nuns could not believe it. But I was very confident and prepared. That was the first time the nuns noticed me, as a junior.”

As a senior, she said, she was accepted at Montclair State College while many of her wealthier schoolmates were rejected. “The nuns wanted to know how I got into college. They just had no confidence in me. I was a very good student, but I was in the background. They were not supportive of minorities in those days, and they probably thought I would become a secretary or have kids.”

Núñez received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Montclair State and went on to earn an MA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She began as a high school teacher – and quit the day she was notified that she received tenure.

“I told my father I quit my job, and he said, ‘How are you going to eat,’” she recalled. Her reason, she said, was simple. She wasn’t a good fit. “I said if I come back with tenure, I will never leave, and I’m not happy,” she said.

So she pursued a doctorate in linguistics from Rutgers University, moving on to become a faculty member at Ramapo College. She knew she had found a second home, and loved instructing college students on English.

Her career track eventually solidified after an academic vice president insisted Núñez had the qualities to become a good administrator, so she took a fellowship at the American Council on Education.

“There were about 30 of us,” Núñez said. “About six or seven hated it and said forget about this, I want to go back to the classroom. Then, the rest of us liked it, and we had training in collective bargaining and all kinds of things. I liked the problem solving, and I was attracted to all of the case studies. So I began to develop an interest in problem solving in academic administration. And from there, I became the dean of faculty at the College of Staten Island.”

Problem solving is an area that Núñez excels at, her colleagues said.

She didn’t always agree with others’ arguments, but listened and offered what she viewed as better solutions. Her strategic planning process produced 18 initiatives, or what she called “remedies.”

“Every institution has limitations, and people saw this as an opportunity to be constructive,” she said.

Cid, for instance, said that self-examination exposed that Eastern needed to improve retention and graduation rates. More than half of the students attending Eastern are first-generation, from low-income families, and Hispanic and African-American.

Cid, with Núñez’s blessing, applied for a Nellie Mae Educational Foundation planning grant seeking regional New England universities that were primarily undergraduate and aiming to improve retention and progress to graduation. The goal was to target Hispanic students and other underrepresented populations to provide tutoring and other academic support services to improve retention and graduation rates.

“We were successful in obtaining the planning grant, and then successful in getting a four-year implementation grant,” said Cid, who has since served as Project Leader on Project Campus, which the grant helped to create.

And, Cid added, Eastern subsequently received a U.S. Department of Education grant to bolster those retention and graduation efforts.

“We’ve been very successful since we have a president that supports everyone working together,” Cid said. “All of these different offices in other universities work separately and don’t talk to each other, but here everybody talks with each other to improve student success.”

Núñez also led the drive to develop a new Academic Support Center – among the new facilities rolling out on campus, such as a Science Building, Future Fine Arts Center, Public Safety Building, and Student Center renovation and expansion. The new Academic Support Center serves as a one-stop location for tutoring math and writing support and professional advising, and centrally located in Eastern’s J. Eugene Smith Library.

“It’s very accessible, very friendly,” Cid said. “And that has led to all other great things that are happening, with our student tutors becoming ambassadors.”

Asked about the Academic Support Center, Núñez began to glow, as if a proud mother discussing one of her children. Strategic planning identified weaknesses in academic support, she reflected.

“It wasn’t what it should be,” she said. Now, five years later, the result is evident the moment one enters the library. “You have a small café, where you can get sandwiches and coffee.

“When I presented the idea to the chief librarian, I thought I was going to get pushback, but she loved it. She was excited about people being able to bring food into the café. A student can now get a cup of coffee and go in for tutoring in mathematics, or writing, or any subject.”

Recently, she gave the new chair of Eastern’s Board of Trustees a tour of the library. He was astounded by all of the student traffic inside, and watched students typing away at computers, tutors meeting with their charges, and six academic advisors offering assistance to students debating majors nearby.

“This made it very easy for students to go there and get the services they need,” Núñez said, “and there’s no stigma. Everybody is there. They see a lot of action. I even see my own staff in there!”

Dr. Margaret Letterman, a faculty member of Eastern’s Psychology Department, has worked to facilitate intercultural communications and relationships among students, and serves as faculty advisor to the Latin American Student Organization.

For more than a half-dozen years, the organization has hosted Thursday night dinners for students, many of them “marginalized,” minority and from low-income families. “I was trying to build community,” Letterman said, “and with Dr. Núñez’s help, was about to go back to the roots of the community.”

“The biggest problem with many of the Hispanic students was that if there is a family problem it is their problem, too. If a dad loses his job, somebody may have to stop going to school to work. If a mom is sick, someone has to take care of the younger kids for a while, and they may drop out,” Letterman said. “And Dr. Núñez is dedicated to them making connections with each other and with faculty and administrators, so it’s more likely they will stay here and finish school.”

Echoing her colleagues’ sentiments, Letterman lauds Núñez for her nononsense approach, her lack of an “entourage” when she crosses the campus, and her ability to get things done.

“I’m not saying that everything has been a consensus,” Letterman said, “but when she came here, she brought a vision of what she wanted, and she brought everyone together to create this. She said, ‘If we are going to be a great public liberal arts university of Connecticut, then let’s create it,’ and she got everybody involved. Everybody had a voice.”

Dr. Kenneth DeLisa, vice president for institutional advancement at Eastern, agreed. He said Núñez has led by example, and has watched her dine with students, visit their dorm rooms and attend athletic events. She’s not just a cheerleader, he said, but a collaborator.

“Her presence and enthusiasm at alumni functions and her strong message and commitment for access to higher education for all students has

resulted in increased alumni giving in support of scholarships for our students with unmet financial need,” he said. “Her enthusiasm is contagious.”

Of particular note is that Núñez has created the Dual Enrollment Initiative, a program that works with Hartford and Manchester high schools to identify students who had no plans to attend college but have potential.

Those students enroll at Eastern while taking three remedial courses at area community colleges during that first semester, but also live in Eastern’s dorms and receive mentoring and support from Eastern. The next semester, they become full-time Eastern students.

The program has already won awards from the College Board and the New England Board of Higher Education for its innovative approach to increasing educational access for underserved populations.

“She is committed to increasing educational access and has used her bully pulpit to encourage organizations across the state to be part of the effort to give the opportunity of a college degree to low-income families, Latinos, African-Americans and underserved populations,” he said.

But Núñez does not see her work stopping on graduation day. She has additionally focused on solidifying a path to success for students to go from the classroom to the workforce. Eastern now boasts that 95 percent of recent graduates found jobs at graduation, and that wasn’t always the case before Núñez.

Working to ensure the campus’ tagline – “A Liberal Education, Practically Applied” – is put into action, Núñez worked to transform the college-to-workforce pipeline.

“Students must graduate with an applied experience,” she said, and that means students must have completed for-credit internships. But she noticed that many students didn’t have cars, let alone sufficient funds to even buy gas. “For them to get to an internship would be difficult.”

So Núñez set her mind to establishing a resource where the internships came to campus. She approached health care provider Cigna and “asked them to outsource to us instead of India.”

Initially, Cigna was resistant, pointing out that that sensitive health records required substantial security measures be in place. But Núñez would not accept defeat. Instead, she secured a space on campus, and Cigna developed a security program there.

“And this September, we opened the Hub, and Cigna hired 12 Eastern computer science majors and is paying them $20 an hour, and they all work for Cigna. They go to work every day without wasting gas, and they just love it,” she said.

“The work Hub is the most innovative thing we are now doing at Eastern,” she said, quick to share credit. “It was one of my staff members’ ideas. I work with such smart people that I always say I have one genius, and my one genius is to hire good people.”

While Núñez is the first female and Hispanic president at Eastern, she was not initially comfortable trumpeting that designation. “When I read the announcement about my presidency, I asked why that was so important in this society,” she said. “But I came to rethink that.”

“It is important for society to see that you don’t have to be Black to teach Black history. You don’t have to be Hispanic to lead a Hispanic institution. In fact, you have to be competent. It has been very good for this community that I am a woman and I am Hispanic, but right now that is invisible to them.”

“So I’ve come to be comfortable with it,” Núñez said. “Students often will tell me how important it is to them that I succeed. I always tell them that my story is just like your story, and it isn’t always easy. Sometimes they think I just got here by a miracle.”

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WOMEN/FACULTY

Latinas in the Professoriate The

by Michelle Adam Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine set out to answer a question: How are Latinas faring in academia, and especially in the professoriate?

We soon discovered that finding information on Latinas was much harder than we had expected. As Roberto Ibarra, associate professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico explained, “The work on Latinas has not been done.”

Fortunately for us, Ibarra has been trying to change that situation. In the past 15-plus years, he’s been looking specifically at Latinas (as well as Latinos and women) in the professoriate and in academia in general. And he was able to give us a closer look at Latinas, who remain a minority within a minority group in higher education.

Current statistics on Latinas in the professoriate reveal that they make up about 1.8 percent of all full-time faculty, and about 2 percent of parttime faculty (according to fall 2009 statistics from the U.S. Department of Education). They represented a mere four percent of all full-time women faculty, and four percent of all women part-time faculty (this compared to Latinos, who were about 3.5 percent of all full-time male faculty and 4.3 percent of all part-time male faculty).

Unfortunately, these figures have grown only incrementally in the past years. For example, in 2003, Latinos as a whole numbered 20,046 in the professoriate, compared to 22,818 in 2005 and 24,975 in 2007. Latinas, who only began being recorded as a separate category in 2005, made up 10,332 of the faculty numbers in 2005, and 11,507 in 2007 (an increase of 1,175 in two years).

In addition, Latinas were concentrated primarily in roles of assistant professors and instructors (6,082 of them in 2007), and less so as professors and associate professors (3,200 in 2007). This compared to Latinos, Asian/Pacific Islanders and Whites, who were concentrated more in the ranks of professors and assistant professors (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics). Therefore, despite small increases in the Latina population in the professoriate, they are not moving up in rank and receiving tenure as much as their Latino counterparts are or other groups.

Ibarra attributes this reality to the fact that “the issues of Latinas in higher education haven’t changed. The condition for people has not changed.” Although he conducted thorough research on Latinas about 15 years ago, the associate professor was quick to point out that today’s reality is not much different.

Back in the mid-1990s, Ibarra was approached by the Ford Foundation to conduct a study on Latinos in higher education, a project that opened a door for him to discover what was really happening for Latinos, minorities

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and women in academia that few people were looking at. At the time, he was on leave as graduate school assistant dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a year internship as the minority dean in residence at the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in Washington, D.C. Back then, he set out across the country to interview about 90 people, including faculty, students, administrators and some who had left higher education. The results of his work were published in the CGS monograph Latino Experiences in Graduate Education: Implications for Change, 1996, and in his book Beyond Affirmative Action: Reframing the Context of Higher Education, 2001, University of Wisconsin Press.

“I noticed then that students were dealing with student issues; and faculty, with faculty issues – but they were all talking about the same dissonance they were experiencing. The biggest problem was going through the steps and process of higher education,” said Ibarra. “I also found that issues of women were quite distinct from those of men, and it was even more so in minority categories. Women helped me see more clearly what was going on. They were the ones more affected by academia.”

What Ibarra discovered among women, and especially Latinas and other women of color, was why their numbers remain low as professors in higher education, and why many of them have chosen to leave academia altogether. He saw how academia, which was originally established to educate elite White males, maintains a culture and structure that has little room for a more diverse group of students and potential professors.

Latinas, who represent two minority groups, carry an even greater challenge when they enter into higher education.

