Now Available: “Caring or Capitalizing: How HSIs Leverage Title V Funds”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Natalie Passov | natalie.passov@gse.rutgers.edu | 848-932-0728
New Brunswick, N.J., February 7, 2024 – The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, & Justice (Proctor Institute) is proud to announce the release of a new report, “Caring or Capitalizing: How HSIs Leverage Title V Funds.” Report authors investigate how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) use Title V funding and whether they prioritize Latinx students with grant activities. This report is a part of a three-report research series focused on equity.
Using the framework of “servingness,” authors analyzed the Title V grant abstracts of 70 HSIs to see how they vary relative to their Latinx-focused language and program activities.
“This research adds to the growing body of work surrounding Title V funding and how HSIs need to further examine if and how those funds are truly benefiting Latinx students on campus,” shared Rodrigo Guajardo, one of the authors of the report.
Further findings include some grant recipients dedicating at least one program activity to Latinx students and at least one program activity to “generic purposes.” And, while about a quarter of institutions referenced “servingness literature,” few actually included any “Latinx-centered program activities” – indicating intentional overlook of Latinx student needs.
“The recent growth in social awareness surrounding racial-ethnic inequities in the U.S. led us to believe that 2022 HSI Title V grant funds would be largely targeted towards Latinx students,” emphasized Rebecca Perdomo, Senior Research Associate (by courtesy) at the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) and one of the authors of the report. “Instead, we found that, similar to prior research, HSI grant winners tend to miss that mark by directing most of the funds to broad, institution-wide initiatives that overlook Latinx students.”
The report provides a set of policy recommendations that aim to prioritize Latinx students in institutional Title V grant programming – as that is what the funding is geared toward. Recommendations include narrowing Title V criteria to “mandate Latinx-centered program activities and outcome measures,” imposing these metrics as minimum requirements for funding consideration, and collaborating with HSI experts to create “servingness rubrics” to score Title V applications.
“Our findings indicate a need for HSI and Title V decision-makers alike to make intentional shifts towards centering their programming around those students who make institutions eligible for the Title V grant to begin with,” shared Perdomo.
The report can be found here.
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About the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice
The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice (Proctor Institute) is a national center that focuses on issues of leadership, equity, and justice within the context of higher education. It brings together researchers, practitioners, and community members to work toward the common goals of diversifying leadership, enhancing equity, and fostering justice for all. The Proctor Institute is located at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, in the Graduate School of Education and, houses the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI). For more information about the Proctor Institute, please visit https://proctor.gse.rutgers.edu/.
