The Status of Latino and Native
American Students at Southern
Connecticut State University
A Report To Dr. Selase Williams, Provost
From:
The Latino and Native American Student
Advancement Task Force (LNAATF)
1
2
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 2
Identifying impediments .............................................................................................................. 3
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 9
Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Bibliography 14
Task Force Members 15
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Introduction
During the first week of March of 2011, Provost Selase Williams asked the nine of us to form the
Latino and Native American Student Advancement Task Force (LNAATF) to assess the situation of Latino
and Native American students at Southern Connecticut State University and to offer some
recommendations that would address the significant gaps in their academic achievement. In spite of the
efforts made by the university to improve the retention and graduation rates of all students, it was still
evident that Latino and Native American students did not enter the university, persist, or graduate at the
same rates as other ethnic groups.
As part of SCSU’s deliberate attempt to increase retention leading to higher graduation rates,
particular emphasis has been given to students’ first-year in college. This recognizes that providing a strong
academic foundation and nurturing support at the beginning of the students’ academic career would yield
important benefits for their entire university experience. Some of the institutional data we analyzed show
that since 2007 first year retention rates at SCSU have risen from 72.6% to nearly 80%; that there has
been a 4.5% increase in the retention from 2nd year to 3rd year and 3rd year to 4th year; and the 6-year
graduation rate has increased from 37% to more than 42%. Even more importantly, it shows that students
are feeling more motivated about their learning, that their GPAs are higher, and that the number of students
on academic probation has declined.
Even though African Americans do not enter the university or graduate at the same rate as their
European American classmates, they seem to do well in persisting from first to second year. While the
university recognizes the need to work on improving the entrance and graduation rates for all
underrepresented students, there is an urgent need to understand why retention rates for Latino and Native
American students have not risen to the same level as other groups.
Thus, Provost Williams entrusted the LNAATF with the task of identifying the impediments that
prevent Latino and Native American students from being more successful in the areas of:

Access to higher education;

Retention—that is continuation from one year to the next; and

Degree completion in a timely manner.
And, once these impediments have been identified, to make some recommendations that are likely to
improve these numbers.
Identifying impediments
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In carrying out this task, we consulted a number of publications, including Transforming the
First Year of College for Students of Color (which provides basic information about the challenges
that are common or unique in their first year of college to different groups); Hispanic Student
Success in State Colleges and Universities: Creating Supportive Spaces on Our Campuses (a
report of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Hispanic Student Success
Study); the Spring 2008 issue of the Lumina Foundation Focus magazine, titled: “Pillars of Progress:
The Nation‘s Minority-Serving Institutions Point the Way to Student Success”; and the introduction
to Access to Success (a program at Southern CT State University).
In addition, we invited professionals from other institutions of higher education to share with
us their experiences addressing similar issues in their schools. Specifically, we met with Myrna
Garcia-Bowen (CCSU Director of Academic Articulations & Partnerships and former Director of
Admissions at CCSU) and Theodore Van Alst (Assistant Dean and Director of the Native American
Cultural Society at Yale University). Also, we met with Latino students (we were not successful in
reaching Native American students) to hear their opinions and suggestions. Several of these
students attended a few of the LNAATF meetings.
For additional insight, we considered a variety of statistics provided by Rick Riccardi
(Director of Management Information and Research at SCSU) as well as the Provost’s Office and
we watched a special broadcasting by Univision titled “‘Es el Momento’, a Townhall meeting with
President Obama,” where President Obama discussed the state of Hispanic education in the U.S.
with students, parents, and teachers.
In this way we tried to inform ourselves and understand the issues faced by Latino and
Native American students, nationally and locally, from a wide variety of perspectives. Following are
some of the observations derived from our reviewing all these materials:
From the readings:

Equity for all students is, according to Hispanic Student Success, an essential
commitment by any institution of higher education. To offer support for all students’
success it is important to make Latino and Native American students feel welcome.

