黑料正能量 has joined a year-long initiative to help educational institutions better support their Latino students.
The college is one of 10 North Carolina community colleges invited to participate in 鈥淎vanza: North Carolina Community Colleges Advancing Latino Student Success.鈥� This is the first cohort of the community of practice hosted by The Hunt Institute, LatinxEd, and The Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research.
鈥淎s our state鈥檚 Latino population has grown, so too has the population of Latino students attending our community colleges; however, only 22.2 percent of Hispanic North Carolinians have attained a postsecondary degree or credential, trailing the statewide average of 44.6 percent,鈥� said Dr. Madeline J. Smith, The Hunt Institute鈥檚 director of higher education.
WCC was selected to participate because it is considered to be an 鈥淓merging Hispanic-Serving Institution.鈥� Emerging status is assigned to institutions with Latino undergraduate full-time equivalent enrollment more than 15% but less than 25%.
Over the course of a year, institutional leaders will receive technical assistance and policy support. Their goal is to build capacity to lead and innovate in order to advance access and attainment for Latino North Carolinians.
WCC鈥檚 team members are President Patty Pfeiffer, Vice President of Academic and Student Services Brandon Jenkins, Financial Aid and Veteran Services Director Katrina Lee, Foreign Language Instructor Bethanie Lister, and English Language Acquisition Coordinator Maria Abalo-Zarate.
The cohort鈥檚 first gathering was held March 28 at Forsyth Technical Community College.
The college teams learned about the importance of closing equity gaps for Latino students, and institutional and federal efforts to support Latino students. They also evaluated their current readiness to support Latino students and their vision for better serving and supporting Latino students, and discussed goals for their time in the program.
鈥淎s an emerging Hispanic-Serving institution, attending the Avanza event allowed us to network and share ideas and practices with institutions with similar enrollment portfolios, said WCC team member Lee. 鈥淚n the future, we need to evaluate our processes through a lens that considers the diverse population we serve to ensure we are removing the obstacles to access instead of inadvertently creating additional barriers.鈥�
About 黑料正能量
黑料正能量 is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves 10,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 165 college credit programs. WCC鈥檚 mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.