We’ve previously discussed in this space the news about the demographic explosion of Hispanics/Latin@s, and how businesses and institutions are scurrying to address our potential as an economic and cultural force in this country. For a few decades now, businesses and political parties have recognized that their survival depends on their ability to understand and effectively attract the Hispanic/Latin@ population. Both sectors continue to prepare themselves to interact with Hispanics/Latin@s by learning about our cultural diversity, the values that bind us, our desire to cultivate the Spanish language, and our preferences as consumers. Many businesses have even reinvented themselves and customized their offerings to attract the Hispanic/Latin@ community and have also hired, trained, and retained employees who can more effectively “connect” with this emerging consumer force.

Universities also comprise a pivotal and complex component in our society. As one of their missions, universities are responsible for educating and insuring that our students become productive members of society. Increasingly, this mission is being conducted in a more diverse and demanding environment that embraces different ethnicities, races and cultures. OSU’s own recent restructuring along these lines with its Academic and Diversity plans bears testament to these changing demographic factors as they relate to students and academics.

While higher education institutions, especially public ones, may seem quite different to institutions in the private commercial sector, all universities must operate as revenue-generating enterprises. Like corporations, universities have consumers — the students — and employees — the faculty and staff. And just like corporate entities, universities are attentive to the many forces that affect their mission, goals, and strategies. Demographic trends and consumer behavior are examples of external forces beyond institutional control that have the power to affect the short or long-term goals of an institution. In some cases, these trends may even affect the institution’s ability to thrive and survive. The demographic highlights on Hispanics/Latin@s published in last Spring’s issue of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? showed that Hispanics/Latin@s in public elementary and secondary institutions are projected to increase rapidly, while the white non-Latin@ group is expected to decrease. Institutions such as Ohio State need to continue to address these trends and to consider how they must realign themselves to meet these challenges.

The Hispanic/Latin@ wave is already manifesting itself nationwide with the increased presence of new first-year students enrolling in colleges and universities across the country, particularly in two-year colleges. At Ohio State, the new first-year student population has increased steadily, and we know that the offices responsible for outreach and recruitment are doing a very good job in coordinating their efforts to attract the best Hispanic/Latin@ students. But the goal should not be limited to bringing students here in larger and larger numbers. It must also be complementary in its efforts to retain and graduate these students and ensure that they join the workforce as productive members of society while bearing the scarlet and gray as their school colors.

A stronger Hispanic/Latin@ presence on campus is essential for developing academic programs that prepare all students to work and live in an increasingly diverse society. As the nation’s Hispanic/Latin@ population grows, our perspectives must be integrated in the curriculum and pedagogy if the goals of the University’s Academic Plan to “Develop Academic Programs that Define Ohio State as the Nation’s Leading Public Land-Grant University” and “Improve the Quality of the Teaching and Learning Environment” are to be met.

One critical aspect in retaining Hispanic/Latin@ students is the presence of an identifiable and active community comprised of Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff who are involved and who invest their time and effort to provide a supportive environment in which students can thrive. At Ohio State, our Hispanic/Latin@ community is not as strong as it could be, primarily because Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff do not stay long enough to develop that sense of belonging or sense of community. Statistics provided by the University show that, besides the efforts of Ohio State to hire an increased number of Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff, the total number has remained nearly the same. There are several Hispanic/Latin@ faculty members who came and stayed for a couple years and left before they could even become engaged with the university (never mind the Hispanic/Latin@) community) in more meaningful ways. Because it is important to consider the many reasons Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff do not stay, the Organization of Hispanic Faculty and Staff (OHFS) felt it was a good idea to ask current and former Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff about their experiences at Ohio State. We need to know why Hispanics/Latin@s come, stay, or leave OSU.

To this end, OHFS will conduct a survey to define climate factors and issues important to us and address them in a constructive and meaningful manner in order to create a win/win situation for everyone. Indeed, Ohio State continually strives to become a world-class university in both academics and diversity. With this in mind, it is imperative and beneficial for both Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff and for Ohio State to find out how Hispanics/Latin@s are involved in the decision-making processes within and outside of academic fields. A Survey Management Team will be in charge of implementing this survey and its members include other officers of OHFS (Víctor Mora, Kenneth Moncayo, and José Cabral), Yolanda Zepeda, Ernesto Escoto, Olga Esquivel-Gonzalez, Normando Cabán, Noé Tirado-Muñiz, and Keith Kilty, with the support of Larry Lewellen, Vice President of Human Resources, and Henry Fischbach, Chair of the Hispanic Oversight Committee (HOC).

We are aware that one of the challenges in addressing the concerns of Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff at Ohio State is the sheer magnitude of diversity within our own community. While diversity adds richness to the contributions to the university, internal diversity within an ethnic group – including different nationalities, cultures, races — makes it more difficult for a community to coalesce and develop a strong, unified voice. By working with the university administration and Ohio State officials, we hope to create this united voice to reach common goals, renew the commitment between Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff and Ohio State, increase the level of Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff, and tailor more programs toward all Hispanic/Latin@s.

This survey will be conducted in mid-autumn, through internet and hardcopy versions. The results will be publicized by February 2006. With everyone’s participation, Ohio State and its Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff can attain their mutual goals of building a greater community, pursuing academic excellence and continuing to pursue a diverse and supportive environment. Ohio State is proud to work hard to attract more Hispanic/Latin@ students; let us work together to build a community to support these students through graduation.

For more information about this survey, contact José Castro at castro.38@osu.edu.