Critical mass gives a sense of community (Hispanic Student Success). Institutions of
higher education need to be conscious of the need for spaces that allow underrepresented
students to congregate so students can see that they are not alone.
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
Pre-collegiate experience (Transforming the First Year of College for Students of Color).
SCSU has established programs such as ConnCas and SEOP to assist low-income and
academically challenged students, which are indispensible because these populations have
fewer opportunities and support. Some of our Latino and Native American students could
benefit tremendously from these programs.

Transformative student and academic affairs practices are essential in the
development of a meaningful college experience (Transforming the First Year of College
for Students of Color). Building on collaborative efforts between the offices of Academic
Affairs and Student Affairs, as well as faculty, administrators and staff in general is
important for students’ holistic development. It is also important to include students to
provide them with an opportunity to have their voice heard.

Closing the gaps. The Access to Success Initiative is an example of a collaborative effort
between the National Association of System Heads (NASH) and the Education Trust at
SCSU. It was conceived to address the gaps in the achievement of African American,
American Indian, Latino, and low-income students, in relation to the achievement of their
European American and more affluent counterparts. The goal is to cut the gaps in half by
the year 2015. Access to Success seeks to identify best practices and to replicate effective
programming across the Connecticut State University System.
From the statistics:
Through the examination of the data provided by the Office of Management Information and
Research) and the Provost’s Office we saw such things as what Angela Todaro presented at a
recent Enrollment Management Council meeting. She presented statistics on the ethnic
composition of students living in the residence halls. Surprisingly, these stats show that Latino
students are living in residence halls in a disproportionately smaller percentage than the other
groups. Obvious questions arose: “Could this be contributing to a lower persistence rate? Is
that due to an economic differential (e.g. lower Estimated Family Contribution [EFC])? Are they
more likely to want to live at home for cultural (e.g. dietary, religious) reasons? Similarly, every
issue we looked at and every question we posed elicited other questions to be addressed and
researched further.
Exploring these data further, we found the following:
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
Low-income students. 25% of Connecticut’s high school graduates are low income, yet
only 20% of the first-year students entering SCSU are low income. The gap is 5% (63
students). One half of that is 2.5%, or 32 students.

Under-represented minorities. Similarly, the data indicate that 26% of the state’s high
school graduates are under-represented minorities, but only 20% of the first-year students
entering SCSU are under-represented minorities, revealing a gap of 6% (75 students). One
half of that is 3%, or 38 students (See Graph 1, below).
Number of Students Enrolled
1600
1400
1200
Black
1000
800
Native American
600
Asian
400
Hispanic
200
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Graph 1

Retention. The Retention Graph below (See Graph 2) shows 2 year and 3-year rates. There is no
information on Native Americans at the 3rd year, it is likely that they either all dropped out or were
not captured by the survey data.
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Retention Rates
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
81%
80%
59%
40%
2 year
74%
57%
50%
57%
3 year
30%
White
Black
Hispanic
Native
American
Graph 2
We found data to represent Hispanic students experiences through SCSU; however, there were
not enough data points to investigate the experiences of Native American students. Exploring this data
further we found several themes in the findings for Hispanic students.
First, a large percentage of students reported that they were not highly invested in excelling in their
courses. In a question marked “I settle for just passing my courses”, 22% agreed or strongly agreed
with this statement while an additional 24% were neutral. In addition, 51% of Hispanic students
surveyed reported being nervous or hesitant in the classroom environment. An additional 26% were
neutral.
When asked what the main obstacles to academic progress was for these students, the majority
reported lack of money, work schedule and lack of advising. The theme of issues of advising was
present in other areas of the data collection as well (See Graph 3 below).
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Lack of
Money
Work
Family
Health/ Difficulty
Schedule Obligations Personal
Getting
Problems Courses
Graph 3
Lack of
Advising
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Students underscored the need for advisement in that a large percentage are first-generation college
students; a full 66% did not have parents that went to college, and 26% were the first college students in
their entire extended family. Sixty-five percent of the students surveyed agreed that they seek out others
who can help them be successful in college. However, 31% did not feel that their advisor had been
available when they needed them. An additional 39% were neutral on this issue, with only 30% feeling that
their advisor was available to them. In fact, over 35% indicated that their primary source of advisement was
not a faculty member or their academic advisor (See Graph 4 below).
Primary Source of Academic
Advisement
100%
50%
0%
Academic
Advisor
Other Faculty
Friends or
Family
Other Faculty
Graph 4
Further data shows a possible link to a need for more advising. Following Hispanic students who
transferred out of SCSU before graduation, the data revealed that 64% were transferring into a Community
College (See Graph 5 below). While this may indicate a desire for lowered tuition, it may also indicate a
different type of advisement. Advisement in community colleges tends to be more holistic, and can include
mentoring, personal, social, financial and academic advisement. This type of advisement is probably more
conducive to first generation college students, as survival in college is linked to academics.
14%
CSU
22%
University
Community College
64%
Graph 5
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Finally, the data indicated that the primary reason for limited participation in extra- or co-curricular activities,
which consequently may be able to help with some of the lacking advisement issues, was primarily the
demands of a work schedule and lack of knowledge about events (See Graph 6 below).
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7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Graph 6
On the positive side, for the Access to Success Initiative, Southern promises to concentrate on two
programs which have the goal of increasing the number of under-represented minorities and lowincome students. These two programs are Let’s Get Ready and the Galileo Project.
From the invited professionals:
After a cordial and collegial conversation with Myrna Garcia-Bowen and Theodore Van Alst about
their experiences at their institutions, we concluded that to increase the success of our Latino and
Native American students and to make them feel welcome in our institution, it is important to

