03/09/15 Building the Hispanic Professoriate Pipeline

MARCH 9, 2015 www.HispanicOutlook.com VOLUME 25 • NUMBER 11

MFA Program for Innovators Latino Graduation Rates PropelledFIU's Engineers on Wheels CEO of Social Driver

MARCH 9, 2015 www.HispanicOutlook.com VOLUME 25 • NUMBER 11

H I S P A N I C O U T L O O K | M A R C H 9 , 2 0 1 5 | 3

Venezuela is known for having some of the most beau-tiful women in the world. They have won seven MissUniverse titles. It also has some of the most aesthetic

landscapes of mountains, plains and sea in Latin America. Christopher Columbus called it a “land of grace” and re-

ported to his Spanish patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Is-abella, that he must have reached “heaven on earth.”

Venezuela, indeed, is a spectacular land with beautiful peo-ple. I basked in its hospitality and amenities when I lived inCaracas as a foreign correspondent in the late 1960s when itcelebrated its Cuartocentenario (400th) anniversary, a year-round bacchanal of ceremonies and fiestas.

Things of late are pretty ugly, figuratively speaking, inVenezuela. Despite having the largest petroleum resourcesin the world with 297 billion of proven reserves, surpassingSaudi Arabia’s 265 billion, Venezuela is on the verge of bank-ruptcy, socially and economically and maybe even politically,a calamity hard to imagined yet not surprising.

Venezuela may be awash in oil but there’s currently aworld glut, thus having the effect of depleting the country’sfinancial resources. While the price of oil dropped precipi-tously, Venezuela was left burdened with the social extrava-gances of its recently departed leader, Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela’s natural resources should make it the envyof the world and its people economically comfortable, butnot with some dubious national leaders and politicalscoundrels that have brought an unusual abundance of so-cial hardships.

Most of its history has been one of political demagoguesand military caudillos tormenting its people, plundering thetreasury and at times threatening the nation with chaoticpenury.

Earlier this year, President Nicolas Maduro, who hasbeen maligned and ridiculed because of his bus driverbackground, but which later led to labor leader activitiesand his ascension in national politics, seemed over-whelmed by the economic confrontations.

He became the confident of the late “people’s presi-dent”, former military strongman, Hugo Chavez, who pickedMaduro as his vice president and heir apparent whenChavez fell ill, probably because Maduro seemed the leastthreatening to Chavez’s politics.

There were other potential wannabes like the currentpresident of Venezuela’s congress, Diosdado Cabello, whowanted Maduro’s job, and still does, but was bypassed byChavez. So Cabello stands by, opportunely, and for now, ap-parently loyal.

Conspiracies abound in Maduro’s regime. In January, theformer bodyguard to Cabello defected to the U.S. Once amember of President Maduro’s security detail, he suppos-edly knows plenty about alleged illicit activities among thepolitical elite.

If truth be told, the U.S. has been known to carry outrogue activities in disfavored Latin American countries buteconomic destabilization for Venezuela doesn’t seem agood fit because of its energy ties.

Maduro was indignant about this conspiracy talk, accus-ing Vice President Joe Biden of telling a recent meeting ofCaribbean leaders that “the government of Venezuela wasgoing to fall.”

Biden’s office responded that “President Maduro’s ac-cusations are patently false and are clearly part of an effortto distract from the concerning situation.”

Not that the U.S. isn't involved in punitive actions againstVenezuela.

The Department of State said it is imposing visa restric-tions on some current and former Venezuelan officialslinked to human rights abuses or corruption

Meanwhile, the Venezuelans are experiencing hardshipsthey never thought would befall them like having to standin long lines in food stores for the most basic commoditieswhich, when not rationed, are not available.

The paradox is while the ordinary folks are hustling food stuffand other essentials, the government is arresting business ex-ecutives that President Maduro said were employing “guerrillatactics” to further destabilize the economy.

In the midst of all this, Maduro traveled to Russia, Chinaand several OPEC countries seeking more financial ad-vances and renegotiation of Venezuela’s highly leverageloans and, reportedly, was rebuffed by China.

President Maduro also asked Secretary General of theUnion of South American Nations, Ernesto Samper, to me-diate improved relations between Venezuela and the U.S.

He is asking Obama to “rectify and stop in time the coupplan (that would see) the destruction of Venezuela.”

As Maduro said directly: “President Obama, I say this withgoodwill. We hope you set a new and different tone withVenezuela.”

Carlos D. Conde, award-winning journalist and formerWashington and foreign news correspondent, was apress aide in the Nixon White House. Write to him at [email protected].

Venezuela: The Beautiful, the Bad and the UglyBy Carlos D. Conde

LATINO KALEIDOSCOPE

4 | H I S P A N I C O U T L O O K | M A R C H 9 , 2 0 1 5

Contents6 Using Cultural Capital to

Build the HispanicProfessoriate Pipelineby Frank DiMaria

9 FIU Introduces “Engineers onWheels” to Promote STEM inMiami Schoolsby Gary M. Stern

12 STEPping Toward Success inMedicineby Jeff Simmons

15 Social Driver TransformsEducational Data for Schoolsby Jamaal Abdul-Alim

18 Patricia Pérez HelpsOrganizations Avoid Missteps inthe Workplaceby Diana Saenger

MARCH 9, 2015

6

12

15

18

Cover: Fotolia


Departments3 Latino Kaleidoscope

Venezuela: The Beautiful, the Badand the Uglyby Carlos D. Conde

21 OWN IT!: Using the Entrepreneurial Mindset toEngage and Retain Studentsby Marvin Lozano and Miquela Rivera

22 Targeting Higher EducationQuo Vadis Affirmative Action?by Gustavo A. Mellander

24 Uncensoredby Peggy Sands Orchowski

Back Priming the Pumpcover Giving Latino Students a Sense of

Adventureby Miquela Rivera

You can download the HO app FREE

Published by “The Hispanic Outlook in HigherEducation Publishing Company, Inc.”

PublisherJosé López-Isa

Executive EditorMarilyn Gilroy

Senior EditorMary Ann Cooper

Washington DC Bureau Chief Peggy Sands Orchowski

Contributing EditorsCarlos D. Conde, Michelle Adam

Contributing WritersGustavo A. Mellander

Chief of Human Resources & AdministrationTomás Castellanos Núñez

Chief of Advertising, Marketing & ProductionMeredith Cooper

Research & Development DirectorMarilyn Roca Enríquez

Art & Production DirectorWilson Aguilar

Digital & Social Media CoordinatorJenna Mulvey

Web Development DirectorRicardo Castillo

Director of Accounting & FinanceJavier Salazar Carrión

Sales DirectorMagaly LaMadrid

Article ContributorsJamaal Abdul-Alim, Frank DiMaria, Marvin Lozano,

Sylvia Mendoza, Miquela Rivera, Diana Saenger, Jeff Simmons, Gary M. Stern

Editorial Office220 Kinderkamack Rd, Ste. E, Westwood, N.J. 07675

TEL (201) 587-8800 or (800) 549-8280

Editorial PolicyThe Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® is a nationalmagazine. Dedicated to exploring issues related to Hispanics in highereducation, The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine®ispublished for the members of the higher education community. Editorialdecisions are based on the editors’ judgment of the quality of the writing,the timeliness of the article, and the potential interest to the readers ofThe Hispanic Outlook Magazine®. From time to time, The Hispanic Outlookin Higher Education Magazine® will publish articles dealing withcontroversial issues. The views expressed herein are those of the authorsand/or those interviewed and might not reflect the official policy of themagazine. The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine® neitheragrees nor disagrees with those ideas expressed, and no endorsement ofthose views should be inferred unless specifically identified as officiallyendorsed by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine®.

Advertising SalesTEL (201) 587-8800FAX (201) 587-9105

email: [email protected]

Letters to the EditorThe Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine ®

email: [email protected]

“‘The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education’ and ’Hispanic Outlook are registered trademarks.’”


Knowing the difference between the dessertfork and the one used during the maincourse and knowing the proper way to greet

someone are examples of cultural capital in its sim-plest form. Understanding how to complete thenecessary forms to get into college and understand-ing that a personal statement is more than a biog-raphical essay are examples of cultural capital in itsmost complex form.

Institutions of higher education assume that allindividuals possess cultural capital in its most com-plex form. “The reality is that some folks have accessto this knowledge and have an understanding andothers do not,” says Michelle M. Espino, PhD, as-sistant professor, student affairs concentration, de-partment of counseling, higher education andspecial education at the University of Maryland.

Some Hispanics, especially those who are first-generation, low-income college students, are, by nofault of their own, bankrupt of such knowledge. Bycontrast, the rich, privileged student, whose parentsnavigated the college admissions process years ear-lier, is ushered through the process by his well-heeled parents. Some even hire private counselorswho walk them through. Students who do not haveaccess to such resources, however, find themselvesat a disadvantage, says Espino.

In recent years the percentage of Hispanic facultyat America’s colleges has remained stagnant at 4percent. Espino says Hispanics must do a better jobof building the academic pipeline, and that beginswith learning to leverage their cultural capital.

All students, regardless of their ethnicity, back-ground or socioeconomic status, bring cultural cap-ital to their educational journey. “There are alldifferent types of cultural capital and if we wouldactually spend time with undergrads to talk withthem about how their experiences growing up ac-tually are strengths, I think that can make a pro-found difference for them and they can realize that

these are not deficits,” says Espino.K-12 education is based on standards that focus on

dominant ideologies. Teachers are required to teachto these standards. However, Espino argues that thereis a “hidden curriculum” that most educators all butrefuse to teach. During the K-12 years all studentslearn what they can achieve as part of the AmericanDream. Unlike their white counterparts, however,students of color are exposed to curricula that are notinclusive of their specific cultures and do not affirmfor them the cultural knowledge they’ve obtained.

