| Latino Students: Promoting Access and Success
San Antonio, TX
March 29th and 30th, 2007
Important Information for Attendees - Click here
Conference is located at the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk
150 East Houston Street
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Pre-conference Workshop
Teaching Latino Students: Perspectives on Culture and Learning
2:30-5:30pm
The University of Texas at San Antonio, Downtown Campus
Did You Know?
"Only 16% of Latino high school graduates earns a four year college degree."
Census by the Pew Hispanic Center
Innovative Educators is proud to have some of the most knowledgeable and experienced educators from institutions and organizations across the country presenting at this important conference. Join us and you will have the opportunity to discuss the obstacles that our Latino students face as they attempt to access higher education and achieve success. More importantly, you will learn innovative, practical and successful strategies that you can implement at your own institution that will enable you to help our Latino youth overcome these obstacles on their path towards a college degree.
Program Agenda
Wednesday, March 28th
Pre-Conference Workshop
Teaching Latino Students: Perspectives on Culture and Learning (2:30-5:30pm)
Early registration: Hotel lobby (12:00pm-1:45pm & 5:00pm-8:00pm)
Thursday, March 29th
Today's program focuses on specific strategies used to facilitate access to higher education for our Latino students. You will learn how to get Latino students interested and committed to your institution using best practices from across the country, as well as how to help them overcome the obstacles that many of them face.
We begin the day in the Empire Theatre: exit hotel, turn right, cross St. Mary's Street, turn right for entrance to the Empire Theatre
7:00-8:00: Registration and breakfast (included in registration fee)
8:00-8:15: Welcome
8:15-9:30: A Closer Look at Latino Student College Choices: Pragmatism with Imperfect Information
9:30-9:45: Break
9:45-11:00: A P-16 Strategy for Latino Educational Success
11:00-11:15: Break
11:15-12:30: Championing Hispanic Student Success: HACU's Role
12:30-1:45: Lunch and Speaker (included in registration fee)
1:45- 3:00: Breakout Session (choose one)
3:00-3:15: Break
3:15-4:30: Breakout Session (choose one)
4:35-5:00: Smarthinking presentation and demonstration. Smarthinking provides online tutoring and writing services that help students succeed. Their services include online math tutoring in Spanish and support for ESL students. If you attend this session you will be be entered in a drawing to win 2 roundtrip airline tickets on Southwest Airlines!
5:30-7:30: Welcome Reception in the Courtyard
Friday, March 30th
Today's program focuses on strategies that are used to engage Latino students and help them achieve their educational goals.
7:00-8:00: Breakfast (included in registration fee)
8:00-9:15: Breakout Session (choose one)
9:15-9:30: Break
9:30-10:45: Breakout Session (choose one)
10:45-11:00: Break
11:00-12:15: Breakout Session (choose one)
12:15-1:30: Lunch (included in registration fee)
1:30- 2:45: Breakout Session (choose one)
2:45-3:00: Break
3:00-4:15: Breakout Session (choose one)
4:15-4:45: Moving Forward: Putting Your Plan Into Action
* Agenda subject to change
Who Should Attend
- Directors of Diversity
- Admissions Directors & Staff
- Faculty
- Recruiters
- Presidents & Vice Presidents
- Deans
- Advisors
- Enrollment Management Administrators & Staff
- Marketing & Communications Professionals
- Student Services/Affairs Administrators & Staff
- Institutional Advancement Experts
Feel free to contact us to find out if this conference is right for you.
Multiple Attendees
Buy 3 registrations and the 4th registrant is free!
Contact Val for details on how to receive this discount.
Hotel
Group rate: No longer available
To register online, go to www.hotelvalencia.com and select the San Antonio property
Click on reservations and provide arrival and departure date
Enter the group code: 0607INNOVA
To register by phone - 866.842.0100
Other Hotel Options Within Walking Distance of the Hotel Valencia (conference site)
Airport Shuttle to Hotel
TAXI: The fastest way to get from the airport to your hotel is by taxi and should cost approximately $14.
SHUTTLE: There is a shuttle service called SA Trans. The booth is located right outside of baggage claim and says "airport shuttle". They offer curbside service and no reservation is required. Shuttle departs every 15 minutes for downtown hotels. The cost is $14/person one-way; $24 roundtrip. You will find a coupon on their web site: http://www.saairportshuttle.com
Parking
The Hotel Valencia offers valet parking only for $8.00 per day.
The closest parking garage to the Hotel Valencia is the Mid-City parking garage located on the corner of College Street and Navarro, across from La Mansion Hotel. Event parking at the garage is $7.00. Hourly non-event parking is $1.00 per half hour, with a maximum of $6.00.
There are quite a few other parking facilities located around this area. Prices vary according to distance and whether or not the attendant will be charging for event parking.
