Author: Raul Martinez Jr.
Date of article: August 29, 2008
Colony College (CC) was founded in 1986 in Prosperity TX., as a community college to meet the needs of a growing population. When CC started out in 1986 they had 25 different Associate and certificate programs on one campus with enrollment around 2000 students. Today they have over 100 different degree, transfer and certificate programs with 3 different campuses, and student enrollment tops out at 40,000 students. In prosperity the city population has tripled in the past 10 years with the economy in the area booming. The ethnicity breakdown in the area was predominantly white, native Texans but within the past 5-8 years the demographics have changed. Big influxes of people have come from the north in recent years due to the economy in the north and job opportunities in the south. The Hispanic population has increased as well in the area making the demographic makeup very diverse in this area. With diverse populations come diverse dialects and languages, making it a challenge to communicate effectively.
This has become quite a challenge in the admissions office of CC where all 10 employees are native Texans with thick southern accents.
The Demographics of Prosperity is predominantly Caucasian, rural, upper middle class with a median income of 75- 85 thousand per household. This is reflective of the administration of CC from its 7 member board with 6 males and 1 female. The President is male who has 3 provosts, one for each campus who in turn has 3 VP’s on each campus’: Vice presidents of Academics, Vice President of Student Development and Vice President of Facilities. The Hierarchy of CC is very flat with the administration having little communication with the directors and managers of the separate departments relying on the VP’s for reporting and communication purposes. Each Department works independently of each other like in silos, which makes inter-department communication very time consuming because of the bureaucracy and territorial mentality and lack of “team” built within CC’s departments. The minority Community feels that the college is growing in leaps and bounds without input from community leaders in different groups and has the perception that its “doing things how they have always been done” mentality. “With growth comes change, and if we (Hispanics) are not involved in the change it passes us by and decisions are made for us without us!” this was a quote in a local newspaper from a local Hispanic leader at the board meeting addressing concerns that the college was not adequately addressing Hispanic concerns at CC.
In the past 6 months complaints have tripled due to what students call communication issues with the admissions staff. To make matters worse the college has been in transition to a new student software system to accommodate the increase in enrollment. Assistant Director of Admissions Johnny Blaze has expressed his concerns to the VP of student development about the fact that students come to admissions with east coast accents and mannerisms like talking loud or with there hands which is the staff find alarming and rude. Some Hispanic students who come into the admissions have little or no English proficiency and make it difficult for his admissions staff to talk to and understand the students. The staff doesn’t feel that they should help the Hispanic students if they don’t know English.
In turn the students are complaining to the AD of admissions and saying that they could not understand the admissions staff due to the “southern” accents and they were very short in the answers and explanations of the admissions process along with coming off very rude. The Hispanic students complained to the AD as well as the Minority student affairs office about the belittling and lack of effort to assist the Hispanic students whom spoke little or no English and how they were made to feel unwelcomed and not valued. The A.D. feels that his staff is feeling the pressures and stress of incorporating a new student software system and the demands of the students.
What changes or implementations should the AD make for his staff and students? What suggestions would you make to address the limited English students in order to feel welcomed and valued and served in admissions using Hispanic student research on success in college? What about the A.D., what resources should be available to him and his staff if any from the college and local community? Give examples from your community or place of employment using APA format to support your answers.
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4 comments:
There are definitely two sides to this coin. This is the United States, and English is our native language. Students who enroll in our colleges must expect that English will be spoken in the classroom and in the administrative offices. Those who do not have proficiency in the language are certainly at a serious disadvantage.
Yet community colleges must accept all academically qualified students, that is the nature of a community college. I believe that immersion is one of the best ways to become proficient at a language, and attending school where that language is spoken is one way to engage students who are not proficient in a language (StudyGlobal, 2003).
When one wants to learn to speak Spanish, for example, there are many programs available in Spanish speaking countries that offer total immersion. As an undergrad, I wanted to study Spanish abroad for one semester through immersion. However, I was turned down because my Spanish was not strong enough to adapt to the program, and I would not thrive in the environment. I was disappointed and a little upset over this, but eventually I realized they made the best decision for me.
In California, where there are a great many Hispanics with similar issues, there are more programs for two way immersion than in any other state (Howard & Sugarman, 2001).The consensus is that there needs to be qualified bilingual teachers and staff available for a successful program. Total immersion means not just learning the language, but also the culture and customs of the people whose native language one wants to learn. This includes living in and residing with the native language speakers.
I took in a Spanish student to live with me and my son for a semester. His parents came from Spain to meet my son and me in our home. They were comfortable with the arrangement. However, the student’s English was poor, and he was uncomfortable since he could not communicate well, and only stayed for two weeks. I was disappointed things did not turn out better for him, but I am still convinced that this way is the best way to learn a language. I firmly believe that had the young man toughed it out for the semester he would have come away with a valuable experience and a better command of the language.
If your students could find host families who would offer this kind of support for a semester, this might alleviate some of the issues that your Hispanic students are facing.
References
Howard, E. R., & Sugarman, J. (2001, March 1). Two-way immersion programs: Features and statistics. Retrieved September 3, 2008, from Cal Center for Applied Linguistics: http://www.cal.org/resources/Digest/0101twi.html.