Increase representation in administrative offices, with personnel sensitive to the needs of underrepresented students beginning with the Office of Admissions.

Increase the support of upper management.

Establish a permanent group of faculty and administrators committed to the ongoing effort of
improving Latino and Native American student success.

Offer a location such as a social center or a cultural house specifically for each group. Students
often look for a family environment, so it is important that they feel that there is a place for them on
campus.
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
Include parent and family members. Most of Latino and Native American students are the first
generation to attend college, so the inclusion of the parents in this experience fosters a better
support system at home.
From the meetings with Latino students:
Similarly, after meeting several times with some of our Latino students at our regular meeting and
once in a social gathering, where we asked them to tell us their concerns, wishes, and success stories,
we concluded that

Latino students want to belong to SCSU and having a community and a place where they can
gather will boost their self-confidence and will establish a sense of community and belonging.

In general students value education and know that it is key to having a better life. However, a
majority of them are the first generation to attend college and many have no help or support at
home. Having at least one parent who is active in their college application could help, but their
parents not always know how to help them.

Personalization of the institution via social interaction and academic support is extremely
important to help students with issues like time management, which for the most part was never
taught to them; to learn how to balance their own social, personal, and academic lives; and to
create networks for peer mentoring and tutoring.

There is a clear need for easy, comprehensive, and direct access to financial resources and to
any information regarding scholarships, grants, loans, prizes, and any other financial aid.

In general, it is important to develop a more effective and transparent system of
communication between the administration, faculty, staff, students, and the community at large.
Also, we consider that it would be very beneficial to create an Alumni network that would create a
permanent sense of community that goes beyond the college years.
Recommendations
Looking at all of the above information, certain patterns emerge that seem to be responsible for
holding back Latino students, making harder their access to higher education or their success in college;
this information also raises other questions that need to be addressed and researched further, which only
emphasizes the need to design and implement different strategies to support these students.
Consequently, we the members of the Latino and Native American Student Advancement Task Force,
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make the following recommendations to the President and Provost of Southern Connecticut State
University:
First, because of the complexity of the issues faced by Latino and Native American student in higher
education and because of the need to regularly assess, update, and adapt different strategies to help
students to succeed in their academic endeavors, we recommend that the Latino and Native American
Student Advancement Task Force be established permanently. Members of this task force should
come from faculty, staff, and student bodies and be appointed by the Provost.
Second, to assure the access to higher education, we recommend considering the following goals:

Increase outreach effort throughout the state.

Increase the commitment of the university to support more scholarship and to offer more financial
aid.

Reach out to parents of Latino and Native American students and their communities in general.

Build partnerships with schools, business, and the community at large.