Using CulturalCapital to Build the Hispanic

Professoriate PipelineBy Frank DiMaria

P E R S P E C T I V E S

Michelle M. Espino, PhD


“They are learning history, but it isn’t always theirhistory. They are not necessarily being empoweredto understand their own cultural history. In someways K-12 education often tries to assimilate studentsof color rather than allowing them to retain their cul-tural knowledge,” says Espino.

As a general rule, all students are tracked academ-ically, a practice that Espino says is an aspect of thehidden curriculum. For any number of reasons ESLand low-income students can lag behind their peersacademically. Perfectly capable Hispanics are some-times disqualified from gifted and talented and ad-vanced placement programs. “If you don’t gettracked early enough into the college track, thechances of you being able to access college later de-creases significantly,” says Espino. “Very often low-income students and students of color get usheredinto community colleges. And this may hurt theirshot at getting into the professoriate pipeline.”

Not all types of cultural capital are created equal.Certain forms are valued over others and can help orhurt one’s social mobility just like income or wealthdo, according to Pierre Bourdieu who first theorizedabout cultural capital in 1973. When educators andinstitutions focus on and offer only the standard,dominant forms of cultural capital and ways of nav-igating higher education, communities of color lose

out, says Espino. “The reality is that they are not nec-essarily going to be able to access that knowledge.They’re not part of those communities, they’re notpart of those generations and generations of peoplewho have gone to college,” she says.

Educators often harbor predetermined miscon-ceptions about Hispanics, like they don’t value ed-ucation and they lack knowledge about attendingcollege. In 2005 Tara Yosso, associate professor, de-partment of Chicana and Chicano Studies at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, advanced atheory that considers all assets an individual pos-sesses, not just those valued by the general educa-tion community. She calls these assets communitycultural wealth. Whether Hispanics realize it or not,their families and their communities provide themwith cultural capital that is just as important andcan be leveraged just as effectively as the culturalcapital possessed by their white peers.

For example, young, bilingual Hispanics are oftencalled upon by their Spanish-speaking parents to actas intermediaries between their parents and bureau-cracies. In that role they serve as both cultural andlinguistic brokers, navigating the bureaucracies of


Leslie D. Gonzáles, EdD

Very often low-incomestudents and studentsof color get usheredinto communitycolleges. And this mayhurt their shot atgetting into theprofessoriate pipeline.”Michelle M. Espino, PhD.,

assistant professor, department

of counseling, higher education

and special education at the

University of Maryland.


everyday life. “Being able to code switch between lan-guages is actually a real asset,” says Espino. “There areso many assets that the Latino community has thatare devalued in general society because it’s not nec-essarily the most valued in the dominant culture.”

The challenge that America’s educators face isteasing out and nurturing community culturalwealth in Hispanics and teaching them to leverageit. Luckily many proactive professors have devel-oped effective strategies that meet this challenge. Leslie D. Gonzáles, EdD, assistant professor, ed-

ucational leadership, Eugene T. Moore School ofEducation at Clemson University, grew up in ruralNew Mexico. “Where I lived we only got runningwater in our houses in 1995 or 96,” she says. Mostwould view this fact as a deficit. Gonzáles, however,teaches her graduate students that knowledge mightappear to be a deficit on the surface, but in actualitycan be leveraged into community cultural wealth –or as she calls it “funds of knowledge.”

Before they had running water, she and membersof her community had to gather water from a well,which acquainted them with the process. They un-derstood the fundamental mechanics of gatheringwater – turning the crank and hauling the waterback to their houses. Educators must nurture this

type of knowledge in the classroom. “That is a veryspecific form of knowledge that a science teacher orsomeone teaching engineering can tap into andallow the Hispanic students to be the knowers inthe classroom,” says Gonzáles.

As an associate professor Gonzáles teaches “Intro-duction to the PhD.” In that course she tirelesslysearches for ways to encourage her students – teachersthemselves – to dig and allow their Hispanic studentsto discuss their experiences and to frame those expe-riences as knowledge. “I try to be really intentionalabout the specifics of one’s history,” says Gonzáles.

As a graduate of an HSI, Gonzáles has researchinterests in minority-serving institutions. Whileperforming her research she encourages professorsto tease out the funds of knowledge their Hispanicstudents possess. At one HSI in New Mexico shefound a professor who is particularly adept at it. Inone of his courses he makes his students digthrough the water rights policies of the region sothey understand the political framework of waterrights and clean drinking water. His students inter-view family members, most of whom were raised inrural areas where fighting for water and keepingwater clean has been a political battle for genera-tions. “He allows them to learn how their familieshad to organize and how they gathered informationor resources to fight that battle,” says Gonzáles.

To increase equity and Hispanic representation inacademics, Gonzáles threads works written by His-panic scholars into her curriculum. Students in herIntroduction to the PhD course read a book byYosso that features critical counter stories from Chi-cano and Chicana students. “Often times Latinostudents go into college and they are looking forsomeone or something in the curriculum that is fa-miliar and that reflects who they are, who theirmembers are, what they do and how they grew up.A lot of times that’s missing,” says Gonzáles.

At Clemson and in her research Gonzáles encour-ages professors and K-12 teachers to create facultyevaluation reward systems that encourage teachersto view their work differently. “We would like themto think about how they can tap into funds ofknowledge that students of color, and particularlyHispanics, bring to the classroom,” she says. First-generation college students and those who are thefirst in their families to earn a high school diplomabring with them unique knowledge and worldviewsthat are not necessarily embedded in the standardcurriculum, says Gonzáles.

To get more Hispanics in the professoriatepipeline, it is vitally important that Hispanics iden-tify the funds of knowledge that they might noteven know they have and tap those funds.


Often times Latinostudents go into collegeand they are looking forsomeone or something in

the curriculum that isfamiliar and that reflects

who they are… A lot oftimes that’s missing.”

Leslie D. Gonzáles, EdD, assistant

professor, educational leadership,

Eugene T. Moore School of

Education at Clemson University


P R O G R A M SS T E M I N I T I A T I V E S

FIU Introduces“Engineers on Wheels”to Promote STEM in Miami SchoolsBy Gary M. Stern

The awareness of

engineering as a

profession in the minority

community isn’t there.

Seeing minority role

models turns the light

bulb on in our heads

that maybe that’s want

I’d want to do.”

Amir Mirmiran, dean of the

FIU College of Engineering

and Computing.

It’s never too early to start motivating students toconsider careers in engineering and other STEMmajors. That’s the bottom-line of a new program

launched at Miami-based Florida International Uni-versity (FIU). Started in September 2014, Engineers onWheels brought FIU engineering students who designednew products into two South Florida high schools tostimulate conversations about what it takes to becomean engineer and the varied careers in that field.

In 2015, Engineers on Wheels expects to broadenits scope and visit seven or eight high schools in SouthFlorida. “Our goal is to get students excited about acareer in engineering,” said Amir Mirmiran, dean ofthe FIU College of Engineering and Computing.

The impetus for the program, noted Mirmiran, anative of Iran who immigrated to the U.S. in 1984,was a visit to FIU of engineering faculty from a Ger-man university. The university, which is located in arural and not very populated area of Germany, out-fitted a student lab truck to travel to middle schoolsand high schools to spur interest in engineering pro-grams. Why couldn’t we do that in South Florida,Mirmiran wondered?

He enlisted the assistance of the Chrysler Corpo-ration, which was interested in attracting and retainingtalented engineers. It donated funding to get the pro-gram off the ground and acquire the van.

The program has several goals including recruitingengineers for FIU and spurring interest in the STEMfields. “We look at this as a public service as well as arecruiting effort,” Mirmiran noted.

Engineers on Wheels fits perfectly into the Mi-ami-Dade County public schools, explained CristianCarranza, its administrative director of academicsand transformation. The district already possesseda mobile unit for the purpose of enriching mathand science content in elementary and middleschools. “It was a perfect solution since we didn’thave a mobile unit of our own for high schools,”said Carranza.

Reaching two schools this year and nine next yearonly scratches the surface. Miami-Dade County in-cludes 62 public high schools so more is needed.“There’s a financial cost in materials and personnel.Bringing in community partners such as Chryslerand insuring that there’s ongoing financial support iscritical to expanding its coverage,” said Carranza.

Engineers on Wheels brings talented FIU engineer-ing and STEM majors to South Florida high schoolsto show innovative designs, explain how they weredeveloped, discuss the varied disciplines in engineer-

ing, and how students might forge a career in the field.The program fosters the idea that students require

“a strong academic foundation” in high school to suc-ceed as engineering or STEM majors in college. “We’vebeen trying hard to connect with middle school andhigh school students in districts in Miami and thecounty in South Florida to not only choose computerscience and engineering as a profession but to makesure they prepare for those majors in high schools,”Mirmiran said. “Waiting until senior year to major inSTEM areas is often too late.”

When Engineers on Wheels visited Booker T. Wash-ington High School in Miami and Stranahan HighSchool in Fort Lauderdale, both sessions took place inclassrooms with 30 to 100 students, not in an audito-rium. Mirmiran felt that the more intimate settingsenabled FIU students to create a dialogue with students.“Students need to connect and ask the type of questionsthat show they’re engaged,” he said. That’s harder toaccomplish in a large, more impersonal, auditorium.

During the sessions, FIU undergraduates demon-strate some products that they have designed in en-gineering and computer science classes. For example,a biomedical engineering major brought a robotic

1 0 | H I S P A N I C O U T L O O K | M A R C H 9 , 2 0 1 5

S T E M I N I T I A T I V E S

Amir Mirmiran

arm that connects to the nervous system. An envi-ronmental engineering major simulated a wall ofwind, an open wind tunnel that functioned like hur-ricane gusts, replicating speeds of 160 miles per hourto show how a category 5 windstorm operated.

Students are informed that starting salaries in theengineering field begin in the $45,000 to $65,000range and advance beyond that. Moreover, Mirmiransaid there are a host of specialties that many studentsaren’t aware of that pay well including petroleum andbiomedical engineers, technology analysts, clinicaldata analysts and computer hardware engineers.