The dissonance Ibarra saw Latinas experiencing in higher education was related to the fact that they come from high-context cultures into an institution that is predominately low-context. For example, in higher education, where low-context situations are prevalent, communication is direct, messages are literal, there is little use of nonverbal signals, and long-term impersonal feedback is the norm. On the other hand, women, and especially Latinas (and African-American and Native American), are more familiar with high-context environments where nonverbal signals and indirect communication are the norm, and where more personal shortterm feedback is common. And so when they enter academia, they often come unprepared for the dissonance that follows.

“What I saw was that the women, and especially minority women, wanted to do things differently than males [and the elite-male institution]. They wanted to create more hands-on learning experiences and engage in community-oriented teaching,” explained Ibarra about those entering into the professoriate. “Their value system was different than what they had to do in the classroom.”

When Ibarra conducted his interviews nationwide with Latino students, faculty, administration and others, he came across those who described situations of racism and sexism in higher education. While sexism and racism might have been at play on campuses, what Ibarra saw most clearly was that the academic environment rewards those who use low-context approaches to learning and teaching, and punishes those who do otherwise. As a result, many Latinas he interviewed shared stories of their struggle in higher education.

“Latinas belong to what anthropologist Edward Hall identifies as high context cultures. They tend to focus on streams of information that surround an event, situation, or interaction to determine meaning from the context in which it occurs,” wrote Ibarra in the winter 2000 issue of AAC&U’s On Campus with Women. “Low context cultures, predominately northern European ethnic groups and majority males in the U.S., tend to filter out conditions surrounding an event, situation or interaction and focus as much as possible on words and objective facts. Communication is the reverse of that in high context cultures and can be described as ‘computer-like’ (Hall and Hall, 1990). Academic cultures in higher education tend to be low context and the different value systems associated with high and low context cultures are often at odds with each other.”

For many Latinas, the culture shock of higher education hits them long before they ever become professors. According to Ibarra, in graduate school they are more likely to experience relative isolation, lack of faculty support for women students, and a lack of collegiality with other students.

It’s especially difficult for those entering the science, technology, engineering or math fields (STEM), where the academic culture can be even colder and more male-dominated.

“Latinas explained to me that they decided to simply discontinue the battle against a male-dominated culture that took no interest in mentoring or encouraging them,” wrote Ibarra about Latinas in the sciences in On Campus with Women. “What a loss of trained talent, cultural energy, and potential innovation.”

Since many Latinas come from high-context families, where community and a more personal, hands-on approach to learning is the norm, they seek this in higher education as well. And even if they start out in the sciences, math or economics, they often end up in more people-centered fields.

“I’ve heard it many times where programs have removed their community-based learning components, they’ve seen a major drop in Latino populations,” said Ibarra. “I’ve seen women trying to show they can do quantitative work [which is valued more in academia] and they mask their interest in qualitative research.”

When Latinas do become professors, statistics show that the majority tend to gravitate toward the people-centered fields. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, fall 1998 and fall 2003 data, larger percentages are in education, foreign languages, law and psychology. And yet, even in these fields, the challenges that Latinas face when it comes to tenure and acceptance in the larger institutional model remain.

In a chapter Ibarra wrote (but which was not included in his book Latino Experiences in Graduate Education: Implications for Change), he quoted Latinas who shared their discomfort with the professoriate.

Some of the personal issues that this group of faculty experienced included the following: Gender politics and tensions (intra-cultural issues and hostile Latino males); encountering sexism and discrimination; conflicts over social and occupational roles (being a mother, wife and academic, which included the burden of being a minority); conflicts in deciding to start a

“Latinas explained to me that they decided to simply

discontinue the battle against a male-dominated culture that

took no interest in mentoring or encouraging them.”

Roberto Ibarra, associate professor of sociology, University of New Mexico

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family and/or an academic career; dealing with sexist stereotypes; the “solo” phenomenon (the unease generated by being the only Latina or female professor in the department); the lack of Latina role models in the media; and positive and negative Latina or gender self-images.

In addition, academic issues they faced included: Latino/Chicana politics (political labels and the impact on tenure and promotion); gender and salary inequities in the faculty hiring process; Latina tenure problems; and research stereotypes and gender issues (women are considered less able to pursue quantitative research compared to males).

Of all these concerns, one of the greatest challenges Latinas face in the world of the professoriate is with the tenure process. As Ibarra pointed out in a chapter on tenure of The Majority in the Minority, “Academia continues to be the largest employer of Latinos and Latinas who hold doctoral degrees. Yet, the tenure rate for Latina/o full-time undergraduate faculty from 1989 to 1996 declined nearly 19 percent, the largest decline among the underrepresented populations surveyed in higher education (Carter & Wilson, 1997, pg. 35). For Latino males the tenure rate is about 44 percent, but for Latinas the rate is even lower, not quite 38 percent in 1996 (Carter & Wilson, 1997).”

Although this decline reversed itself in 1997, Ibarra would argue that the tenure system is especially challenging for Latinos, and more specifically for Latinas.

“Scholarship, publication, promotion, and academic recognition are some of the ingredients for academic success and form the basic criteria for gaining tenure at research universities,” wrote Ibarra in The Majority in the Minority. “To achieve tenure remains quite an accomplishment in any department. It is even more difficult to achieve for faculty who are committed to research that is thought to be less than mainstream, even marginal, within a demanding and intellectually rigorous discipline (Turner & Myers, Jr., 2000). This is what Latinos and other women and ethnic minority scholars face as they climb the tenure ladder, gain promotions, and seek notice in these fields.”

In Ibarra’s interviews with Latinos and Latinas on tenure, he pointed out that more Latinas than Latinos encountered problems with tenure.

Some additional challenges this group also faces exist if they engage in qualitative research (more high-context work) rather than quantitative research. In addition, many were asked to carry a much heavier workload then their male counterparts because they represented a minority group in addition to being a woman.

In one of Ibarra’s interviews with Beatriz, a Chicana assistant professor in social sciences, he quotes her as saying: “There were only two Latinas in the entire faculty of the [U. of D.]. ... We were given a substantial amount of responsibilities apart from teaching. ... It is difficult to remember but there was an intense amount of work in recruiting students for the university as well as to be involved in faculty seminars, as well as, to do one’s own work, and research, and writing, as well as teaching. ... Another person, [a nonLatino male] who came in [to the department], only had to teach one class and was allowed to have the time necessary to complete his work.”

Beatriz’s story is far from unusual, and it points to one example of what Latinas in academia face if they wish to move up in tenure in the professoriate. The challenges, according to Ibarra, are many.

Despite the roadblocks, though, he’s the first to urge Latinas, and minority faculty in general, not to give up the fight. It’s these very people – those who struggle inside this male-dominated, low-context institution – who are the critical mass needed to change the university culture and expand its values from the inside out.

Rather than label situations racist or sexist – or leave higher education – he urges Latinas to see the larger picture that they can help change. He also believes it’s crucial that Latinas have strong mentors who can help them navigate the system, and teach them how to survive in a low-context place while maintaining their unique cultures within this framework.

“It’s a problem that there aren’t enough good mentors for women. They need to help Latinas remember who they are, while helping them pick up behaviors that they may need in this male-dominated world,” said Ibarra.

“To change anything, you have to know how the system works.”

Ibarra’s wish is that in better understanding and teaching others the way higher education works, diversity within the institution can grow and create a more interdisciplinary, high-context culture on campuses.

“There’s a hidden trend of critical mass pushing on the system. They are often short-lived changes, but I’ve seen them happen,” he said.

While this change may be slow – and the number of Latinas in academia remains a small percentage of the whole – each Latina who joins the ranks of the professoriate will draw more diversity to it, thus building a new and more inclusive university culture.

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Turning a Nearly Fatal Tragedy into an Opportunity WOMEN/ROLE MODELS

S

by Frank DiMaria

ince she was a little girl living in Chile, Scarlette Sepúlveda dreamed of learning English, traveling to another country, immersing herself in its culture and completing her education. In the early summer of 2010, she was well on the way to realizing her dream. She graduated high school and enrolled in a program that prepares students for the university entrance exam.

Then came the accident.

On Aug. 5, 2010, Sepúlveda learned that the gold and copper mine her father was working in near the northern city of Copiapó, Chile, had caved in, trapping 33 miners. For 17 days, it was unclear whether the miners had survived the accident, and no one knew if they’d ever be seen again. Scarlette Sepúlveda dropped out of the preparatory program and abandoned her dream so she could comfort her mother at the site of the accident. “I decided that we should try to be as close to him as possible so that we could be up-to-date on the situation,” Sepúlveda says through an interpreter.

Oddly enough, it was this tragic event that strengthened her desire to learn English.

Sepúlveda was struck by the ease with which the journalists at the scene could communicate and share the tragic story with the world, although they were from several different countries and spoke several different languages.

“What connected them all was the English language,” she says.

One of those journalists was Emma Sepúlveda, Ph.D. (no relation to Scarlette Sepúlveda). Dr. Sepúlveda is foundation professor and director of the Latino Research Center at the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR). She was on sabbatical and traveling through Europe when news of the accident broke. The images of the tragedy that she was seeing on television brought back memories of another tragedy she covered years prior, also in Chile; that of the disappeared – the family members who mysteriously “disappeared” during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. Dr. Sepúlveda presented

Scarlette Sepúlveda

the stories of the mothers of the “disappeared” in two books.

She hoped to give the same consideration to the women of the trapped Chilean miners, since few journalists were discussing the effects the accident would have on these women and their families. “At that point, I decided to go to Chile and interview them and to write their story.

When I got to the camp in the middle of the Atacama Desert and I began to interview not only the women but medical personnel, elected officials, other miners and everybody else involved, I made the decision of writing a book about all of them,” says Dr. Sepúlveda.

It was there she met and befriended Scarlette Sepúlveda, shortly after interviewing her mother for the book and recording her testimony. The two women spent countless hours talking about Scarlette Sepúlveda’s fear and the real possibility that she may never see her father again. The two spent “desperate long days in the desert, waiting for any news of his condition,” says Dr. Sepúlveda.

In addition to sharing their feelings about the tragedy that had brought the two together, they

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also discussed Scarlette Sepúlveda’s dream of learning English and completing a college education – a dream that would offer her far more career options than her father had.

Dr. Sepúlveda told Scarlette Sepúlveda that when she was not writing books she worked as a college professor and indicated that Ms. Sepúlveda might be able to turn her dream into a reality one day. “I offered to be her mentor, as I have done with hundreds of college students from many parts of the world. I don’t think she really believed my words at that time. Her mind was on trying to help her mother on the rescue efforts and also on helping her little brother cope with the horrible tragedy,” she says.

But what Dr. Sepúlveda did not realize was that Scarlette “trusted her like no one else,” says Ms. Sepúlveda. “She asked me whether I would be interested in studying and learning English in the U.S. I, of course, told her that I would love nothing more than to have such an opportunity, which had always been my dream,” says Scarlette Sepúlveda.

For 68 days, Scarlette Sepúlveda’s father, Mario, was trapped a half-mile beneath the

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earth’s surface with 32 other miners, as the world trained its eye on the rescue site. More than 1,300 journalists descended on the makeshift tent city named Camp Hope. The rescue effort cost millions of dollars and involved specialists from NASA and drilling experts from a variety of countries.

As the rescue of the miners drew near, Camp Hope took on a carnival atmosphere. Shortly before midnight on Oct. 11, a rescue worker stepped into a capsule – painted red, white and blue for the Chilean flag and named the Phoenix – and descended toward the 33 trapped miners.

Shortly after 12 midnight, the first of the trapped miners appeared in the Phoenix. After stepping from the rescue capsule, the miner hugged his family and President Sebastián Piñera.

