Updated June 23, 2015

Lupe Flores

Diversifying faculty the focus of HACU’s Fourth Annual Deans’ Forum

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) will host its Fourth Annual Deans’ Forum on Hispanic Higher Education, a post-conference event of HACU's 29th Annual Conference. The event will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Miami Beach, Fla. Click here to view agenda.

The Deans’ Forum will address the topic, "Successful Strategies for Diversifying Faculty." In 2012, over 53.0 million Hispanics resided in the U.S., plus an additional 3.6 million in Puerto Rico. This represents approximately 17.0% of the overall U.S. population.  However, only 15.1% of Hispanic adults have a baccalaureate degree or higher, compared to 35.2% for non-Hispanic whites. Work needs to be done to improve the access, recruitment and retention of Hispanic students in higher education. Building a diverse faculty that can bring a wide range of perspectives and offer underrepresented minorities role models for academic success is an important step in this process but a major challenge in many schools and departments. The forum will bring together expert practitioners and scholars to share their experience. 

Mildred García, Ed.D., president of California State University, Fullerton, will give a keynote presentation on the topic "Why Diversifying Faculty Matters." Garcia will also moderate the panel, "Growing the Pool of Diverse Faculty Candidates: Development of Students and Faculty," with panelists Armando Bengochea, Ph.D., program officer and director of the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship program, and Ruth Enid Zambrana, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Women's Studies and director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland.

Caroline Sotello Viernes Turner, Ph.D., professor and graduate coordinator for the Doctorate in Educational Leadership Program at California State University, Sacramento will  give a keynote presentation on “How to Hire & Retain a Diverse Faculty” Turner will also moderate the panel  “Diverse Faculty Hiring & Retention Practices that Work: How Institutions can Develop your own Strategy,” with panelists Roland B. Smith, Jr., Ed.D., associate provost, Office of Diversity and Inclusion and adjunct professor of Sociology at Rice University, and Edmund Bertschinger, Ph.D., Institute Community and Equity officer at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Table discussions will follow the keynote speakers and a summary analysis will be presented at the end of the forum. The lunch break will feature a presentation on "Increasing Minority Student Representation in Competitive Corporate Internships."

Click here to download a PDF flyer. Click here to Register.