CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force
Report to President Haynes
2006-07
Executive Summary
The HSI Task Force made noteworthy steps toward achieving our campus goal of becoming an
HSI. The task force successfully collaborated on several activities including the hiring of a retention coordinator, funding of two 2007-08 HSI budget requests, development of an NCHEA proposal for a summit with local community colleges, and supporting HSI-related campus initiatives. Our campus progress toward educational equity is reflected by increasing student diversity at CSUSM. According to the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education journal CSUSM was ranked #81 nationally among colleges and universities awarding the most bachelor’s degrees to Hispanics in 2006. U.S. News and World Report “Best Colleges in 2007” ranked CSUSM as
#37 among western U.S. master’s granting institutions with the most student ethnic diversity.
Although the CSUSM student population is becoming increasingly diverse, there is concern that the growth of Latino student enrollment may not be sufficient to achieve HSI status by 2010.
The task force recognizes that our university must make significant campus-wide strides to attain
HSI status by 2010. Thus, the task force recommends that the university collaboratively develop and implement a well-defined timetable with annual measurable goals for achieving HSI status within the next three years. The primary areas of focus should be student recruitment, retention, and remediation. However, the campus should also survey students to increase reporting of ethnicity. In addition, the campus can address ways to enhance faculty and staff diversity in order to attract and retain underrepresented students. Furthermore, the task force recommends that any new faculty and staff appointments to the task force be representative of the campus units. These appointments should also have direct lines of communication and continuity with administrative heads, such as the Provost, Vice-Presidents, and college Deans. The task force proposes forming a collaborative campus-wide “action” team comprised of faculty, staff, and administrators to identify goals, annually evaluate outcomes, and implement strategies to attain
HSI status. Several of the recommended activities, such as recruitment and retention efforts, will require additional resources above and beyond the funding awarded to HSI-related activities for
2007-08. However, some activities will require little or no resources to implement.
Lastly, the task force encourages the campus to adopt an evidence-based approach to educational outcomes similar to a Diversity Scorecard developed by the USC Center for Urban Education.
The Scorecard examines campus baselines and develops improvement targets for indicators of access, retention, institutional receptivity, and excellence. The Student Outcome Equity Index also developed by the Center examines student academic performance indicators by ethnicity and income levels. The task force stresses that there be university-wide collaboration and communication regarding our HSI objective. Recently, Palomar College and the University of
California, Riverside became HSIs. These campuses undertook active institutional steps to achieve their HSI designation. CSUSM can become an HSI within three years by implementing such proactive strategies. The task force hopes that units and departments across the campus agree on the prioritization of our HSI initiative.

CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Background
In consultation with the CSUSM Hispanic Advisory Committee (HAC) and the CSUSM African
American Advisory Committee (AAAC), President Karen Haynes established the Hispanic
Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force in 2004. The HSI Task Force consists of CSUSM faculty, staff, students, and community members. The charge of the task force is to identify strategies to accelerate our campus progress toward attaining federal designation as an HSI. To be eligible for HSI status, undergraduate full-time equivalent student (FTES) enrollment must be at least
25% Hispanic (students must also meet certain income requirements). The task force has undertaken efforts to achieve HSI eligibility and greater student diversity that is representative of the region. CSUSM undergraduate Hispanic FTES has increased gradually from 18.6% in fall
2000 to 21.6% in fall 2006 (See Figure 1). The CSUSM student body has become increasingly diverse. In fall 2006, 40% of the CSUSM undergraduate student population was comprised of ethnic minorities. However, the ethnicity for about 8% of CSUSM students was unknown.
The task force seeks to ensure that achieving HSI status is a university priority. The HSI and greater diversity initiatives embody the five campus strategic priorities: Campus Climate,
Community Partnerships, Student Life, Academic Excellence, and Educational Equity.
Moreover, the HSI initiative complements other university-wide initiatives that focus on the
President’s emphasis on Academic Excellence and Educational Equity, such as the Educational
Equity Task Force and the new Office of University Diversity and Equity (UDE).
In 2004 the HSI Task Force outlined three phases for accomplishing its charge:

Phase I: Educational campaign

Phase II: Explore and develop strategies for outreach, recruitment, and retention

Phase III: Achieve HSI status and prepare competitive grant proposals
Phase I: Educational Campaign
In 2004-05 the task force’s educational campaign included presentations to campus constituencies, publication of a brochure titled “Preparing for Greater Diversity” (funded by the
President), and development of an HSI webpage. The focus of the campaign was to inform stakeholders about the benefits of HSI status for the entire internal and external community. The benefits include opportunities to compete for academic enhancement, research, and professional development programs for students, faculty, and staff. Moreover, the programs will boost the diversity of our campus and enrich academic and social experiences at our university. The campaign was well-received. In spring 2005 the CSUSM Academic Senate and Associated
Student Inc (ASI) endorsed resolutions for CSUSM to achieve HSI status by 2010.
Phase II: Outreach, Recruitment, and Retention Strategies
In 2005-06 the task force presented updates to several campus stakeholders, such as HAC,
AAAC, North County Higher Education Alliance (NCHEA), CSUSM ASI Board of Directors, and the CSUSM Student Affairs Leadership Team (SALT). The HSI website was linked to the
Office of the President webpage.
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
The task force also determined that the first stage of Phase II would focus on developing outreach and recruitment strategies and that a second stage would focus on retention strategies.
In fall 2005, an HSI Task Force subcommittee developed a survey to identify outreach and recruitment activities on campus that have contributed to the recruitment of new students to
CSUSM. The survey was distributed widely to campus units and departments. The response to the call for information provided data from many areas of the campus. The data were considered to be a representative sample of outreach and recruitment activities across the campus and not an inventory of all activities. The HSI subcommittee reviewed the data and developed a matrix of campus outreach and recruitment activities. Based upon the analysis of the data, the HSI Task
Force developed budget requests for the 2006-07 strategic planning budget call. The task force requested $76,600 to support specific student outreach and recruitment activities designed to increase the enrollment of Latino students and enhance the diversity of our student population.
Among the budget requests were proposals to support 1) the Educational Opportunity Program
(EOP) to focus on high schools with programs such as Advancement Via Individual
Determination (AVID) and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOP&S) at community colleges, and 2) the Student Ambassador program to increase focus on high schools with large ethnic diversity. Because the funded requests focused on student retention the HSI budget requests were not funded. However, in 2005-06 President Haynes allocated $1,500 to the task force for minor operational needs, part of which the task force used to support the production of bilingual outreach materials.
2006-07 HSI Task Force Activities
In 2006-07 the HSI Task Force pursued funding originally proposed as part of the 2006-07 budget call. By working with the newly established Office of University Diversity and Equity
(UDE), $5,000 was awarded to partially support the EOP and Student Ambassador program.
Although this allocation was approved late in the fiscal year, the funds supported expanded outreach services during the late spring and summer of 2007. Because funding was provided in spring 2007, it is too soon to assess outcomes.
HSI Retention Subcommittee
The focus of the HSI Retention Subcommittee was to identify and develop strategies that will assist with strengthening the retention of Latino and underrepresented students. The subcommittee consisted of Susan Mitchell (Chairperson), Associate Vice President, Student
Academic Support Services; Lorena Meza, Senior Director of the Center for Learning and
Academic Support Services (CLASS); Jeffrey Marks, Research Analyst, Institutional Planning and Analysis (IPA); Gerardo Gonzalez, Interim Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice
President for Research; Nathan Evans, Director, Admissions and Recruitment and Lourdes
