2026 AAHHE National Conference
Navigating the Intersections of Geopolitical Realities in Education
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
March 27-29, 2026

Conference Schedule

The conference will be held in its entirety at the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union at San Diego State University. 

The schedule below reflects current plans and is subject to change.

Pre-conference Events ~ In-person Only (all times are in U.S. Pacific Daylight Time Zone)

Friday, March 27, 2026 

8:30 AM – 11:30 AM PDT

The Latino Student Success Institute

Sponsored and Presented by the Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success at the University of Texas at El Paso
Location: Matayuum Room

As Hispanics are the nation’s second-largest racial and ethnic population, supporting their success in higher education is critical to the future of the workforce, regional economies, and institutional effectiveness. This Institute brings together a nationally engaged group of scholars and higher education administrators from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), a leading Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), to share research-informed strategies and institutional practices that advance Hispanic student success. 

Drawing on UTEP’s experience as an HSI, the Institute will explore how institutions translate knowledge into action through intentional design, leadership, and campus-wide practices that support student progress and achievement. Participants will examine approaches grounded in Hispanic-Servingness and discuss how these strategies can be adapted across different institutional contexts. 

Through collaborative learning and discussion, participants will leave the Institute with:

  • Concrete examples of effective HSI-aligned practices
  • Frameworks for strengthening institutional support for Hispanic students
  • Practical insights they can apply to policy, programs, and leadership decisions on their own campuses

Presenters 

  • Dr. Azuri Gonzalez, Director of Partnerships and Operations, UTEP Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success
  • Dr. Jesus Cisneros, Department Chair, Associate Professor and Doctoral Program Director, UTEP Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations
  • Dr. Erin Doran, Associate Professor, Educational Leadership and Foundations, UTEP UT Regents' Excellence Program
  • Jennifer (Jenna) Lujan, MEd, Director, UTEP Center for Community Engagement 

8:30 AM – 11:30 AM PDT 

Community College Institute

From Data to Practice: Equity-Focused Approaches to Retention, Transfer, and Workforce Development in Community Colleges
Location: Aztlan Room

Moderator

Dr. Laura Ramírez, Assistant Superintendent/Vice President of Instruction, Pasadena Area Community College District
Dr. Mike Muñoz, Superintendent-President of Long Beach City College & President in Residence for Excelencia in Education, Long Beach City College

Description

This pre-conference session brings together practitioners and scholars to explore how equity-centered data practices can inform and transform student success strategies in community colleges. Focusing on retention, transfer, and workforce development, the session highlights actionable approaches that address persistent disparities, particularly for Latiné students. Participants will engage with leaders whose practices, partnerships, and policies bridge the gap between data and practice in pursuit of more just and effective educational outcomes.

Session Objectives

  1. Critically examine equity-centered data practices that illuminate the strengths, aspirations, and educational journeys of Latiné students, moving beyond deficit-based narratives to inform student success strategies.
  2. Highlight institutional practices, partnerships, and policies that have demonstrated success in improving retention, transfer, and workforce outcomes for racially minoritized students in community colleges.
  3. Facilitate collaborative dialogue among practitioners and scholars to co-create actionable strategies that bridge research and practice, fostering more just and inclusive educational environments.

Presenters

Sandra Sanchez, Senior Advisor, LA Rebuild, California Community College Chancellor's Office
Targeted Recovery: Leveraging Analytics to Rebuild Los Angeles

Under the leadership of Senior Advisor Sandra Sanchez, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office and the Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research developed an interactive dashboard to support program planning, workforce alignment, and strategic decision-making across Los Angeles Regional Consortia (LARC) 19 Community Colleges. Users can leverage the dashboard leverage to explore regional labor market trends, student enrollment, and program outcomes to identify high-demand industries and guide investments in programs that meet regional workforce needs. The dashboard is designed to help faculty, administrators, and partners strengthen pathways from education to employment, with a particular focus on LA Recovery and Rebuild-related academic programs.

Dr. Tameka Alexander, Associate Dean, Transfer Honors and Completion & Yvette Valdez, Transfer Counselor, Pasadena City College
Transfer Boot Camp: An Initiative Established Con Orgullo y Corazon to Honor Student Stories, Inspire Belief, and Advance Equity in Transfer

Pasadena City College’s Transfer Boot Camp was designed in response to disaggregated equity data revealing transfer gaps for Latiné and other racially minoritized students. Rather than relying on deficit narratives, PCC centered culture, identity, and student voice—honoring students’ lived experiences, family histories, and aspirations as assets. By integrating completion metrics and transfer momentum data with students’ stories, PCC redesigned transfer preparation as an intensive, community-centered, culturally responsive intervention. We will highlight how PCC translated equity data into a high-impact practice that increases application completion, university admissions, transfer confidence, and students’ sense of belonging. Participants will learn how cross-campus collaboration, targeted outreach, structured coaching, and culturally affirming practices transformed data insights into measurable transfer outcomes while uplifting and honoring students’ identities. 

