A Brief Examination of Institutional Advancement Activities at Hispanic Serving Institutions

Abstract

Clearly, increased funding at the local, state, and federal levels would go a long way to ensure the future success of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) of higher education in the United States. Private funding and strong support from alumni groups are also a critical part of this funding mix. In addition, sophisticated and adequately funded marketing, public relations, and enrollment management efforts are needed. The funding of most HSIs is closely tied to the political process. Successful lobbying efforts and the structuring of a strong advancement effort is instrumental in building healthy institutions and ensuring high graduation rates. With this in mind, the goal of this study was to determine what level of importance is placed on institutional advancement activities by college and university presidents at select HSIs throughout the United States.

Toward a Multidimensional Conceptual Framework for Understanding “Servingness” in Hispanic-Serving Institutions: A Synthesis of the Research

“…Early research centering HSIs did not address the idea of servingness, but it predicted the essential role HSIs would play in decreasing educational inequities, described their history as grounded in the Civil Rights Movement and connected to political advocacy and lobbying, and stressed their role in providing Latinx students with access to college (Laden, 2001(Laden, , 2004Olivas, 1982;Solórzano, 1995). More recent research has shown that HSIs are underresourced (de los Santos & Cuamea, 2010;Ortega, Nellum, Frye, Kamimura, & Vidal-Rodriguez, 2015), yet they lack the institutional capacity for advancement activities related to fundraising, government relations, and sponsored programs (Mulnix, Bowden, & López, 2002, 2004. With the growth in research centering HSIs, a debate has emerged in the literature about what it means to serve Latinx students within the context of HSIs.…”

Hispanics and Higher Education: An Overview of Research, Theory, and Practice

“…Two exceptions are recent work by Mulnix et al (2002) andDe Los Santos andDe Los Santos (2003). Mulnix et al (2002) brought attention to the documented disparities in institutional advancement activities which exist between HSIs and other universities around the country. According to the U.S. Department of Education (1998) the total revenues of HSIs are 42% less per full-time equivalent (FTE) student compared to other institutions.…”

Table of Contents

“…Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) are a federally recognized group of institutions whose enrollment is at least 25 percent Latino. Mulnix, Bowden, and López (2002) looked at giving to these institutions. Noting that funding is a perpetual issue for HSIs and that federal funding is a political issue, Mulnix, Bowden, and López (2002) believe that HSIs must look toward private funding and support from alumni.…”

“…Mulnix, Bowden, and López (2002) looked at giving to these institutions. Noting that funding is a perpetual issue for HSIs and that federal funding is a political issue, Mulnix, Bowden, and López (2002) believe that HSIs must look toward private funding and support from alumni. They found that HSIs in general are very new to institutional advancement and that sophisticated, well-funded marketing, public relations, and enrollment management are necessary.…”