¿Qué pasa, HSIs?

This episode features Dra. Cyndia Morales Muñiz who serves as Senior Director of HSI Initiatives at University of Central Florida (UCF). Dra. Muñiz led efforts that resulted in UCF becoming a federally recognized HSI in 2019. She now works across the university to develop a centralized vision for maximizing this designation in a way that meaningfully serves students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members from diverse backgrounds. In this episode we learn how she leverages her HSI director role to lead the HSI movement on campus, start conversations about servingness, and encourage faculty and staff to get involved with HSI initiatives. She shares the process of UCF achieving the Seal of Excelencia and highlights the value of using the Seal’s guidelines in conjunction with the servingness framework as a way to transform the campus. She also talks about how the campus has used the HSI designation to open conversations about better serving all students, while holding people accountable for talking specifically about Latine student success. She drops so many gems for all HSI campus leaders and shares many stories of success in achieving federal, private foundation, and corporate grants to be innovative in their servingness efforts.

Cyndia Morales Muñiz (She/Her/Ella), Senior Director, HSI Initiatives, University of Central Florida

LinkedIn: Cyndia Morales Muñiz, Ed.D. | Facebook: Cyndia Morales Muñiz

LinkedIn and Facebook: UCF Hispanic Serving Institution Initiatives

Instagram: @cyndiamuniz and @ucf_hsi

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2024, October 6). ¿Si No Yo, Quien? HSI Directors Leading the Way (No.505) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ 

Attachments / Show notes: 

• https://access.ucf.edu/hispanic-serving-institution/ 

In this episode Luis Maldonado teaches us about little “p” policy, or public policy, which includes finding solutions to difficult problems. As a policy advocate and lobbyist working with various organizations in Washington, DC for nearly 30 years, Luis has extensive knowledge on how public policy works. He served as director of government relations for HACU for 9 years, successfully establishing in law the federal authorization to create two important funding programs directed exclusively at HSIs: the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA), or Title V, Part B, and the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education HSIs Grant program at the National Science Foundation. Luis provides us with an overview of how these programs, that HSIs may now take for granted, came into fruition and the long-term advocacy that was needed. Luis is a storyteller, sharing consejos from the trenches of public policy. He also shares his thoughts on the 2024 election and Project 2025 and offers advice for our listeners to become knowledgeable voters. Luis does servingness from the public policy space, advocating for the students and institutions he cares the most about—Latines and HSIs.

Guest: Luis Maldonado (he/him), Vice President for Government Relations, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)

Social Media: @AASCUPolicy

Attachments / Show notes: https://aascu.org/

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, September 22). HSIs as Public Policy (No.504) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ 

Do you know the origin story of HSIs and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)? In this episode we dive into the archives, by way of President Abel Chávez, to learn one perspective on how HSIs and HACU came to be. Dr. Chavez shares how Our Lady of the Lake University, or OLLU, played an integral role in the foundation, hosting an important convening of the first 11 colleges advocating for the designation. On January 22, 1986, the meeting titled, “Predominantly Hispanic Institutions of Higher Education Meeting” took place and a week later a proposal was submitted to the Ford Foundation to fund a “center” for HSIs. This episode reminds us that our HSI historical roots must be documented. Dr. Abel Chávez is the 10th president of OLLU, known as an integrative leader and learner. He is a first-generation, first-in-family college graduate, son of immigrants, and bilingual administrator and academic committed to enhancing quality, access, and affordability for all students while serving the needs of families, economies, and communities. Throughout the episode he conceptualizes what servingness is, advocating for an environment that honors Latine legends of the past and Latine cultures of today. Dr. Chávez is a proud HSI president who envisions HSIs to be a cornerstone of higher education.

Guest:

Abel A. Chávez (he/him/his)

President, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU)

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, September 8). The Origin Story of HSIs & OLLU’s Role (No.503) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ 

Attachments / Show notes: 

• https://www.facebook.com/OurLadyoftheLakeUniversity  https://www.instagram.com/ollu_saints/ 