Speakers
Sarita E. Brown
Sarita E. Brown, President of Excelencia in Education, has spent more than two decades at prominent national educational institutions and at the highest levels of government, working to implement effective strategies to raise academic achievement and opportunity for low-income and minority students. Starting her career at the University of Texas at Austin by building a national model promoting minority success in graduate education led to appointments with educational associations in Washington, DC and subsequently to federal service as the Executive Director of the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans under President Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley. Maintaining her commitment to improving the quality of education, Ms. Brown applied her talents and experience to the not- for-profit sector as Founding President of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute and currently as Founding President of Excelencia in Education. Excelencia inEducation, is a 501(c)3 and aims to accelerate Latino success in higher education by linking research, policy, and practice to serve Latino students and the institutions and programs where they participate.
Deborah Santiago, Ph.D.
Deborah A. Santiago, PhD., is the Vice President for Policy and Research at Excelencia in Education. Dr. Santiago has extensive experience in education policy and research. She has served as an analyst at the U.S. Department of Education, as Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, as Vice President for Data and Policy Analysis at the Los Angeles County Alliance for Student Achievement, and Irvine Fellow at the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. Recently, she has focused her work on accountability, higher education policy, institutional practices, and Latinos in higher education. Among her recent publications is the policy report, How Latinos Pay for College and the upcoming publication, Inventing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs): The Basics.
Dr. Santiago has a bachelor's degree in economics, a master's degree in urban affairs, and a doctorate degree in education policy.
Raymond V. Padilla, Ph.D.
With an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan (Spanish language and literature) and graduate degrees (MA and Ph.D.) from the University of California at Berkeley (Higher Education), Padilla currently is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Professor Padilla is the former director and co-founder of the Hispanic Research Center at Arizona State University and a cofounder of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies also at Arizona State University. Through his research and teaching he has contributed to the fields of bilingual education, Chicana/o Studies, higher education, and qualitative research methods.
Professor Padilla is the developer of Qualitative Student Success Modeling (QSSM), which uses qualitative research methods to construct empirical models of student success (local student success models). He is also the developer of HyperQual and SuperHyperQual software for the management and analysis of qualitative data. The results of his research have been presented at major national and international conferences. His publications have appeared in numerous books, journals, and electronic media. The training of doctoral students and post doctoral researchers as an integral part of Professor Padilla's research program. Published books include Debatable Diversity, Critical Dialogues on Change in American Universities (with Miguel Montiel), and The Leaning Ivory Tower, (coedited with Rudolfo Chavez Chavez). Currently he is coediting a volume with Kenneth Gonzalez on Latina/o faculty and the public good, as well as another volume on Qualitative Student Success Modeling (with former doctoral students) that summarizes some twenty years of research on student success modeling.
Dr. Margarita Benítez
Dr. Margarita Benítez has been a college president and a federal executive. She oversaw the Title III and Title V institutional development programs for all minority-serving institutions of higher education, as well as other federal programs designed to assist disadvantaged students to succeed in postsecondary education. Dr. Benítez is a senior associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, and chairs the EXITO Task Force for Excelencia in Education. She coordinates academic initiatives in the United States for the University of Puerto Rico, and is an advisor to the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.
Raymund A. Paredes, Ph.D.
Raymund A. Paredes is the Commissioner of Higher Education at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Prior to coming to the Coordinating Board, Dr. Paredes was Vice President for Programs at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) where he was responsible for scholarship and outreach programs. Before joining HSF, he was Director of Creativity & Culture at The Rockefeller Foundation from 2001 to 2003.
Before joining The Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Paredes was Vice Chancellor-Academic Development for 10 years at UCLA, where he had also been a professor of English since 1971. In addition, he served as special assistant to the President of the University of California system from 1998-2000 on outreach efforts intended to improve access to higher education for students from educationally disadvantaged communities.
Dr. Paredes currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Mercy College of New York and The College Board and on the Board of Directors of the Texas Cultural Trust, He was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the Education Commission of the States and he was recently elected to membership in the Texas Philosophical Society.
Dr. Paredes was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. After graduation from El Paso High School, he attended The University of Texas at Austin, receiving a B.A. in English. He served in the U.S. Army for two years, including a 14-month tour with the First Infantry Division in Vietnam. After separation from military service, he resumed his education, receiving a Ph.D. in American Civilization in 1973, once again from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Paredes and his wife, Patricia, a public relations consultant, live in Austin.
Hector Bauza
President / Owner of Bauzá & Associates, based in Massachusetts, a Hispanic full-service integrated marketing agency that aims to provide marketing services to targeted business environments seeking to sell their products and services to Hispanics. Last year Bauzá & Associates opened a second office in New Haven, CT and at the beginning of this year will launch a third office in Boston, Ma. A native of Puerto Rico, Mr. Bauzá owned his first advertising agency at 24, increasing billing to $3 million in the first year of operation. He has also been Vice President and Account Director for Saatchi & Saatchi - Puerto Rico, Vice President for Natcom Sales - Latin America, Vice President of Marketing for Ponce Lions Baseball Club (owned by the Florida Marlins), and General Manager of acclaimed radio stations in Orlando and Tampa, Florida.
Dr. Watson Scott Swail
Watson Scott Swail is the President of The Educational Policy Institute, a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to policy-based research on educational opportunity for all students. With offices in Virginia Beach, Ontario, and Australia, the mission of EPI is to impact the development and implementation of public policy and educational practice through high-level research and analysis.