Many of the students attending the presentationsare African-American and Hispanic, and reachingminority students was critical for Engineers onWheels. “Data shows that in 2014 in the engineeringworkforce, the number of Hispanic and African-American students enrolled do not represent the de-mographic numbers in the U.S. census,” said Mirmi-ran. “Why can’t the percentages of minorityengineering majors’ better reflect the demographicsof the U.S.?”

Moreover, FIU is a major institution for Latinosand minorities. Of its 39,118 students in fall 2014, 67percent are Latino, 12 percent African-Americans and2 percent biracial, so over 80 percent of undergradu-ates are minority. In fact, 11,110 students pursueSTEM majors with the most popular majors in biol-ogy, information technology, computer & informationservice, mechanical engineering and chemistry.

Minority engineering and computer science majorsserve as role models for the mostly minority high

school audience. “The awareness of engineering as aprofession in the minority community isn’t there,”Mirmiran said. “Seeing minority role models turnsthe light bulb on in our heads that maybe that’s wantI’d want to do.”

Having students showcase their designs, rather thanFIU faculty, sends a positive message. “It’s peer-to-peer connection. Students connect better with eachother,” Mirmiran said. “If a talented Latino or African-American student from South Florida can design arobotic arm so can they.”

Once the high school students gravitate toward aSTEM career, counselors at FIU explain how under-graduates can obtain financial aid, earn grants, applyfor work study, and obtain part-time jobs in order tofinance college education. National Action Councilfor Minorities in Education (NACME) scholarshipsfor minority students also are described.

Engineers on Wheels helps students “become betterprepared and more excited, so they’re able to be inthe game. We look at it as a public service and re-cruiting effort,” Mirmiran said.

The expected result, Carranza said, will be “moreengineers, more scientists, more investment in SouthFlorida by South Florida students. The ultimate out-come is for us to keep our talent, and find mechanismsto expose students to more opportunities and newcareer pathways.”

Majoring in STEM fields is demanding and com-plex. “What we’re trying to do is make it more possi-ble, more approachable, especially to students fromunderrepresented groups,” said Carranza.

H I S P A N I C O U T L O O K | M A R C H 9 , 2 0 1 5 | 1 1

P R O G R A M SS T E M I N I T I A T I V E S


I N N O V A T I O N S & P R O G R A M SI N N O V A T I O N S / P R O G R A M S

STEPping TowardSuccess in MedicineBy Jeff Simmons

Karina Meythaler was bitten by the medicalbug when she was a high school freshman atSt. Catharine Academy in the Bronx in New

York City. “I was taking chemistry at the time and I fell in love

with that. I got the idea that I wanted to go into sci-ence and possibly the medical field,” she said. “I don’tregret that decision at all.”

Now a senior, she is en route to studies at BrandiesUniversity in Massachusetts and armed with a full-tuition scholarship from The Posse Foundation. Newsof the financial windfall came in December, and ce-mented her ability to afford higher education.

She credits the achievement not only to her tirelessdetermination and her family, which always stressedthat she should work hard to pursue her dreams, butto an innovative program that has been helping stu-dents like her for three decades in New York state.

Meythaler was accepted into a statewide Science andTechnology Entry Program, or STEP, consortium,which has enrolled more than 5,600 students since2002 (a revised application system makes it difficultto add totals dating back to STEP’s inception). Cur-rently, 491 students are enrolled this academic year.

The academic enrichment program is sponsored byAssociated Medical Schools of New York, or AMSNY,which represents all of New York states’ medicalschools. Programs – which are funded through thestate’s Department of Education – are available at 10medical schools (a roster that has remained the samesince inception).

The programs aim to remedy the disproportionatenumbers of people of color in the medical and healthprofessions. Since 1986, AMSNY’s STEP initiativeshave targeted historically underrepresented students

in an attempt to heighten their interest in science,technology and the health-related professions, as wellas build prerequisite math and science skills.

“Our programs are geared toward those studentswho come from economically or educationally un-derrepresented neighborhoods,” said Jo Wiederhorn,president and chief executive officer of AMSNY.“These are students who don't necessarily have the

Karina Meythaler


I N N O V A T I O N S / P R O G R A M S

advantages that students in well-financed school sys-tems have. That’s really important because we arehelping students achieve their goals, students whootherwise might be lost in the system.”

STEP endeavors to facilitate students’ entry to col-lege and health professions schools, and help themonce they are there. To qualify, students mustdemonstrate strong academic performance and goodattendance, as well as display an interest in educa-tional and career paths in health, medicine, or sci-ence. Additionally, they must meet certain incomeeligibility criteria.

Funding for the program, which was at $10.83 mil-lion in 2013-14, is on a per-student basis.

AMSNY conducts annual statewide evaluations,and coordinates activities at the 10 participatingschools: Albany Medical College, Albert Einstein Col-lege of Medicine of Yeshiva University, ColumbiaUniversity College of Physicians & Surgeons, IcahnSchool of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York Insti-tute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine,New York Medical College, New York UniversitySchool of Medicine, School of Medicine and Bio-medical Sciences at the University of Buffalo, SUNY,

SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and University ofRochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

More than a third of the students involved in STEPare Hispanic; during the 2013-14 academic year, thatpercentage was 35 percent, which was 2 percenthigher than each of the previous two years, accordingto AMSNY.

“One of the main goals of our organization is toensure that there is diversity within the medicalschool population,” Wiederhorn said. “A number ofstudies dating back to the 1990s have noted that peo-ple feel more comfortable with healthcare providersfrom similar cultural backgrounds, and thereforevisit their physicians more often. This ultimatelyleads to better health outcomes.

“The students who enrolled in medical schools talkabout the impact this program has had on their lives,and this emphasizes its importance to us,” she said.One obstacle “is that many students of color have tra-ditionally been dissuaded from pursuing careers inSTEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math-ematics] fields, and this initiative additionally aimsto combat that sentiment… A goal is to get studentsinterested in medicine at a younger age, even as earlyas elementary school.”

Each of the schools develops its own unique STEPinitiative, but all focus on medicine and health. Somecolleges activate summer and academic year pro-grams, while others run only during the academicyear.

Meythaler, who is 17 years old, started with AlbertEinstein College of Medicine’s Einstein EnrichmentProgram (which is under the STEP umbrella) in theBronx during her sophomore year. At the time, herlove of science and medicine flourished while shetook a biology class at school.

“The program opens up so many possibilities andopportunities,” said Meythaler, whose parents arefrom Ecuador. “You are around people who want tolearn more and are self-motivated.”

Albert Einstein has supported the program by des-ignating a specific person to provide counseling serv-ices to students, monitoring their academic progress,and offering career and college advisement.

In the spring of each year, Albert Einstein reachesout to counselors and science teachers at about adozen high schools in the Bronx (participants haveto live and attend school in the Bronx). Additionally,the school connects with various organizations inThe Bronx to advise them of the criteria for applying.Students must apply by June each year. Jo Wiederhorn


I N N O V A T I O N S & P R O G R A M SI N N O V A T I O N S / P R O G R A M S

“Once we have the completed applications, we de-cide who will come in for an interview,” said Nilda I.Soto, assistant dean at Albert Einstein College ofMedicine’s Office of Diversity of Enhancement.

Each year, Albert Einstein accepts 42 students intoits enrichment program, although annually it re-ceives between 50 and 60 applications, which featureessays about applicants’ career aspirations. Of the 42students, 16 identified as Hispanic in the 2013-14class, a rate that has remained consistent.

During the academic year, students attend sessionsafter school twice for 15 weeks each fall and spring se-mester, and have the option of attending its five-weeksummer program. At the end of a semester, studentsmust give an oral presentation, including a Power-Point and written paper, on a health topic of interestto them. Older students lead off the sessions, provid-ing guidance and direction to newer participants.

The proof of Albert Einstein’s STEP success is inthe outcomes: 100 percent of its students graduatefrom high school and 100 percent go on to attendfour-year colleges – a rate that hasn’t wavered sincethe program began.

Hispanic students could easily be dissuaded be-cause they might not encounter other Hispanics whohave become successful medical professionals. Butthis program, Soto said, helps them realize they areamong those changing the face of healthcare. Alumni,in fact, return to give presentations, allowing currentstudents to see that they can achieve their dreams.

“Some people tell them this is a really hard career,that it’s tough to get into medical school, so whydon’t you instead consider being a nurse,” Soto said.“That’s why, when we talk about professional devel-opment with advisors, it’s also to share with them in-formation about opportunities that are available tothese young people.”

Soto, for one, is particularly motivated to increasethe number of males in healthcare, and not just His-panics. She cited statistics from the Association ofAmerican Medical Colleges, noting that last year,more than 20,000 individuals entered medical schoolacross the country, and only 515 of them wereAfrican-American men. Of the 20,000, 574 were His-

panic women and 656 were Hispanic men. “We provide an opportunity and affirm for these

young high school students their designated career,”Soto said. “With our program, they do not questiontheir ability. We know that they can succeed.”

Wiederhorn said that Hispanic students shouldnot hesitate to seek such support.

“They need to reach out, talk to their school advi-sors, to a family friend or to someone they respectand admire. They should not let people discouragethem. If they find someone who is discouraging theyshould move on and find somebody else,” she said.

In the STEP initiatives, academic enrichment classesinclude cell physiology, neuroscience, molecular biol-ogy, genetics, cardiology, organic chemistry, behavioralsciences, infections disease, and English composition.

Programs include a variety of components, suchas exposure to medical school faculty, students andcurriculum, career presentations by health profes-sionals, college and personal counseling, values andethics exploration, multicultural development, andorganized college visits.

Albert Einstein’s robust program, for instance, hasan active parent association (and even gets grandpar-ents involved), and a Teen Action Planning endeavor,which engages its teenage participants in communityservice projects.