StudyGlobal. (2003, November 3). Total immersion: A total way to learn Spanish. In Language learning. Retrieved September 3, 2008, from SearchIberia.com: http://www.searchiberia.com/articles/publish/article_13.shtml.
With the Hispanic population tripling by 2050 (El Nasser, 2008), colleges as well as organizations in the United States will be forced to increase the diversity of their work staff to accommodate the individuals requiring assistance when seeking education or business needs. Staffs will need to develop their skills to communicate with Hispanics, as well as individuals from different locations throughout the United States.
Colony College, founded in 1986, with enrollment at 2000 students has since grown to 40,000 students; adding multiple campus locations to meet the increase of the city population and those individuals seeking college educations. College educations have become a requirement to obtain good paying jobs at most large corporations today. Without a college education, jobs are in jeopardy, forcing the return to college for those seeking advancement and job security.
The AD of Admissions at Colony College needs to increase his staff to accommodate the needs of students seeking admission into the college. If this option of staff increase is not an option, the college needs to be willing to further educate the AD in foreign language and training for handling students and employees who have difficulty communicating with others. According to “Recruiting People with Disabilities to Increase Diversity in Your International Exchange Programs” (McBride, 2007), international exchange programs are making diversity a top priority to increase the inclusion of underrepresented groups. Organizations are currently weaving diversity into designing programs by including individuals from diverse backgrounds as participants and volunteers.
To address the issue of the limited English students feeling welcomed and valued can be overcome by having employees at Colony College available and willing to assist the admissions department when limited English students are present in their office, seeking to further their education. The individuals should be compassionate and have training in foreign language to increase the comfort level of the students; by doing so, the employees in the admissions office and the students will feel a sense of welcome and understanding.
The organization at which I am employed has several employees throughout the company who are capable of speaking English and a foreign language. This not only assists those employees at our organization with communication issues, they also assist customers who call in for assistance on the 800 number provided on monthly bills. Our Human Resource department keeps an updated list of the employees who are available for assistance and have it readily available when fielding phone calls from those seeking assistance.
As my own personal experiences, several times I have called for software assistance, cell phone assistance, help with a monthly bill, and have been unable to understand the individual there to assist me on the other end of the phone call. This experience can be very frustrating and I understand it is not the fault of myself or the person with whom I am speaking, yet to resolve the issue I have found it easier to end the phone call in a personal and professional manner without being rude or feeling as though I have been rude. By calling the same 800 number back, I have experienced increased odds with an individual answering this call which I have better luck understanding.
I commend those individuals with limited English speaking capabilities for their efforts, since their career is also important to them, and I am sure they have some difficulties understanding me also. Having patience and compassion is a skill everyone should learn, whether you have spoken English all your life, or are in the process of learning English in hopes to make a better life for yourself.
References
El Nasser, H. (February 11, 2008). “U.S. Hispanic Population to Triple by 2050”. Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-11-population-study_N.htm.
McBride, J. (November 13, 2007). “Recruiting People with Disabilities to Increase Diversity in Your International Exchange Programs”. Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.miusa.org/ncde/tipsheets/recruiting/.
The ability to communicate verbally is associated with intelligence and capability, these unsuccessful interactions can guide people to pass negative judgments on people's social skills and professional capabilities. All sides need to develop the trust and the knowledge sharing needed to understand others, we all need to observe behaviors, ask clarification questions, and reflect on the information. The language barrier and cultural differences appear to create confusions and the appearance of disrespect. The Latino concept of respect has played an important role in numerous communication problems between parents and school officials (Rosado, 1994). For traditional Latinos, "Respect is the foundation for any professional or social relationship" (Rosado, 1994, p. 249). Teachers and administrators need to become aware of cultural differences among faculty members and the community at large.
One of the main obstacles in promoting effective cultural contacts is the lack of trust that prevails among cultural and linguistic groups (Moore, 1999; Ogbu, 1987; Rosado & Ligons, 1998;). Ironically, the only trust that has remained constant in our history as a nation is the trust statement printed on the American penny, "In God we trust." This trust statement has remained part of our tradition, because most human beings believe in a supreme deity. Trust does not have to be a divine feature only, as it can become human. Trust can be promoted through knowledge sharing and meaningful cross-cultural contacts (Rosado & Ligons, 1998; Taylor, 1990a).
Staff and student must both be willing engage in positive and authentic communication so that we can move in a positive direction. An atmosphere of trust is needed to work together to solve social and educational inequities.
Resources:
Rosado, L. (1994). Promoting partnerships with minority parents: A revolution in today's restructuring efforts.
Moore, R. D (1999). Collaborative leadership: Working together to understand differences. International Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity, 3. Retrieved January 2004 from National FORUM Journals on the World Wide Web: http://www.nationalforum.com/moore.htm.
Rosado, L. & Ligons, C. (1998). Effective cross-cultural communication: The missing link in the preparation of school administrators. National Forum of Educational Administration and Supervision Journal, 16 (1), 53-66.
Taking this discussion further...what long term solution will need to be put in place (from a public policy standpoint) to create fluency in the U.S. population with languages other than English? What role should the private sector play in such an initiative?
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