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.::l COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Community Colleges Raising the Barby Jeff Simmons

President Barack Obama's State of the Union

speech in January offered welcome news

for community colleges across the nation.

Confronted with a stubbornly high nationalunemployment rate and legions of Americans

falling below the poverty line, the presidentvowed to trai two mion Americans with ski

that wi pave their way into the workforce.

"Now you need to give more community col-

leges the resources they need to become com-

munity career centers - places that teach people

skis that local businesses are lookig for right

now, from data management to high-tech manu-

facturig," the president said.

The president outlned ideas to "restore aneconomy where everyone gets a fair shot," ai-ing to narrow a skills gap that separates thelong-term unemployed from businesses thathave jobs waiting to be fied. And, he urged col-

leges and universities to ensure tution costs stay

Antonio R Flores, HACU president and CEO

low so that fiancial obstacles do not deter those

with higher education aspirations.

Community college leaders and higher edu-

cation expert said the president's words spoketo his recogntion that two-year public colleges

are a worthy investment in the future of thecountry's economic prosperity.

"Defitely communty colleges have gotten a lot

24 HISPANIC OUTLOOK

more atention in the la thee yea th they hapreviously," sad Debora Santiago, vice presdent

for policy and resch at Excelencia in Educaon,

a Washigton, D.C.-bas organon endeavorig

to help Hianc students by focing on improvigpolicies and practces. "This is much more positie

than the lite atntion they got in the pas."

"To me, this is the right way to go," addedTerry Kinzel, director of Title V Grants at BigBend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash.

"You have to reflect your community, and youhave to look at what your community needs are,

the pathways that work in our communities sowe can engage the people where they are andthen move them forward."

The speech also represented an acknowl-

edgement that community colleges are educatig

greater numbers of Hispanic students, leadingmany of those institutions to edge beyond thethreshold to become Hispanic-Serving

Institutions, or HSIs.

During the 2009-10 academic year, therewere 293 Hispanic-Servng Institutions acrossthe naton, and 137 of them - or 47 percent -

were community colleges, Santiago said. Thepercentae of HSIs that are communty colleges

has remaied consistently level, but their overal

numbers contiue to grow each year."When I look at emergig Hispanc-Servg

Institutions, institutions that are at 24 percent

and don't hit the enrollent theshold to be eli-

gible yet, t4ere are 83 institutions that fit thatband," she said. That 83 percent represents 41percent of emergig HSIs overa.

With changing student demographics oncommunty college campuses often come shi-ing priorities, recasting a college's agenda toconcentrate on retention and beef up student

support servces.

Additionaly, colleges that reach this levelbecome eligible to apply for federal dollars tobuttess their programs and offerigs. The U.S.

Department of Education's Hispanic-Serving

Institutions Program provides grants to helpHSIs with expandig educational opportnities

for Hispanc students and enable the colleges toexpand and enhance academic offerings, pro-

grs and institutional stabilty.The deparent's Title V Progr doesn't pre-

cert intitutions as HSIs. In they must meetelgibilty requiements, priary that Hispancsmust represent more than a quarter of their

. 03/26/2012

undergduate fu-tie equivalent enrollent.The Hispanic Association of Colleges and

Universities, or HACU, in 1992 led the successfu

effort to convice Congress to formaly recognzecampuses with high Hispanc enrollent as fed-eraly designated HSIs and begi tagetig feder-

al appropriations to those schools,

HACU, which has seen its membership grow

from 18 in 1986 to more than 400 today, and its

ales subsequently urged Congress to appropriate

money specifcaly for HSIs. In 1995, $12 mionin federal resources were granted. That numberhas grown. Last year, $104.3 mion were appro-priated for the HSI undergraduate program under

Title V of the Higher Education Act.

"The main benefit is the opportunity foradditional fundig targeted for Hispanc-ServgInstitutions by the federal government," saidAntonio R Flores, HACU president and CEO.

"One of the persistent challenges for

René Wille kens, dean of planning, research andeffectiveness, Estrella Mountain c.c.

Hispanc-Servg Institutions in genera, not just

for community colleges, is their underfndingrelative to other universities and colleges. They

only get about 66 cents for every dollar that the

rest of higher education receives annualy perstudent from al federal sources."

With ths smaler pool of money, many of these

two-year institutions are educating the neediest

as Hispanic-Serving Institutionsstudents in the country. So federal support, such as

Title V, alows them to "undertke and improveand expand their capacity to assist these students."

In addition to exceeding the 25 percentthreshold, not less than 50 percent of al of acollege's students must be eligible for need-based Title IV aid for the college to become eli-

gible for Title V. Further funding is availableunder the Title II, Part A, program, whichauthorizes the Strengthening Institutions,American Indian Tribal1y Control1ed Col1eges

and Universities, and Alaska Native and Native

Hawaian-Servg Institutions Programs.