Mario Sepúlveda was the second miner to be rescued. After stepping from the Phoenix, he embraced President Piñera three times, presented people with gifts – rocks from the mine – and led the crowd in a cheer. “Chi, Chi, Chi, le, le, le,” they shouted. “Miners of Chile.”

With her father rescued and back safe with the family, Scarlette Sepúlveda could now focus on her dream of studying abroad. Dr. Sepúlveda too was thinking about Scarlette’s dream. The two women kept in touch throughout the rescue, and when Dr. Sepúlveda arrived back in the U.S., she contacted several sources of funding. She scraped up enough money to pay for a semester of intensive English classes for Scarlette Sepúlveda. “I thought if she learned English she eventually would be able to

study in the U.S.A.,” she said.

Dr. Sepúlveda once again traveled to Chile, this time to sign copies of the book she wrote about the accident. In Setenta días de noche: 33 mineros atrapados-historia oculta de un rescate (Seventy Days of Night: 33 Miners Trapped-The Hidden Story of a Rescue), Sepúlveda reveals not only the causes of the accident, but also how politicians manipulated the search efforts for political gain. She presents several points of view. The women share their testimonies of what happened, how it happened and the consequences of the accident within their family lives. “They recount the events and talk about how they were instrumental in pushing the government to not abandon their rescue efforts until the miners were found, after having been underground for 17 days. They explain their lives in the camp and how they communicated with the miners for more than two months until they were finally brought alive to the surface.”

While in Chile, she contacted Scarlette Sepúlveda and shared with her some good news.

The Downtown Reno Rotary Club and the University of Nevada Latino Research Center offered scholarships for her tuition to study in the Intensive English Program of the university.

“She was surprised, to say the least,” says Dr. Sepúlveda.

Scarlette Sepúlveda applied for a student visa and enrolled in the program. On an August evening last year, she boarded a plane in Santiago, Chile. The following morning, she

Scarlette and Emma Sepúlveda

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Emma Sepúlveda, Ph.D., foundation professor and director, Latino Research Center, University of Nevada-Reno (UNR)

arrived in Reno, Nev., in a desert far different from the one that nearly claimed her father’s life exactly one year before.

Ms. Sepúlveda had taken the first step toward realizing her lifelong dream.

Money is tight. She cannot afford to live in the dorms on the UNR campus. But Dr. Sepúlveda and her family have opened their home to her.

“She goes to school long hours every day.

She studies until the wee hours of the night and gets up before the sun comes up. She can understand a lot now and can communicate in basic conversations in English. I have become her mentor with the hope that I can help her not only in her academic career but also in turning her nightmare into her lifelong dream,” says Dr. Sepúlveda.

Ms. Sepúlveda has opened a brand new chapter in her life in an unfamiliar country, and she says she enjoys learning about American culture. “More importantly, I felt right at home because Dr. Sepúlveda’s house is a friendly and hospitable place where I feel welcomed with open arms, she says.

But realizing a dream is not always easy.

Scarlette Sepúlveda called her first semester at UNR “rather difficult” because she lacked the language skills. “But I feel I have made great progress and am better equipped to communi-

cate with people from all over the world. With the passing of each day and with a great deal of effort and practice, I am learning more. I feel I will be able to accomplish much more as time goes on. Since I received a scholarship to continue studying English, I will be returning this spring semester to UNR so that I may continue with my studies and continue to improve my English,” she says.

The ordeal that Scarlette Sepúlveda and her family endured two years ago provided her with

an opportunity to attend a U.S. college and choose a career path. While in Camp Hope, Scarlette Sepúlveda watched closely as journalists from around the world brought news of the disaster into people’s homes, through television broadcasts, websites and print media. She believes the work of these journalists helped create a collective consciousness that moved the authorities and those heading up the rescue operation to work hard and rescue the miners alive, says Dr. Sepúlveda. “Observing so many

people reporting the news, working with the families and putting pressure on the authorities to complete the rescue made Scarlette decide to pursue a career in journalism,” she says.

“If the media hadn’t completely covered the accident,” she says, “I may never have found out how my father came to be trapped 3,000 feet under the earth.”

Scholars’ Corner As a high school senior passing out scholarship and college applications to my peers, I never imagined that higher education would be my career path. At that time, I was very excited about the possibility of being the first in my family to attend college, and I wanted my friends to share in this experience. Later on, through my undergraduate education in Mexican-American studies at the University of Texas-Austin, I was able to see more clearly the societal, historical, political and institutional factors that influence the educational experiences of Latina/o youth – sometimes in highly negative ways. In essence, I wanted to know why more of my peers were not having an educational experience similar to mine, and I wanted to do something about this.

Working as a college outreach counselor in my home state of Texas seemed like a way for me to help increase college-going rates of Latinas/os and other underrepresented students. This was a rewarding experience, and many of my former students graduated from college, but some of them did not succeed or they continued to face new challenges even after earning a degree because of their undocumented status. So I found myself wanting to know more about access to higher education so that I could do something else about these challenges. Thanks to great mentors that surround me, I was encouraged to pursue a Ph.D. in education, something I never imagined myself doing. One day, I hope to influence equitable policy decisions at various levels of education through my research.

At the University of Colorado-Boulder, I have the unique opportunity to work with underrepresented high school students who are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), as well as with undergraduate and doctoral students in the STEM areas through the Colorado Diversity Initiative. These experiences have given me a unique view of the educational trajectories of underrepresented students, and they have also made me realize how critical it is to have a support and professional network for new researchers like myself who are invested in improving higher education for Latinas/os. Thanks to the experience that the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) provided me as a graduate fellow, I now see that I am not alone in this journey, and this knowledge is invaluable to me.

The AAHHE conference provided a space where I felt accepted as a proud Latina and scholar, and where I was challenged to think more critically about what my contributions can be in the larger realm of higher education. Through faculty and peer mentoring, even after the AAHHE conference, I continue to be exposed to so many new opportunities and receive priceless guidance on how to navigate graduate school processes that are still very new to me. In the future, I plan to stay involved with the AAHHE familia. In fact, I have already forged relationships that have allowed me to collaborate with fellows from other institutions at national conferences – an experience made possible through AAHHE.

By Ruth María López Doctoral Student, University of Colorado-Boulder School of Education, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice Program, 2011 AAHHE Graduate Fellow

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Race to Nowhere:

WOMEN/COMMENTARY

A

Tradeoff for the FastTrack Student

by Sylvia Mendoza

cross the nation, many elementary and high school students suffer much rides on their ability to excel to get into the right college, then the physically, emotionally and mentally with the pressure to be at the top right law school, med school or grad school. The ripple effects of failure of their class so that they can get into the “right” colleges. At the are just not acceptable. same time, the school system is failing our children in what they learn and No Latino families were interviewed in the movie. Perhaps this is take with them, whether it is a side effect of budget cuts or testing expecta- because for many Latino students, their academic journey starts at a differtions, lack of motivation or comproent place. mised education missions. In the last few “Our Latino students are not in the years, the system’s failure to offer equal same exact boat as those students who advanced learning opportunities and to were portrayed in The Race to Nowhere, instill a love of learning in all students says Dr. Angela Valenzuela, associate vice has come to light in several documenpresident for school partnerships, taries, including Race to Nowhere.

Division of Diversity and Community This film focuses on how students are Engagement at the University of Texaspushed to the brink to excel and be perAustin, and author of Leaving Children fect students so they can compete for Behind: How Texas-Style Accountability limited spaces in colleges. Stories of real Fails Latino Youth. students’ lives and fears were featured.

The Latino community is aware of the Today’s students are expected to perform importance of a college degree, yet out of exceptionally well, be well-rounded, with 100 high school students, only nine will high GPAs and multiple Advanced graduate with an undergraduate degree, Placement (AP) classes under their says Valenzuela. So, although director belts, while being stellar athletes, artists Vicki Abeles has brought to light this or musicians. They must have high SAT extreme condition of children who are scores. Many times, they are expected to overwhelmed with competition and the do all this while doing community serpressure to perform, the movie did not vice work, and maybe even holding really address where the majority of down a job.

Latino students are coming from.

Parents have added pressure to their Many Latino students want to achieve children’s lives. Heavy homework loads but all kinds of doors are closed to them, add to the length of their day. Unrealistic even beginning at very young ages, says academic expectations place them at Valenzuela. “If these Anglo children who risk of losing their sleep, social lives, have a future are negatively impacted, family connections and maybe even one can only imagine how many Latino Dr. Angela Valenzuela, associate VP for school partnerships, their sanity. Their mental well-being is children experience these same – as well Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, UT-Austin what is at stake. as many more – stressors.”

Able to process only so much information in so many hours of the day, The only commonality and equality is that the education system is failstudents can crack, suffering unhealthy ways of dealing with stress. Even ing its students across America. With mind-numbing regimented test menthough children might need 12 hours of sleep, they only get five. They tality, there is no room for mistakes or veering outside the box. Federal, take amphetamines or other stimulants to stay awake to do homework state and local policies reinforce this unhealthy competitive spirit. every night – after extracurricular activities. Depression and anxiety cases Attention to individuality and critical thinking suffer. There is a lack of are rising, as well as cheating, cutting, bulimia and other eating disorders, appreciation for the arts and creative expression. Questions educators face and mental breakdowns; some even commit suicide if they fall short. So include: What happens to students who excel at the arts and humanities

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rather than the sciences and math curriculum that standardized tests focus on? How can their “expertise” be quantified? How can they keep their passions alive if they are constantly striving to keep up with testing regimens that have nothing to do with their passions?

At California State University-San Marcos (CSUSM), Race to Nowhere was screened and open to the public to address concerns for students as they face dilemmas and tragedies in their performance expectations. A panel that consisted of Distinguished Teacher in Residence Mae Chaplain, Dr. José Manuel Villareal, Dr. Rong-Ji Chen, Dr. Kevin Holt, Janice Brandenburg and Dr. Patricia Prado-Olmos came from San Diego-based elementary, high, private and magnet schools; there were also representatives from the university. Each weighed in on the severity of the problem, and on how their own schools are responding. Even though the movie focused on mostly White middle- and upper-class students, all students are affected by the shift in educational competition – the panelists seemed to agree on this point.

Balance is key, but how does an institution change its way of thinking that has gained momentum over the last 10 years? How are students given breathing room when failure is not acceptable, even though it is part of the learning process? Experts in the movie acknowledged this, but the majority believed accepting failure takes concerted effort between parents, students,

Dr. Patricia Prado-Olmos, interim associate dean, College of Education at Cal State University San Marcos

educators, administrators and institutions themselves. Everyone has to be on board.

Unfortunately, many do not see the positive side of failure. Sometimes, as long as a child tries, failure can help develop critical thinking skills and resiliency, especially if the child is surrounded by a strong support group.

The movie came down on parents who push, because they dictate what happens once the bell rings. Keeping their child’s well-being at the forefront is necessary. The importance of down time is unparalleled – from letting them play to sharing family time to help them decompress.

In addition, Race to Nowhere showed teachers who were burnt out and frustrated by what they could and could not teach when testing criteria came first, administrators whose hands are tied due to state expectations and, of course, the students, who start exhibiting stress at kindergarten because of parental pressures and expectations.

Latino students can feel this urgency and the stressors related to learning, but many cannot get a foot in the door to start with. When resources might not be readily available or are limited, their interest suffers – and so does their investment in their own education. They start to fall behind long before SAT scores are due.

“Since class and race frequently overlap, what plays out for far too many Latino youth is their insufficient access to the wide range of curricu-

Dr. Kevin Holt, a panelist at CSUSM and superintendent of the San Marcos Unified School District

Dr. Rong-Ji Chen, a panelist at Cal State University San Marcos

Each weighed in on the severity of the problem, and on how their own schools are responding. Even though the movie focused on mostly White middle- and upper-class students, all students are affected by the shift in educational competition – the panelists seemed to agree on this point.

