Metro State’s Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force hosted a special talk on Nov. 21 at the Tivoli Student Union that attracted representatives from 10 different Colorado higher education institutions.

The talk featured the leaders of Excelencia in Education, an organization that identifies, analyzes and disseminates information on effective higher education practices for Latinos. The talk addressed a few questions, including: “Once you’ve recruited them, then what? How are you going to nurture them?”

Excelencia in Education President Sarita E. Brown and Deborah A. Santiago, vice president for policy and research, answered the questions by addressing common myths about HSI’s and by explaining where HSI’s fall on a national scale.

One myth is that HSI’s are defined by the college’s mission, often leading to other populations feeling left out. “HSI’s are defined by their Hispanic student enrollment, not their institutional mission,” said Santiago, who points to the 265 institutions across the United States that meet this requirement. Over 75 percent of these HSI’s are located in California, Puerto Rico, Texas and New Mexico.

With the growing Latino population in the U.S., many more institutions will be added to this list. Accordingly, the staff and faculty of countless colleges are trying to find the right formula to recruit this population. The traditional education path is defined by students who attend college immediately after graduating high school, and graduate within four to five years.

This is not the case for your average Latino student, says Brown, who has spent more than two decades at prominent national educational institutions and at the highest levels of government working to develop more effective strategies to raise academic achievement and opportunity for low-income students and students of color.

According to Excelencia’s research, more Latinos are first generation, commute to college, work off-campus while enrolled in college and attend community colleges.

So the question becomes how do you meet them where they are?

“We have to respond to how Latino students are navigating college,” says Brown.

Brown offered a note of encouragement to institutions seeking HSI status, calling them trendsetters. “HSI’s often have a negative connotation and there are a lot of growing pains,” says Santiago. “The reality is these institutions are leading the charge.”

Their presentation also reviewed “promising practices,” which could include providing pronunciation classes for faculty development. According to Santiago, “it provides a warm and welcoming environment” for a student to hear their name pronounced correctly.

In addition, the presenters noted the importance of documenting the success of existing programs. “It’s key to create a written record and evidence of effectiveness,” said Brown.

Brown and Santiago were invited to the campus by Urban Teacher Partnership Director Esther Rodriguez.