Goals for the LKC in 08-09

The LKC representatives had a planning meeting via conference call this week to review the goals for the upcoming academic year. Adriana Alicea-Rodriguez who serves as the national co-chair facilitated the meeting. Below are the goals that were presented to the NASPA National Board in June.

• Develop a quarterly newsletter.
• Promote usage of the blog and/or listserv as mechanisms to disseminate knowledge of Latino/a issues in higher education.
• Coordinate a NASPA journal article submission, a Forum submission, and/or NetResults series of articles.
• Continue development and coordination of the Latino/a issues in higher education institute at the national conference (Comadre Circle and Latino Male Summit).
• Survey our members to establish a common agenda and goals.
• Solicit program sessions for the national conference.
• Further develop partnerships with other Knowledge Communities.
• Restore the LKC mentorship program for graduate students and new professionals.
• Develop an LKC mentorship program for Latino/a NUFP Fellows.
• Seek support and collaboration from NASPA on national policy issues.

Hot topics were also presented to board and will take center stage during the upcoming year. They are the following:

• Immigration and Higher Education: we must not ignore this controversial issue and provide guidance and support for institutions and participate in the national dialogue through NASPA.
• Graduate School: encourage and support Latino/as to pursue doctoral degrees.
• Access to Higher Education: with the increase in the cost of attending college, need to provide resources for students to access higher education.
• Academic and Cultural Support: To ensure graduation of Latino/a students, need to provide the necessary services to support their educational needs.
• Latino/a Senior Student Affairs Officers: Increase the number of Latino/a administrators on campuses across the country (Senior Student Affairs Officers and Presidents).
• NASPA Leadership: Increase participation of Latino/a in leadership positions within NASPA (President, Executive Board, conference chairs).
• Mentorship: provide mentoring to graduate students, new professionals and Latino/a undergraduate students (NUFP).

Upcoming regional and the national conference were also discussed. If you reside in Region V and would like to assist in coordinating the social events for the Seattle conference please let us know. You can email jperez@georgefox.edu or diazj@seattle.edu for information. The University of New Mexico will be hosting a symposium on immigration in the US on October 14th and 15th for more information you can visit the following website www4.unm.edu/elcentro/.