Meythaler last year earned a grant as a result of herservice-learning project, which involved a study ondestigmatizing mental illness. Her work focused onarranging interventions and workshops “to open uppeople’s minds and help kids.” The result of her work:a $2,500 grant to help with her education.

Over the last three years, she said the program al-lowed her to shadow medical professionals – watch-ing surgeries close-up – and establish relationshipswith several mentors.

“Since my sophomore year I have met so many in-spiring people and even got to work with a few ofthem,” she said. “They wrote many recommenda-tions for me, including the one for my Posse appli-cation! To this day, I still speak to them and updatethem with my life, as they do with theirs. STEP hasled to many of my accomplishments.”

Our programs are geared toward those students whocome from economically or educationallyunderrepresented neighborhoods. We are helpingstudents who otherwise might be lost in the system.”Jo Wiederhorn, president and chief executive officer of AMSNY.


Social DriverTransformsEducational Data for SchoolsBy Jamaal Abdul-Alim

Back when he was growing up on a soybeanfarm in rural Missouri, Thomas Sánchezhad access to “zero” technology.

Today, Sánchez, 34, is the founding CEO ofSocial Driver, one of the fastest-growing dig-ital firms in the nation.

The company has an impressive listof clients, including the HispanicScholarship Fund and several otherorganizations and agencies that workdirectly or indirectly in the realm ofhigher education.

As a sign of the company’s rapidgrowth, consider how Social Driver re-cently relocated to a prime location in down-town Washington, D.C.

“This office is really going to be a tool that takesus to the next level as a company,” said Sánchezduring a recent interview in the spacious 10th flooroffice on 15th Street in the Northwest quadrantof D.C.

The office is far cry from the farm whereSánchez grew up in DeKalb County, Missouri.

Although technology was not a predominantpart of farm life, helping to raise cows andgrow corn and soybeans provided Sánchezwith something of even greater importance.

“That’s where I learned to do business,”Sánchez said. “On a farm, you have to startyour own farm business, grow up or get an ani-mal and keep track of feed costs, fertilizer costs,

L E A D E R S H I P / R O L E M O D E L ST E C H N O L O G Y

Thomas Sánchez


T E C H N O L O G Y

and keep a ledger.“That’s why I know how to read financial statements

and how to balance books,” Sánchez said. “You hadto have a bank account and a ledger. A farm is a smallbusiness.”

Sánchez learned early in life what it means to be aminority.

“My family was, as far as I know, the only Hispanicfamily in that entire county,” Sánchez said of growingup in DeKalb County, where even today the Hispanicpopulation is just 1.5 percent of the overall population.

His upbringing did not provide an easy path to college.“When I went to college, I had no money,” Sánchez

recalled of the time when he enrolled at NorthwestMissouri State University back in 1998.

“I had to take out student loans to be able to go, butI got a minority leadership scholarship at my univer-sity,” Sánchez said, explaining that the scholarship wasfor students who got elected to student senate or weresimilarly involved in campus life. “That made hugedifference in my ability to be able to go to school.”

Sánchez studied management information systems,or MIS, and computer science.

“At Northwest it was great,” Sánchez said. “There

was such a community there. I felt a belonging to alot of different communities, whether people in mymajor or people in Hispanic groups on campus.”

The university also provided Sánchez with his firstopportunities in the realm of technology. During histime in college, he served as a learning software de-veloper and was a founding employee at the univer-sity’s Center for Information Technology in Educa-tion, where he developed eLearning solutions andtechnologies for academic and vocational education.

He also served as a software consultant for Sprint –the telecommunications giant – while in college.

Upon graduation in 2002, Sánchez landed a job asa software engineer at Cerner Corporation, a healthtechnology firm located in Kansas City, Mo. It wasthere that the seeds for becoming a tech entrepreneurwere sown.

Sánchez says he drew inspiration from the com-pany’s CEO and founder, Neal Patterson, whom hedescribed as a “visionary leader.”

“He saw in the early 2000s that hospitals were notusing technology to improve health care,” Sánchezrecalled of Patterson. “He knew it was inevitable thatthey would. He wanted to be the guy who started thecompany that did that.

“I took that same mindset and thought: Look ateducation. Look at nonprofits, industry associations,”Sánchez explained. “They are not using digital andsocial technology at the level that they should be toimpact their mission.

“They are going to be doing it and I want SocialDriver to be the partner company and partner withthem to do it.”

Sánchez began Social Driver in 2009 with just him-self and, a year later, his spouse, Anthony Shop, whoserves as chief strategy officer. The company now hasmore than 30 employees.

“We’ve never taken any outside debt or outside in-vestment,” Sánchez said.

Social Driver has accumulated an impressive list ofaccolades, including an award for being one the“coolest” companies in D.C. and another for being ofthe “fastest growing” in the nation. It was also namedSmall Business Champion by the Washington D.C.Chamber of Commerce. But the awards wouldn’t

We’re taking all this

education data that they

have and making it open.

Parents can go on

LearnDC, see that every

school has a report

card.”

Thomas Sánchez,

CEO of Social Driver


T E C H N O L O G Y

have been possible without accumulating a notewor-thy list of clients, including several that are part ofthe higher education sector.

“My very first client was the Hispanic ScholarshipFund,” Sánchez said fondly of the organization that isthe nation’s largest not-for-profit organization that sup-ports Hispanic American students in higher education.

Other clients that support higher education includethe National Society of Collegiate Scholars, or NSCS,for which Social Driver has developed four websitesand helped to update the NSCS brand experience on-line and accelerate growth in membership.

“They’re the largest honors society in the world,”Sánchez said. “They have over a million scholars thatare a part of their organization. Just imagine the reachthat they have. That’s one of the most impressivethings about our work on that.”

The company also has worked with the Office ofthe State Superintendent of Education in the Districtof Columbia, for which Social Driver helped createLearnDC, an online school reporting system that fea-tures school profiles that include test scores, gradua-tion rates and disciplinary data.

“We’re taking all this education data that they haveand making it open,” Sánchez said. “Parents can go

on LearnDC, see that every school has a report card,compare schools to each other and compare schoolsto the district average.”

Whereas previously the school reporting system inthe nation’s capital was “among the worse,” Sánchezsaid, after Social Driver revamped it, it is now con-sidered one of the best, according to a report titled“Rating States, Grading Schools: What Parents andExperts say States Should Consider to Make SchoolAccountability Systems Meaningful.”

“Parents raved about the ‘very clear’ presentationof information and features such as the ability tocompare schools and the option to ask for more datavia a readily available email form,” the report statesabout LearnDC.

As one parent wrote about Learn DC, “The abilityto ‘explore’ the data is really nice. No other school welooked at had this feature.”

Sánchez’s work over the years has landed him aspot as member of D.C.’s Innovation and TechnologyInclusion Council.

“Our mandate in that group is to grow the D.C.tech economy and create opportunities for groupsthat are currently not represented in the D.C. techeconomy to have a bigger role to play,” Sánchez said.“It’s my personal belief that we can’t grow the D.C.tech economy without reaching out to groups thatwe haven’t reached out to in the past. I think the issueof accessibility is extremely important.”

The group also has a mandate to boost the numberof students studying STEM majors “because that’s soimportant to the job market and the economy,”Sánchez said.

Beyond government and nonprofits, Sánchez saidbusinesses such as his have a responsibility to make adifference. His message to students is to pursue aneducation in order to turn their dreams into a reality.

“I think the future is bright because the studentsthat are coming up have really great ideas,” Sánchezsaid. “That’s one of the things I enjoy most when Italk to student groups at college or high schools andI hear their ideas.

“But having an idea and making it seem like it’sgoing to happen is not enough,” Sánchez said. “Ittakes somebody to stand up and say, ‘I want to be theperson who is involved and makes that change.’ Andthe only way you’re going to do that is if you under-stand technology and you actually have experience –like actual experience – in a technological field.”

Thomas Sánchez


Like most organizations, academic institutionshave their share of human resources (HR) is-sues. There are workplace conflicts, such as

sexual harassment, and interpersonal clashes whichcause communication problems. In addition, col-lege HR departments need to comply legally withthe many federal guidelines that must be incorpo-rated into a vast number of institutional policiesand procedures. That’s when Patricia Pérez, a well-known lawyer and expert in employment law, stepsin to help.

“I help companies deal with workplace drama,which encompasses everything you can imagine,”she said. “My work from the beginning, and evenmore so now that I have my own company, hasbeen a preventive learning approach.”

Pérez says that being proactive on these issues cansave organizations a lot of time in court and helpall employees get the training and understandingthey need to do their jobs more effectively.

“Rather than concentrate on a fight in court, mymain goal has been to educate people upfront onwhat the law requires, how that applies in the worldon a day-to-day basis, and what the everyday ex-pectations are for someone,” she said.

This career is not exactly what Pérez envisionedwhen she was younger. She considered becoming ateacher but eventually landed in law school andfound her passion in the area of labor and employ-ment law.

But the journey began with her upbringing whichincluded her family’s expectations regarding edu-cation. “My family was focused on my sister and megetting a good education,” Pérez said. “The cliché

wasn’t whether I would go to college, but where.”There wasn’t much money for her education, al-

though her parents were hardworking individualswho held a variety of jobs. Pérez was born in El Sal-vador and her father immigrated to the UnitedStates in 1968. She, her mother and two sisters fol-lowed in 1971.

P R O F I L E S

Patricia Pérez Helps OrganizationsAvoid Missteps in the WorkplaceBy Diana Saenger

Patricia Pérez


P R O F I L E S

Upon arrival, her father entered a governmentprogram to learn English. A jack of all trades, hewas a bus driver, mechanic, and worked in a factorythat gave him an opportunity to become a lathe op-erator. Her mother was a teacher, worked in a fac-tory, and as a seamstress for department stores aswell as cleaning hotel rooms and model homes.

The family moved to San Francisco, and later toLos Angeles, but also spent time in Houston. Pérezattended school in both places, graduating fromhigh school in Houston.

