Del Mar collaborating as organizer for regional conference of Hispanic-Serving Institutions to improve student success in STEM
Article by: Michael Bratten
The National Science Foundation (NSF) issued one of the first awards through its new Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program to the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES).
With the grant, TEES and seven partner institutions of higher learning, including Del Mar College, will host Consejos Colectivos: Improving STEM Success at HSIs at El Centro College in Dallas Feb. 27-28.
The regional conference is designed for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) offering undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
“This conference will identify challenges and opportunities for improving STEM education at HSIs,” said Dr. William Kitch, principal investigator for the grant and professor and chair of the David L. Hirschfeld Department of Engineering at Angelo State University. “Specifically, we will explore opportunities to improve STEM education for Latinx students, to build capacity and increase Latinx student participation in research and to create effective institutional change addressing barriers to Latinx student success in STEM.”
Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are defined in Title V of the Higher Education Act as not-for-profit institutions of higher learning with a full-time equivalent undergraduate student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic.
Del Mar College is an HSI where 65 percent of our students have Hispanic ethnicity. This conference will help us to better understand barriers to completion for our STEM students, particularly those from low-income areas.
“Many of the high-demand, high-wage jobs are in the STEM areas, such as mechanical engineering, cybersecurity, biotechnology, dental hygiene and nursing,” she continued. “We need to provide pathways for these students to complete these programs and hopefully transfer to four-year institutions.”
For more information on Consejos Colectivos: Improving STEM Success at HSIs, visit bit.ly/ConsejosColectivos.
Conference organizers are TEES, Angelo State University, Del Mar College, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas Woman’s University, West Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University and El Centro College with the Dallas County Community College District.
Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.