A Community College HSI: The Effect of an HSI Designation on Organizational Identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-381
Author(s):  
Todd L. Carter ◽  
Jean A. Patterson

Objective: Most community colleges receiving the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) designation have no specific mission to serve Hispanic students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how receiving an HSI designation affects the identity and practices of a community college. Method: Ten years of institutional documents covering the HSI transition period and 40 individual interviews were analyzed for common identity themes and indicators of a commitment to serving Hispanic students. Results: Participants attributed no meaning to the HSI designation; however, the identity labels did have meanings associated with being Hispanic-serving. A “serving all students” ideology combined with a color-blind approach and fear of external stakeholder reaction to the HSI designation were barriers to adopting an HSI identity. Contributions: Previous studies have relied on evidence of planned change as an indicator of an HSI identity. Unplanned change, however, has received very little attention. Our study demonstrates that unplanned changes in some practices and structures did result in movement toward being more Hispanic-serving as the college attempted to serve all students. As many HSIs have chosen not to address a formal change in identity, the unplanned change construct provides valuable data that might otherwise be overlooked.

NASPA Journal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary G. Locke ◽  
Lucy M. Guglielmino

Today’s colleges and universities operate in a complex environment characterized by rapid and unrelenting change, and nowhere do the challenges inherent in change more directly impact students than in the delivery of student services. The need to integrate new models of service delivery, data-driven approaches to enrollment management, greater accountability for student success, stronger emphasis on customer service, and provision of “anytime, anyplace” services through technology are readily evident. Yet, many institutions are finding that their internal cultures are unreceptive, even hostile, toward adopting needed changes. This qualitative case study focusing on a 4- year purposeful change initiative at a community college was conducted to provide higher educational leaders with a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the influence of cultural change on student services staff. The results of this study indicated that student services staff constituted a distinct subculture that perceived, experienced, responded to, and influenced planned change differently from other subcultural groups. Specifically, student services staff more demonstrably supported the purpose of the change initiative; identified empowerment, inclusion and involvement in college decision-making, and improved lines of communication as the most important impacts of the change process; and expressed strong confidence regarding the sustainability of the changes that had occurred. Student services staff also indicated that they found greater meaning and developed stronger commitment to their work as a result of the change process. As a result of these findings, implications and strategies that may be helpful in designing and implementing a successful planned change initiative involving student services personnel are presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-176
Author(s):  
Mary Kimani ◽  
Catherine Vanner

This paper discusses our experiences harnessing the complementarity of perspectives, positions, and resources as an outsider lead researcher and an insider research assistant while reporting a child abuse case that we learned of during qualitative case study research in Kenya. We use collaborative autoethnography to examine our experiences during the research process, with semi-structured individual interviews of each other and document analysis of our email correspondence. We provide a narrative of vulnerability regarding the complexity of reporting child abuse and offer recommendations on how researchers can navigate their limitations and strategically draw from insider-outsider partnerships when managing ethical challenges.


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Olive

Abstract Motivation to seek higher education is rarely examined in Hispanic first-generation graduate students, those whose parents have not attended college, and there is less literature examining those whose desire for education extends to a master’s degree in counseling. The purpose of this study was to conduct a phenomenological examination of the desire to attend college among first-generation Hispanic students enrolled in a counselor education program. One-hour taped interviews were conducted with three volunteer participants enrolled in a graduate counseling program at a Texas university designated as a Hispanic-serving institution. Meaning units and constituents were extracted, and a general structure was developed using the Descriptive Phenomenological Method (Giorgi, 1985). The phenomenological analysis resulted in one structure that identifies the influence of respected others; resilience and self-efficacy; self-denial; a need for distinction and career satisfaction; spirituality; altruism; and a view of commitment to a counseling degree as a nonlinear process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Aldridge Sanford ◽  
C. Kyle Rudick ◽  
Keith Nainby ◽  
Kathryn B. Golsan ◽  
Stephanie Rollie Rodriguez ◽  
...  

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