Dr. Ángel Reyna, President, Madera Community College
Building Transformative Workforce Pathways: The Agave Innovation & Education Initiative

In this session, I will share how our college is leveraging regional assets, industry partnerships, and visionary planning to create a first-of-its-kind workforce and economic development ecosystem centered on agave cultivation and distillation sciences. This presentation will highlight how community colleges can boldly innovate, serve as regional economic catalysts, and design future‑focused programs that blend education, industry, culture, and community impact.

8:30 AM – 11:30 AM PDT 

Latina Leadership Institute

Latinas and Leadership in Higher Education: “Navegando Entre Fronteras: Latina-Centered Leadership” 
Location: Metztli Room

Description

This pre-conference Institute centers on the unique assets of and opportunities for early- and mid- career Latina leaders in higher education. Discussion will be grounded in the cultural competency framework of self-awareness, knowledge-building, and skill sets for empowered practices. Topics include recognizing dimensions of intersecting identities as assets and challenges in work settings, the Mujerista mindset, cultural clashes in predominantly white institutions, and a roadmap for one’s continuing empowerment journey. This institute will be highly interactive, drawing upon individuals’ experiences to share lessons learned.

Objectives

  • Apply a cultural competency framework for one’s personal journey.
  • Define terms relevant to the empowerment journey (i.e., empowerment, Mujerista, and “entre fronteras”).
  • Identify dimensions of intersecting identities that are workplace assets and those that are marginalized.
  • Share culture clashes in the workplace and how these may reflect “entre fronteras” experiences, and how one manages these.
  • Conduct a self-assessment to identify areas of strength and power gaps for one’s roadmap.

Participants will be able to: 

  • Identify 2 specific strategies to capitalize on strengths in their leadership role.
  • Identify 2-3 power gaps and specific ways to address them.
  • Identify 2-3 effective ways of incorporating Mujerista mindset principles in their leadership role.
  • Develop a roadmap with priorities for thriving on one’s continuing empowerment journey.

Presenters

  • Patricia Arredondo, EdD, President, Arredondo Advisory Group, Past Chair, AAHHE
  • Azara Santiago Rivera, PhD, Professor Emerita, Merrimack College, Consultant, Immediate Past Chair, AAHHE

8:30 AM – 10:30 AM PDT

FFP Closed Session

Room: Latinx Resource Center (LRC)

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PDT 

GSFP Closed Session

Room: Pride Suite  

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM PDT 

FFP Roundtables

Room: LRC

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM PDT 

Food Truck Fiesta!

Enjoy burritos, carne asada fries, burgers, bowls, and more from Beach Eats while connecting with members of the AAHHE Board, Graduate Student Fellows, and Faculty Fellows programs. A DJ will keep the energy high—come for the food, stay for the comunidad!

Location: Goldberg Courtyard

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM PDT

Welcome Conference Program & Outstanding Dissertation Awards

Location: Montezuma Hall

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PDT

Tomás Rivera Lecture

"Your Scholarship and Unwavering Commitment to Educational Equity Embody the Spirit and Legacy of Dr Tomás Rivera"

Location: Montezuma Hall

Laura Rendón
Education Theorist and Thought Leader on Student Success and Transformative Learning

More Information Coming Soon!

2:00 PM – 2:10 PM PDT

Break

2:10 PM – 3:10 PM PDT

Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent Session D1L2S1 | Round Table Sessions. Location: Temple Mayor 

Concurrent Session D1L1S2 (12) | “The Personal is Political”: Graduate Students with DACA Navigating Mentoring in Academia. Location: Park Blvd 

Concurrent Session D1L1S3 (13) | Spoken Word as Praxis: Healing, Liberation, and Latinx Futurities in Education. Location: Pride Suite 

Concurrent Session D1L1S4 | ODA 1st Place. Location: Matayuum

D1L1S5 (15) | Juntos Pero No Iguales: Examining Contextual Factors Shaping Latine Students’ Political Identity at an eHSI. Location: Metztli

3:10 PM – 3:20 PM PDT

Break

3:20 PM – 4:20 PM PDT

Paletas y Posters Presentations 

Location: Montezuma Hall

4:20 PM – 4:30 PM PDT

Break

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM PDT

Plenary Session 
Location: Montezuma Hall

Tina M. King, EdD, President, San Diego College of Continuing Education
Martha Garcia, EdD, President/CEO, Mt. San Antonio College
Dominick Yacoub, Mt. San Antonio College

More information coming soon!