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lar and extracurricular activities that the students in Race to Nowhere have regular access to – even if these opportunities translate into stressors for them,” says Valenzuela. “They suffer the consequences of an environment curriculum that attempts to erase their cultures and their languages. This alienates children from school and makes them feel like who they are, their very cultural and community-based identities, are ‘the problem,’ the culprit in their low educational achievement as a group.”

Ideally, education should be about authentically caring for individual students – looking at them holistically – and not reducing their worth to a number on a piece of paper, says Valenzuela. Fostering the creation of authentically caring, social justice-oriented, and exciting and innovative school structures can be accomplished by evaluating children more holistically. Focusing on a single data point – a test – can marginalize children, the curriculum, or both, turning children into “liabilities” who potentially threaten teachers’ jobs or schools’ ratings and prestige if high performance levels are not met, says Valenzuela.

In addition, overbearing pressure, especially in high school, can backfire. Once their hard work pays off and students get into the college of their choice, they don’t know how to be critical thinkers and often are overwhelmed at the prospect of being individuals without someone looking over their shoulders, pushing them onward. Many drop out after a semester or a year, unable to cope.

Readdressing Priorities: Family Anchors Students Sometimes educators have been through their own race to nowhere in the educational system, but still come out winners. Valenzuela’s specific interest in education came from her own experiences in public schools where she was placed in the lower tracks where no one expected very much of her. “I felt that this experience, though painful in many respects, gave me insights that have actually been quite beneficial, as it turns out, in my writings and career.”

Inheriting from her parents and Mexican-born grandparents a passion for social justice, civil rights, and ministering to the Mexican immigrant community, Valenzuela credits her family for helping her not to succumb to negative pressures and to believe that her life has a divine purpose. “I had a preoccupation about my own identity, my own Mexicanidad or Mexican-ness. I like to think that I am always where I am supposed to be.

These thoughts give me peace and comfort me.”

What Should Education Offer Students?

Race to Nowhere opened dialogue in communities for what can and cannot be changed in schools across the nation; what might be realistic can take a while to implement. However, it spoke about the urgency of changing policy and structure to produce a better learning environment for all students.

An elementary school in Wyoming was featured in the film because it has challenged others to redefine success and think of a way to change the ideology of education. It has instilled a no-homework policy for kindergarten through fifth grades – and has not seen a drop in test scores.

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, adolescent medicine specialist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, reinforced the importance of down time and that high grades do not always indicate success.

“Education has the responsibility to care about the physical, emotional and mental well-being of students. What kind of individual are we trying to create?” He points out that “The world is run by ‘C’ students. Top

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CEOs are people who were persistent and passionate about what they learned to love.”

Valenzuela agrees. “What I sensed in the film is that so much schooling is lacking in emotional, spiritual and intellectual excitement.”

Dr. Kevin Holt, a panelist at CSUSM and superintendent of the San Marcos Unified School District, says a change in homework policy should be a district-wide decision that is enforced by all superintendents and principals. The consensus in the audience is that homework is not a bad thing.

It helps develop a good memory and reinforce what is taught and learned in the classroom.

“Collaboration and trust is a start to moving forward and creating resiliency, even if changes take a long time to implement,” says Holt.

“There has to be open dialogue and an aim for equitable access. At the home level, we have overscheduled children. Is it reasonable to aim for no homework so they can breathe?”

Dr. José Manuel Villareal, principal of Vista Magnet Middle School in Vista, Calif., questioned how to truly implement such a change.

“This pressure is built into the culture of our society, and it will be difficult to change. We need to build resiliency to help our children deal with failure and validate individuals when they fail. It’s culturally wrong to not take an AP class, but we must choose the best options for them as individuals.”

The father of two small boys, Villareal says, “I’m going to throw away flashcards and Einstein videos.”

Janice Brandenburg, a distinguished teacher in residence from Valley High School in the Escondido Union High School District in San Diego, works with at-risk youth and does see the stress of too much homework on young students. She reinforced Villareal’s suggestion that change can best start one-on-one. “Students need to know that you support them. You have to say, ‘I will never be upset if you try your hardest.’”

Holt believes nothing will change unless all entities work at the grassroots level. “For quality education programs, we need parents and teachers to come to board meetings, contact legislators and tell them it’s not okay to cut education from the budget. We need to be involved at different levels.”

Valenzuela sees an ideal situation as having a mix of good policies in place that eliminate high-stakes testing and tracking, promote adequate school funding, have dual-language education, and that place a caring, high-quality teacher in every school for every classroom. A strong social justice agenda can also add to the depth of education and enrich students’ lives. All of these, and many more elements, can go a long way toward leveling the playing field.

“Education should be about helping children find their passion,” Valenzuela says. “Schooling needs to be ‘additive,’ adding on to children’s cultural and linguistic repertoires, rather than having children de-identify with their cultures, languages and community-based identities.”

Dr. Patricia Prado-Olmos, interim associate dean, College of Education at Cal State University San Marcos, says that showing the film at CSUSM was an opportunity to bring community together but that Latino students have to be addressed in order to effect massive societal change. “It’s a matter of how you power that change,” she says. “Our Latino students fall through the cracks. They will continue to suffer the repercussions. We just have to find a way to keep them competitive and decrease the educational learning gap, but it’s worth the effort. Every child is worth it.”

Interesting Reads Global Television

By Barbara Selznick Global Television explores the ways in which international co-productions are changing television into a transnational commodity. The author explains how corporate capitalism ultimately impacts these programs in significant ways.

2008. 224 pgs. ISBN: 978-1592135042. $26.95. paper. Temple University Press, (215) 204-8787. www.temple.edu/tempress

Pivotal Moments

By Roberta Espinoza Sociologist Roberta Espinoza introduces the idea of pivotal moments interventions that point the way toward college, particularly for students from working-class or ethnic minority backgrounds.

2011. 200 pgs. ISBN: 978-1612501192. $26.95. paper.

Harvard Education Press, (617) 495-3432. www.harvardeducationpress.org

Unspeakable Violence

By Nicole M. Guidotti-Hernández Unspeakable Violence addresses the epistemic and physical racial and gender violence inflicted on subjects in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands from the mid-19th century through the early 20th. The author calls for a transnational feminist approach to such violence.

2011. 400 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-9819949-3-9. $25.95 paper.

Duke University Press, (919) 688-5134. www.dukeupress.edu

Women’s Migration Networks

By Tamar Diana Wilson In this contemporary anthropological study, following a summary of the history of Mexican migration and women’s increasing participation in the migration stream to the United States, the author provides a brief history of women’s labor in Mexico and changes in gender relations during the last few decades.

2009. 232 pgs. ISBN: 978-0826347206. $27.95 paper. University of New Mexico Press, (800) 249-7737. www.unmpress.com

Latinas in the Workplace – An Emerging Leadership Force

by Esther Elena Lopez-Mulnix, Mimi Wolverton, and Salwa A. Zaki Stylus Publishing, www.styluspub.com. ISBN: 978-1-57922-353-3. $22.50 paper.

L

atinas in the Workplace is the third book of an imprint called the Journeys to Leadership Series, by Stylus Publishing. This book highlights the stories of eight highly successful women and is a perfect fit for the series, which is designed to showcase successful women.

It fills a major gap in awareness of Latina success in positions of leadership. In a world where women are cracking or outright breaking the glass ceiling in the corporate, government or educational hierarchy, Latinas in power positions are few in number. Nevertheless, they are a vibrant and growing societal force. The book is designed to inspire young Latinas to dream big dreams and provides them with important role models to look to as they navigate what is still a man’s – and often a White man’s – world.

If there is one recurring theme in the stories, it is that the women’s success hinged on the network of people around them who gave them the moral support to hold fast to their dreams. All had to overcome more obstacles than other women, not of color, to realize their professional aspirations. They had in common the ability to compartmentalize a life with seemingly conflicting cultural messages, to balance their Hispanic tradition and identity with a fulfilling career. They have in common strong family ties, religious heritage, and ingrained cultural traditions, which they found a way to successfully juggle and remain compatible with a demanding career.

The women featured in the book are Sarita Brown, president, Excelencia in Education; Tina Cordova, president, Queston Construction; Sally Garza Fernández, president, Fernández Group; Carmella Franco, superintendent, Woodland California School District; Christine Johnson, former president, Community College of Denver; Thelma López-Lira, M.D.; Darline Robles, executive officer for the Los Angeles County Office of Education; and Beatriz SalcedoStrumpf, author and instructor at the State University of New York-Oswego.

These eight Latinas – a foundation president, two business CEOs, a doctor, a former college president, a teacher and author, and two school superintendents – all had the value of a good education instilled in them, the concept fostered and nurtured by loving parents and grandparents. Not surprisingly, all hold advanced degrees. Rather than seeing their dual identity as a hindrance to their success, these Latinas see a distinct advantage to living in two cultures in terms of relating to different people, just as being bilingual is an invaluable asset.

The authors hope that these stories inspire not only their contemporaries but the next generation of Latinas as well.

Reviewed by Mary Ann Cooper

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HIGH SCHOOL FORUM

Second-Generation Latinas vs.

Third-Generation White Women: Latinas Lag in Completions

H

by Mary Ann Cooper igh school Latinas are finally starting to compete with their White female counterparts in terms of graduation levels and percentages of those enrolling in college. The change is becoming evident in second-generation Latinas when compared to third-generation White females. And while the numbers overall for all Hispanics – immigrant or U.S.-born children of immigrants are not as impressive as second-generation Latinas, consistent gains in education and employment are evident across the board – according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C., established to analyze the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national and international levels.

These findings are contained in the Gates Foundation-funded study Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and SecondGeneration Young Adults, which profiles the 11.3 million young immigrant-origin adults who represent one in four people in the United States between the ages of 16 and 26. These young adults accounted for half the growth of the young adult population in the United States between 1995 and 2010.

“These 11.3 million immigrant-origin young adults are a remarkably diverse group,” said study co-author Jeanne Batalova, an MPI policy analyst. “They differ widely in English-language proficiency, age of arrival, citizenship status, gender, race and ethnicity – all factors that have a profound effect on their educational and workforce outcomes.”

The findings of this report, which highlights second-generation Latina achievement as one of its key findings, are made more remarkable by the conclusions reached in another study by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the Mexican American Legal and Educational Defense Fund (MALDEF), Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation. The

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report details the substantial obstacles unique to Latinas in terms of high school graduation and college enrollment. It concludes that Latinas have high aspirations but are plagued with selfdoubt about reaching their goals. Eighty percent of those surveyed by MALDEF want to graduate from college and perhaps earn an advance degree. Ninety-eight percent of these same Latinas want to graduate high school. But the report notes that 41 percent of Latinas do not graduate on time with a standard diploma.

The lack of follow through is also evident in college. According to the MPI study, while Hispanic second-generation women are enrolling in college at the same rate as third-generation non-Hispanic White women, with 46 percent enrollment, they trail their White counterparts by 18 percentage points when it comes to completing an associate degree or higher by the age of 26 (33 percent compared to 51 percent).

“Second-generation Hispanics are closing the gap in terms of access to higher education, but there remain large disparities in completing college, largely because of family, work and economic reasons,” said MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix, a co-author of the study. “This is particularly significant because our research shows that wages rise with every level of education.

Second-generation Hispanic women with at least a bachelor’s degree earn on average $10 more per hour than those with a high school degree.”