Improve the transition between two-year institutions of higher education to facilitate the further
education of Hispanic and Native American students.
We believe that following the above action plan could help us attain the following goals:

Expand college admissions recruitment into high schools with large enrolment of Latino and Native
American students. In addition, we recommend sponsor trips to campuses for Latino elementary
and middle school students to increase their awareness and interest in higher education.

Support the creation of programs and courses related to Hispanic and Native American
communities and support faculty members working on scholarly projects related to these
communities.

Increase the number of scholarships, fellowships, and partnerships that will lead to internship
opportunities.

Provide information to parents of Hispanic and Native American middle school students about the
importance of college, the need for students to take the right courses to prepare for college, and
the need to perform well academically.
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
Offer seminars for parents on several aspects related to the college experiences, from paying for
college and how to fill out college application and financial aid forms to the importance of scholarly
work and academic disciplines.

Communicate more effectively with parents and provide college admissions materials in languages
other than English (particularly in Spanish and perhaps even Portuguese) to facilitate family
discussions about college.

Organize local SAT/ACT preparation courses for Latino and Native American students.

Establish dual enrollment programs with state high schools so students may earn college credits
while in high school.

Encourage communities, school districts, and local institutions of higher education to develop
strong, collaborative K-16 educational strategies to improve Latino achievement throughout the
educational pipeline.
Third, similarly, we believe that retention of Latino and Native American students can be secured through
the following actions:

Increasing representatives in administrative offices that are sensitive to the needs of underrepresented students beginning with the offices of Admissions and Financial Aid.

Establishing a permanent group of faculty and administrators committed to the ongoing effort of
improving Latino and Native American student success.

Creating a social space for Latino and Native American students to gather, respectively. We think
it is imperative that students feel that there is a place for them on campus.

Including parent as much as possible in campus activities such as the welcoming reception or
orientation.

Creating a system of support through mentoring and peer tutoring.

Increasing the presence of Latino and Native American intellectuals, academics, art, culture,
communications, and sports personalities by inviting them to speak to the entire university
community.

Creating a directory of Latino and Native American faculty and staff, student organizations, and
scholarship, grants, and internship opportunities on and off campus.
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Fourth, with the understanding that students should not only enter and stay in college, but successfully
graduate from the university so they can be well prepared to continue with graduate school or to enter
the work force, timely graduation is a priority for us and we believe it can be attained if we pay attention
to the following goals:
Before entering college

Explore possibilities for students to enter their first-year with some credits toward degree to
minimize financial burden and facilitate timely graduation.

Establish curricular partnerships with local high schools in order to improve college readiness,
which will help facilitate timely graduation.

Strengthen ties with community colleges and align the curriculum to facilitate transfer credit and
timely graduation.
During college

Organize an orientation for students of color.

Until we have an orientation in place, we should have roundtable discussions and workshops
during first-year orientation designed specifically to address the questions and concerns of Latino
and Native American students. These workshops should involve representatives from the faculty,
financial aid, student life, residence, life, and current student body. A similar process should be put
in place for transfer students

Strengthen advising to address the needs of both transfer and new incoming students. Organize
regular advising workshops focused on LEP requirements, transfer credits, and major requirements
to ensure timely graduation.

Provide opportunities for student professional development. Encourage career services and
student life to market opportunities to our Latino and Native American students for on-campus jobs
and leadership positions. This would help students finance the cost of college and facilitate timely
graduation.

Create university-sponsored scholarships and initiatives specifically for Latino and Native American
students.
Expected outcomes
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
An increase in Latino and Native American students’ graduation rates.

Native American and Latino students will graduate in at least four years depending on transfer
credits.

Students will be more knowledgeable about academic programs and requirements needed for
graduation.

