AWC leadership serves on steering committee for Arizona Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium
March 2, 2022Helios Education Foundation awards $100K grant to support new initiative
Yuma, AZ (March 2, 2022) – Arizona Western College President Dr. Daniel Corr and Vice President for Learning Services Dr. Diane Carrasco-Jaquez have been selected to serve on the statewide steering committee for the Arizona Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Consortium.
The Arizona HSI Consortium is a newly formed organization that brings together the state’s 22 Hispanic-serving colleges and universities to strengthen their individual and collective capacity to advance Hispanic student success in Arizona.
HSI is a federal designation by the U.S. Department of Education that identifies colleges and universities with 25 percent or more Hispanic undergraduate student enrollment. In Arizona, AWC has the highest percentage of Hispanic students enrolled at about 71 percent.
“Arizona Western College is proud to be part of the formation of the Arizona HSI Consortium,” said AWC President Dr. Daniel Corr. “We are committed to supporting and serving our Hispanic students to help them achieve higher levels of degree attainment.”
The Helios Education Foundation recently awarded a $100K grant to support this new initiative. Helios’ early investment in the Consortium will help build a strong foundation, establish a focused plan of action, support swift and intentional movement from ideation to implementation, and produce recommendations that will be presented to Arizona leaders. This one-year planning grant will also support input gathering and a planning process, cataloging and disseminating evidence-based practices, launching an inaugural summit, and identifying implementation priorities moving forward.
“The Consortium directly aligns with the mission of Helios and our Latino Student Success strategy in Arizona to enrich the lives of these students by creating equitable opportunities for success in postsecondary education,” said Paul J. Luna, Helios President and CEO. “We are looking forward to working together with the Consortium to meet the needs of our Hispanic students while helping to ensure more Hispanic students have the opportunity to complete a college degree.”
The Arizona HSI Consortium launched in January 2021 and seeks to create a strongly networked cohort of HSIs that are committed to thoughtfully and intentionally advancing educational success, degree and certificate attainment, and workforce readiness among Hispanic college students.
“We are thrilled to partner with Helios to provide a solid launch to the Arizona HSI Consortium, which aims to create a collaborative and strongly networked community of practice across HSIs in Arizona,” said Dr. Marla Franco, Assistant Vice Provost, Hispanic Serving Institution Initiatives, University of Arizona and Founder, Arizona HSI Consortium. “Together, we look forward to intentionally supporting the growing number of Arizona HSIs in their efforts to accelerate educational access and degree attainment for Hispanic students with an equity and culturally responsive lens.”
There are more than 500 Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the U.S. and more colleges will soon be designated as HSIs, as enrollment of Hispanic students in higher education is expected to exceed 4.4 million students by 2025.
According to the Arizona Education Progress Meter, 70 percent of new jobs in Arizona will require a higher education degree or certificate. HSI community colleges are ready to support the needs of the skilled workforce in the highest-demand areas in a way that is equitable, accessible, and affordable for students. This consortium will help unite HSIs across the state in the collective pursuit of increasing educational attainment with our youngest and most populous demographic for the betterment of Arizona.
Contact:
Ashley Herrington
Chief of Staff
Arizona Western College
Ashley.Herrington@azwestern.edu
(928) 344-7501
Contact:
Lori Stofft
Vice President for Advancement
Arizona Western College
Lori.Stofft@azwestern.edu
(928) 314-9595