Shahamiri, Catalog and Curriculum Coordinator. The subcommittee began meeting in May 2006 and concluded its work in January 2007. With input from the HSI Task Force, the subcommittee focused its efforts on first-year retention because it is the area most in need of improvement and is also in alignment with our campus focus on first-year retention as part of our WASC accreditation process. Figure 2 illustrates the upward and downward trend in our CSUSM Latino first-time freshmen one-year continuation rates from fall 2000 to fall 2005.
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Since November 2005 the WASC Theme #3 Committee has been studying the proficiency levels for first-year students. The committee included staff involved in first-year retention efforts across campus, such as First-Year Programs, Enrollment Management Services, Student
Academic Support Services, Admissions and Recruitment, and CLASS. In fall 2006 approximately two thirds of all CSUSM first-year students needed remediation in Math, English, or both subjects. In fall 2006 only 46% and 37% of CSUSM Latino first-time freshmen demonstrated proficiency in Math and English, respectively (See Figures 3 and 4). Moreover,
39% of Latino first-year students, who entered in fall 2005 needing remediation, did not fulfill remediation requirements by fall 2006 and had to be disenrolled. The WASC #3 committee had several findings: 1) no one on campus was designated to coordinate the remediation process in order to ensure effective and timely communication with students who lacked proficiency, 2) the campus lacked a staff person who could coordinate and disseminate remediation data to staff and faculty in order to advance retention and proficiency efforts, and 3) First-Year Programs needed assistance in building out plans for developing additional learning communities in the next few years. With over 1000 students in fall 2006 requiring remediation, the campus faced critical challenges with no designated staff person available to lead these important efforts.
In summer 2006 members of WASC Theme #3 Committee and the HSI Retention Subcommittee joined efforts to develop a proposal for a position that would focus on the most critical first-year retention needs that had emerged from the work of WASC Theme #3 committees. The group met with the Educational Equity Task Force to discuss the proposal. The intent was to submit a proposal through the 2007-08 strategic planning process. However, the group realized that if the campus waited until the 2007-08 budget process was completed, a candidate would not be hired until late summer or early fall 2007. Thus, an opportunity to provide maximum support for
2007-08 first-year students would be missed. Given the urgency of this situation, the group brought the proposal to the attention of the President’s Executive Council (EC) for consideration if funds became available in 2006-07.
As a result of this highly collaborative effort and the urgency to add support for retention efforts, the EC allocated funds to hire a coordinator in spring 2007. A search resulted in the hiring of Dr.
Geoffrey Gilmore who joined the campus in March 2007. The position is located organizationally within Student Academic Support Services in Student Affairs and is supervised by Lorena Meza, Senior Director for CLASS.
The AVID Proposal
In late spring 2006, President Haynes forwarded a HAC proposal to the HSI Task Force. The proposal called for a campus position to work with former AVID students in their transition to the university. The HSI Retention Subcommittee reviewed the proposal for further consideration. The subcommittee met several times with HAC representatives and AVID staff from the County Department of Education to discuss the proposal. Because there were no data on the number of former AVID students on campus, Jeff Marks from IPA utilized a survey of students during first year orientations to roughly estimate how many AVID students might be served by such a position. About 20% of the first-year students attending orientations were former AVID students. Thus, an estimated 275 new first-year students in the incoming fall 2006 class were formerly in the AVID program.
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Due to the tight budget situation on campus, the retention subcommittee did not sense that a fulltime position serving 275 students was justifiable because many first-year students needed additional support to successfully transition to the university. Given the work completed on the first-year coordinator position (noted in the previous section), the subcommittee decided to include responsibilities for establishing an AVID learning community on campus within the coordinator job description. All the parties on campus working on the project agreed that this was a reasonable approach to support former AVID students, but also provide much needed support to all first-year students requiring remediation. As a result, there is a component of the new position to implement a learning community for former AVID students in fall 2008.