The discrepancy between the dreams and actual performance of Latinas as explained by the MALDEF study can be broken down into four categories: poverty, immigration status, lack of English proficiency and lack of parental involvement in education issues. Poverty creates an environment where students can be forced to switch schools frequently as the family must move to find work, which leads to a lack of investment by the students in a school community and the supports it can provide. Anxiety and uncertainty about immigration status of the student or her family can undermine ambition or career plan-

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ning. Limited use of the English language will impact the ability of the student to keep up with the rest of the class. And parents who feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in a school environment cannot be their child’s advocate or adviser when it comes to academic issues.

Latinas, in particular, says the MALDEF report, face gender and ethnic stereotypes. Some Hispanic families still instill the role model of Latinas to be “submissive underachievers and caretakers.” A lack of role models to the contrary reinforces that stereotype. Some Latinas in the study also say they feel unwelcome and the victim of sexual harassment at school because of their gender, ethnicity and their sometimes limited English.

Whether Latinas view themselves as submissive or caretakers, they often assume the role of caretaker in their own lives. While pregnancy and parenting responsibilities are high on the list of reasons for dropping out of high school, Latinas often take on the responsibility of caring for younger siblings or elderly relatives – a task Latinos are not expected to do – and have to take off days from school to do it. Frequent absenteeism for these purposes leads to dropping out in many cases. And even if Latinas don’t skip school to be the caretaker for their family, they often don’t participate in afterschool programs and activities. Engagement in these activities makes a student more likely to stay in school and complete high school.

The MPI study sees hope in overcoming obstacles as Latinas progress generationally in this country, and point to the progress made by second-generation Latinas as a harbinger of things to come. They see consistent gains in education and employment among the Hispanic youth population. They point out that secondgeneration Hispanics’ rates of high school attendance, enrollment in postsecondary institutions, and receipt of an associate or higher degree are significantly higher than those of their first-generation counterparts. They are less robust in their assessment of Latinos who are second- or third-generation as compared to their White

counterparts. In the case of Latinos, there is a reported 2 percent decline in third-generation Latino college enrollment when compared to second-generation Latino enrollment. The report states in part, “The generational progress of second-generation Hispanic women is particularly impressive: 46 percent have enrolled in postsecondary education, a rate that equals third-generation White women. The share of second-generation Hispanic men enrolled in college (37 percent) is lower and lags third-generation White men (40 percent), but is slightly higher than third-generation Hispanic men (35 percent).”

Another finding of the MPI study, which analyzes census data from the 1990s onward and

provides another bit of information gleaned from state and national surveys, emphasizes the need to separately track generations of immigrants rather than treat all immigrants as a monolithic group. The report states in part, “A generational shift occurred after 2007, driven in part by recession-induced drops in immigration, with the second-generation now outnumbering the first. In 2010, there were 6.5 million young adults who are the U.S.-born children of immigrants, compared to 4.8 million immigrants between the ages of 16 and 26. Thus a rising share of immigrant-origin youth is fully eligible for college admission, financial aid and employment.”

How we deal with this generational shift will

severely impact our economy, workforce and competitiveness in the world, according to the MPI researchers. “Our findings reinforce the need for accessible pathways that allow students to build their credentials as they make the transition among adult basic education, non-credit occupation training and for-credit postsecondary certificate and degree programs,” Fix said. “The futures of these young adults will remain up for grabs until educators, employers and policymakers develop a greater understanding of this population’s unique characteristics and shape postsecondary education and workforce development and language training programs to better suit their needs.”

Theory into Practice The gains that Latinas are making in aspiring to attend college are offset by the lack of follow-through in terms of a high school education. NWLC and MALDEF have examined this issue in Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation. The report recommends that schools, parents and policymakers implement the following recommendations to raise Latina graduation rates. The recommendations can also apply to male students, Hispanic or otherwise, and must, the report says, include action by Congress to fund education programs.

1. Invest in the Future of Hispanic Children. A special emphasis should be placed on reaching out to the Hispanic community members to educate them about early childhood programs in schools and child care opportunities for their children. An effort should be made to specially train and educate child care providers dealing with Hispanic families.

2. Provide Role Models and Goal Setting Agendas for Latinas. Mentoring should be a top priority. Latinas must be exposed to positive role models who will discourage them from dropping out due to familial or peer pressure. Mentors must work with Latinas to not only help them have a more successful academic experience in high school, but also to expose them to college experiences that will allow them to set long-term education goals and career aspirations for themselves.

3. Make Sure Latinas Are College-Ready. Counselors and teachers must help Latinas develop an academic plan that gets them ready to take on college courses. It is not enough to graduate high school. Latinas must have a solid foundation in math, reading and science to hit the ground running in college. But the report points out that college-ready also means making sure that Latinas and their families know about funding opportunities through the Department of Education. The report also calls upon Congress to increase financial support for college for students in need.

4. Make Sure Latinas Are in a School Environment that is Inclusive and Discrimination-Free. Schools should create a zero-tolerance atmosphere for racial, ethnic or gender discrimination or harassment. This must include after-school programs and activities as well as classroom activities.

Sexual harassment and discrimination is particularly problematic for Latinas, and is one of the factors for dropping out, according to the report.

5. Get the Family Involved. The report calls for the development of and funding for outreach programs in Spanish and English for Hispanic parents to make them feel welcome in the school and informed about their child’s academic plans and progress. The schools should actively engage parents well before the junior year of high school to lay the groundwork for higher education. And schools should target some parents for possible involvement in GED and ESL programs for themselves.

6. Prevent Teen Pregnancies and Provide Sex Education. The report maintains that a factor in Latina dropout rates is pregnancy, and calls upon Congress to stop funding abstinence-only programs and divert the monies to comprehensive sex education programs that include information about abstinence programs as well as expand access to affordable contraception.

7. Deal with Teen Pregnancy and Student Parents in a Supportive Way. The report calls for a greater enforcement of Title IX, which seeks to ensure that school personnel do not discriminate against pregnant and parenting students or impede their ability to stay in school. Also, more funding and technical assistance must be available to address the physical, social, emotional, financial and academic needs of pregnant and parenting students – especially female students (including Latinas) who assume the greatest responsibility in these cases.

8. Improve Data Collection and Promote School Accountability. Latina and other minority students have a tendency to fall through the cracks of academia as they quietly navigate high school under the radar, uninvolved in after-school activities because of work or family obligations. The report recommends that the Department of Education and local schools should have a better student tracking system that makes it easier to spot students in need of special attention – according to gender and especially targeting minority, parenting and pregnant students.

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The Hispanic Outlook In Higher Education

www.hispanicoutlook.com

Minority-Serving Institutions: A Driving Force in Accomplishing National College Completion Goals WASHINGTON, D.C.

In order to accomplish this country’s college completion goals, it is critical that we turn our attention to educational equity to transform our educational system, meet workforce demands, and bolster the economy, says the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). A central component in raising America’s attainment levels is the role of Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) – Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal College and Universities, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions. These more than 400 institutions are not only experienced in doing more with less, but are recognized leaders in educating, serving and graduating low-

Collected Works from UC’s Linguistic Minority Research Institute Now Available WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Civil Rights Project (CRP) has announced that the important and collected works of the University of California’s Linguistic Minority Research Institute (UC LMRI) are now available via UC’s eScholarship.

The Institute was established in 1984 in response to the California Legislature’s request that the University of California’s Office of the President (UCOP) pursue “... knowledge applicable to educational policy 34

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income, first-generation and minority students. To celebrate the unique position of MSIs, IHEP, in partnership with Lumina Foundation for Education, is directing a national, data-driven initiative called the “Lumina MSI Models of Success.”

As part of the three-year Lumina MSI Models of Success initiative, IHEP is teaming up with eight grantees that serve as the lead institution or organization of more than 25 MSIs nationwide to improve and document increased college completion at MSIs. Efforts include a series of policy briefs featuring key emerging themes. The first publication, The Role of Minority-Serving Institutions in National College Completion Goals, was released last month and outlines the current MSI landscape – highlighting that together these institutions enroll more than 2.3 million students or close to 14 percent of all students – as well as features several student success stories. Other briefs being released over the next year will focus on topics such

as data capacity, developmental education, mobility and transfer, and Black male retention. A final brief will summarize the project and highlight each of the grantees.

With a goal of increasing college completion, especially among first-generation students, low-income students, and students of color, the project embraces a collective MSI success agenda and has five objectives: 1. To improve the capacity of MSIs to collect, analyze and use data to inform decisions that will promote student success.

2. To create a collective voice for policy advocacy on behalf of MSIs. 3. To strengthen policy and practice to improve developmental education.

4. To increase MSIs’ commitment to transparency and effectiveness in improving student-learning outcomes.

5. To increase the postsecondary completion of traditionally underserved students, especially men of color.

and practice in the area of language minority students’ academic achievement and knowledge,” including their access to the University of California and other institutions of higher education.

The UC LMRI first began as a research project and then developed into a Multi-campus Research Unit in 1992, with representatives from each of the UC campuses serving as its board. To carry out its mission, the UC LMRI funded research of UC faculty and graduate students; provided professional development for researchers, educators and policymakers; and disseminated information to researchers, practitioners and policymakers on educational issues affecting linguistic minorities, racial and ethnic minorities, and

immigrants in both California and the nation.

As a part of its dissemination activities, UC LMRI sponsored an annual research conference that drew participants from across the nation, and conducted regular policy seminars in the state capitol to inform policymakers on the latest research relevant to pending policy issues. The policy seminars became a notable fixture in the capitol. UC LMRI produced dozens of reports, several books, and was the catalyst for numerous journal articles during its existence. The UC LMRI closed its doors in 2009 after 25 years.

For more information, visit escholarship.org/uc/lmri or the Civil Rights Project website at civilrightsproject.ucla.edu.

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The Hispanic Outlook In Higher Education

New Report Finds that Risk of Unemployment Varies by College Major WASHINGTON, D.C.

Unemployment figures show the jobless rate for recent college graduates with bachelor’s degrees has been running at an unacceptable 8.9 percent. But a new study from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce finds that unemployment among job seekers with no better than a high school diploma is a catastrophic 22.9 percent – and an almost unthinkable 31.5 percent among high school dropouts.

So, is college still worth it? A major conclusion of the new report is that it all depends on your major. And while a college degree gives job seekers a formidable advantage over those without, the study points out, not all degrees are created equal, and there are a number of factors that prospective stu-

AAC&U President Speaks on Reclaiming the Civic Mission of Higher Education at White House Event WASHINGTON, D.C.

Concerned that we are creating a twotier system of higher education that isn’t preparing all college graduates to participate successfully in either our democracy or the economy, Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) President Carol Geary Schneider recently called for new efforts to make civic learning for all students a widely shared national priority. At a White House convening, “For Democracy’s Future: Higher Education

www.hispanicoutlook.com

February 27, 2012

dents should consider before sending off their college applications.

Choice of major determines unemployment. Risk of unemployment for recent graduates varies considerably depending on their major. The highest rate, the study found, is among architecture graduates (13.9 percent) due to the collapse of the construction and home-building industries in the recession.

Unemployment is generally higher for nontechnical majors, such as the arts (11.1 percent) or social sciences (8.9 percent).

What employed college graduates make also depends on what they take. Median earnings among recent college graduates vary from $55,000 among engineering majors to $30,000 in the arts, as well as psychology and social work.

People who make technology are better off than people who use technology. For recent graduates in math and computing, unemployment is low for specialists who can write software and invent new applications (6 per-

cent), but still comparatively high (11.2 percent) for those who use software to manipulate, mine and disseminate information.

Unemployment is lowest where the ties between majors and occupations are highest. Unemployment rates are relatively low (5.4 percent) for recent graduates in engineering, the sciences, education, or health care-related majors because they are tied to stable or growing industry sectors and occupations. Psychology and social work graduates also have relatively low rates (7.3 percent) because almost half of them work in the health care or education sectors.