Institutions that receive grants then can apply

their funding in myrad ways. For instace, they

can furnish scientific or laboratory equipmentfor teachig; construct or renovate instructional

facilties, bolster faculty development, academic

tutoring and counseling programs; or, improve

distace-learng academic instruction.

Dr. Joyce C. Romano, VP of student affairs,Valencia Community College

The government's investment continues. InSeptember 2010, 99 new five-year grant grants

amounting to $60.1 milion were awarded to

enhance colleges that enroll a high percentaeof Hispanic students. With grants from the$49.7 milion Developing Hispanic-Serving

Institutions Program, 78 institutions have sincebeen able to expand educational opportnities

for Hispanic students.

An additional $ 10.4 milion from thePromoting Post-baccalaureate Opportnities for

Hispanc Americans Program went to support 21

institutions that offer a post-baccalaureate cer-tificate or degree to help Hispanic Americans

enroll and succeed in graduate study, a level of

education in which they are underrepresented.

"We advocate continually for them and ontheir behal with the U.S. Deparent of Education

for better services and more importantly with

Congress for better fundig opportlÚties," Flores

sad. "Money is approved by Congress, and so far

it has not alocated enough money for every eligi-

ble Hispanc-Servg Institution to get fundig, so

they have to compete amongst themselves for li-

ited resources," he said. "The majority of them

have some sort of grant, but unortnately, manydo not. There is not enough money alocated byCongress on an anual basis,"

Deborah Santiago, vice president for policy andresearch at Excelencia in Education

HACU report somewhat higher numbers of

HSI community colleges, indicating that 164 ofthe 311 institutions certified by the U.S.

Deparment of Education as HSIs are two-yearcolleges. Additionaly, HACU report that there

are 242 emergig HSIs, 98 of which are commu-

nity colleges. Whatever the exact numbers are,

they speak to the same growth.

HACU report that, geographicaly, the states

with the highest numbers of Hispanic-servngcommunity colleges are Calorna (70), Texas

(28) and New Mexico (IS). There are stateswithout any, and others with low numbersinclude Washington (two), Florida (two), andKansas and Massachusetts (each with three).However, Flores notes that Florida's Miam Dade

is the largest HSI in the nation.

Big Bend Community College, tucked inan extremely rural area in Washington, is one

example of parlaying Hispanic growth intoaccess to federal support.

Terry Kinzel, director of Big Bend's Title V

Grants, successfully wrote and landed threeHispanic-Serving Institution Title V grants -amountig to $ 1 1. mion - in the past threeyears: a Cooperative Lead in 2009, IndividualTitle V in 2010, and an HSI STEM in 2011.

"We cover 4,600 square mies and are very

Terry Kinzel, director, Title V Grants, Big BendCommunity College

rura and remote. We sit in the middle of theecounties we serve, and it's 70 mies to the nortand 70 mies to the south," she said, "and thecommunities that are predomiately Latio are

located furter from the campus than two larger

non-Latio communities."

That posed a chalenge: how to capture andeducate those Hispanc students who lived fur-

o 3 / 2 6 I 2 0 i 2 . HIS PAN I C 0 U T L 0 0 K 2S

ther away and sought to attend college, butfound distace - and fundig - too dauntig to

overcome. So Big Bend explored ways tostrengthen its distace-learg program.

Big Bend's involvement, actualy, began when

Heritage University, a four-year private school,

invited the community college to partner in acooperative five-year grant in 2005. At the tie,

Big Bend's student population was less than a

quarter Hispanic - 19 percent - although itsservce area was 47 percent Hispanc.

As a result, Big Bend was able to look intro-spectively at its strengths and weaknesses, and

better defie a vision to broaden diversity at the

institution. "The grant helped us to thk moreclearly about how we might reach out to the

greater needs in our area," Kizel said,It was durig the Heritage collaboration that

Big Bend crossed the 25 percent threshold and

began to exame how it, too, could seek federal

funding. The school subsequently received theCooperative Partnership Grant in 2009, when

enrollent was 29 percent Hispanc.

In ths instace, Big Bend became the lead

institution and parered with Heritae, which is

about 40 miles away. The collaboration has

forged a strong pipelie for students to continue

their higher education studies.

"We have the abilty to have a wider rage ofaccess because al of the community colleges in

the state share costs of distace-learng inova-tions," Kinzel said. "Where Heritage was weakwas in technology, Big Bend was able to 'mentor'

that, so to spea. On our end, we lacked a cul-

tura inclusion, and they were very good at that.

It was a great match-up for us."

Funding alowed the school to do a muchbetter job connecting with students in the far

26 HISPANIC OUTLOOK

reaches of its region. "Most of our Latino stu-

dents were a long way from campus, andtrapped in jobs that were low wåge, and theydidn't have access to - or didn't feel comfort-

able borrowing - money to go school," she said.