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM PDT

Chicano Park Guided Tour

Saturday, March 28, 2026

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM PDT

Coffee & Pastries 

Location: Montezuma Hall Foyer

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM PDT

2026 AAHHE Books of the Year Awards & 10th Annual Cigarroa Family Medical/STEM Distinguished Lecture

Location: Montezuma Hall 

2026 AAHHE Books of the Year Awards 

Early Career Category: 

The Wound and the Stitch: A Genealogy of the Female Body from Medieval Iberia to SoCal Chicanx Art (2024) — Loretta Victoria Ramirez, PhD, California State University, Long Beach, Penn State University Press. 

Mid-career Category:

Zones of Encuentro: Language and Identities in Northern New Mexico (2024) — Lillian Gorman, PhD, University of Arizona, The Ohio State University Press.

Senior Scholar Category:

Banned! The Fight For Mexican American Studies in the Streets and the Courts (2025) — Nolan Cabrera, PhD, University of Arizona, and Robert Chang, University of California, Irvine, Cambridge University Press. 

Edited Volume Category:

Sustaining Hispanic Serving Institutions: Access, Opportunities, and Success (2025) — Jesus Abrego, EdD, Tarleton State University, Michelle Abrego, EdD, Tarleton State University, Velma Menchaca, PhD, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Hilda Silva, EdD, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Marie Simonsson, EdD, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Kendall Hunt.  

10th Annual Cigarroa Family Medical/STEM Distinguished Lecture

“Physics Education Research (PER): Navigating a space that is constantly adjusting to external pressures”

Ximena Cid, PhD
Department of Physics
California State University, Dominguez Hills

Physics is the study of the natural world. A physicist might distinguish themselves from other STEM fields as one who studies the relationship(s) between energy and matter. Where then, does equity play a role in our field and why should we care? As a Physics Education Research scholar with intersecting identities, my work seeks to understand the realities of who our research-based “best practices” actually support. This talk will discuss how our sample populations for the field of PER impact our understanding of best practices within the field of Physics (and more broadly within STEM) as well as the limitations to generalize our findings.

Medical/STEM Lecture Sponsored by
Cigarroa Family

10:30 AM – 10:40 AM PDT

Break

10:40 AM – 11:40 AM PDT

Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent Session D2L1S1 (18) | Centering Latina/o/e Students’ Voices: A Phenomenological Study on Belonging, Engagement, and Cultural Wealth in Academic Libraries. Location: Temple Mayor

Concurrent Session D2L1S2 (23) | Validating Multilingual Identity and Promoting Linguistic Justice in Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Institutionalizing the University Seal of Biliteracy and Cultural Competence. Location: Park Blvd

Concurrent Session D2L1S3 (27) | Geopolitics as Epistemicide: A Case Study of Systemic, Ontological, and Pedagogical Violence in Puerto Rico's Colonial Education. Location: Pride Suite

Concurrent Session D2L1S4 (29) | Nurturing Transformative Ruptures for Advancing Critical Educational Futurities through Pedagogy and Practice. Location: Metztli

Concurrent Session D2L1S5 | ODA 1st Place Winner: (In)Visibilities in the U.S. Imperial Academy: Central American Knowledge Outside of Disciplinary Borders. Location: Matayuum

Concurrent Session D2L1S6 | GSFP Presentations. Location: Aztlan

11:40 AM – 11:50 AM PDT

Break

11:50 PM - 1:40 PM PDT

Awards Ceremony Lunch

Location: Montezuma Hall 

  • Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr. Distinguished Leadership Award: Frances Contreras, PhD, Professor, University of California, Irvine
  • Community College Award: Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola, MEd, Director, PACE Scholarship Program, Salt Lake Community College
  • Doctoral Student Award: Armando Lizarraga, PhD Candidate, University of Texas - Austin
  • Early Career Award: Roberto Orozco, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
  • Mildred García Founders' Award: JoAnn Canales, PhD, Former Dean of the Graduate School, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi
  • Outstanding Support of Hispanic Issues Award: Jasmine Tobar, DSW, Adjunct Professor, California State University Northridge
  • Sylvia Hurtado University Faculty Award: Victor B. Sáenz, PhD, Associate Dean for Student Success, Community Engagement, and Administration, University of Texas - Austin
  • William Aguilar Cultural Arts Award: Yosimar Reyes, BA, Santa Clara County Poet, San Francisco State University/Prieto LLC

1:40 PM – 1:45 PM PDT 

Break 

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM PDT

Concurrent Sessions 

Concurrent Session D2L2S1 (35) | The Air She Inherited and the Song I Exhale: A MESI Approach to Examining Lived Experience and Intersections of Education, Justice, Immigration, and Community in the Borderlands of Barrio Logan. Location: Temple Mayor 

Concurrent Session D2L2S2 (43) A Critical Race Nepantlera Methodological  Approach to Rural Latinx College Access. Location: Park Blvd

