Hispanic Serving College of Education Special Interest Research Group Initiative

What does it mean to be a Hispanic-Serving College of Education? How do we make this term meaningful for post-secondary education and educator preparation?

Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) are institutions of higher education that enroll at least 25% Hispanic students. This federal designation was created in 1992 to ensure recognition and access to resources by institutions that enroll a large number of Hispanic students. HSIs enroll approximately 62% of all Hispanic students, making them an essential pathway to Hispanic educational success.

The College of Education and P-16 Integration has a student population that is approximately 92% Hispanic. As a Hispanic Serving College of Education (HSCOE), how do we build our curriculum, pedagogy, policies, scholarship and community engagement upon the cultural and linguistic strengths that our students bring with them? What does it mean for our college to serve a population of primarily Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students?

The Hispanic Serving College of Education Special Interest Research Group (HSI SIRG) Initiative is designed to support faculty efforts to explore various aspects of the overarching question: What does it mean to be an HSCOE and how do we make this term meaningful for post-secondary education and teacher preparation? Research teams developed projects that addressed broad questions such as the following:

  • How do we support the identity that is being a Hispanic Serving Institution for UTRGV?
  • How is a Hispanic Serving Institution different from other institutions?
  • How is a College of Education at a Hispanic Serving Institution different from other Colleges of Education?
  • How do we effectively address the unique student population at an HSI?
  • How does an HSI designation affect recruitment, college readiness, and the teacher pipeline?
  • What are initiatives within an HSI that can inform our work with educator preparation?

Initiative facilitators are:

  • Dr. Janine M. Schall, Department Chair and Associate Professor, Bilingual and Literacy Studies
  • Dr. Patricia Alvarez McHatton, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Student Success and P-16 Integration
  • Eugenio Longoria Saenz, Deputy Director, RGV FOCUS