“As low-incomers it was always emphasized atevery level for us to get good grades in school anddefinitely plan to attend college. I couldn’t ignorethat my parents had sacrificed our home countryand culture to come here so we could take advan-tage of the opportunities here.”

Pérez more than accomplished her goals. In 1989she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English atthe University of California, Los Angeles.

“I had toyed with the idea of becoming an Eng-lish teacher because I loved literature, but I gradu-ated from college very young at age 21. I wasn’t sureabout that as a reality to teach high school. One ofthe officers of the Graduate Student Association

was a law student, and told me to think about lawschool. So I applied and got into UCLA.”

Intrigued with a job that would offer prominentstatus and be highly interesting, Pérez pursued alaw degree and graduated from UCLA School ofLaw, JD, in 1992. Her career turned out to be ablend of law and teaching. At UCLA she practicedemployment law at two San Diego law firms. Shedid extensive training and teaching of adults in var-ious law procedures.

“My goal was the educational component ofbreaking down the complex and scary part of thelaw into a way that people could not only under-stand it, but implement in their everyday lives,” saidPérez.

Pérez’s Hispanic background and focus on edu-cating Hispanics in the workplace resulted in aprestigious assignment. While working for the Na-tional Center of State Courts in Virginia, Pérez wasgiven a grant to report to the U.S. Embassy in Mex-ico as director of a judicial educational programwhere she taught high-level Mexican and U.S.judges on both sides of the law.

“It was a combination of an educational ex-change of ideas with the goal of learning about eachother,” Pérez said. “The State Department had animportant agenda of bringing in U.S. policy tomake sure what was going on in Mexico did not in-terfere with any goals they had. We would often takejudges from border cities in Mexico and educatethem with land issues, divorce issues or employ-ment law issues with a maquiladora.”

Although she had no qualms about being chosenfor this program, it was a harder assignment thanshe anticipated.

“I went to Mexico City thinking: I was born in ElSalvador, spoke fluent Spanish, and was very Latinaconnected to my roots. I discovered, however, thatit was really tough. I came back to the states realiz-ing I was just a gringo with a deep tan and eventhough I was raised in the U.S. by a family obsessedabout personal responsibility and justice, doing theright thing and telling the truth, it wasn’t until Imoved to Mexico that I realized how much all ofthose concepts had been ingrained in me. I metsome of the Supreme Court justices of Mexico Cityand I never felt that any of them looked down uponme. In Mexico my college degree in law was equiv-alent to a doctorate so they addressed me as Dr.Pérez.”

Pérez said this experience made her realize that

Rather than concentrateon a fight in court, mymain goal has been to

educate people upfronton what the law

requires, how thatapplies in the world on a

day-to-day basis, andwhat the everyday

expectations are forsomeone,”

Patricia Pérez, lawyer and human

resources consultant


she enjoyed the educational aspect of her job morethan being a litigator.

“Without the education I got I could not havedone any of the things that I do. I am a forever stu-dent, whether it’s continuing education or my ownresearch. I’m fortunate to do the work I do. Becauseof my educational background I’m able to providea helpful service to entities and clients. When I’mdealing with elementary school teachers or univer-sity professors, my passion is to learn and align my-self with whatever their philosophies are so I makesure I’m educated with their goals.”

Pérez has conducted hundreds of training ses-sions for human resources professionals, managers,line employees and attorneys, among others. A bigpart of her practice is doing similar sessions (ha-rassment prevention, leadership training, manage-ment training, workplace investigation training,etc.) for clients across the country.

Most recently Pérez has been working with Uni-versity of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) medicalschool and health science unit which has employeesof many different nationalities. In order to carryout her responsibilities, Pérez has worked hard toeducate herself on the bureaucratic layers of thesystem and to become familiar with the system’spolicies. She had similar experience working withCalifornia Western Law School, Chapman Univer-sity and school districts.

Pérez, a first-generation Hispanic, maintainsmany cultural Salvadorian and Catholic traditionsin her home. Her mother lives with Pérez and her15-year-old son. They speak Spanish at home,watch Spanish TV and her mother cooks tradi-tional dishes.

She attributes her success to her education, butalso to her upbringing.

“I think it was the way I was raised, of beingtaught not to rest on our laurels. Of course my ed-ucation and applying myself helped. I was taughtto be strategic, and if you have a goal, you have tomake a plan to execute it and achieve it. Just the waythat my parents lived their lives and are problemsolvers, taught me a lot.”

Pérez strongly believes in the value of educationfor current generations.

“It’s vital,” she said. “I’m obsessed with educationand literacy. My son is in high school, so I’m con-stantly involved in the next generation. I’m some-what concerned if there is an over emphasis onaspects that I think are not as important in educa-

tion as curiosity and love of learning, or some prac-tical skills such as social skills and being able to re-solve problems.”

Pérez’s accomplishments include an impressivelist of honors and positions. She is past chair of theCalifornia State Bar Labor and Employment LawSection (made up of over 6,500 California laborand employment attorneys), recipient of theWoman Business Owner of the Year Award, pre-sented by the San Diego chapter of the National As-sociation of Women Business Owner, and was thehead of the Human Resources and Employee Rela-tions Department for one of the world’s largest lawfirms (the Washington D.C. office of SkaddenArps). Yet what she enjoys most about her job issimple.

“It’s when I’m sitting down with the client towardthe end of a meeting and I realize how much theyare depending on my advice and relying on myproblem-solving skills. That really fulfills me.”

P R O F I L E S

“I was taught tobe strategic,

and if youhave a goal, you have

to make a plan toexecute it and

achieve it. Just theway that my parentslived their lives andare problem solvers,

taught me a lot.”

Patricia Pérez, lawyer and human

resources consultant


Imagine: You stand in front of the new crop of stu-dents starting in your class this semester. Thereare a few students fresh out of high school, two

homemakers returning to school after years spentraising a family; three veterans who have seen theworst but done their best; and two others who bringstatements of special needs requiring extra time whentaking examinations. This diversity is not an exceptionto the rule in many higher education settings; it’s nowthe rule.

Though some instructors in higher education mightnot consider the entrepreneurial mindset to be rele-vant in their work, it is exactly what is needed forLatino student retention and success in today’s di-verse teaching environment.

While some institutions are highly competitive, ad-mitting only students who are thoroughly preparedfor the academic challenges, other colleges and uni-versities have a wider, more diverse span of studentsenrolling. With a larger and larger percentage needingremedial work in order to become college-ready (a2013 report by Brenda Bautsch with the NationalConference of State Legislatures reported that 41 per-cent of Latinos in college nationally require remedialwork), instructors who adopt an entrepreneurial mind-set are more likely to assure that they will engageand retain these students.

It starts with seeing the problem and choosing tosolve it. Too often faculty members dismiss or discountthe students when they start to falter, blaming thestudents’ background, preparation, intellect, incomeor any other factors that might account for less-than-expected performance. An entrepreneurial mindset,however, shifts from a problem/barrier focus to anopportunity/solution orientation, so the instructorseeks to understand the students. The instructor re-alizes that enrollees are not homogeneous and thatthe one-size-fits-all approach to teaching will no longerwork with a highly diverse student population. The in-structor takes the first step in the entrepreneurialmindset: choosing to respond to the circumstance inthe classroom (choice is always the most powerfulability anyone has in any circumstance). Instead ofblaming the student for lackluster performance, theinstructor might decide to alter her approach to meetthe needs of the customers-- the students.

Start by understanding why the student has enrolledin the class. Is the class required for a chosen programof study? Is it something chosen because it will workwith her schedule given a multitude of other respon-sibilities she has? Or does the student consider it an

“easy A”-- something he thinks he can slide throughwith little effort? Despite the range of reasons for en-rolling in the class, the material must still be mastered.

With the competency-based outcomes of the coursein mind, pare down extraneous material and clarifywhat must be mastered and why. This reduces thechances of some students deeming the material asirrelevant and promotes the perception that it is mean-ingful, increasing the chances that the student willembrace what is being taught.

Broaden the role of the student in the class. Unliketraditional lecture-based classes in which the instruc-tor talks and the student listens, use team projects,student presentations and other alternative forms ofinstruction to meet a wider range of student interestsand abilities. Though time consuming, meet individu-ally with students to monitor progress and pinpointproblems they might have in order to provide assis-tance and maximize the chances of the student com-pleting the course. Give regular feedback and, if pos-sible, offer evaluation options for those who strugglewith test anxiety. These approaches take more timeinitially to institute, but retention will likely be signifi-cantly higher.

Innovative approaches and policies addressing thechallenge of retaining students could also be adoptedby the institution. Instead of forcing a student to drop aclass when financial, family, work or other problemsarise and interfere with class attendance or work com-pletion, the student could “pause” a course and returnwithin a designated amount of time, picking up thecourse where he left off in order to complete it. The frus-tration of repeating material (and the likelihood of drop-ping the class altogether) will be reduced and the studentwill more likely master the material. Shortening the lengthof the course, too, can make it more feasible for studentswho otherwise would drop midsemester.

Marvin Lozano, EdD is a faculty member in the School ofBusiness & Information Technology at Central New MexicoCommunity College in Albuquerque. He is an experiencedsmall business consultant, commercial banker and entre-preneur. He has been honored as a USDA National HispanicFellow and as a Sam Walton Fellow.

Miquela Rivera, PhD is a licensed psychologist in Albuquerquewith years of clinical, early childhood and consultative expe-rience. Dr. Rivera’s column, “Priming the Pump” appears ineach issue of Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Shelives in Albuquerque.

Using the Entrepreneurial Mindset to Engageand Retain StudentsBy Marvin Lozano, EdD and Miquela Rivera, PhD

Own It!


Many people, if not most, who have benefitted fromaffirmative action, don’t know that a Republicanfathered and first implemented that landmark leg-

islation. It was Richard Nixon.

