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In the past two issues of
¿Qué Pasa, OSU?, the magazine has
been covering the 2001-2002 Hispanic/Latino Needs
Assessment Survey. In both articles it was stated that a preliminary
analysis of the data collected from the survey would be featured
in the Spring 2002 issue of the publication. However, due
to unexpected delays, such an analysis is not yet available.
According to Victor Mora, co-chair of the Organization of
Hispanic Faculty and Staff (OHFS), “the survey didn’t
run as smoothly as we hoped. The web version wasn’t as
wonderful as we originally anticipated. We had difficulties
reaching students through their OSU email addresses, and initially,
there were problems with providing respondents with the capability
to save partially completed surveys.”
Due to the difficulty in contacting and communicating with
the OSU Hispanic/Latino student community, those involved
in promoting the survey had to go through extensive measures
to ensure student participation. Furthermore, because of low
participation early on, the deadline to complete the survey
was extended by almost a full month, hence delaying the preliminary
analysis. At this point, Mora reports that there have been
397 respondents to the survey, out of a potential 1,141 students.
At the end of May, the Needs Assessment team plans to arrange
a meeting with the heads of the various University support
units, in order to present the preliminary results of the
survey. The meeting’s agenda is set to include a review
of the highlights of the preliminary findings, as well as
to initiate a dialogue regarding what will be collectively
done to address the areas identified as needing attention.
Throughout the summer, the team plans to complete the analysis
of the data and prepare a report, which will be presented
in the fall of this year. Mora expressed that his hope is
“for students, faculty/staff, and the key support units
to work together to bring about changes that are needed based
on whatever we learn from the Needs Assessment Survey. We
need to take this thing to the next step, to dialogue and
make changes so that it becomes a useful document for both
the Latino community and the University as a whole.”
If you are interested in becoming involved in and advocating
for change based on the Needs Assessment results, please contact
Victor Mora at 292-6582 or by email: Mora.1@osu.edu or Jose
Cabral by email at cabral.1@osu.edu
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