Promoting the Development, Achievement, and Persistence of Latino College Students: Persons, Principles, and Programs Webinar

Two-part Workshop offered by Innovative Educators.  Part two is scheduled for Veteran's Day.  Consequently, partcipants who sign up to attend part one on November 6th will receive the link to view part two at a later date.

Overview

This intensive two-part workshop conducted by Innovative Educators will share effective theory-based programmatic and individual interventions that have resulted in campus environments of support that increase persistence for students of color, in general, and Latino students, in particular.  In addition to providing an overview of theories that are critical to student success (e.g., Racial Identity Development, Attribution Theory, Gestalt Educational Counseling Theory), this session will provide concrete, tangible strategies that enable educators to motivate and support Hispanic/Latino/a students to take greater responsibility for their own learning, development, and persistence.
 
This workshop is based on an invited presentation developed for the national conference of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). The session was one of the best attended and most highly rated sessions at the 2005, 2007, and 2008 HACU national conferences.

Objectives

In addition to being provided with a wide range of information regarding demographic, educational attainments and other issues related to Hispanic/Latino/a college students, participants will be provided with strategies that will allow them to:

• Develop and utilize culturally appropriate individual and programmatic interventions based on theory and effective practices.
• Assist students to shift attributions from ability to background as a critical element in student success.
• Assist students to shift from being ego involved to becoming task involved.
• Assist students to achieve a strong sense of their own identity and capacity to develop and actualize      their personal, educational, and career goals.
• Assist students and faculty to employ the 0-100% Teaching and Advising Method as a means for   promoting greater student responsibility for learning.

Who should attend?

• Instructional faculty
• Counselors
• Academic advisors
• Coaches
• Administrators
• Resident hall staff
• Educators working to support student engagement, learning, and success beyond the classroom

Who are the speakers?

Thomas Brown and Mario Rivas served as chairs and co-chairs of the Multicultural Concerns Commission of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and have also co-authored several chapters and articles focused on improving the achievement and success of students of color.  Their co-authored work includes:

• “Supporting the Achievement and Success of Multicultural Populations,” in Academic Advising: Organizing and Delivering Services for Student Success. Jossey-Bass New Directions for Community Colleges. 
• “Advising Students of Color” in Academic Advising for Student Success and Retention. Noel- Levitz. 
• “The prescriptive relationship in academic advising as an appropriate intervention with multicultural populations,”  The NACADA Journal. 
• “Pluralistic advising: “Facilitating the Development and Achievement of First Year Students of Color,” inFirst Year Academic Advising: Patterns in the Present, Pathways to the Future.  National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition.

Brown and Rivas have also consulted with numerous Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) as well as worked with Educational Opportunity (EOP), PUENTE,  Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA), and other programs seeking to support Hispanic/Latino/a students across the nation and in Puerto Rico.  They have also facilitated leadership development programs for the US Department of Agriculture Hispanic Serving Institutions National Programs (HSINP) Office.
 
Thomas Brown--a lifelong student and academic affairs educator with an impressive record of effectiveness in creating academic and student affairs programs that promote increased learning, achievement, and success. Tom served as Dean of Advising Services/Special Program at Saint Mary’s College of California, where he developed an implemented a wide range of services and programs for students of color, including the Office of Hispanic/Latino student Programs.  He also was a member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of the National Academic Advising Association, and served as chair of the Prelaw Advisors National Council. 
 
Tom is currently Managing Principal of a consulting network that assists campuses to increase student success, build inclusive communities, and manage change (www.tbrownassociates.com).   His work is based on an integration of theories, research findings, and practical experience that makes a real difference for individuals and institutions. 

• A consultant to more than 350 colleges and universities in the US and abroad
• Regularly invited to deliver keynote addresses at national conferences, campus colloquia, and professional development workshops for faculty and staff.
• Nationally recognized author and expert in retention, academic advising, promoting the success of at-risk students, international education, and diversity/inclusivity training.
• His recent publications include:
  • “Critical Concepts in Advisor Training and Development,” in The Academic Advising Handbook, Jossey Bass, 2008;
  • “Preparing Providers to Foster Student Success”, in Fostering Student Success in the Campus Community, Jossey-Bass, 2007 (co-authored with Lee Ward);
  • “From Diversity to Inclusivity,” in Foundations: A Reader for New College Students, Wadsworth, (forthcoming 2009).

Mario Rivas, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in Counseling Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus.  Dr. Rivas has taught at the community college, undergraduate, and graduate levels of higher education.  Dr. Rivas was also Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies at San Francisco State University, and Vice President of Student Services at Berkeley City College.  Currently, Dr. Rivas is a permanent Psychology Professor at Merritt College in Oakland, California.  Dr. Rivas has also served as co-chair of the Multicultural Concerns Commission of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and has authored and co-authored several chapters and articles focused on improving the achievement and learning success of students of color.
Dr. Rivas is a first-generation to college Latino who was raised in a single parent home, welfare-assistance home.  Initially, Mario was disqualified from community college, but found his way in U.S. society through having had an initial success experience as a radar air traffic controller in the United States Air Force.   Subsequently, he re-entered college as an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) student and completed a B.A. in Psychology, a Master’s degree in Counseling, and a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology.  Dr. Rivas’ dissertation was entitled “An Exploratory Study of a Group Intervention with Underprepared Minority Students in University.”  In this study, Dr. Rivas found that “Task-involved” college students of color performed more effectively than ego-involved students.  Dr. Rivas served as Assistance Director of the Martin Luther King Undergraduate Leadership Advising Office, which served as the primary advising department for students of color.  Following completion of his doctorate, he assumed the position of Director of the Undergraduate Advising Center at San Francisco State University, where he also developed the Learning Assistance Center.  Dr. Rivas left SFSU to become Vice-President of Student Services at Berkeley City College, a position he held for seven years.
Currently, Dr. Rivas is a full-time professor of Psychology at Merritt College in Oakland, California, where he teaches a full-range of Psychology courses.  As part of his assignment at Merritt College, he is responsible for working with local high schools to increase the enrollment of Latino/a college students.  One of Dr. Rivas’ foci in working with Latino/a students is to use Gestalt Educational Counseling Methods to empower them to understand experientially how their early emotional learning lessens their ability to be effective high school and college students.

Location