2007-08 HSI Budget Requests
An HSI Task Force proposal subcommittee developed budget requests to support outreach and recruitment in support of achieving HSI designation. The subcommittee consisted of Gerardo
Gonzalez, Interim Dean/Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies & Research; Lorena
Meza, Senior Director of CLASS; and Nathan Evans, Director, Admissions and Recruitment.
From these discussions as well as the preceding year’s recommendations, the proposal subcommittee developed requests for the 2007-08 strategic planning budget call that supported outreach, recruitment, retention of Latino and underrepresented students at CSUSM. A total of
$53,250 was requested to support the development of outreach and recruitment communications in Spanish, campus visits by school groups from identified high schools, collaborations with
EOP&S programs at local community colleges, and the implementation and expansion of an academic summer programs. These proposals were fully funded for 2007-08.
Outreach and Partnership Activities
The HSI Task Force chair presented task force goals and activities to the WASC Minority
Student Retention Committee in August 2006. Also, Dr. Anne Donadey, Chair of the University
Committee Diversity, Equity and Outreach, at San Diego State contacted the HSI chair regarding the role of our task force because SDSU is also seeking HSI status. In addition, CSUSM UDE faculty coordinator Dr. Garry Rolison met with the diversity officer at CSU, Long Beach (which recently became an HSI) to discuss HSI and equity issues. With support of the Office of UDE, several task force members attended the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education
(AAHHE) conference in March 2007 at Costa Mesa, CA and a task force member attended the
Conference on Latino Students: Promoting Access and Success in March 2007 at San Antonio.
HSI Task Force members participated fully in the WASC review in March 2007. The chairs of
HSI Task Force and LAFS co-signed a welcome letter sent by CSUSM Admissions office to
Latino undergraduate students who declared intent to enroll at CSUSM.
HSI Task Force members met with representatives from MiraCosta College and Palomar College in spring 2007 to collaborate on an NCHEA proposal. The group submitted a proposal for a
“Seamless Transition Summit” focusing on student transition issues. The goals of the summit are to gather faculty and staff from the three institutions in fall 2007 to discuss data on student transition experiences and produce a report of the findings and recommendations in spring 2008.
NCHEA funded the proposal. The Summit will take place on October 12, 2007 at CSUSM.
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
2007-08 Initiatives in Support of the HSI Designation
The HSI Task Force actively supported campus initiatives that complemented the HSI objective.
The following projects are a few examples:
Faculty Mentoring Program
The HSI retention subcommittee had conversations regarding the possibility of a Faculty
Mentoring Program (FMP) for first-year students similar to the one for upper division students currently run through the Faculty Center. Task force chair Gerardo Gonzalez met with Dr.
Carmen Nava, Director of the Faculty Center, to discuss the potential project. Dr. Nava indicated that the Faculty Center was considering a 2007-08 budget request to expand the FMP and also felt that broadening the program to first-year students was feasible. The HSI Task
Force wrote a letter of support for the Faculty Center’s budget request to expand the program to first-year students in 2007-08. The Faculty Center’s request was funded.
Special Welcome Programs
The HSI retention subcommittee also explored the possibility of developing a special welcome program for first-year students from underrepresented groups. Lorena Meza and Susan Mitchell met with Dilcie Perez (Director of Student Life & Leadership) and Bridget Blanshan (Dean of
Students/AVP Student Development Services) to discuss the possibility of housing such programs within the Cross-Cultural Center in Student Life and Leadership (SLL). The group envisioned that SLL staff would work in collaboration with campus organizations such as HAC,
African American Faculty & Staff Association (AAFSA), and the Latino Association of Faculty
