Hispanic Serving Institutions
The University of California, Irvine (UCI) received the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation in 2016. The HSI is a federal designation that can be obtained when an institution’s Latinx student body makes up a minimum of 25% of the undergraduate student population. Once an institution obtains the HSI designation, they are eligible to apply for various grants from the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions program. Since universities are essentially designated as HSIs based on enrollment numbers (i.e. a minimum of 25% or more Latine undergraduate students), many HSIs do not seek an identity that is actively centered on serving students and run the risk of taking on a colorblind approach to serving their students (Ballysingh et al, 2017). A colorblind approach is defined using methods that do not take into account the ways in which race affects our education system and the experiences of students of color. Furthermore, the research surrounding these institutions has concentrated on quantitative measures such as enrollment and graduation rates. With this in mind, scholars have proposed for HSIs to consider other methods of serving including hiring more Latine professors, employing culturally relevant pedagogies in the classroom, and serving the larger Latino community (Garcia, 2019). In this blog post, I will be addressing the ways in which the Newkirk Graduate Student Fellowship in Community-based Research with the Research Justice Shop has helped foster and strengthen the relationship between the University of California, Irvine and the surrounding communities.
“Since universities are essentially designated as HSIs based on enrollment numbers (i.e. a minimum of 25% or more Latine undergraduate students), many HSIs do not seek an identity that is actively centered on serving students and run the risk of taking on a colorblind approach to serving their students (Ballysingh et al, 2017).”
Connecting with the Latine Community
As previously mentioned, one important aspect that HSIs need to consider is how universities are engaging with the larger Latine community. Critical race theory scholars in education have centralized race and racism, acknowledging that we cannot continue operating from a colorblind framework (Yosso, Villalpando, Delgado Bernal, and Solorzano, 2001). Furthermore, critical race theory has stressed how imperative it is for researchers to take into account the experiential knowledge of people of color and to center education research on the lived-experiences of students of color. One method that focuses on collaborating and working alongside the community is community based-research. With this in mind, the Research Justice Shop has provided graduate students with the opportunity to learn about best practices, methods, and ethical considerations that we should take into account when doing community-based research. Offering workshops such as “Community-based research practices: Documenting to produce shared knowledge” is one of the many topics that the trainings covered. In addition, the fellowship has provided graduate students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience engaging with the surrounding community.
For example, my community partner is MPNA-GREEN, a non profit organization whose mission is to provide educational opportunities, health resources and a clean environment to the residents in their community. MPNA-GREEN is an organization located in Santa Ana, a predominantly Latine community in Orange County. As a RJS fellow, I had the opportunity to build relationships with members of MPNA-GREEN and the residents of the Madison Park community. This fellowship provided me with the valuable experience of collaborating with the Latine community in Santa Ana, that I may have otherwise not received. With this being said, it is evident that the Research Justice Shop and fellowship have become a valuable resource for UCI students and professors to engage with the surrounding Latine community. The fellowship has enabled students to build relationships with community members and develop best practices for engaging and collaborating with the community to produce research that is inclusive and equitable.
“This fellowship provided me with the valuable experience of collaborating with the Latine community in Santa Ana, that I may have otherwise not received. With this being said, it is evident that the Research Justice Shop and fellowship have become a valuable resource for UCI students and professors to engage with the surrounding Latine community.”
MPNA-GREEN and the MPNA/UCI Collaborative
In addition to being one of the community partners who take part in the fellowship, MPNA-GREEN is very connected with the UCI community. MPNA-GREEN has fostered strong relationships with various stakeholders within the university, forming what is now known as the MPNA/UCI collaborative. This is a group of professors, grad students, and researchers who work at UCI and collaborate with MPNA-GREEN on research needed to support the neighborhood residents. Various on-going collaboration projects have taken place between faculty and students at UCI. These projects have emerged due to the needs of the community. For example, community members began reporting the effects of air pollution. Upon realizing how letters had been sent out in English only letting residents know that a new company had opened and they would be exposed to pollutants, MPNA got involved. Having the partnership with MPNA allowed UCI faculty and students to collaborate with the neighborhood association in order to address environmental justice issues in the community. MPNA is now in the process of collecting data to demonstrate which areas of the neighborhood are being exposed to air pollutants.
“The Research Justice Shop can be a great guide for other Hispanic Serving Institutions who are seeking to foster relationships with the surrounding Latino communities.”
In addition, taking part in this collaboration are professors such as Dr. Frank Zaldivar who is an immunologist at UCI and also serves as an advisory board member for MPNA-GREEN. Through his connections with the organization and the institution, he writes grants to support the Aspire, Learn, Mentor Achieve science academy (ALMA). ALMA is a set of STEM educational programs that MPNA-GREEN provides for the children and youth in Santa Ana. Furthermore, through this collaboration there is opportunity for undergraduate students at UCI to assist Dr. Zaldivar in the youth educational programs. This is another example of the ways in which faculty within the UCI community is providing more opportunities for students to engage with the surrounding Latino community. The Research Justice Shop can be a great guide for other Hispanic Serving Institutions who are seeking to foster relationships with the surrounding Latino communities.
References
Ballysingh, T. A., Zerquera, D. D., Turner, C. S., & Sáenz, V. B. (2017). Answering the call: Hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in American higher education. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 11(3), 6-28.
Garcia, G. A. (2019). Defining “servingness” at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs): Practical implications for HSI leaders. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
Yosso, T., Villalpando, O., Delgado Bernal, D., & Solórzano, D. G. (2001). Critical race theory in Chicana/o education.
Marilyn Garcia received her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology and her M.A. in Sociology at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Marilyn Garcia was a 3rd year in UC Irvine’s department of Sociology, at the time when she was a 2020-2021 Newkirk Fellow with the Research Justice Shop. Her current research project seeks to understand the experiences of Latine faculty, staff and undergraduate students at Hispanic Serving Institutions. For more information regarding the Research Justice Shop please visit the website or contact researchjustice@uci.edu or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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