While Latino college enrollments have risen in recent decades, degree completion continues to lag. This study uses interviews with 33 students (including 17 Latino/as), as well as a survey of nearly 4,400 students at 14 two-year colleges in a major metropolitan area to examine the factors influencing Latino college enrollment and retention. Person and Rosenbaum employ theoretical frameworks from studies on immigrant communities to analyze the effects of “chain enrollment” and Latino student “enclaves” at some colleges. They find that social networks help Latino students to enroll in college and support them during their studies. At the same time, however, students relying on family and friends for information on college enrollment tend to rely exclusively on this information, without considering further options. Once in college, Latino students report having less information about college requirements than other students, but the effect is true only for Latinos in schools with relatively low levels (0 to 14 percent) of Latino enrollment. They conclude by suggesting that college administrators need to recognize and support the role of social networks in Latino students’ college experience and to enhance Latino students’ information about college.

“Chain Enrollment” and College “Enclaves”: Benefits and Drawbacks for Latino College Students (WP-04-01)

PURPOSEFUL HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION IDENTITY FORMATION FOR LATINO STUDENT SUCCESS: A Conceptual Model and Plan to Create a Culture Supporting Latino Student Success at a Predominantly White Community College Planning to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution Laura Flores Cailloux Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Dr. Joe Lott, Assistant Professor, College of Education This study and practical application is intended to provide institutional guidance in the absence of direct research findings about creating an effective institutional culture at a predominantly White community college transitioning to a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Many higher education institutions in the United States are on the verge of HSI designation based on demographic shifts in student body composition, but becoming an HSI does not guarantee an institution is ready to support Latino student success in terms of equitable educational attainment (F. Contreras, Malcom, & Bensimon, 2008). Since the literature is nearly silent on institutional cultures which support Latino student success in any higher education context, this research will attempt to bridge the gap between what is known about Latina/o student retention and persistence at the community college and a conceptual model of a supportive institutional culture with the practical outcome of a plan for institutional change. Qualitative research on Latina/o student achievement at community colleges was analyzed utilizing thematic synthesis to develop a conceptual model of Latina/o community college student success. From these themes a conceptual model of institutional culture supportive of Latina/o student success is proposed as well as a planning process to facilitate rethinking the organizational culture to better support Latina/o students.

PURPOSEFUL HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION IDENTITY FORMATION FOR LATINO STUDENT SUCCESS: A Conceptual Model and Plan to Create a Culture Supporting Latino Student Success at a Predominantly White Community College Planning to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Student retention is considered a complex human behavior. Adding to the complex nature of student retention is the ever changing landscape of higher education due in large part to the growth of Hispanic undergraduate student enrollment on college campuses. While notable gains have been made increasing the number of Hispanic students graduating from high school and going on to college, little progress has been made in increasing the college graduation rate of this group. Narrative inquiry and autoethnography methods were used in this study to explore the family background and lived experiences of the researcher along with those of a sample population of 19 current and former Hispanic undergraduate students of a private Christian university. Tinto’s Theory of Student Departure (1993) served as a theoretical framework for this study because it was well suited for exploring student persistence as longitudinal process impacted by a multitude of institutional factors, external influences, family background characteristics, and student attributes. Primary data was collected using demographic questionnaires, individual interviews, focus groups, and reflective journaling. Several commons themes emerged from data analysis and interpretation which shed light on the topic of Hispanic undergraduate retention at private Christian university. The emerging themes from this study were comprised of: family, family support, motivation, religion, transition, institutional support, and supportive relationships. These themes point toward a connection between a student’s family background, individual skills and abilities, and pre-college academic readiness to the development of initial academic goals and commitments to earn a college degree. This study provided evidence that the cultural beliefs, values, and language reflected in the emerging themes converge with the cultural elements of the university in a way indicating connections between students and institutions were important

https://whdl.org/sites/default/files/Sanchez%2C%20Bob_FINAL%20DISSERTATION.pdf

Toward a greater understanding of Hispanic undergraduate retention at a private Christian university using narrative inquiry and autoethnographic methods

As a Nigerian, I became interested in investigating how Nigerian students, from different cultural backgrounds are able to integrate and persist in their academic programmes. I used Tinto‟s (1993) Longitudinal Model of Institutional Departure as a foundation for my conceptual framework. I adopted a qualitative research approach as this provides opportunities for interpretations by both participants and the researcher. I purposively selected 20 Nigerian students who were at different stages of their Master‟s programmes at a university in the Western Cape province of South Africa, but only 12 students were available and interviewed. The data reveals a significant relationship between intercultural peer group interactions, formal social integration and student persistence, while there was no significant relationship between intercultural peer group interaction, informal social integration and student persistence. Furthermore, informal social integration was partially related to formal academic integration and student persistence. Finally, it emerged that informal academic integration was also strongly linked to social integration and academic success. Due to the limiting nature of a research paper, the research has been restricted to the Nigerian experience to allow an insider perspective. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ iv GLOSSARY OF TERMS  Academic integration Academic integration refers to a student‟s ability to achieve an acceptable grade performance in the academic system as prescribed by the institution.  Inclusive classroom An inclusive classroom is a classroom where the diversity of each student is taken into account, and no student is excluded from the benefits of being a member of the classroom.  Integration This is attained when an individual is able to establish membership within a community by sharing the values of the community.  Intercultural interaction Intercultural interaction is the communication that takes place amongst people from different cultural backgrounds  Intercultural peer group interactions This refers to the interactions that occur amongst peers from different cultural backgrounds within a community  Intent to persist For the purpose of this research, intent to persist refers to the intention of the students who have not completed the programs they registered for, but intend to complete it at the same institution.  Peer group interactions Peer group interactions, refer to the general interaction/communication amongst peers  Social integration Social integration occurs when membership is established within the communities of a society. For the purpose of this research, even if friendship with an individual is http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ v established both in the formal and informal spheres of the community, it means social integration has occurred. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/

Intercultural peer group interactions, integration and student persistence between Nigerian students and students from other countries at a university in the Western Cape

by Derek R. Brandes, Ed.D. Washington State University May 2013 Chair: Paul E. Pitre Like many colleges across the United States, Pipe Lake Community College (a pseudonym) has experienced a dramatic increase in enrollment of Latina/o students and is considered an emerging Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Other than Santiago & Andrade’s (2010) survey, little research has been conducted on emerging HSIs. And, little research has been done on Latina/o student success at community colleges. Padilla (2009) developed a new line of inquiry focused on student success rather than student departure. Padilla used the metaphor of a black box, a space that is hard to see or measure the processes occurring within, to describe the challenges measuring why some students succeed and others fail in college. This study replicates the approach of Padilla to understanding the student success black box by determining the barriers Latina/o students experience and the knowledge needed and actions taken to overcome these barriers. Twenty-seven successful Latina/o students at PLCC identified 34 barriers that were classified into the following categories: psychological, decision-making, self-discipline, preparation, family, institutional, and

Derek Raider Brandes

Papers

Latina/o student success at an emerging Hispanic serving community college: Understanding the heuristics at work in the black box