In general, students, faculty and staff at Metro State have a positive impression of the College and its diversity outreach efforts, according to a recent study.

As part of the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) initiative, the College retained Xcelente Marketing, a local market research firm that specializes in the Latino market, to conduct interviews, surveys and focus groups to assess general perceptions of Metro State, specific perceptions about the inclusiveness and diversity environment on campus, the level of acceptance of the HSI initiative, and initiatives that will attract and retain Latino students.

From mid-2007 through early 2008, Xcelente conducted 10 one-on-one interviews with Latino community leaders and four focus groups (faculty and staff, Latino alumni, prospective Latino students and parents of prospective Latino students). They also conducted an online survey of 5,000 current students enrolled Spring 2008 and received 569 responses. The sample was based on similar characteristics of all students in regards to gender, ethnicity, age, and new vs. returning.

Excelente presented its findings July 14 at the HSI Task Force meeting (see http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/hsi_twv6070908.shtml).

General perceptions
Of the current students surveyed, 94 percent say they made the “right decision” in choosing Metro State. In the positive and somewhat positive categories, the College’s admissions process earned 77 percent approval, followed by the availability of support and tutoring at 64 percent. Scores regarding learning about and applying for scholarships/financial aid, support in selecting courses and deciding on a major were all in the low 50s. Advice on planning for a career and further education ranked lowest at 40 percent.

Perceptions about inclusiveness and diversity
Seventy seven percent of students “believe Metro State is meeting its goal of having a diverse student body;” 74 percent feel very strongly that Metro State does a good job “creating an environment that is inclusive and culturally sensitive;” and 86 percent are positive about “being exposed to a wide range of students from diverse backgrounds.” A full three-quarters of students surveyed believe it is important that Metro State make attracting a diverse student body a priority.

Latino students surveyed generally believed that Metro State “could do a better job on providing support with basic skills” and said they do not like to ask for help. Faculty and staff from the focus group affirmed that Latino students frequently need more support with writing and communication skills, Excelente said.

On becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution
The interviews and focus groups revealed that Latino alumni generally have a positive attitude about Metro State’s goal to become an HSI, but acknowledge that achieving this won’t be easy given historic Latino education levels. Faculty and staff expressed a general concern about not having an adequate infrastructure in place to support the HSI initiative and a possible increase in workload it might bring.

There was generally low awareness among those interviewed of the HSI goal, with only 22 percent having heard about it. Of those who did know about it, impressions were mixed, with 47 percent favorable or somewhat favorable. However, after hearing more about it, reactions shifted toward more approval, with only 27 percent unfavorable.

On attracting a more ethnically diverse student body
The study found that prospective Latino parents had a general concern about the cost of a college education and cited Latinos’ obligations to their families as a reason for their requiring more and different kinds of support. The parents had a lack of knowledge about the different kinds of support available to send their kids to college. Further, prospective Latino students did not know about Metro State’s range of academic options.

Recommendations
Based on its research, Xcelente made a number of recommendations to the College.

• Increase resources devoted to the time of student entry and exit from Metro State.
• Provide leveling courses for students, especially in communications skills.
• Work internally with faculty and staff to help them understand that Latino students often need help but do not ask for it.
• Communicate internally within the College to overcome barriers and clarify misunderstandings about becoming an HSI.
• Do not use HSI as a “label” to reach prospective Latino students.
• Provide more Latino courses and professors, financial support, mentoring plans, etc.
• Get closer to the Latino community by going to churches, fairs, etc.
• Go to middle schools and talk to kids and parents about the importance of going to college.
• Invite high school students to attend classes at Metro State.
• Use nontraditional media, such as on-line marketing, viral marketing (using students and teenagers as brand ambassadors), cell-phone contests using text messages, etc., in addition to the more traditional media of television and radio. Use both English and Spanish in outreach efforts.

College’s marketing efforts align with research results
According to Associate Vice President of Communications and Advancement Cathy Lucas, the HSI marketing efforts already underway align with Excelente’s recommendations based on the study results.

“For instance, we have produced and will distribute bilingual postcards to targeted Latino audiences,” Lucas said. “We’re also partnering with CSU-Pueblo, which is an HSI institution, to produce a bilingual poster that will be placed in all DPS middle schools and in Pueblo middle schools. We have bilingual ads running on Univision as well.”

Lucas added that the Urban Center for Civic Engagement Task Force’s project to inventory all of the College’s community outreach programs will help determine what grassroots efforts with the Latino community are already being undertaken.

To see Xcelente’s PowerPoint presentation in full, go to msc_quantitative.pdf.