What was the rationale? From the very beginning the legislation was believed by

many to be unconstitutional. So why did Nixon and otherssupport it? It was an attempt to help more individualsachieve the American dream. At that time, the old boy net-work, composed mostly of WASPs (white Anglo-Saxon Protes-tants), was firmly in control of the best business opportuni-ties, significant government positions and elite highereducation. In short, the best education, the best positionsin our society were tacitly reserved for the privileged mem-bers of the old boy network. Over half of the nation was un-der educated and thus underutilized. The doors of opportu-nity were simply sealed to outsiders.

Affirmative action was designed to open doors, to pro-vide opportunities for those deprived of them.

Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, have benefitted.Many think that blacks profited the most. But research re-veals that white women benefitted the most from affirmativeaction. Thanks to its implementation many more womenwere able to attend college and later pursue MBA programsand other graduate studies. The number of women acceptedin law and medical schools exploded to the point that todayfemales constitute the majority of students in both of thoseschools nationwide. Females also have secured significantappointments in government, business and the academicworld. Affirmative action provided them opportunities notavailable to their mothers.

Slightly off the subject but indicative of deeply ingrainedhistoric prejudice against women, I note the administrationof President Woodrow Wilson. During his presidency, suf-fragettes were still struggling to secure the vote. Wilsonopposed the movement. They picketed the White Housefrequently and Wilson would complain to the Washingtonpolice. They came and took the women away. The jailsquickly filled up. Where to place the other women? It wasdecided to send them to the local insane asylum.

Why? Well, they reasoned that any woman who wantedto vote had to be insane!

Hispanics and Affirmative ActionHispanics have benefitted from the original legislation

and its evolving interpretations. Hundreds of thousandshave pursued higher education opportunities denied theirforbearers. Significant successful careers have beencarved a step at a time.

Affirmative action was federal legislation. Individual statesreacted differently. Some embraced its principles early on.Others did all they could to delay implementation.

Texas was slow to change. In time more Hispanics wereadmitted to mainstream universities. But the number wassmall for thousands who found it quite difficult to attendcollege since most of them lived in the southern part ofTexas which had very few public colleges. Instead they

were concentrated in the north where Anglos were thedominant population cohort. After decades of appealingto the legislature with limited success, advocates turnedto the courts, all the way to the state Supreme Court. Itwas finally agreed that the lack of higher education facil-ities where Hispanics lived was in itself discriminatory.

Steps were taken to build new colleges or expand exist-ing colleges in the state’s Hispanic-rich regions.

Affirmative action has worked on many levels to opendoors. But a tangential benefit for Hispanics might well bethe surge of confidence they acquired. The genie is out ofthe bottle and Hispanics no longer stand by meekly.

The future: Is affirmative action still needed?I contend, the answer is yes. As long as some classes

of people cannot access education or jobs as readily asthe mainstream population, the need will continue.

I quickly add that reform is necessary. Affirmative actionshould not be an excuse to lower standards. Some of thefaculty in their desire to help “those students” have turned ablind eye, passing them along. That doesn’t help them. Ifone wishes to help students, institutions and individualsshould provide them more time and opportunities to helpthem acquire the knowledge they need to learn.

Faculty members aren’t the only ones bending the rules.Some administrators pressured faculty to pass affirmativeaction students on. A mistake. Other administrators,scared of being targeted and criticized, fail to superviseaffirmative action hires as they should. These hires oftenare given a pass which prevents them from reaching theirhighest potential and creates a morale problem amongothers held to a higher standard.

Access for students and job seekers is important butperformance is as well. Unfortunately, many students andprofessionals are not being held to the same standardsothers are. That has to change.

DemographicsThe nation continues to experience significant demo-

graphic changes. Hispanic growth has been dramatic andcontinues in the face of reduced Southern migration. His-panics tend to have large families which increases theirtotal numbers. That will probably not abate until more ofthem enter the middle class.

There have been some increases among blacks but notmuch in part because the black middle class is havingfewer children than their parents. Asian-American immi-gration has grown significantly but their numbers are stillquite small. Affirmative action will be needed to secureopportunities for hundreds of thousands needy persons.

Income and sexual inequalityAffirmative action has helped address income and sexual

inequality issues. Many poor but promising students, includ-ing Caucasians, have benefitted in the past on both fronts.

Quo Vadis Affirmative Action?By Gustavo A. Mellander


Unfortunately income inequality continues to rise andsome scholars fear the nation is creating an ever-growinghereditary privileged class.

After World War II, Europe addressed its class divisionsituation by instituting what some consider confiscatoryinheritance taxes. The United States isn’t there as yet.But the touted one-percent keeps growing and gettingricher and more influential every year.

A wicked walk down reality laneThe 2007-08 financial upheaval was deep, serious and

widespread. Virtually every family in the country was af-fected, negatively. Academics saw their retirement assetsshrink, significantly so. Some delayed retiring. Others pan-icked and sold their stock market holdings at the worst oftimes.

Secondly, hundreds of thousands watched helplessly astheir largest asset, their homes, plummeted in value monthafter month. Net reductions of 30 to 50 percent were not un-usual. Many found their mortgages were larger than the salesvalue of their homes. For a nation that had grown accustomedto seeing the value of their homes increase year after year, itwas a hard and terrifying pill to swallow. The real estatemarket has yet to recover in most areas.

One way or another, the net worth of virtually everyAmerican family declined, which has eroded confidence.Millenniums are not investing in the stock market andnot in a hurry to purchase a home. The economy is slowlyimproving for some but not all households.

Unfortunately we are now experiencing greater wealthinequality. Specifically it has widened significantly alongracial and ethnic lines.

Examples and more According the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer

Finances, in 2013 Caucasian household wealth rose to13 times the median wealth of black households. Thatcompared to eight times the wealth in 2010.

As for Hispanics, the wealth of Caucasian householdsis presently more than 10 times the wealth of Hispanichouseholds, a change from 2010 when it was nine timesthe wealth.

To be specific, the current gap between blacks and Cau-casians has reached its highest point since 1989, whenCaucasians had 17 times the wealth of black households.The current Caucasian-to-Hispanic wealth ratio hasreached a level not seen since 2001.

Interestingly if one disregards race and ethnicity, thenet worth of American families overall – the differencebetween the values of their assets and their liabilities –has held steady.

The typical household’s net worth of $81,400 in 2013,according to the government statistics, was almost thesame as what it was in 2010, when the median net worthof U.S. households was $82,300 (values expressed in2013 dollars).

It is important to remember that stability in householdwealth followed a dramatic drop during the recession.From 2007 to 2010, the median net worth of Americanfamilies decreased by 39.4 percent, from $135,700 to$82,300. That as indicated above was a result of rapidlyplunging house prices and the stock market crash. TheDow Jones plunged to the mid-80s in 2009. Now it hasflirted with 18,000. It has been a marvelous recovery.Unfortunately, Wall Street largess has not been replicatedon Main Street, USA.

Rakesh Kochhar and Richard Fry of the Pew Research

Center have written there is “a stark divide in the experi-ences of white, black and Hispanic households duringthe economic recovery.” From 2010 to 2013, the medianwealth of non-Hispanic white households increased from$138,600 to $141,900, or by 2.4 percent.

Reports from the center state: “Meanwhile, the medianwealth of non-Hispanic black households fell 33.7 percent,from $16,600 in 2010 to $11,000 in 2013. Among His-panics, median wealth decreased by 14.3 percent, from$16,000 to $13,700. For all families – Caucasian, blackand Hispanic – median wealth is still less than its pre-re-cession level.”

That’s scary information. A number of factors seem re-sponsible for the widening of these wealth gaps. As theFederal Reserve notes, the median income of minorityhouseholds (blacks, Hispanics and other non-Caucasiancombined) fell 9 percent from 2010 to 2013, comparedwith a decrease of 1 percent for non-Hispanic Caucasianhousehold. Thus, minority households might not have re-plenished their savings as much as Caucasian householdsor they might have had to draw down their savings evenmore during the flaccid recovery.

As noted, the stock market has recovered in value morequickly and dramatically than housing. Caucasian householdshave benefitted since they are much more likely than minorityhouseholds to own stocks directly or indirectly through theirretirement accounts. So Caucasians have benefitted morefrom the financial market recovery.

Not surprisingly, once burned, many Americans have re-duced their ownership of key assets, such as residencesand stocks. But once again the decrease in asset ownershiptended to be proportionally greater among minority house-holds. For example, the homeownership rate for non-His-panic white households fell from 75.3 percent in 2010 to73.9 percent in 2013, a percentage drop of 2 percent.Meanwhile, the homeownership rate among minority house-holds decreased from 50.6 percent in 2010 to 47.4 percentin 2013, a slippage of 6.5 percent.

It should be pointed out that in the 1990s Congresspressured banks at public hearings to provide mortgagesto families who frankly could not afford homeownership.Instead of the customary 20 percent down, mortgageswere approved with a mere 3 percent down. A foolish stepwhich led to thousands of foreclosures.

While the current wealth gaps are higher than at thebeginning of the recession, they are not at their highestlevels. Peak values for the wealth ratios were recorded ina 1989 survey -- 17 for the Caucasian-to-black ratio and14 for the Caucasian-to-Hispanic ratio.

The racial and ethnic wealth gaps in 2013 are at or abouttheir highest levels observed in the 30 years for which datahas been published. Disconcerting to say the least. The self-serving Washington chatter that minorities are better off thanthey were in 2007 just doesn’t reflect reality.

Bottom lineI presented a lot of data to highlight the crunch Hispan-

ics and others are facing. It is severe. The crawl back willnot be easy even for educated middle-class individuals.So what about those trying to get on the slippery firstrung of our ladder of success? They have to be helpedand I suggest affirmative action is as needed now as everbefore.

Dr. Mellander was a college president for 20 years.


