How Latinx/a/o Mid-Level Student Affairs Administrators Foster Latinx/a/o Student Success at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Abstract

In the past 25 years, research on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) has slowly shifted from a focus on Latinx-enrolling to Latinx-serving, from college access to student success. From an organizational perspective, an institutional identity can only change when there are leaders who are actively engaged in shaping policy and practice. This chapter explores the unique contributions that 10 Latinx/a/o mid-level student affairs administrators have made to foster Latinx/a/o student success and potentially becoming the institutional agents that are needed to move their institutions to a servingness culture. The findings uncover two types of Latinx/a/o institutional actors: a) student affairs administrators who employ their keen understanding of Latinx/a/o, first-generation college students, and low-income student experiences, as well as community engagement to foster Latinx/a/o student success; and b) Latinx/a/o mid-level student affairs administrators who utilize their organizational power beyond their specific roles to become institutional agents who enact servingness and call attention to how HSIs are limited in their ability to truly serve (vs. enroll) Latinx/a/o students.