Big Bend, for example, revamped its ChidStudies Program, improvig its academic offer-ings so that students could progress to a four-

year college program and earn a bachelor'sdegree. Additionaly, thanks to one of the federal

grats, Big Bend was able to create a better path-

way for students pursuig technological studies.

"Our data suggested that Latio students didnot transfer well, and we had a higher faiurerate than that of our Anglo students," Kizel said.

"We emphasized transfer, and were able to build

a student success center that provided moretransparent inormation for new students."

In fal 2010, Big Bend enrolled 2,132 stu-

dents, of whom 663 were Hispanc. The campusenrollent included about 80 percent first-gen-eration college attendees, and among Hispancstudents, the percentage of first-generationattendees was at 94 percent.

However, the school encountered many stu-

dents - 91 percent - who were underprepared

for college in at least one area, in math orEnglish. Of the Hispanic students, 95 percent

were underprepared.

"So it was the Latino students who neededextra support when they came in the doorbecause they were often the fist in their famyto enter college as well," she said. "That meantthey usually didn't have anyone at home whocould guide them through the expectations andsupport avaiable at the community college."

Federal support for the community college

allowed it to experiment, and "pilot withoutpenalty," Kizel said.

\

"We're alwaysworking to helpstudents expand

their view of what ispossible for

"themselves.

Dr. Joyce C. Romano,

VP of student affairs,

Valencia Community

College

. 03/26/2012

"The grants alow you to pilot new practicesand, if they don't work you can fi that and do it

agai," she said. "The grants are critical. Thereis a huge abilty to stiulate change."

Valencia Community College in Orlando,Fla., sees communty colleges as incredibly impor-

tat to the country's future. Valencia, founded in

1967, rus six campuses and centers in Centra

Florida's Orange and Osceola counties, offerig

credt and contiuig educaon progrs. Its Eastand Osceola campuses are federaly designatedHispanc-Servg Institutions with more than 27

percent of enrollent being Hispanc.Of the college's 59,018 credit students in the

academic year 2010-11, 29.2 percent wereHispanc, the largest miority group in the sytem.

Valencia's graduation rate for Hispanics is

twce that of sim, large urban communty col-

leges as defined by the U.S. Department ofEducation. College-reay Hipanc student gais in

gruation rates at Valencia over the last decadehave outpaced al students, increaing from 33.7percent to 45.5 percent in the last decade.

Additionaly, Valencia ranks first among the

nation's two-year institutions for the tota num-

ber of associate degrees awarded and second inthe number of degrees awarded to Hispancs.

Dr. Joyce C. Romano, Valencia's vice president

of student afai, said Valencia's Hispanc student

populaton began to consistently exceed 25 per-cent about a dozen yea ago, a testaent to the

region's steadiy increaing Hispanc population.

"Our growth has been because we've been

able to keep pace with the diversifcation of ourarea high schools," Romano said. "We have apopulation base that's very nch in the Hispancculture, particularly with many Puerto Ricans,Cubans and Carbbean Islanders in our area."

Valencia has helped pave the way by connect-

ing with Hispanc students and their parents tobridge the gap to higher education. "Famy inparcular holds a very high value in the Hispanc

cultue, and in some ways that makes commun-

ty colleges more attractive," she said, indicatigthat for many students local campuses alowthem to remai close to home. "They want the

best of both worlds; they contiue to be par ofthe famy network and also go to college."

The college's mission and pnonties evolved

over the years, and in the face of troublig lowcompletion and progression rates amongHispancs, it staed to pursue grant offerigs to

buid intiatives to reverse those trends."One of the ways the Hispanc-servg desig-

nation was usefu for us was that we became eli-

gible for dierent pots of dollar, such as Title

V," Romano said. "We were able to get resources

to do some of the innovative work to improve

student results."

As a result of its Title V funding, Valenciafocused on entry points and courses that stu-dents take early on in their higher educationschooling. Valencia designed better facultydevelopment intiatives and strategies as well asimproved academic support systems.

"The intention was to design somethg that

you wi be able to susta," she said.Valencia's effort have included Supplementa

Learg, which bolsters traditional courses with

smal-group study sessions, led by a student who

aleady successfuy took the class. Since 2006,alost 32,000 students have taken Supplementa

Learning courses - one of the largest scalelearning experiments to ever take place in acommunity college in the nation.