By Margaret Sands OrchowskiCAMPUS RAPE CRISIS? IT’S TIME TO FOCUS ON ABUSIVE DRINKING

In all the articles, stories, analyses and op-eds about the growing attention to rape assaults on U.S. college campusesand what to do about it, there seems to be one agreement: rape almost always happens after the victim and oftenusually the rapists have abused alcohol. They have been drinking to the point they can’t control their responses to whatis happening. The solution would seem easy then. Mount a massive campaign against alcohol abuse. But there are vo-ciferous objections to that approach. They are based mainly on the argument that “you can’t change the culture” – theculture (read, entitlement) of drinking (including underage) on campus. Changing culture is impossible next to changingthe punitive response to rape, they say. And stopping drinking altogether has been tried. Any attempt to curb drinkingtoday immediately brings up images of the failed prohibition days of the 1920s. Obviously those who argue that pointhave forgotten the ubiquitous culture of smoking that pervaded America in the mid-20th century. Smoking, like drinkingtoday was considered cool. But eventually campaigns against tobacco use were successful in the 1970s and 80s. Publicsmoking is forbidden and shamed almost everywhere in the U.S. today –even President Obama has to hide his supposedlyoccasional smoking trysts. What was the most effective technique that made smoking uncool? Photos of the MarlboroMan, emaciated, dying, hooked up to a breathing machine as he battled lung cancer. A grey-faced woman with a few

yellow teeth taking a drag. Sounds of coughing, gasping, struggling to breathe. Would it work to stop college drinkingabuse? How about photos of college hunks and cheerleaders in their less cool hours of

drunkenness? Might be worth a try in a photo essay – bycollege journalists perhaps?

DEMOCRATIC ED POLICYMAKERSSTUCK IN THE 20TH CENTURY

At a post-election meeting at the National Press Club, senior New York Senator and Demo-cratic Leader Chuck Schumer declared that the top issue for Americans was “lowering the loan rate for student loans.”That would justify one of the past Senate’s few achievements: lowering yet again the annual rise in the student loanrate to be paid once a student leaves campus. The Democrats call it “making college more affordable.” CongressionalRepresentative Raul Grijalva had another priority for education policy makers for 2015-- focus on diversity. That notonly meant to him to fund more English learning classes for Spanish-speaking students in his home state Arizona andelsewhere, but also “diversifying (the ethnic backgrounds) of the education policy staffs on the Hill.” Really Schumerand Grijalva? That’s it? Student loan rates and diversity? Those are SO 20th century issues! No wonder the Dems lostthe Senate!

COLLEGES WIN BIG WHEN PAID FOR CREDITS STUDENT EARN OUTSIDEIncreasingly, experience-based credits are seen as an important change in higher education, especially for the in-

creasing number of returning and “non-traditional-aged” students attempting to earn a four-year degree whileworking, raising kids and having a civic life. Basically, colleges will reward graduation by counting credits for skills,well-defined competencies and educational experiences earned off campus, even when the student was not enrolled.It’s a win-win for all, but especially for college’s bottom line and new accountability criteria. Institutions get paid foreducational experiences they didn’t have to provide, and get credit for higher graduation rates for which they werenot fully responsible. But employers win too because they get to demand that students graduate with the skills(excuse me “competencies”) that their businesses need, indeed often taught to themselves through free internships.Career-focused students also will win when competency-based education is tied into gainful employment criteria atpublic and private universities, not just at for-profit colleges.

CONGRESSIONAL ED COMMITTEES LOSE MOST EXPERIENCED At the time of this writing the path of the higher education reauthorization is unknown. It is clear it will not be an early

priority in the 114th Congress. Many longtime committee members have left including Tim Bishop, Rush Holt, TomPetri, Buck McKeon and of course the longtime chairman, George Miller. The new congressional ranking Democraticmember, Bobby Scott from Virginia, has focused mainly on his work in juvenile justice on the Judiciary Committee’sCrime subcommittee and with the Black Caucus. Scott is adamant about “grounding policy-making in research anddata.” The Republican leaders seem determined to look at higher ed issues in pieces, not comprehensively. ClearlyHEA reauthorization will take time!

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

BECAUSE YOU WANT TO

KNOWSubscribe for FREE to our Digital Magazine!

P h o n e : ( 2 0 1 ) 5 8 7 - 8 8 0 0 w w w . h i s p a n i c o u t l o o k . c o m E m a i l : i n f o @ h i s p a n i c o u t l o o k . c o m

Visit our website, click on the digital magazine to view our current issue, including all archived issues.Download it to your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, tablet, smartphone or Android to have Hispanic Outlook how you want it when you want it.

25

FACULTY SEARCH

Rutgers University – Camden is the southern campusof Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. It islocated in a dynamic urban area, just across theDelaware River from downtown Philadelphia. Thecampus includes undergraduate and graduate Artsand Sciences programs, a School of Business, aSchool of Law, and a School of Nursing.

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice

Associate Professor in Anthropology (Tenure-Track)

For specific information about this position,including qualifications and deadlines, see ourwebsite at http://fas.camden.rutgers.edu/faculty-research/fas-job-searches.

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, is an EqualOpportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Qualifiedapplicants will be considered for employment withoutregard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexualorientation, gender identity or expression, nationalorigin, disability status, genetic information, protectedveteran status, military service, or any other categoryprotected by law. As an institution, we value diversityof background and opinion, and prohibitdiscrimination or harassment on the basis of any legallyprotected class in the areas of hiring, recruitment,promotion, transfer, demotion, training, compensation,pay, fringe benefits, layoff, termination, or any otherterms and conditions of employment.

56044 CUNYHispanic Outlook2/3 pg 4.875” X 9.75”2.18.15p 2

Presidentof Bronx Community College

The Board of Trustees of the City University of New York (CUNY) and the Bronx Community College Presidential SearchCommittee invite nominations and applications for the position of President of Bronx Community College. Bronx Community College (BCC) was founded in 1957 to meet the growing need for access to higher education in the boroughof the Bronx. The College’s bucolic 45 acre, tree-lined campus is an intellectual oasis on the hill where students have accessto over forty associate and certificate programs. In 2012, five buildings designed by renowned architect Stanford White, hadthe distinct honor of being designated as a National Historic Landmark. The College’s 100-plus year old campus continuesas an exemplar of preservation and innovation. The University approved master plan calls for continued restoration of BCC’shistoric buildings, and the expansion of teaching and learning facilities. In addition to a new state-of-the art Library, thereis State and City investments to address capital maintenance and renovation projects in excess of $100 million. The College’s 302 full-time and 413 part-time dedicated faculty include scholars highly distinguished in their fields, mostof whom hold Ph.D.’s. Among them are prominent experts in the fields of arts and humanities, science and technology. Thisincludes nationally-recognized composers, documentary filmmakers, innovators in sustainable energy, geospatial technologyand other cutting-edge STEM fields. BCC’s faculty provides instruction to 11,500 students from over 100 countries. BCCprograms lead to careers or continued education at four-year colleges. The College prepares students for immediate employmentby offering technical and career degrees such as Automotive Technology, Environmental Technology, Digital Arts Design,Engineering Technology, Nursing, Therapeutic Recreation and many others. A student can start at BCC with a high schoolequivalency diploma and end their academic career with a Ph.D. from one of the other campuses within the University. As the Bronx academic partner for START-UP NY, the state initiative providing tax breaks to high-tech companies who launchor expand in New York State, the new president joins the College as BCC is playing an increasingly vital role as an enginefor workforce and economic development in its home borough and beyond. BCC’s annual budget is $74 million, largely fundedthrough New York State and New York City appropriations and student tuition. Fifty nine percent of BCC students are the first in their family to go to college. Over 45 percent are non-English native languagespeakers. Ninety percent of first-time freshmen of the fall 2014 semester received federal or state financial aid. Additionally,90% percentage of these students also required some form of remediation in at least one area. For more information about the composition of the student body go to:https://public.tableausoftware.com/profile/sh7303#!/vizhome/CUNYInteractiveFactbook/Start Preferred qualifications for the position include:•An individual with the highest personal and professional integrity •An earned doctorate or professional equivalent, college-level teaching experience, and a record of scholarly and/or professional

and administrative achievement•A leader committed to student success and completion who will focus on using data to inform decisions and encourage

innovation•An inclusive leader with experience in the senior-level management of an urban community college and a clear commitment

to the unique roles of a community college •A demonstrated record of success in an institution of higher education or an institution of comparable scope, with proven

strengths in strategic planning, budgeting and management•A commitment to enhancing the quality of student life and to strengthening delivery of support services to an urban, multi-

cultural, multi-ethnic student body•Demonstrated leadership in developing and enhancing the quality of academic programs while using technology to integrate

and improve learning•A leadership style that emphasizes team building with faculty and senior administrators within an environment of

shared governance•The ability to communicate clearly, collegially and persuasively with internal and external constituencies including faculty,

students, staff, community members, alumni, local and national constituencies •An ability to successfully navigate in a multi-layered political environment•An entrepreneurial approach in attracting financial support from foundations, corporations, governmental sources and

private donorsWe are being assisted in this search by Dr. Narcisa Polonio, Executive Vice President for Education, Research, and BoardLeadership Services, Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). Confidential inquiries may be directed to her [email protected]; Mobile 202-276-1983 or 202-775-4667. The position is available on or before July 1, 2015. Salary andbenefits are competitive. The review of applications will begin in March 2015 and continue until the position is filled. Submission of applications isencouraged by March 15, 2015.

Applications and nominations should be sent electronically to: Bronx Community College Presidential Search at [email protected] and [email protected].

Applicants should send (1) a letter expressing their interest in the position indicating how they meet the Search Committee’spreferred qualifications, (2) a curriculum vitae, and (3) the names of eight references (two from individuals who report toyou, two from individuals to whom you report, two from faculty members and two from community/business leaders). Referenceswill not be contacted without the applicant’s prior permission.