Widely respected in the area of college opportunity research, Dr. Swail has published extensively in national journals and publications. Recent publications include Latino Youth and the Pathway to College (2004), The Affordability of University Education (2004), and Retaining Minority Students in Higher Education.
Dr. Swail serves on a number of national advisory committees, including technical review panels for the major U.S. longitudinal and cross-sectional surveys sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. He has conducted many projects for US, Canadian, and international clients. Prior to establishing EPI, Dr. Swail served as senior policy analyst with SRI International and associate director for policy analysis with the College Board. While with the Board, Dr. Swail co-directed the Trends in College Pricing and Trends in Student Aid reports released in the U.S. each fall.
William Serrata
William Serrata currently serves as the Vice-President for Student Services & Development for South Texas College. He is responsible for leading all areas within the Division of Student Services & Development, which include Admissions & Records, Counseling & Advising, Financial Aid, Student Welcome Centers, Student Outreach Services, Testing Services, Career Services, Job Placement, Special Programs, Student Judicial Affairs, and Campus Life. The Commissioner of Texas Higher Education has appointed Mr. Serrata to serve on the state Strategic Enrollment Management Committee. William currently serves on the Workforce Education Leadership Committee and has served on the Executive Committee for the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. He has presented at numerous National conferences as well as State conferences on subjects including Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Development. William was awarded the South Texas College Presidential Jaguar Excellence Award in 2006, the Pecan Campus Employee of the Year Award in 2005, and most recently was inducted as an honorary member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. His expertise includes Strategic Enrollment Management and Hispanic Student Access to higher education.
Mr. Serrata holds a Bachelors Degree from Texas A&M University- College Station, a Masters Degree from The University of Texas at Brownsville and is currently completing the requirements for a Doctorate of Philosophy in Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University- College Station.
Luzelma G. Canales
Luzelma G. Canales currently serves as the Director of Grant Development, Accountability and Management Services. She is responsible for identifying and responding to grant opportunities, ensuring compliance with College grants/contracts, and facilitating accountability and management reviews for all college offices and departments. She serves as the College lead on the Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count initiative, which is a national project addressing the achievement and attainment gap for underrepresented students. She is also the lead in the Excelencia in Education Starting Point: Community College initiative, which focused promoting Latino student success. Ms. Canales has over 19 years of higher education experience. Luzelma was awarded the Meritorious Service Award in 1995 by the President of the University of Texas- Pan American and the Presidential Jaguar Excellence Award in 2005 by the President of South Texas College.
Ms. Canales holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Pan American University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas- Pan American, and is currently completing the requirements for a Doctorate of Philosophy in Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University- College Station.
Paul Hernandez
Paul Hernandez currently serves as Dean of Counseling & Advising for South Texas College. He is responsible for providing leadership in the Office of Counseling and Advising. The department of Counseling and Advising provides academic advising, career and personal counseling, special services for students with disabilities, and assistance with special populations. Mr. Hernandez leads all training activities associated with the Beacon Advisement Program, a case-management approach to holistic student advisement. Mr. Hernandez has over 18 years of higher education experience including time as a full-time faculty member and Program Chair in Social Behavioral Sciences and continues to teach as an Adjunct faculty member. He has presented at numerous national conferences on the development and application of Bilingual Counseling Education Curriculum and the Promoting of Counseling Services via the Internet. He has served as an institutional leader for the National Science Foundation as a member of the Foundation Coalition Program. The primary goal of this program was to expand math and science education to Minority Serving Institutions of Higher Education. Paul was awarded the Student Services & Development Jaguar Excellence Award in 2006. He is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors and serves as a Licensed Professional Counselor Board Approved Supervisor. Mr. Hernandez holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in Psychology from Texas A&M University- Kingsville.
Partners
Excelencia in Education - http://www.edexcelencia.org/ 
Excelencia in Education aims to accelerate higher education success for Latino students. By linking research, policy and practice, Excelencia serves Latino students and the institutions and programs where they participate. A 501(c)(3) organization, Excelencia is building a network of results-oriented educators and policymakers focused on education policies and institutional practices that support Latino academic achievement. For more please visit www.EdExcelencia.org
LatinosinHigherEd.com is the premier job site matching Latina/o professionals with employment opportunities at colleges and universities. The site was launched in response to the need for a simple and cost effective way for higher education institutions to recruit Latina/o candidates. We have partnered with several other leading Latina/o organizations in order to provide the most extensive network of professionals in the United States and Puerto Rico. Subscribers to LatinosinHigherEd.com are electronically informed about special topics and events related to Latinos and higher education including conferences, fellowships, call for actions, research, and employment opportunities.
Cancellation Policy
Please submit an e-mailto us. All cancellations must be received in writing prior to March 15th and will be subject to a $100 processing fee per registrant. Registrants who cancel after the stated date will not be eligible for a refund. However, you may transfer your registration to another individual without penalty. In case of conference cancellation, Innovative Educators' liability is limited to refund of the conference registration fee only. |
