AAHHE Institutes

4th Community College Institute (CCI) 

Becoming a Community College Administrator: Understanding the Journey
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 4:00pm-7:00pm EDT
Members $50 | Non-Members $60
Register Here!

Session Description

AAHHE's 4^th Community College Institute (CCI) is designed to provide examples of Hispanics who are leaders in community colleges. 

According to Dr. Natalia C. Villareal, executive director of government and board relations at Del Mar College in Texas, the journey for Hispanics to achieve the goal of being a community college administrator shows “a mix of inspiration and frustration.” 

Ángel Reyna, EdD, president, Madera Community College and Estela Gutierrez, MA, vice president of Student Services and Diversity at Truckee Meadows Community College will elaborate and explain their own experiences and provide some lessons to understand their journeys and to encourage future community college administrators. 

Research shows that community college leaders need to develop competencies in balancing institutional history with the mission and vision of the community college. Leaders need to use data to improve student success, create a student-centered culture, and establish an institutional infrastructure that builds talent and institutional capacity to have a sustainable organization. The goal of this session is for participants to learn concepts and apply them to their own professional careers.  

Agenda

I. Welcome and Introductions, Carmen Martínez-López Co-CCI Chair & AAHHE Board Member (4:00 P.M. – 4:10 P.M.) 

II. Participant Introductions (4:11 P.M. – 4:30 P.M.)  

III. Moderator: Dr. Lucia Gutierrez (4:31 PM)    

Presenters: (4:35 P.M. – 5:35 P.M.) 
Ángel Reyna, President, Madera Community College
Estela Gutierrez, Vice President of Student Services and Diversity at Truckee Meadows Community College

IV. Q & A (5:36 P.M. – 5:50 P.M.) 

V. Breakout Session: 1) Participants’ reactions to the presentations & 2) Discussions from the participants’ perspectives (5:51 P.M. – 6:15 P.M.) 

VI. Debriefing and Conclusions, Patrick Valdez Co-CCI Chair & AAHHE Board Member (6:16 P.M. – 6:46 P.M.) 

VII. Closing and Evaluation, Patrick Valdez Co-CCI Chair & AAHHE Board Member (6:47 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.)

Co-CCI Chairs

Patrick L. Valdez, PhD
Former Chancellor & Professor
University of New Mexico, Taos

Carmen Martinez-López, PhD
Dean School of Business and Professional Careers
Westchester Community College
State University of New York

Presenters

Ángel Reyna, EdD
President
Madera Community College

Estela Gutierrez, MA
Vice President of Student Services and Diversity
Truckee Meadows Community College

ETS Latinx Student Success Institute

Embracing Healing: Improving enrollment and persistence rates for Latinx/a/o students
(In-person pre-conference session; maximum of 30 participants)
March 9, 2022 | 11 AM - 4 PM PST
Nevada State College - KAB Auditorium

The pandemic continues to linger in the lives of Latinx/x/o students. There are untold stories about the complex lives of Latinx/a/o students and how they participate in college.  Once again, national reports highlight that our students face unique and ongoing challenges that are often not known or addressed by colleges.  The theme of the AAHHE 2022 conference, Embrace Healing, provides the lens on how higher education leaders must use compassion, grace, and comfort to engage with Latinx/a/o students and their families. Despite having many factors that create a complex portrait for a diversity of Latinx/a/o students, higher education leaders, professional staff, and faculty members need to listen and help to heal these students through purposeful and intentional policies, programs, and practices.

The purpose of the AAHHE 2022 Latina/a/o Student Success Institute is to create a safe space for higher education leaders to learn about current research, to ask important questions, and to develop professional connections. We will have a specific focus on college enrollment and persistence for the diversity of Latinx/a/o student learners (e.g., non-traditional age, low-income, single parents, undocumented). This highly interactive format will inspire, educate, and empower leaders to return to their campus with new questions, ideas, and action steps to move this agenda forward.

Presenters

Luis Ponjuan, PhD, Chair, ETS Latinx Student Success Institute; Associate Professor, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University.
Edith Fernández, PhD, Co-chair, ETS Latinx Student Success Institute; Vice-president, College and Community Engagement, Nevada State College. 

Keynote Address
Fostering Scholar Identities among Latina/o/x Community College Students through Undergraduate Research
Marissa Vasquez, EdD, Assistant Professor, San Diego State University 

Agenda

• Introduction and Welcome: Dr. Luis Ponjuán
• Session I: Aligning our compass for success, Dr. Luis Ponjuán
• Session I Facilitator: Dr. Luis Ponjuán
• Keynote Address: 2021 Former AAHHE Faculty Fellow Dr. Marissa Vasquez
• Keynote Facilitator: 2021 Former AAHHE Faculty Fellow Dr. Marissa Vasquez
• Session II: Theory to Practice Session, Dr. Edith Fernández
• Session II Facilitator: Dr. Edith Fernández
• Final Thoughts and Reflections, Dr. Luis Ponjuán & Dr. Edith Fernández

AAHHE Leadership Institute

Equity-Driven Leadership
Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 12:00pm EDT
$50 for Members | $60 for Non-Members

Preparing the next generation of Latinx/a/o leaders is embedded in the AAHHE mission. This session is designed for administrators, faculty, and decision-makers considering career advancement in higher education. Graduate Students are also invited.

Our invited guest is Dr. Carlos Santiago, an extraordinary higher education leader. He has assumed various senior leadership roles in public higher education as a Provost Executive Vice President with the University of Albany, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and now Commissioner of Higher Education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In all of these highly visible roles, Dr. Santiago was the first Latino to be selected to lead. He is a change-maker, always with deliberate attention to advancing racial equity and to building partnerships for the good of the community. He holds a PhD in Economics from Cornell University and is also the author or co-author of six books and numerous scholarly articles.

In this conversation, Dr. Santiago will share perspectives on his career journey and what made a difference along the way. We want to learn what has inspired and informed his worldview as a university leader--what values and hopes have motivated him. Finally, we will invite Dr. Santiago to reflect on the role his cultural heritage has played in his endeavors.

Moderator

Patricia Arredondo, EdD
President
Arredondo Advisory Group

Please see Dr. Arredondo's biography here.

Panelist

Carlos E. Santiago, PhD
Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education 

Please see Dr. Santiago's biography here.

The webinar registration process is composed of two parts:

1. Complete the registration form and payment process.

2. Once you have submitted the form, you will receive a confirmation email with the pre-registration link to the Zoom webinar to receive the Zoom credentials.

Revised March 22, 2022