What is a Historically Black [emerging] HSI? This episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? breaks it down and delivers the message you didn’t know you needed to hear. We know that HBCUs are unapologetically Black-serving, historically and authentically, but HSIs aren’t. In this episode we talk about what HSIs can learn from HBCUs with a focus on liberatory curriculum and empowerment pedagogies. We also talk about how HBCUs are good servers to Latine students, and especially Afro-Latine students. Importantly, we talk about the complexities of being an HBCU AND an emerging HSI, and whether it is federally possible to be both. The mujeres in this plática are brilliant, empowered, and melanated! (Future) Dra. Stacey Speller is a Nuyorican doctoral student at Howard University (#HBCUOrgullo). Dra. Dwuana Bradley is an assistant professor at the USC Rossier School of Education examining the ways anti-Black sentiment perpetually undergirds the drivers and levers of federal, state, and institutional policies. Dra. Gina English Tillis is an interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner with over a decade of experience shaping educational experiences at various HSIs, HBCUs, and emerging Hispanic-serving HBCUs. Dra. Natalie Muñoz is an AfroLatina assistant professor at Rutgers University Newark's social work department researching AfroLatine identity development, mental health equity, and educational justice. These scholar activists not only teach us about HBCU-eHSIs, but model what true academic hermandad looks like.

Guests: 

Stacey Speller (she/her/ella)

Graduate Student, Howard University

X: @mizzspeller | IG: @mizzspeller | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-speller-8376686a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stacey.speller.75

Dr. Dwuana Bradley (she/her/we)

Assistant Professor, University of Southern California

X: @dwuanabtweeting

https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-research/directory/dwuana-bradley

Dr. Gina Tillis (she/her)

Associate Researcher

Center for Research on Educational Policy, University of Memphis

Dr. Natalie Muñoz (She/her/ella)

Assistant Professor, Social Work, Rutgers University

X: @curlyprofesora  

www.nataliemunoz.info

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, August 25). Historically Black [emerging] HSIs (No.502) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ 

Attachments / Show Notes: 

• Burmicky, J., Duran, A., Muñoz, N. (2024). Latinx/a/o senior leaders in higher education: A systematic review of the literature. AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241242752 

We kick off season 5 of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? with a dynamic duo of Chicana-Latina leaders who serve their campuses and advocate for their colleagues through the Classified Professionals Senate. Classified professionals is a term used in the California Community College system to refer to staff who are in non-faculty, non-counselor, and non-administration roles including administrative assistants, financial aid, facilities, and maintenance, to name a few. This episode elevates our awareness of the ways classified professionals, or staff, advance servingness for students while advocating for classified colleagues on campus. Amparo Medina currently serves as the Student Activities Specialist at Oxnard College and is heavily involved in the Classified Senate where she completed 6 years as the Classified Senate President. Desiree Ortiz works at Irvine Valley College Police Department as the Senior Administrative Assistant and is a past Classified Senate President. Amparo and Desiree describe how their volunteer roles in Classified Senate is essential to servingness, both for students and for their colleagues as they advocate for equitable representation on campus.

Amparo Medina (she/her)

Student Activities Specialist, Oxnard College

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amparocmedina 

Desiree Ortiz (she/ella/her)

Senior Administrative Assistant, Police Services, Irvine Valley College

https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-ortiz-2ab78863/

Attachments / Show notes: 

https://www.ccccs.org/nonprofit-organization-about-us/4cs

We kick off season 5 of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? with a dynamic duo of Chicana-Latina leaders who serve their campuses and advocate for their colleagues through the Classified Professionals Senate. Classified professionals is a term used in the California Community College system to refer to staff who are in non-faculty, non-counselor, and non-administration roles including administrative assistants, financial aid, facilities, and maintenance, to name a few. This episode elevates our awareness of the ways classified professionals, or staff, advance servingness for students while advocating for classified colleagues on campus. Amparo Medina serves as the Student Activities Specialist at Oxnard College and is heavily involved in the Classified Senate where she completed 6 years as the Classified Senate President. Desiree Ortiz works at Irvine Valley College Police Department as the Senior Administrative Assistant and is a past Classified Senate President. Amparo and Desiree describe how their volunteer roles in Classified Senate is essential to servingness, both for students and for their colleagues as they advocate for equitable representation on campus.

Guests: 

Amparo Medina (she/her)

Student Activities Specialist, Oxnard College

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amparocmedina 

Desiree Ortiz (she/ella/her)

Senior Administrative Assistant, Police Services, Irvine Valley College

https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-ortiz-2ab78863/

Attachments / Show notes: 

https://www.ccccs.org/nonprofit-organization-about-us/4cs

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, August 11). Classified Professionals’ Self-Advocacy & Empowerment. (No.501) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/

Guests: 

Gina Ann Garcia (she/her/hers), Professor of Higher Education, UC Berkeley https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginaanngarcia/

Allen “AC” Williams (he/him/his), Assistant Director for Retention Initiatives, University at Buffalo https://www.linkedin.com/in/acwp95/  

Episode Description: 

This is a short episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? available in both audio on your favorite podcast apps and video on our YouTube channel. Join our host Dra. Gina Ann Garcia and our production manager Allen “AC” Williams as they talk about the summer 2024 listening lists and share the tea on some of their favorite episodes.

