Hispanic and Non-Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Serving institutes across the country have been faced with difficulty in how to best serve their Latinx populations.

On April 28, Dr. Gina Ann Garcia, professor, researcher, author, editor, podcaster, and speaker, spoke about the “S” in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). By federal law, an HSI is defined as an institution with 25 percent of students identified as Latinx and at least 50 percent identified with low-income background. However, Dr. Garcia defines these institutions as just enrollment of more than 25 percent Latinx students. 

As outlined by Dr. Garcia, some universities consider themselves Hispanic serving for grants provided by the government while still not providing the proper services for students. “Designation is important to an institution to get funding via Title V sections A and B via the 1992 Higher Education Act to improve its services.”

Garcia also provided that the funding would help improve the “curriculum, D.E.I. plans, and funding more organizations on campus to help with inclusivity…” Universities with an HSI title will want to incorporate servingness through transformation; Dr. Garcia stated, the board needs to “transform the environment to lead to more liberatory outcomes and experiences.” 

Latinx students in S.T.E.M majors at an HSI unnamed university failing a required algebra course was one of the many examples of what pushed educators to redesign the course load.

The interdisciplinary team at this unnamed university including the math faculty, social scientists, student support services, and students, found four steps in changing the curriculum within 10-15 years.

First, this team began to incorporate more pedagogy and collaboration among students such as students who would watch videos before lectures, teamwork during class for one-on-one learning rather than the traditional college lecture ratio.

When they realized this still was not working, they began changing the professional development among the faculty. When faculty is better trained to help provide what a student body needs, the faculty would provide it.

After these new structures formed, in and out of class feedback from students were provided. And majority of the Latinx students academic confidence and grades were improved. However, there was still room for improvement, so by providing holistic advisement for non-traditional and traditional students, the confidence and course grades skyrocketed. 

Dr. Garcia outlined the structure (depicted here) for servingness and the first step includes incorporating clear goals and wishes for the program into the mission and value statements to draw in more diverse staff, faculty, and students to help everyone understand where the university stands with these extremely relevant issues.

Drawing people in with these statements will serve as a building structure for implementing new practices and improving graduation rates. 

If these universities use these plans, even if they are not yet considered an HSI, they can quickly acquire more diverse faculty, staff, and administration. 

The generalized framework was compiled by Dr. Garcia to outline what pieces best campuses should use to best serve their communities and address any issues.  

Highlighted statements should be highly considered. 

When a university is trying to adapt or enhance a servingness plan for the Latinx community, the administration should consider all of these topics. 

Administration should consider outreach and recruitment of a certain population because having people who understand the culture and possible language barriers would make people feel more comfortable in communicating with staff and on campus. 

Within an informative presentation, Dr. Gina Ann Garcia presented her audience with many instances of how universities can change over time and what these changes meant to her when stating, “HIS is a feeling, and that feeling is joy.” 

As universities across the country become more accessible, welcoming, and progressive when it comes to new policies to better serve the Latinx community, it will open many opportunities for students as long as needs can be met.