At the same time, majors that are closely aligned with occupations and industries in low demand can misfire. For example, unemployment rates for recent college graduates who majored in architecture start high at 13.9 percent, and due to its strong alignment with the collapse in construction and housing, unemployment remains high even for experienced college graduates at 9.2 percent.

Reclaims Our Civic Mission,” Schneider joined with U.S. Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter to present findings and recommendations from a new report, A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s Future, authored by the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, of which Schneider is one of 11 members.

Pushing back against a prevailing national dialogue that limits the mission of higher education primarily to work force preparation, A Crucible Moment calls on higher education and many partners in education, government and public life to advance a 21st-century vision of horizon-expanding education for all students – a vision with civic learning and

democratic engagement an expected part of every student’s college education.

“I am hopeful that this milestone event will help reverse the dangerous narrowing of this nation’s vision for college learning and its importance to society,” said Schneider.

“The heart of a vibrant democracy is educated, engaged citizens who are able to make wise and responsible choices for their families, their communities and our democracy.

America’s colleges and universities must play a central role in educating every college student to become these engaged citizens and to help reinvigorate our dispirited democracy.”

See the full report, and highlights from it, go to: www.aacu.org/civic_learning/crucible.

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HI S PAN I C S O N T H E MO VE Barceló Wins Prestigious Academic Award

Calif. “I have chosen to give it to the Hispanic Heritage Committee as seed money to continue doing our work together,” GómezChávez wrote in a message to committee members. “We have operated on a shoe-string budget of little or no money, and this can provide us leverage to find further funding sources.” She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s in counseling from UNM.

Northern New Mexico College President Dr. Nancy “Rusty” Barceló has been selected as the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) 2012 Scholar. The award is the highest honor bestowed by NACCS and was established in 1981 to recognize life achievements and contributions to academia of scholars in Chicana and Chicano studies. Barceló, a longtime member of the academic organization, was nominated by three separate groups within the organization: the Midwest Foco, the Tejas Foco and the Chicana Caucus. She will be honored by NACCS at its annual conference in Chicago in March.

Flores Selected as Fellow for ASHA Minority Student Leadership Program New Mexico State University (NMSU) graduate student Victoria Flores has been named a fellow for the American SpeechLanguage and Hearing Association’s Minority Student Leadership Program (MSLP).

Flores has shown leadership skills throughout her time at NMSU, serving as an Associated Students of NMSU senator, residential assistant at Monagle Hall, student support services mentor and National Student Speech Language Hearing Association vice president during her undergraduate years at NMSU. Flores is currently a College of Education student ambassador and is a Crimson Scholar with a 3.9 grade point average.

Villegas-Reimers Is Awarded Latino Excellence in Education Award In Massachusetts, Wheelock College associate professor Dr. Eleonora Villegas-Reimers received a Latino Excellence in Education Award from Gov. Deval Patrick and Secretary of Education Paul Reville at a “Recognizing Latino Educational Excellence” ceremony at the State House. Villegas-Reimers was honored for her work as board member of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (DEEC), supporting children and families on the state level. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello in Venezuela and a Master of Education and Doctor of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Muñoz Named White House Director of Domestic Policy Council In January, the White House announced that Cecilia Muñoz, who had been director of intergovernmental affairs, will become the director of the Domestic Policy Council. Muñoz will coordinate the policymaking process and supervise the execution of domestic policy in the White House. In

Gómez-Chávez Receives National Hispanic Heritage Award Jennifer Gómez-Chávez, director of University of New Mexico (UNM) Title V, was given $2,500 to designate for a charitable organization – as part of a National Hispanic Heritage Award she received in Long Beach,

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addition to serving as deputy assistant to President Barack Obama and director of intergovernmental affairs where she has overseen the Obama administration’s relationships with state and local governments, Muñoz also has led the administration’s efforts to fix the broken immigration system so that it meets America’s 21st-century economic and security needs, and she has cochaired the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status.

Florida Governor Reappoints Cabrera to Valencia Board Gov. Rick Scott of Florida has reappointed Bertica Cabrera Morris to the district board of trustees at Valencia College. Cabrera Morris is currently the vice chairman of Valencia’s board of trustees and has been a board member since 2005. Her new term will end on May 31, 2015. Born in Havana, Cuba, Cabrera Morris came to the U.S. in high school and learned English as her second language before attending the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles Banking Academy and working in the financial field. She went on to open Bertica Cabrera Consulting, a public relations and governmental affairs consulting firm that represents Fortune 100 and 500 companies.

SUNY-Orange Names Cruz to Board of Trustees Erica Cruz has been elected to serve as the 2011-12 student representative to the State University of New York (SUNY)-Orange Board of Trustees. An engineering student at SUNY-Orange, Cruz was president of the student senate during the 201011 academic year and also serves as a student ambassador. She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for students at two-year colleges, and has been on the dean’s list each of her first three semesters.

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

SEEKING FULL-TIME FACULTY

Tenure Stream/Open Rank Appointment • Special Education The Graduate School of Education seeks an individual with a research focus in academic learning and behavior, with a preference for candidates whose research primarily involves academic learning strategies for students with high incidence disabilities. Applicants should demonstrate evidence of a developed research agenda with an emphasis on quantitative research designs. Knowledge of inclusion practices and educational technology is desirable. The candidate will be a nationally recognized leader in their area of special education with an extensive publication history and a strong record of securing external funding (full professor rank); bring a strong record of research and scholarly productivity, with a history of having obtained external funding (associate rank); or will have demonstrated the capacity for or emergence of a focused research trajectory, with knowledge of, or experience in obtaining and/or seeking external funding (assistant rank). A candidate with at least three years of K-12 teaching experience with students with disabilities is preferred. Details on the position and information on how to apply can be found at http://gse.rutgers.edu/employment-opportunities.

Applicants are expected to have earned a doctoral degree from a major research university. In screening applicants, we will be looking for evidence of scholarly promise or accomplishment; commitment to a strong, productive, and externally funded research program; and appropriate experience and commitment to excellence in teaching. We invite applications from beginning to mid-career scholars.

Salary and rank will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Our School and University are especially interested in applications from individuals who are members of groups that have been and still are underrepresented in university faculty positions.

Responsibilities include: teaching and academic advising of both undergraduate and graduate students; chairing Ed.D. and/or Ph.D. dissertations; an active program of research; contributing to the effective operation of the profession, the School, and the University. Pursuit of external funding for one’s research program is also expected.

Applications will be accepted until March 16, 2012.

Subject to the availability of funding, the position begins September 2012.

Florida State College at Jacksonville is looking for innovative full-time faculty who are dedicated to student success. We are a progressive, four-year state college offering associate and bachelor degrees. Our northeast Florida location has beautiful beaches, moderate temperatures and a cost of living that is below the national average. Courses are taught in modern classrooms, online, or a hybrid blend of both. Creativity and critical thinking are encouraged in our students and our faculty. Our goal is to make learning enjoyable so that students will want to continue to learn throughout their lives.

Our college supports faculty development with programs that encourage the integration of technology and research-based teaching and learning. As a result, social networking and pedagogical tools such as mastery and cooperative learning are used extensively. Our faculty has access to the Blackboard learning management system and a variety of online and proctored testing options. We are constantly striving to give students the knowledge, skills and assistance that they will need to succeed in this ever-changing world.

Are you interested in joining our community of dedicated educators? If so, faculty positions are currently available in the disciplines listed below:

• Biological Sciences

• Fire Science Technology

• Chemistry

• Office Systems Technology

• Developmental Mathematics

• Physics

• Digital Media

• Political Science

• Drawing & Design

• Sociology

• Early Childhood Education

• Speech

For a complete description of these, as well as other positions that we have available please visit https://Jobs.FSCJ.edu.

Review of candidates will begin in mid-late February 2012 and continue until an appointment is made for each position. Interested candidates must submit a Florida State College at Jacksonville online application, available at https://Jobs.FSCJ.edu, and unofficial student copies of transcripts confirming the award of the required degree and/or coursework. A resume will not be accepted in lieu of submitting an online application. Additional information on Florida State College at Jacksonville can be found at http://www.FSCJ.edu.

Florida State College at Jacksonville does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the provision of services and is an equal access/equal opportunity affirmative action college. Florida State College at Jacksonville is a member of the Florida State College System. Florida State College at Jacksonville is not affiliated with any other public or private university or College in Florida or elsewhere.

Florida State College at Jacksonville is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the baccalaureate degree and the associate degree.

Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, or call (404) 679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Rutgers University is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer and a NSF ADVANCE Institution.

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F

ounded in 1956, the University of South Florida is a public research university of growing national distinction. The USF System is comprised of member institutions; USF Tampa, the doctoral granting institution which includes USF Health; USF St. Petersburg; USF Sarasota-Manatee; USF Polytechnic, located in Lakeland, separately accredited by the Commission Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). USF is one of only four Florida public universities classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the top tier of research universities. More than 47,000 students are studying on USF campuses and the University offers 228 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialty and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference. And, USF is listed in the Princeton Review as one of the nation's 50 "Best Value" public colleges and universities.

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

Administrative Positions:

Director, Counseling Center (Student Affairs) Director of Housing Facilities (Student Affairs) Dean of Students (Sarasota/Manatee Campus) Director of Development (University Advancement) Director of Development (Health Development)

Faculty Positions: College of Arts and Sciences

Engineering

Assistant/Associate Professor (1) Assistant Professor (3)

Assistant Professor (6) Assistant/Associate Professor (1)

College of Medicine

Assistant/Associate Professor (1) Assistant Professor (3) Assistant/Associate/Full Professor (1)

Education

Business Assistant/Associate Professor (2) Dean (1) Associate/Full Professor (1) Director/Professor (1)

Assistant/Associate Professor (2) Assistant Professor (6)

College of Arts

Public Health

Associate Professor (1)

Assistant/Associate Professor (1)

Sarasota

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

Assistant/Associate Professor (1) Nursing Faculty (3)

St. Petersburg Campus

Academic Affairs

Dean (1)

Pharmacy

Associate/Full Professor (1)

College of Nursing

Director & FacultyAdministrator (1) Associate Professor (1)

Lakeland

Associate/Full Professor (1)

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

USF is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution, committed to excellence through diversity in education and employment. www.usf.edu • 4202 E. Fowler Ave,Tampa, FL 33620

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President of Alabama State University The Board of Trustees of Alabama State University (ASU) is beginning a presidential search and invites inquires, applications, and nominations. ASU grants undergraduate degrees in business, education, health science, visual and performing arts, liberal arts, and sciences and advanced degrees in finance, education policy, science, counseling and physical therapy. With 270 full-time and 140 part-time faculty members, the University has an operating budget of $165 million and an endowment of $67.5 million. The University has 5,600 students–2,000 who live on-campus.

Reporting to the Board of Trustees, the President is the University’s chief executive officer, responsible for the leadership and management of all academic, business, fiscal and administrative operations of the University.

He/she is an extraordinary leader who builds strong relationships and partnerships with constituencies inside and outside the University.

ASU seeks candidates of compelling vision, dynamic presence, and unquestioned integrity. The ideal candidate will have a distinguished record of accomplishment in higher education, business, government and/or the non-profit world. All candidates must have a demonstrated understanding of and commitment to the mission and values of the university, including a commitment to diversity and an understanding of the nature of an urban university.

Candidates with a background in higher education should have a terminal degree and academic accomplishments that earn the respect of the academic community. Candidates whose background is in other areas should have professional accomplishment and education at an equally high level.