Students’ financial burden will be lessened.
Summary
This report does not attempt to identify and analyze all of the issues faced by Latino and Native
American students; nor does it list every single concern and recommendation of the LNAATF. This report
is just the first of several necessary actions to consider in the commitment to attract and retain more Latino
and Native American students and provide them with the necessary support for their success. What
became evident after the first meetings of the LNAATF is the urgent need for administrators, faculty, staff,
and students to work together to ensure that all students, but particularly Latinos and Native Americans,
have access to quality education and the support required to succeed in college, and by extension in work
and in life. We believe strongly that a permanent committee (the LNAATF) is needed not only to regularly
assess and recommend a possible plan of action, but also to oversee the implementation of such
recommendations in close partnership with the administration at SCSU.
This is therefore the first and perhaps most important recommendation of this task force. We think
it is time for SCSU to provide and direct resources and full support to this purpose so we can together grow
and benefit from a truly diverse and strong student body. The role of the LNAATF would be that of
leadership to continue identifying other issues affecting the success of Latino and Native American
students, proposing specific ways of dealing with such issues, and establishing productive connections with
local high schools, community colleges, community-based organizations, and other entities that could help
in this effort. Recognizing the limitations of the scope of this task force, additional work would be required
to include the specific circumstances of immigrant, English language learner, special education, those
students who have a sexual orientation other than heterosexual (LGBTQ), and other underrepresented
groups.
It is clear to us that there is no one-size-fits-all solution in the effort to provide all students with the
necessary support to succeed in college. Therefore, the recommendations presented in this report are
purposely general and intended to call attention to the problem and to be a first step in what we hope can
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become a permanent task. The issues confronting Latino and Native American students are not fixed or
related to any particular ethnic, racial, or national trait, but directly related to the economic and social
conditions in which they appear and therefore, they change accordingly. Consequently, they must be
revisited to ensure that we fully understand and are able to address causes and solutions as they develop.
We believe that a collaborative effort will allow individuals’ strengths and expertise to guide solutions.
We are very confident that the administration will agree with us in the imperative to take action now and to
fully support our efforts to create a permanent task force that can more effectively identify the challenges
faced by Latino and Native American students and develop a consistent and progressive plan of action.
We commend and thank Provost Williams for taking the initiative and calling the first meeting of the Latino
and Native American Student Advancement Task Force.
Bibliography
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities. February/March 2008. Hispanic Student
Success in State Colleges and Universities: Creating Supportive Spaces on Our Campuses (A Report
of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Hispanic Student Success Study).
New York Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005. http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:oS8QlCP1fAJ:www.aascu.org/media/public_purpose/08_0203aossey.pdf+Hispanic+Student+Success+in+State+Colleges+and+Universities:+Creating+Supp
ortive+Spaces+on+Our+Campuses&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESh3r8lEswhfJXPsEG6st_4CjcEyCR-B3VTeckhXOtDnLzS_Pbj0SXA7bJbMFvc6xGx6lgDu7XHSzr8vUD7sjxhfqleEqKYjOBJM3uEKifRoPxFmMRz2wuoONpUtJ8NrBy3aSP&sig=AHIEtbSVmeLeGsNOOlzWuGJQu0_56-7iHA
The Lumina Foundation. Spring 2008. Focus Magazine. “Pillars of Progress: The Nation‘s Minority-Serving
Institutions Point the Way to Student Success”. The Lumina Foundation. Indianapolis, IN.
Rendón, Laura I.; Mildred García; and Dawn Person (Editors). 2004. Transforming the First Year of College
for Students of Color. (Monograph #38). The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience
and Students in Transition. The University of South Carolina.
Southern CT State University. October 6, 2010. Introduction to Access to Success (A2S0: Southern CT
State University).
Univision (a national and international television network). 2011. A special broadcasting by titled: “‘Es el
Momento’, a Townhall meeting with President Obama” (a town hall forum featuring President Obama
discussing the state of Hispanic educational attainment in the U.S. with students, parents and
teachers). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9xcB6ZnGcY
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Task Force Members
Submitted respectfully by the members of the Latino and Native American Student
Advancement Task Force (in alphabetical order):
Misty M. Ginicola: Associate Professor, Counseling & School Psychology
Rafael Hernandez: Associate Professor of Spanish
Gladys Labas: Professor, Educational Leadership
Sobeira Latorre: Assistant Professor, World Languages and Literatures
Gloria E. Lee: Interim Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships
Yi-Chun T. Lin: Director & Professor, Women's Studies Program
Anna Rivera-Alfaro: Accounts Payable Coordinator
Cindy Sanders: Schwartz Hall Director
Carlos A. Torre: Professor of Education