Additionaly, the Bridges to Success program

offers disadvantaged high school students freetuition if they enroll in Valencia right afer highschool graduation, keep their grdes up and par-

ticipate in Bridges activities. And, DirectConnect

to UCF, the University of Central Florida, has

streamed the admssions, fiancial aid, advis-ing and trsfer processes for Valencia students

contiuig their education at UCE

"We found that the idea of 'learng commu-nities' was realy importt to students who werenot traditionaly successful in higher education,"Romano said. "Feeling that there is a social con-

nection is importt to puttg in the effort oneneeds to be able to learn"

Community colleges, she said, help students

clar a purpose and pathway. "We are always

working to do that better," she said. "We'realways working to help students expand theirview of what is possible for themselves."

Valencia now has much to boast about. The

campus has experienced steady increases in itsgraduation rates for Hispanc students.

In December, Valencia won the inauguralAspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

Aspen offcial pointed out that over hal of thecollege's fu-time students graduated or trans-ferred withi three years of enterig the school,

a much higher rate than the national average.

"It was very humbling. We were thriled,"Romano said. "We feel especialy proud because

it was realy an award based on what our stu-dents had achieved."

Student achievement is a key focus atEstrella Mountain Community College inAvondae, Arz. Since openig in 1992, Estrellahas worked to create a "sense of place" thatexpresses the historical and cultural values ofthe surroundig communties.

Located in the fastest-growig region of the

county, Estrella Mounta enrolls approxiately13,00 for-crt stdents anuay, a fa cr from

the 2,376 anual stdents th were served in the

1992-93 academic year. Overall, including itsSouthWest Ski center, enrollent swell to 15,00.

More than hal of its student populon is miority."I was glad to see a focus on community col-

leges, particularly in a way to get people back to

work as quickly as possible," René Wilekens,

dean of planning, research and effectiveness,

said of President Obama's remarks. "Community

colleges are able to adapt quickly to the chang-ing needs in the environment."

Estrella has witness€d steady growth in itsHispanic student population. More than adecade ago, the college had a 30 percent

Hispanc student population. Today, that number

stads at 40 percent.

Estrella students "are a reflection of the com-

munity, how the local community changesimpacts the demographics of our students. Weanticipate continued increases in the Hispancstudent population because 53 percent of ourfeeder high school students are Hispanc."

As a result of its HSI status, Estrella was eligi-

ble to apply for federa fundig. Estrella applied

for Title V fundig to strengten its science, tech-nology, engieerig and mathematics - or ST- offerigs, said Jonathan Robles, Title V director.

"That was a real effort to increase the num-

ber of Hispanic students going into STEM

careers," he said, As a result, Estrella estab-lished a NASA tutoring center, which provides

free tutorig, computers and study space for stu-

dents in science and math courses.

Then, in 2008, Estrella was awarded a sec-ond Tile V grant, as well as receiving furthermonies from National Science Foundation grats

to fund STEM intiatives.

The fundig has alowed Estrella, like othercommunity colleges, to forge better allanceswith schools in their surroundig areas servgkidergarten through 12th-grade students, and

identi area where they can parer with theirfaculty on academic intiatives involvig mathe-matics, for instace.

Estrella has visited schools in its surroundigwestern areas with Marcopa County and host-

ed math summts. And is lookig at replicatigths effort with Englsh and readig.

"These efforts aren't based on playing ablame-game, but workig to algn the currcu-

lum between the feeder schools and college and

partnering with high schools to offer facultydevelopment," he said.

Estrella has faced similar chalenges, withmany students arrving needig developmenta,or remedial, assistace or remediation. Roughly

80 percent of its full-time students who arriverequire some sort of developmenta course.

"This is prett substatial," Wilekens said.

"If you're in a developmental course, you'veadded one or two semesters to graduation."

Wilekens would like to spend more of thefederal support on strengthening connectionswith feeder schools. "There are someties li-

tations within the grants of not being able towork with our feeder populations," he said.

Added Robles: "When you get one grant, it

enables you to leverae that and go fort and get

other grants. Gettg that first federa grat helpsbuild a foundation and gives you credibilty soyou can keep going forward."

HACU expects to see greater things on the

horizon, as the Hispanc population builds both

off-campus and on.

''We hope for the future that we contiue to see

consistent growt in Hispanc-servg Insttutionsthat emerge because of the population growthacross the country, and we see in those stateswhere we don't have HSIs but wi have them, such

as Georgia, Nort Carolia, South Carolia andother par of the south," Flores said.

"We also see a greater awareness on the par

of Congress and state legislatures about theimportce of these institutions to educate newgenerations of Latios for high-skied jobs that

the economy requires to improve the stadad of

living in this country," Flores said. "Obviously

they tend to be at the cuttg edge of traig andretrg new workers and keeping up to sup-

port the demands for jobs in the economy.

"There wi always be chalenges, but I th

the future is bright. I see a tremendous futurefor community colleges, and particularly forHispanc-Servng Institutions."

l~o 3 / 2 6 / 2 0 1 2 . HIS PAN I C 0 U T L 0 0 K 27