The successful candidate is an exceptional leader and skilled executive who can articulate a clear vision for ASU’s future and work successfully with all ASU constituencies to achieve that goal. The next President is an inclusive leader, a decisive executive and a proven fundraiser. He/she is an articulate advocate for the University, able to promote understanding of the value of the University’s research agenda, academic mission and unique place in the community.

While firmly focused on the future, the President also appreciates and respects ASU’s storied legacy. Located in Montgomery, ASU was founded by nine freed slaves in 1867 and quickly became a leading educator of African-American teachers. One of the nation’s 105 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and a public institution, ASU today continues to train outstanding educators while evolving into a broad, widely-respected institution, offering nearly 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. As the head of one of the nation’s oldest institutions dedicated to educating future African-American leaders in a variety of fields, the President is a strong, authoritative voice in and for the African-American community locally and nationally. In addition, the President is able to continue the university’s transformation toward 2020 with academic, facility, research, international, and athletic programmatic development.

For additional information on ASU, please visit www.alasu.edu.

Screening of applicants will begin February, 2012 and continue until the position is filled. Nathaniel Sutton, Vice Chairman of Heidrick & Struggles, Inc., will assist the University in this search. Please direct all inquiries, nominations and applications to the address below. Candidates should include a resume and a letter of interest (electronic submissions preferred).

Alabama State University Presidential Search Heidrick& Struggles, Inc. 1114 Avenue of the Americas, 24th Floor New York, NY 10036 Email: alabamastate@heidrick.com Alabama State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer

West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Temporary Instructors Join a vibrant campus community whose excellence reflects its diversity and student success. West Chester University of Pennsylvania invites applicants for Temporary Instructor positions available for 2012 fall semester. These positions may include possible off-campus/distance education opportunities.

For additional information on available positions, requirements, and application materials, please refer to: http://www.wcupa.edu/vacancies/v-list.asp.

Submit requested application materials as directed for each position.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the positions are filled. Applicants must successfully complete the interview process to be considered as a finalist.

The filling of these positions is contingent upon available funding. All offers of employment are subject to and contingent upon satisfactory completion of all pre-employment background and consumer reporting check.

Developing and sustaining a diverse faculty and staff advances WCU’s educational mission and strategic Plan for Excellence. West Chester is an Affirmative Action –Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY Two Positions - Office of Equal Opportunity Executive Director and Title IX Coordinator The University is seeking dynamic, action-oriented candidates for two positions in the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services.

The Executive Director will be a key strategic partner with University leadership in assessing, creating and implementing policies and practices that preserve and expand the culture of inclusion, equity and diversity at SU. The successful candidate will be a committed change agent capable of spearheading initiatives and leading a team that will plan, analyze and direct all aspects of the University’s programs for equal opportunity, inclusion and conflict resolution. The Executive Director will be a skilled communicator who can reach across institutional lines to build strong partnerships, inspire and facilitate collaboration, and advise and influence academic and administrative leaders at all levels. Excellent policy and data analysis skills are required.

The Title IX Coordinator will be responsible for monitoring compliance with Title IX regulations and will serve as the University’s Sexual Harassment Officer. The successful candidate will review, analyze and conduct internal audits of processes and systems at SU and recommend improvements; advise departments; assist in investigations; and counsel students and employees regarding access and other issues.

Syracuse University is a private institution with a demonstrated commitment to world-class education and research, civic and community engagement, and scholarship in action. The SU campus overlooks the city of Syracuse, home to a vibrant arts, culture and dining scene at the heart of the scenic Central New York region. The area offers diverse and affordable housing, excellent schools and a bounty of outdoor activities, from skiing to boating to touring the Finger Lakes wine country.

For more information on either position or to apply, go online to https://www.sujobopps.com (Executive Director - Job #028774, Title IX Coordinator - Job #028789).

SU seeks to recruit candidates with a record of success in increasing participation of individuals from groups historically underrepresented in higher education or in their field, and who have the cross-cultural skills to be effective in working with a diverse group of students, colleagues and community members.

02/27/2012

LOOKING FOR A DIVERSE GROUP OF APPLICANTS?

LOOK NO FURTHER...

We are here to help you reach over 125,000 college faculty and administrators For more information call: 201-587-8800 ext-102 or 106 or visit our Web site at: www.hispanicoutlook.com E-mail your ads to: Outlook@sprintmail.com

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Faculty Positions Available The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University invites applications for one or more tenure-track faculty positions in Urban Planning, beginning July 1, 2012. The Urban Planning program is one of the oldest in the nation and has approximately 110 Masters students, 25 Ph.D. students and seven full time faculty. The Urban Planning program’s mission is to prepare our students to become leaders of the profession who are politically committed, technically capable, ethically informed and dedicated to the betterment of people and places.

The successful candidates utilize Geographic Information Systems to further our understanding of cities, urbanization and the role planning can play in creating more livable spaces. We will be especially receptive to applicants whose scholarship creates and/or draws new forms of spatial data and is comfortable working across disciplinary boundaries. A demonstrated ability to raise external funds to support research is a plus.

• H o r t ic u lt u r e Horticulture • IInternational nternational LLanguages anguages ((French) French )

Responsibilities will include an on-going scholarly agenda, advising students and teaching courses in the Urban Planning program including courses in GIS. Preference will generally be given to candidates who are able to teach and/or conduct research in both traditional fields and in an emergent discipline.

• JJournalism o u r n a li s m • M u s ic Music • M usic ((Instrumental) I n s t r u m e nt a l ) Music • N ur sing – 3 O p e ning s Nursing Openings • Psychology Psycholog y • T heatre A rts Theatre Arts • T ra n s fe r C e nte r C oordinator/Counselor Transfer Center Coordinator/Counselor

SOCCCD offers rs a competiti competitive ve compensation and benefits efits pac package. kage.

NOTICE T NOTICE TO O ALL CANDIDATES CANDIDATES FOR EMPLO EMPLOYMENT: OYMENT: The The Immigration Immigration Reform aand nd Control Act of 1986, Public La Law w 99-603, requires that emplo yers obtain ain documentation from ev ery new employee employee w hich authorizes that individual individual employers every which to accept emplo yment in this country. countryy. ,8<(3 67769 ;<50;@ ,4736 @,9 employment 67769;<50;@ ,4736@,9

GSAPP is a school dedicated to creating, designing and understanding the built environment. The school houses programs in Architecture, Planning, Preservation, Real Estate Development and Urban Design. These programs complement one another and create a fertile environment for experimentation and critical thinking all with the aim of creating a better built environment. GSAPP currently enjoys a diverse faculty and also is actively seeking to expand a core group of individuals who can bring new ideas and approaches by way of their own experiences and backgrounds.

Please visit our online application site at

MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas, is seeking a highly qualified teacher and scholar in the field of history to teach in the undergraduate History Program. The successful candidate, for this tenure track faculty position, will possess an earned doctorate relevant to the department and position.

Candidates for this 9-month position should be able to demonstrate a commitment to Christian higher education. See the position announcement at http://www.mnu.edu/for-faculty-a-staff/humanresources/employment.html

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https://academicjobs.columbia.edu/ applicants/Central?quickFind=55880 for further information about this position and to submit your application. Review of applications will begin on March 1, 2012.

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Vice President for Student Affairs The University of Florida is conducting a nationwide search for Vice President for Student Affairs. The Search Committee invites letters of nomination, applications (letter of interest, full resume/CV, and contact information of at least five references), or expressions of interest to be submitted to the search firm assisting the University. 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 March 31, 2012.

Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the Committee and/or hiring authority. For a complete position description, please visit the Current Opportunities page at www.parkersearch.com.

Laurie C. Wilder, Executive Vice President & Managing Director Porsha L. Williams, Principal 770-804-1996 ext: 109 • pwilliams@parkersearch.com The University of Florida is an equal employment opportunity employer.

The “government in the sunshine” laws of Florida require that all documents relating to the search process, including letters of application/nomination and reference, be available for public inspection.

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

FACULTY VACANCIES 2012 - 2013 Academic Year

Onondaga Community College invites qualified professionals with a strong commitment to community college teaching to apply for the positions listed below. We offer a supportive environment that emphasizes the importance of holistic student development demonstrated in part through faculty-student interaction both in and outside of the classroom. Strong candidates will offer demonstrated success in: • Curriculum development • Outcomes assessment • Academic advisement

• Use of technology to enhance learning • Working with diverse populations of students, especially underrepresented students

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY BUSINESS ECONOMICS ELECTRONIC MEDIA COMM ENVIRONMENTAL TECH - GEOLOGY MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY POLITICAL SCIENCE

BIOLOGY CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELECTRICAL ENG TECHNOLOGY ENGLISH HEALTH INFORMATION TECH NURSING PSYCHOLOGY

Faculty Opportunities

Minimum Qualifications include: Master’s degree in the content area or closely related field from an accredited college or university and college teaching experience, preferably at the community college level. Visit our web site at www.sunyocc.edu for specific position discipline requirements along with other related information about the application process, Onondaga Community College and the Syracuse community.

Please include within your cover letter how you have introduced technology within the classroom to enhance learning, inclusive teaching pedagogies/approaches you use, and your experience in teaching from a multiethnic and multicultural perspective.

Application Review: Begins immediately and continues until appointments are made. * All appointments are subject to budgetary approval.

A committed and diverse faculty is our most important resource. Onondaga Community College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, people of color, individuals with a disability, veterans, and others who would enrich the diversity of the College are urged to apply.

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Bring your expertise and passion for teaching to a great college located in the cities of Plano, McKinney and Frisco, Texas. Join a college that values Learning, Service and Involvement, Creativity and Innovation, Academic Excellence, Dignity and Respect, and Integrity, along with outstanding colleagues including three United States Professors of the Year, a Texas Professor of the Year, two Fullbright Scholars, and five Minnie Stevens Piper winners plus 1,000 additional outstanding dedicated professors.

We are currently seeking Full-time Professors for the following anticipated positions to begin in the Fall of 2012:

• Developmental Mathematics • Culinary Arts • Hospitality and Food Service Management • Polysomnography • English • Spanish • Music Appreciation • Psychology For complete position descriptions and to apply online, visit

http://jobs.collin.edu Collin County Community College District is an equal opportunity employer and seeks applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or veteran status.

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The George Washington University, School of Business invites applications to fill special service teaching faculty positions to begin Fall 2012 in Finance and Real Estate.

Basic Qualifications: Applicants must have either 1) a doctoral degree in Finance, in Real Estate or in a related field or 2) a relevant master's degree and professional experience significant in duration and level of responsibility. Applicants must have evidence of an excellent record of teaching.

Program Director - Dental Hygiene - 12 Month Faculty - Tenure Track Applications accepted online only.

To apply for these positions please go to: www.roanestate.edu/humanresources.

RSCC-EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA Employer.

Preferred Qualifications: Preference will be given to those candidates who demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching excellence, who demonstrate a continuing interest in conducting scholarly research in Finance and Real Estate, who have substantial relevant experience in executive education and who have experience teaching basic real estate courses.

The successful candidate will be appointed to an academic rank and salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. Remuneration package includes fringe benefits and medical and dental benefits. The appointment will be made on a fixed-term contract lasting at least two years.

Application Procedure: To be considered, please send (or email) an application letter that specifies the field(s) of interest, resume, record of teaching and summary teaching evaluations to: Chair, the Department of Finance, The George Washington University, School of Business, Funger Hall 501, 2201 G. Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052 (email: gwfinancedept@gmail.com). Only complete applications will be considered.

Review of applications will begin on March 2, 2012 and will continue until the positions are filled.

The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. The University and the GW Business School seek to attract an active, culturally and academically diverse faculty of the highest caliber.

www.uidaho.edu

Associate Dean for Students & Administration College of Law The Associate Dean of the College of Law at the University of Idaho provides leadership and management in the administrative functions of the college. The Associate Dean is a full time, fiscal year position and a non-tenure track member of the College of Law faculty, with the rank of Instructor. Limited teaching responsibilities may be possible and shall be determined in consultation with the Dean in light of the other demands of this position.

