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In The News
July 30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
University Recognized for Trendsetting
Programs for Latinos
(Carson, CA)— California
State University, Dominguez Hills was recognized as one of 12 trendsetting
Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in a report by Excelencia
in Education, a Washington D.C.-based higher education policy group.
The university’s Latinas Juntas mentoring
program, the Gateways Math-Science Project, and the Enhancing Critical
Literacy Project
(ECLP) – both Title V programs – were recognized among
institutional practices that apply to several areas including community
outreach, academic support, and faculty engagement. Title V is
a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Department of
Education that helps institutions of higher education enhance and
expand their capacity to serve Hispanic and low-income students.
Latinas
Juntas is a daylong program offered in the fall semester designed
to provide support and mentoring to Latina students, many
of whom are the first in their families to attend college. Dr.
Monica Rosas-Baines, a psychologist in the CSUDH Student Development
office, describes the unique stumbling blocks to academic and personal
success that Latina students face:
“
Our Latina clients reported similar cultural pressures and obstacles
that often interfere with educational success. These include family
and gender role conflicts, lack of role models, isolation on campus,
and personal insecurities.”
Rosas-Baines and her colleague,
psychologist Dr. Denna Sanchez, designed Latinas Juntas to include
the participation of Latina
faculty and staff who serve as role models, encouraging students
to reach educational and career goals with discussions and activities.
Departments all over campus lend support, and representatives from
the local business community, including Starbucks, Target, Ikea,
and Chivas USA, annually particiapate.
“
Programs like these provide Latina students the opportunity to
meet Latina professionals with advanced degrees who know firsthand
what it’s like to pursue their educational goals,” Rosas-Baines
says.
Latinas Juntas, which is in its fifth year, was
inspired by Student Development’s Nosotras, a weekly support
group aimed at Latina students, which was established in 2002.
Last year,
a coed program, “Pizza,
Profs & Plática,” was implemented, giving male
and female students the opportunity to meet with Latina/o faculty.
The next Latinas Juntas event is Nov. 7th, and “Pizza, Profs & Plática,” is
scheduled for April 16, 2009.
“
These programs demonstrate to our Latina/o students that there
is a community of faculty and staff who are eager to offer support,
mentorship, and guidance in order to foster personal growth and
success,” she says.
Academic support is also part of the university’s
efforts to help Latina/o students to achieve and received recognition
by
Excelencia in Education.
David Nishioka, director of the Title
V Gateways Math-Science Project, says that one of the greatest
challenges facing HSIs is “overcoming
the wide disparity in math-science preparedness among entering
first-year students. Some students come fully prepared to enter
college level math and science courses, but a much greater number
enter college with inadequate math skills, and must correct that
deficiency by taking up to two semesters of developmental math
just to enter general education math and science courses.”
In
the fourth year of a five-year grant, Gateways is a partnership
with Cerritos College designed to better serve and retain Latina/o
students in math and science by providing more math and science
tutors in the Center for Learning and Academic Support Services
(CLASS), producing workshops for students and faculty development,
and expanding computer-assisted instruction.
“
We [also] face the challenge of recruiting students into the math,
science, and technology majors, preparing them to enter careers
in these fields,” says Nishioka, “and placing them
in graduate or professional schools and/or careers in these fields.”
The
Enhancing Critical Literacy Project (ECLP), also a Title V program,
which was initially funded in 2002 and ended last year,
was established to focus on faculty and curriculum development
in the hopes of improving students’ writing abilities.
Caron Mellblom-Nishioka, professor of teacher education and special
education, served as activity director for ECLP. She says that
the issue of substandard writing and reading skills is not specific
to any one particular group in the student population at Dominguez
Hills.
“
English as a second language presents issues for many non-native
speakers of English,” she states. “The grammatical
rules and structures differ from one language to another and this
adds to difficulty with oral and written fluency.”
“
Research indicates that regardless of ethnic background, all students
benefit from re-writing based on informed and helpful feedback,” says
Linda Pomerantz-Zhang, emerita professor of history and former
ECLP director. “More than 100 faculty members were trained
through ECLP to incorporate exercises to help strengthen students'
reading skills, develop good writing assignments, and give students
appropriate feedback on their drafts.”
Mellblom-Nishioka, who is also the director of CLASS, says that
the Dominguez Hills faculty who attended workshops funded by ECLP
learned how to redesign their courses in order to reinforce reading,
writing, and critical thinking skills for their students. She cites
other efforts of the university to service its Latina/o population.
“
The campus is responsive to the needs of our community and ongoing
efforts are made to determine those needs and develop programs
to meet them,” she says. “This is evident in the development
of degree programs such as criminal justice and the master’s
in social work, to the many off-campus cohorts that are offered
to teacher interns in our surrounding school districts.”
Although
the university received kudos for initiatives targeting Latino
and Hispanic populations, its commitment extends to all
groups in its service area, which includes the South Bay and South
Los Angeles, says Mellblom-Nishioka.
“
California State University, Dominguez Hills strives to fill the
educational needs of a growing Hispanic population by providing
highly qualified instruction and excellent support services aimed
at increasing student success in all majors, [as well as] fulfilling
the needs for a student body of unprecedented diversity.”
For
more information, visit these sites: www.csudh.edu/latinasjuntas,
www.csudh.edu/classTitleVGateways, www.csudh.edu/eclp.
To read Excelencia
in Education’s report, Modeling Hispanic-Serving
Institutions (HSIs): Campus Practices that Work for Latino Students,
visit www.edexcelencia.org/research/hsi/default.asp.
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---------------------------------------------- About
CSU Dominguez Hills -- California
State University, Dominguez Hills is a highly diverse,
urban university located in the South Bay, primarily
serving the
Los Angeles metropolitan area. The university prides itself
on its outstanding faculty and friendly, student-centered
environment.
Known for excellence in teacher education, nursing, psychology,
business administration, and digital media arts, new degree
programs include computer science, criminal justice,
recreation and leisure
studies, social work, and communication disorders. On campus
is the Home Depot Center, a multi-purpose sports complex
that hosts
world-class soccer, tennis, track and field, lacrosse, and
cycling.
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