asu cares day marked its fifteenth year of serving the community. About 270 students, faculty, and staff participated in 22 projects to aid area nonprofit groups.
HEAL program honored nationally “As one of this year’s national finalists, Adams State University is at the forefront of meeting the challenge of improving higher educational achievement for Latino students,” said Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education. “No longer should policymakers and institutional leaders ask how to improve college success for Latinos – we have the largest accumulation of proven examples and tested strategies that show them how. Today’s question is, do leaders have the will to put these practices into action?” HEAL was one of 15 national finalists selected from among 165 nominees from 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for the 2013 Examples of Excelencia recognition. This is the only national initiative to systematically identify, recognize, and catalogue evidence-based programs that improve Latino college success. ASU’s HEAL was one of six graduate-level programs – the only graduate program in Colorado – selected as finalists. “By sharing our experiences, we hope to prompt educators and policymakers to challenge the current status of Latino achievement in higher education and inspire them to work to increase Latino student success,” said Dr. Melissa Freeman, HEAL program director. Adams State’s Lia Carpio, HEAL
program coordinator, accepted the award at the awards event, held Oct. 1 in Washington, D.C. "This is an exceptional honor and award,” said Dr. Mike Tomlin, chair of the School of Business. “Central to all of this is the improved college success and futures for our Latino community. We all benefit from these achievements.” HEAL was created four years ago through a $280,928 grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) in its Special Focus Competition for Graduate Programs at Institutions of Higher Education Serving Hispanic Americans. HEAL’s focus on preparing the next generation of leaders for the nation’s Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) makes it unique among graduate programs and helps create an advancement path for Hispanic professionals. “The evidence is clear that America cannot become the world leader in college degrees by 2020 or achieve the globally competitive workforce of the future without a tactical plan to address Latino college completion,” Freeman noted. She said the program’s enrollment has been 62 percent minority, with an overall graduation rate of 81 percent, with Latinos/as making up 62 percent of graduates. HEAL also recently received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from U.S. Representative Scott Tipton. To date, two cohorts have completed the HEAL master’s program, with two more groups currently enrolled.
aStater update
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Adams State University’s Higher Education Administration & Leadership (HEAL) program was recognized by Excelencia in Education as a top program that increases academic opportunities and achievement for Latino students.
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