In this final episode of season 4 we dive into the concept of decolonizing HSIs. This plática features Lorena González, a Michoacana, Purepecha, Mexica Indigenous cis gender mujer who is faculty in counseling and La Raza Studies at Contra Costa College. Lorena lays out practical ways that HSIs can move beyond land acknowledgements and towards true decolonization for Latine students. She calls HSIs in, challenging us to reflect on the ways colonial logics are ingrained in the practices, policies, and culture of the institution, from the flags that are raised on campus to the language used to describe inequities. She pushes us to think about these inequities as injustices, because in a decolonial model we must move past the smoke and mirrors, and for HSIs that means having hard conversations about the ways that HSI grants are insufficient for advancing justice and liberation for communities of color. Lorena’s servingness philosophy is grounded in her lived experience as a transnational, multilingual woman crossing borders in education and life. She provides us a glimpse of what it looks like to embody a decolonial perspective and to live it through and through, from mothering to serving her community to disrupting her own HSI in practice. This episode is the perfect finale to this season, as we kicked it off with reflections on decolonization and liberation in equity spaces, and finish it with truth telling from our wise ancestor in the making, La Lorena, a true revolutionary.

Guest: Lorena González (she/her/ella), Faculty (Counseling/La Raza Studies), Contra Costa College

Instagram: @xingona516

Show Notes:

https://voices.berkeley.edu/education/committed-equity-education

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, June 2). Decolonizing HSIs. (No.410) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/410

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we learn about San Diego College of Continuing Education, a noncredit college that enrolls more than 25% Hispanic students, yet is unqualified for HSI eligibility due to the federal definition. Dra. Tina King, president of SDCCE, talks about how the college enacts servingness despite HSI ineligibility. We talk about her equity-minded approach to leadership and her unwavering commitment to students. She also talks about her life growing up as a proud Afro-Latina born to a Black father and Mexican mother from Jalisco. Despite her pride, she also shares her experiences with anti-Blackness in the Latinx community. She reminds us of the teachings of Paulo Freire on how those who are oppressed can become oppressors too. President King is a transformative leader whose vision is guided by the core values of inclusive excellence, equity-mindedness, and institutional responsibility for student success. Before serving as president, she was Assistant Superintendent/Vice President for Student Affairs at Southwestern College, an HSI, following a high impact career in both public K-12 education and postsecondary education. Dra. King is the first Afro-Latina to lead one of California’s community colleges and her pride and joy in this work is evident throughout this episode. 

Dra. Tina M. King (She/Her/Ella), President, San Diego College of Continuing Education

Instagram: @sdccepresident | X: @drkingtina | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-maria-king-ed-d-14943235/ 

Website: https://sdcce.edu/organization/president

Attachments / Show Notes: 

• https://workforce.org/news/san-diego-workforce-partnership-development-board-welcomes-three-new-members/

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, May 19). Noncredit institutions are HSIs too: A conversation with President Tina King. (No.409) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/409

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we engage in lessons in grassroots leadership with Dra. Leticia Villarreal Sosa, a scholar activist who serves as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor in the School of Social Work at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She shares stories of the risks and challenges that grassroots leaders face while trying to transform their campuses into Latine-serving spaces. As a social worker who centers feminist teachings and racial justice in her work, enacting servingness comes natural to her, yet she has faced numerous struggles and strong opposition along the way. One of her passions is curriculum redesign, which she describes for us, providing techniques for making changes to curriculum, measuring critical consciousness as a goal of the course, and strategies for getting changes through formal governance structures. We also talk about our co-authored article on “decolonizing faculty governance” and the fear, anger, and resistance we invoked from colleagues. With every story, Dra. Villarreal Sosa weaves in the risks she has taken while doing the work. Grassroots leadership is vital to HSI transformation, and many of us can learn from Leticia in this episode.

Guest: Dra. Leticia Villarreal Sosa (she/her/hers/ella), Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development | Professor in the School of Social Work, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

X: @leticiavillarr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leticia-villarreal-sosa-58a2b320/ 

Instagram: @nepantlahealing

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, May 5). Lessons in Grassroots Leadership. (No.408) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/408

Attachments / Show notes: 

• Villarreal Sosa, L., Garcia, G. A., & Bucher, J. (2022). Decolonizing faculty governance in Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1177/15381927221126781