& Staff (LAFS) to provide special programs at the beginning of the academic year to connect students from underrepresented groups to the campus community as soon as possible. The special welcome receptions would take place in the first week of classes with opportunities for signing up for specific follow-up activities such as social and academic events and activities. In order to institutionalize this effort, the Division of Student Affairs submitted a budget request for permanent funds for Multi-cultural programming. This effort was successful and $5000 has been designated to support these activities beginning in fall 2007.
Writing Support for Second Language Speakers
The HSI retention subcommittee discussed developing a proposal that would address writing support for second language speakers. As a result of the discussions, CLASS developed a proposal in collaboration with the American Language & Culture Institute (ALCI), Writing
Center and the World Languages for submission through Student Affairs for the 2007-08 Lottery grant process. The Student Affairs Senior Management Team felt this was such an important project that it gained their full support and was the only lottery proposal submitted from the division this year. The project has been funded and will be administered through the Language
Learning Center with pedagogical support from ALCI. This pilot program will provide the HSI task force with appropriate data to evaluate outcomes and develop recommendations for possibly institutionalizing the program.
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Task Force and Advisory Committee Membership
The 2006-07 HSI Task Force met biweekly during the fall and spring semesters to advance the
HSI initiative. The task force included the following members:
• Gerardo González, Interim Dean/AVP, Graduate Studies and Research (chair)
•
David Barsky, Associate Vice President for Academic Programs
•
Matthew Ceppi, Director, Institutional Planning
•
Nathan Evans, Director, Admissions and Recruitment
•
Bill de la Fuente, Hispanic Advisory Council
•
Roy Lee, President, ASI, Inc.
•
Karen Perez, ASI, Inc.
• Soheila Jorjani, Professor, Production and Operations Management
•
Lorena Meza, Senior Director, Centers for Learning & Academic Support Services
•
Susan Mitchell, Associate Vice President, Student Academic Support Services
• Tracey Richardson, African American Faculty and Staff Association
•
Garry Rolison, Faculty Coordinator, Office of University Diversity and Equity
•
Lourdes Shahamiri, Catalog and Curriculum Coordinator
Several campus staff provided important input to the task force including Jeff Marks and
Bhavisha Talsania from IPA and Thomas Rodriguez from University Outreach.
Additional CSUSM, community college, and community representatives served on the HSI
Advisory Committee to provide guidance to the HSI Task Force. The group met with the task force for a meeting in fall 2006 and spring 2007 to discuss task force activities, data, and goals.
The 2006-07 HSI Advisory Committee included the following members:
• Tomás Arciniega, President Emeritus, CSU, Bakersfield
•
Glen Brodowsky, Professor, Management & Marketing, College of Business
• Darren Bush, Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management
•
Berta Cuaron, Vice President of Instructional Services, Palomar College
•
Joe Madrigal, Vice President of Student Services, Palomar College
• Juan Necochea, Professor, College of Education/ CAMP
•
Freddie Ramirez, Counselor, MiraCosta College
•
Victor Rocha, Director, Biomedical Research and Training
•
Gilberto Valadez, Professor, College of Education
HSI Task Force Recommendations for 2007-08
The HSI Task Force contends that in order for our campus to attain HSI status by 2010, the university should collaboratively develop and implement a well-defined timetable with annual measurable goals for achieving HSI status within the next three years. The campus should also gather and assess evidence of annual progress toward meeting this objective. Thus, the task force developed the following recommendations with the aim of achieving our university’s objective of becoming an HSI by the year 2010.
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Admittedly, several recommended activities, such as recruitment and retention efforts, will require additional resources above and beyond what was awarded to HSI-related projects for
2007-08. However, some activities will require little or no resources to execute.
Outreach and Recruitment
Implement more intensive and systematic recruitment and outreach efforts of eligible diverse high school and community college students in order to increase recruitment of students from underrepresented groups by at least 2% each year for the next three years.