For additional information: Please contact Dr. Narcisa Polonio at [email protected]/ (202) 276-1983 or

Ms. Mahlet Tsegaye, Office of Executive Search/ CUNY at [email protected]; (646) 664-9404;205 East 42nd Street, 11th Floor, NY, NY 10017.

Please visit Bronx Community College on its website at www.bcc.cuny.edu or www.acctsearches.org for additional information.

All inquiries, nominations and applications will be held in the strictest confidence.CUNY is an EO/AA/IRCA/ADA employer with a

strong commitment to racial, cultural and ethnic diversity.

26

27

The University of South Florida System is a high-impact, global research system dedicated to student success. The USF System includes three institutions: USF; USF St. Petersburg; and USF Sarasota-Manatee. The institutions are separately accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. All institutions have distinct missions and their own detailed strategic plans. Serving more than 47,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.5 billion and an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.

Administrative and Executive Positions:

Faculty Positions:

Student Affairs Assistant Vice President for Wellness (Wellness)USF Health Associate Vice President Quality, Safety & Risk (Health Sciences)

Program Director (Housing & Residential Education)Executive ServicesSenior Associate General Counsel (Office of the General Counsel)

Academic AffairsESL Instructor (Pathway Program) Digital Scholarship & Publishing Librarian (Tampa Campus Library) Instructional Technologist/Blended Librarian (Tampa Campus Library)

Adjunct Instructor English Language Program (Pathway Program)Digital Learning Initiatives Coordinator (Tampa Campus Library)Research Services Coordinator Librarian (Tampa Campus Library)

College of MedicineSenior Bioinformatics Scientist (Dept. of Pediatrics) Postdoctoral Scholar Research (Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology)

Research Associate (Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology)

College of Public HealthInstructor I in Undergraduate Studies (Office of Academic Affairs)

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.

College of PharmacyAssistant /Associate Professor / Professor of Critical Care Medicine(Pharmacotherapeutics & Clinical Research)

Contra Costa College

Search for a PresidentSan Pablo, California

Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) has announced the search for the next President of Contra Costa College (CCC), the oldest and most diverse college in the District. The District is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California serving a population of 1,019,640 people. With an enrollment of about 10,000 students, the College is located in the Northern California Bay Area about 30 miles north of San Francisco.

Contra Costa College is a comprehensive community college that primarily serves the residents of West Contra Costa County. The College is designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution, is a leader in community college education and has a history of program excellence with strong ties to the community it serves. The College has two major construction projects slated for completion next year including a new classroom building and a new campus center which will include all student services functions, dining, the bookstore, and new college administrative offi ces.

The new President will report to the CCCCD Chancellor and will serve as the Chief Executive Offi cer of the College. The President is responsible for the delivery of educational and other services provided by the College. The District seeks an innovative leader who will provide vision and direction for the college’s future.

For the position profi le and information about the search, please visit: http://apptrkr.com/585688

The target date for applications is: April 20, 2015

For additional information, nominations, and confi dential inquiries please contact:Pam Fisher, Ed.D., at pamfi [email protected] or (406) 570-0516 Narcisa Polonio, Ed.D., at [email protected] or (202) 276-1983. A premier Community College

Harvard University invites inquiries, nominations, and applications for the position of Dean of theSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). As head of this diverse and intellectually richenterprise, the Dean must be an inspiring leader, a strategic thinker, an effective manager able toenvision and drive change, a recruiter and developer of talent, and a tireless advocate for the School.The Dean must be qualified to lead accomplished researchers and innovative educators. Thesuccessful candidate must also be a passionate champion of the importance of, and the immensecontributions made by, engineering to the world.

Harvard’s SEAS is a source of groundbreaking research and innovative teaching in engineering,the applied sciences, and technology. It also serves as a connector and integrator of efforts in thesefields across Harvard and beyond. Through collaboration with researchers from all parts of Harvard,other universities, and corporate and foundational partners, SEAS brings discovery and innovationdirectly to bear on improving human life and society.

The Dean, working with the SEAS community, should have the capacity to frame a powerful visionfor SEAS’s future, one which maximizes SEAS’s connections across Harvard, takes advantage ofthe depth of the University’s intellectual resources and facilities, and more fully integratesengineering and applied science into undergraduate education and broader intellectual life atHarvard.

SEAS seeks a Dean with a track record of leadership accomplishment and building teams. TheDean must think strategically and be able to build consensus around his or her inspiring vision.The Dean of SEAS will have the opportunity to lead a highly energetic, enthusiastic, and growingteam, harnessing their potential to create a more influential role for the School in both engineeringeducation and research within the University, the nation, and the world.

The Dean will not only be a leading figure in his or her field, he or she should also have theintellectual breadth needed to effectively represent, and work with, the different disciplinesrepresented in the faculty. The Dean must also understand, maintain, and advance the connectionsthat SEAS has throughout the University. In addition to these internal relationships, the Deanshould be comfortable speaking with donors and alumni, undertaking public relations, andfacilitating funding from foundations and agencies at the national level. She or he must be ready toactively, and immediately, participate in the current fundraising campaign.

The Dean must persuasively articulate the School’s vision, goals, accomplishments, and needs bothinternally and externally. The School will look to the new Dean to lead by the guiding principle,to “grow, without growing apart.” SEAS aims to preserve the dynamic culture and close connectionsestablished at the School while expanding its ability to build bridges within the classroom, acrossthe campus, and around the world.

Harvard University has retained Russell Reynolds Associates, a national executive search firm, toassist with this critical search. Inquiries, nominations and applications are invited. Interestedcandidates should submit confidentially, in electronic form, a curriculum vitae or resume and a bulletpoint summary of accomplishments in leadership roles, plus any supporting materials that theydeem relevant to:

Mirah A. HorowitzConsultant to the Search Committee

Russell Reynolds [email protected]

The University web site providing relevant information for this search ishttp://www.seas.harvard.edu/about-seas/employment/dean

Harvard is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive considerationfor employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status,

protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Hispanic Outlook2/3 pageIssue 3-9-15Deadline 2-26-15

28

Adventure is worthwhile. - Aesop

Few are the instructors who haven’t faced an au-dience with at least some students rolling theireyes, sighing or texting instead of paying atten-

tion to the discussion. When a student’s boredom isstronger than his interest in the class, there is aproblem.

Are adolescent Latinos expecting everything to befast and entertaining? Do they need the brutal actionof movies or the change of stimuli that occurs every30 seconds on television to sustain their attention?Or are they simply unable to master the academicmaterial, get connected and understand how it fitsinto the scheme of things?

All of those possible reasons for boredom are in-ternal – up to the student to resolve – but what canan instructor do to help?

Call upon the students’ sense of adventure.Most young children -- Latinos included – have an

innate curiosity and creativity. They want to knowwhat’s around the corner, in every drawer at Nana’shouse or how things work. And once they figure thatout, they begin to figure out how new things can becreated from information and objects they alreadyhave. (And when the new inventions don’t work well,they’ll keep trying). The creativity that comes withchildhood adventure helps foster self-confidence,resourcefulness and resilience.

Adventure also helps a young Latino develop deci-sion-making skills. When faced with a problem to solvein a game or activity, they youngster must weigh therisks and act accordingly – then live with the conse-quences. With appropriate limits and support byadults, children can push themselves to do somethingsafely that they otherwise would not have considered –and in the process master their own fears, anxietyand self-doubt.

The emotional growth that comes with adventureis also significant. Moving from fear to courage andfrom risk to reward can come from the challenges ina scavenger hunt, a playground game or wildernessouting. Electronic games purport skill-buildingthrough virtual adventures, but the effects are notthe same intellectually, socially or physically as theyare with actual in-vivo interactive and outdoor activ-ities. Don’t let a parent convince you that the elec-tronic adventures are adequate because they aresafer. And don’t let a kid brag about his virtual ex-

ploits and conquests if he hasn’t mastered the onesoutside his own door. Adventure teaches the rangeof emotions and helps the child realize that bothhardship and pleasure are fleeting-- and all healthy,normal and to be expected.

A young Latino also learns self-efficacy through ad-venture. Whether it is fixing a beloved bike, building aclubhouse for cousins and neighbors to visit, or devel-oping a tool or game from spare parts, the child learnsself-confidence, self-sufficiency and resourcefulness.The “I do it!” exclamation of toddlerhood is heard againduring adolescence – “I did it!”

What can an instructor do if that sense of adven-ture seems missing Latino students?

Build adventure into the curriculum and the class-room. Challenge students to find adventure in thematerial being taught, irrelevant as it might seem tomany. Craft assignments to assure that students willmove beyond the 50-minute lecture and take thelearning outside the classroom, integrating it withother classes or aspects of their lives. Assign studentsto create an experience or adventure using the con-cepts being taught. Through cooperation required ingroup projects and competition that arises betweengroups in the class, the adventure – and learning –move to a higher level. Whenever possible, instructorsbenefit by occasionally moving instruction outdoorsto force a students to observe and sense things dif-ferently than when they are plopped in their hard,plastic desk chairs in the classroom. And if the classseems too dull or dormant to latch onto those assign-ments with excitement, call upon the tried-and-true –childhood fairytales or modern novels (like Harry Pot-ter) that teach of fear, adventure, loss and challenge –and discuss how the material being taught in classrelates to the life lessons in those childhood stories.

Advisors can help Latino students in higher edu-cation rediscover the adventure in learning, too, byencouraging students to take a wide range ofcourses that fit within their program of study – evencourses that seem “hard” or “not-so-fun.” Sometimesmeeting the challenge of mastering the material orfinding the fun in a new area of study is an adventurein itself.

Miquela Rivera, PhD, is a licensed psychologist withyears of clinical, early childhood and consultative expe-rience. She lives in Albuquerque, N.M.

| H I S P A N I C O U T L O O K | M A R C H 9 , 2 0 1 5

Priming the Pump…Giving Latino Students aSense of AdventureBy Miquela Rivera, PhD

Documents

03/09/15 Building the Hispanic Professoriate Pipeline