The successful candidate will have a JD from an ABA accredited school or the equivalent; academic management experience or equivalent; and possess a demonstrated commitment to multicultural, gender and individual diversity and the education, and to the well-being and long-term success of students. For more information and to apply, visit http://apptrkr.com/231988 by 3/2.

Announcement #11500059210 An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

PROVOST AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Oklahoma City University seeks a Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to provide dynamic and innovative leadership for academic programs, student recruitment and retention, and faculty development.

The successful candidate will hold an earned doctorate in a discipline associated with the university and a distinguished record of academic accomplishment in teaching, scholarship, service, and administration in higher education. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs reports to the president and serves as the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief academic officer providing leadership and oversight for all schools and colleges of Oklahoma City University, several academic support offices, and enrollment services.

A private liberal arts institution founded in 1904 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Oklahoma City University offers more than 60 undergraduate majors and 12 graduate degree programs, with professional schools in law, business, nursing, dance/arts management, music, and theatre. Recognized for providing a personalized experience, small class sizes, and distinguished faculty, the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 104-acre, park-like campus is located near downtown Oklahoma City and serves a diverse student body of approximately 3,800 students. Oklahoma City is a dynamic metropolitan area that has recently experienced a renaissance in the arts, culture, and entertainment.

Additionally, Oklahomaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital city boasts one of the strongest economies in the U.S., with industry in energy, healthcare, and aerospace.

Interested applicants are encouraged to visit our search website http://www.okcu.edu/provostsearch for additional information and application instructions.

The review of candidate materials will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Nominations or inquiries may be directed to: Dr. Amy Cataldi Chair, Provost/VPAA Search Committee C/O Human Resources Oklahoma City University 2501 N. Blackwelder Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73106 t BDBUBMEJ!PLDV FEV okcu.edu/provostsearch Oklahoma City University is an equal opportunity employer and affirms the values and goals of diversity. UA01612

02/27/2012

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Director, School of Nursing

The School of Nursing seeks applications for an innovative leader to direct programs. Must hold a master’s degree in nursing and have an earned doctorate in nursing or related field. Tenure upon appointment possible. Must qualify at the rank of full professor. Ten years full-time collegiate experience in instructional discipline or related area; five years full-time collegiate experience in teaching field as associate professor holding earned doctorate.

Highly skilled at faculty development, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and a track record of scholarly activity.

Nursing Faculty, Tenure-Track

Three Positions (1 & 2) - 109140, 109220) Assistant Professor. Master’s degree in nursing required with strong clinical background and current practice experience. Applicants accepted into doctoral program who are actively enrolled in a program of study considered. Doctoral degree in nursing or related field; clinical specialty in the fields of informatics or community nursing preferred. (3 - 109260). Doctoral degree in nursing or related field required. Clinical specialty in the fields of informatics or community nursing preferred. Application procedures: visit https://mtsujobs.mtsu.edu and follow the instructions on how to complete an online application. EO/AA Employer.

Southeastern Louisiana University, one of the nation’s most innovative regional universities, enrolls almost 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Because the University’s home, Hammond, is centrally located within an hour’s drive of New Orleans, Baton Rouge (the State capital), and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, it affords extensive cultural, recreational, and research opportunities. Southeastern Louisiana University is a comprehensive, regional, public university. As a selective-admission, interactive institution, Southeastern attracts a diverse population of students, is committed to quality instruction, scholarship, and service. We are currently accepting candidates for the faculty positions listed below.

Dean/Professor

College of Nursing and Health Science

Department Head/Associate or Full Professor

Department of Biological Sciences

Department Head/Associate or Full Professor Assistant Professor (2)

Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology Applicants must complete an on-line application and attach copies of a letter of application addressing qualifications and experience, a résumé/curriculum vitae, and copies of transcripts from all colleges/universities attended (official transcripts required upon employment). For contact information and a complete listing of the application package, qualifications, duties, and application deadlines for these positions, please refer to our website at https://www.jobs.selu.edu.

Applicants must be committed to working with diversity.

Southeastern is an AA/ADA/EEO employer and strongly committed to diversity within its community.

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VCU V i r g i n i a C o m m o n w e a l t h U n i v e r s i t y

Faculty Position Available

ACADEMIC ADVISOR Position Number: FA3360 Hire Date: 05/10/2012 Application Deadline: 03/25/2012 The University College of Virginia Commonwealth University invites applicants for an exciting opportunity as an Academic Advisor. The Academic Advisor will assist students and direct them to the academic and non-academic resources of the University, to ensure an engaging and productive start to their college years. As a vital addition to a team of qualified professionals within the University College, it is crucial that this person create and maintain positive working relationships within the department and with other areas within the University.

Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration, College Student Personnel, or related area required.

For more information and to apply, go to http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/facjobs/facjob.asp?Item=4485 Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

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 programs and 30 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.

College Dean of Students The College Dean of Students at Suffolk County Community College is responsible for college-wide implementation of the all Student Affairs policies as well as chairing the College Student Affairs Council. The College Dean of Students reports to the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and performs duties under the direction of the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs. A Master’s degree is required and a Doctorate degree is preferred, in counseling, student personnel or related area. A minimum of five years experience in the area of student affairs administration, preferably in a community college setting is required. The successful candidate will possess a thorough understanding of student affairs policy implementation, service delivery and program assessment in a diverse and comprehensive community college. Additionally, the ideal candidate will have effective leadership, communication and organizational skills to function in a complex multi-campus environment. As an exempt position, compensation will be based on the College’s management salary scale.

For the full position profile, please go to:

The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is seeking candidates for a full-time faculty position with a leadership emphasis in architecture technology. Architecture technology forms an increasingly vital area of experimentation and innovation within the school as the profession responds to new demands that affect the state of architectural engineering. Exploring the histories as well as futures of the relationship between architecture and engineering, the architecture technology faculty leads a sequence of courses which form a core part of the Master of Architecture and the Advanced Architectural Design curriculums. The courses teach core professional skills and educate students in structural, mechanical and building envelope design while also outlining new areas of research, practice and scholarship in the fields. Effected by new demands and potentials for innovation in issues of energy and the environment, new and renewed building materials, building information management, fabrication, building systems and building physics, as well as a broad range of new imperatives, the program and its faculty will hold key roles in renewing the historic importance of technology and engineering in architectural design.

The successful candidate will hold a leadership role in the architecture technology sequence, and will not only be able to teach core courses, but also to formulate and guide research in emerging areas of architectural engineering and/or professional practice. The candidate is expected to actively develop and direct new initiatives that expand the core aspects of the program and to bring Columbia and the wider fields into new partnerships. The candidate will also take a lead role in shaping the relationship of the technology program to the school’s programs in history/theory and design, and also with other degree programs such as Urban Design, Urban Planning, Historic Preservation or Real Estate Development.

The appointment is open in rank and based on the candidate’s experience.

Essential responsibilities include teaching, research, and administration.

A clear record of significant professional achievement and/or academic experience is required. Candidates must hold a Master of Engineering degree or higher or demonstrate expertise equivalent to the degree in the academic and/or professional fields of building technology. GSAPP currently enjoys a diverse faculty and also is actively seeking to expand a core group of individuals who can bring new ideas and approaches by way of their own experiences and backgrounds.

The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University was founded in 1881 and currently offers degrees in Architecture, Urban Planning, Urban Design, Historic Preservation, Real Estate Development and Critical and Curatorial Practices and has over 600 degree students representing more than 70 countries. While the faculty and students engage the rich environment of New York City and its resources in practice as well its evolving urbanism, the school has also recently expanded its presence in the world from its Manhattan base with Studio X, a global network of advanced research laboratories for exploring the future of cities, with locations in Amman, Beijing, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, and Rio de Janeiro.

Please visit our online application site at

https://academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=55883

for further information about this position and to submit your application. Review of applications will begin on March 1, 2012.

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Administration/HumanResources/employment.asp?id=470

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2012

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Graduate Schools Issue

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THEME ISSUE

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SPECIAL ISSUES Coming your way this Fall

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“

The ACE Annual Meeting is a great use of my time. I always leave with powerful ideas from my colleagues I can implement at my institution.

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—EDUARDO PADRÓN, President Miami Dade College, Miami, FL Chair, ACE Board of Directors

American Council on Education’s 94th Annual Meeting

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March 10–13, 2012 JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles, CA

For program information and to register, visit www.aceannualmeeting.org 02/27/2012

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

P ri min g the Pump. ..

HELPING LATINO YOUTH SET ACHIEVABLE GOALS UNDERSCORES THE NEED FOR EDUCATION

“W

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

hat are your plans for after high school?” I asked the 17year-old Latina sitting across from me. She came to see me because she was depressed and failing in school.

“I want to get out of here and move to Pittsburgh. I want to be a trainer for the Steelers because they are my favorite team, and if I am there, then I can work for them,” she replied, dead serious.

Later I shared the story with the school social worker who had referred the student to me.

“Well, everyone deserves a dream,” he replied.

I agree. They do.

But how can we help Latino students develop dreams that they can reach? How do we help them set the bar high enough to stretch and achieve, but not so high that it is a set-up for almost assured disappointment?

When I probed the young Latina further about what it took to be an athletic trainer, she said she thought she might have to go to college. I asked about her grades. She was failing math and science, getting a C in English and a D in social science (“I don’t see why we have to learn that stuff,” she explained). I talked with her about becoming a trainer (though I admitted I have only known collegiate trainers, not those serving professional football teams). When I talked with her about attending a university, her eyes glazed over and she changed the subject. She remains a student at high risk for dropping out. Despite her desire and youth (and the fact that she is a nice person), I’m not confident that a job with the Steelers is in her future. I just want her to have a challenging but fulfilling life with positive options.

To help Latino students reach their dreams, start by asking.

As simple as that sounds, many Latino teens do not get asked what they want to do with their lives. With Hispanic students whose families have had few opportunities, survival is the goal, and struggle is the path.

Parents in that position sometimes wish for but do not realize that their

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own children might have a future different than theirs – a life of choice.

Not surprisingly (but certainly sad), many students have no idea of what they will do as adults. They will live by default – unless you suggest some options.

If Latino adolescents do not have any idea of what they want to do as adults, ask them what they love to do. Based upon their reply, steer the conversation toward career options in which they can develop that passion. Hispanic students who have limited exposure to career options often do not know what is possible; they simply know that adults work hard – often at jobs they dislike – just to survive. Suggesting to a Latino student that he might find life’s work doing what he loves might be a key to helping him see the merits of doing well in school. For some, it might be the first time that their passions might be viewed as holding promise rather than being just a passing fancy. For these students, opening the world of possibilities is the gift one gives by asking.

For the Hispanic student who states a goal for adulthood, ask what it will take to reach it. Listen carefully as he details his roadmap for getting to that dream. Ask encouraging questions along the way. (This is a definite skill since teens – especially those who come from backgrounds of struggle and adversity – might take questions as sarcasm, put-downs or statements that they will not be able to do what they desire or do not have what it takes). Withhold opinions as you continue to inquire about dreams and plans. If appropriate, carefully share suggestions for getting there. (For the Latina who aspired to work with the Steelers, I wondered aloud if the school basketball coach might introduce her to other trainers or talk with her about requirements for becoming one).

Whether a Latino teen has a goal for adulthood or not, exploring the possibilities and talking about what it takes to reach those dreams is the way to help them set and reach achievable dreams – lofty enough to aspire to and concrete enough so they might determine how to get there.