Intensify recruitment of students from high schools and community colleges with considerable student diversity

Develop partnership agreements with local community colleges similar to CSUSM partnerships with local school districts to secure admissions for eligible underrepresented students

Create campus activities for non-English speaking families that include bilingual speakers and materials

Produce bilingual media to reach out to non-English speaking families, such as Spanish language text on our campus website and university radio/television announcements

Conduct a multivariate analysis of student application and admission data to best understand the relationship to enrollment yield. Figure 5 displays the number of Latino first-time freshman who applied to CSUSM, those admitted, and those who subsequently enrolled for the years from fall 2001 to fall 2006. The fall 2006 admitted yield rate
(proportion of students who applied and were admitted) for Latino students was 73%
(CSUSM norm was 77%). The enrolled yield rate (proportion of students who were admitted and enrolled) for Latino students was 21% (CSUSM norm was 22%).
Remediation and Retention
Employ best practices known to be effective with first generation and diverse students in order to increase retention and remediation rates of students from underrepresented groups by at least 2% each year for the next three years.

Maintain collaboration between the HSI Task Force, WASC Theme #3 group,
Educational Equity Task Force, the Office of University Diversity and Equity, and other appropriate units and departments to identify and implement effective strategies

Develop collaboration with the new Foundations of Excellence project

Engage diverse student organizations, faculty/staff organizations, and the Alumni
Association in the retention of students

Implement viable strategies identified by the NCHEA “Seamless Transition Summit”

Conduct a multivariate analysis of student proficiency and remediation rates to best understand retention outcomes. Preliminary CSUSM data suggest that first-year students enrolled in learning communities and GEL courses have higher retention rates
Student Survey
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
A significant number of CSUSM students do not report ethnicity which may underestimate the number of underrepresented students at CSUSM. Executive Order 318 authorizes CSU campuses to annually collect and report data on student ethnicity.

The task force recommends that the campus implement a process to annually survey
CSUSM students in order to increase the number of students reporting ethnicity
Faculty and Staff Diversity
Table 1 summarizes the diversity of our CSUSM tenure-track faculty from fall 2002 to fall 2006.
The data suggest that faculty diversity has not changed significantly since 2002. Numerous studies suggest that the presence of a diverse faculty and staff is positively related to the retention of underrepresented students. The task force recommends that the campus enact more intensive and systematic recruitment and outreach efforts to increase the hiring of faculty and staff from underrepresented groups by 3% each year for the next three years.

Increase the pool of faculty and staff candidates from underrepresented groups through diversity networks

Develop collaborations between the HSI Task Force, Educational Equity Task Force, college deans, Office of University Diversity and Equity, Human Resources, and
Academic Resources to implement effective recruitment strategies

Create workshops or training on how to enhance the diversity of candidate pools
HSI Task Force and Advisory Committee Membership
The task force recommends that any new faculty, administrator, and staff appointments to the task force be representative of the campus units.

Faculty, administrator, and staff appointments should have direct lines of communication with administrative heads, such as the Provost, Vice-Presidents, and college Deans

Faculty, administrator, and staff appointments should collaborate on the oversight of campus-wide HSI-related activities and initiatives

Form a collaborative “action” team comprised of faculty, administrators, and staff to identify goals, annually evaluate outcomes, and implement strategies to address gaps.
The task force encourages the campus to adopt an evidence-based approach to educational outcomes similar to a Diversity Scorecard developed by Bensimon at al. at the USC Center for
Urban Education. The Scorecard examines campus baselines and develops improvement targets for indicators of access, retention, institutional receptivity, and excellence. The Student
Outcome Equity Index also developed by the Center examines student academic performance indicators by ethnicity and income levels. The task force stresses that there should be universitywide collaboration and communication regarding our campus HSI objective. Recently, Palomar
College and the University of California, Riverside became HSIs. Both campuses undertook active institutional steps to achieve their HSI designation. CSUSM can become an HSI within three years by implementing such proactive strategies. The task force hopes that units and departments across the campus agree on the prioritization of our HSI initiative.
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Figure 1: CSUSM Latino Undergraduate Enrollment Headcount (Fall 1995-Fall 2006)
Figure 2: CSUSM Latino First-time Freshmen One-Year Continuation Rates of Regularly
Admitted Students by Fall Entry Term
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Figure 3: CSUSM Latino First-time Freshmen Math Proficiency Rates (Fall 2000-Fall 2006)
Figure 4: CSUSM Latino First-time Freshmen English Proficiency Rates (Fall 2000-Fall 2006)
Figure 5: CSUSM Latino First-time Freshmen - Number Applied, Admitted, and Enrolled
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CSUSM Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force Report 2006-07
Table 1: Ethnic Diversity of CSUSM Tenure Track Faculty (Fall 2002-Fall 2006)
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