Concurrent Session D2L2S3 (48) | Navigating Crisis and Renewal at Hispanic Serving Institutions. Location: Pride Suite

Concurrent Session D2L2S4 (50) | From Performance to Transformation: Strengthening CSU, HSI-STEM Pathways through Accountability, Collaboration, and Servingness. Location: Metztli

Concurrent Session D2L2S5 (51) | UndocuFellowships: Designing and Implementing Structures to Promote Undocumented Students’ Professional Development and Financial Stability. Location: Matayuum

Concurrent Session D2L2S6 | GSFP Presentations. Location: Aztlan

2:45 PM – 2:50 PM PDT

Break 

2:50 PM – 3:50 PM PDT

Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent Session D2L3S1 (57) | “I just love helping people” - Ethic of Care by Latino Men in HESA Graduate Programs. Location: Temple Mayor

Concurrent Session D2L3S2 (61) | Characterizing and Fostering Servingness in Gateway Mathematics Instruction at Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Location: Park Blvd

Concurrent Session D2L3S3 (63) | Digital Counterstorytelling: Amplifying Latina/o/x/e Experiences in Higher Education Through Critical Frameworks. Location: Pride Suite

Concurrent Session D2L3S4 | ODA 2nd Place Winner: Fight, Flight, or Fatigue: Examining How Latino/x Men Develop Validating Mentoring Relationships to Overcome Institutional Racism in Ph.D. Programs. Location: Metztli

Concurrent Session D2L3S5 | Books of the Year Awards Discussion. Location: Matayuum

Concurrent Session D2L3S6 (89) | The Power of Femtorship for Latina Doctoras and Doctoral Students in Imperial Valley. Location: Aztlan

3:50 PM – 3:55 PM PDT

Break

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT

Geopolitical Realities of Education on the Border Region 

Location: Templo Mayor or Montezuma 

Presenters:
The Honorable Assemblymember David Alvarez, California’s 80th District
Guillermina Gina Nuñez-Mchiri, PhD, Dean at SDSU Imperial Valley
Cristina Alfaro, PhD, Associate Vice President for International and Binational Affairs and Professor of Multilingual and Global Education, San Diego State University
Joel Pilco, EdD, Director of Binational and International Programs, Southwestern College

 

Sunday, March 29, 2026

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM PDT

Coffee & Pastries / Fellows Recognition Cafecito 

Location: Templo Mayor

10:30 AM – 10:40 AM PDT 

Break

10:40 AM – 11:40 AM PDT

Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent Session D3L1S1 (79) | Building Communities of Collective Practice Amid Geopolitical Realities for Immigrant Students and Employees. Location: Temple Mayor 

Concurrent Session D3L1S2 (80) | Drawing Strength Together: Reimagining Character Through Community. Location: Park Blvd

Concurrent Session D3L1S3 (81) | Innovative and informed Strategies for Teaching ESL to Migrants with Low Literacy and Interrupted Education. Location: Pride Suite

Concurrent Session D3L1S4 (85) | Numbers Are Not Neutral: QuantCrit as Reconciliatory Analysis in HSI-STEM Programs. Location: Metztli

Concurrent Session D3L1S5 (86) | Shared Journeys: How First-Generation Faculty of Color Support Latinx/e Students in the Creation of Knowledge. Location: Matayuum

Concurrent Session D3L1S6 (76) | The Power of Community Engagement at the Imperial Valley-Mexicali Borderlands: Inclusive Teaching Practices in STEM K-12 Education. Location: Aztlan

11:40 AM – 11:45 AM PDT 

Break 

11:45 AM – 12:45 PM PDT

Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent Session D3L2S1 (90) | Traversing the Transfer Borderlands: How Immigration Policy and Sociopolitical Contexts Shape the Community College–to–University Transition for Latina/o/x Students?. Location: Temple Mayor

Concurrent Session D3L2S2 (98) | Envisioning Servingness for a Transformative Future: Research, Leadership, and Praxis in the CSU HSI Landscape. Location: Park Blvd

Concurrent Session D3L2S3 (122) | The Racialized Organization of AAHHE and the Emergence of HBCU Graduate Fellows: AfroLatine Presence, Power, and Pride. Location: Pride Suite

Concurrent Session D3L2S4 | ODA 3rd Place Winner: Transfer Conocimientos: Understanding the Pre-Transfer Experiences of Latina/o/x Community College Students Through a Family-Centered Approach. Location: Metztli

Concurrent Session D3L2S6 (8) | “My Eyes Are Completely Open To A New World”: Using Chicana Feminism to Understand STEM Identity for Latina Undergraduate Students. Location: Aztlan

12:45 PM – 12:50 PM PDT

Break

12:50 PM – 1:15 PM PDT 

Closing Remarks in Templo Mayor

Updated 2/26/2026