Being an HSI
The University of Northern Colorado is proud to be a Students First university committed to serving Hispanic, Chicana/o/x, and Latina/o/x students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as the local community and our region. We believe that our diversity is our strength and are committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment where all members of our community feel welcome and supported.
As a new Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), we have unique opportunies to make a
difference in the lives of Hispanic and latine-identifying students, and are committed
to providing them with the resources and support they need to succeed academically,
socially and professionally. We also believe that it is important to celebrate Hispanic
culture and heritage on our campus, and offer a variety of programs and events that
highlight the diversity of latine cultures our students and their families bring with
them to UNC.
As a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, UNC will continue its long
tradition of preparing and graduating leaders who serve and enrich Colorado's culture
and economy.
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We approach our work with the following vision elements:
The same vision elements frame UNC's 10-year strategic plan Rowing, Not Drifting 2030.
Students First:
Integrating resources, services and strategies for the benefit of students and demonstrating
accountability to ensuring their success.
Empower Inclusivity:
Providing equal access to opportunities and resources for students who in the past may have otherwise been excluded
or marginalized.
Enhance & Invest:
Purpose driven institutional and philanthropic investment in supporting campus and
programmatic enhancements geared toward student completion and graduation.
Innovate & Create:
Developing an institutional structure focused on building capacity in instruction,
faculty and staff development, inclusive hiring practices and advocacy for equitable policy.
Connect & Celebrate:
Promoting the excellence of our students by intentionally strengthening networks of
alumni, parents and support people and business and community leadership.
Leadership for HSI Initiatives
Rudy Vargas
Director of HSI Initiatives
Javier Vinasco Guzman, Ph.D.
Associate Director of HSI Initiatives
Whitney Duncan, Ph.D.
Associate Director of HSI Initiatives
Mariah Mata
HSI Initiatives Student Coordinator of Events and Programming
Monica Hernandez Jackson
HSI Initiatives Student Coordinator of Campus Engagement
- Inaugural leadership for HSI Initiatives
Tobias Guzmán, vice president of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DDEI), appointed two fellow positions in support of the university's efforts toward becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).
Chris Garcia
Staff Fellow for HSI Initiatives
Jonathan Alcantar
Faculty Fellow for HSI InitiativesCristóbal (Chris) Garcia, associate director in the Office of Alumni Relations has been appointed staff fellow for HSI initiatives and Jonathan Alcantar, associate professor and chair of UNC’s Chicana/o and Latinx Studies program has been appointed as faculty fellow for HSI initiatives. According to Guzmán, Garcia and Alcantar have the essential context needed to be successful in these roles as both have been integral to the work already completed in the university’s pre-implementation phases of becoming an HSI, including serving on the HSI working group for the past two years.
"Chris and Jonathan’s roles as fellows will be key positions to establishing and structuring our next steps in becoming an HSI,” Guzmán said. “They will offer thought leadership and assist the university in accomplishing measures of success and serve to strategically further the scope and depth of the work necessary to make us successful in this pursuit.”
Guzmán said their work will be connected to the existing strategies and key elements outlined in Rowing, Not Drifting 2030, and in service to the main pillars discussed in HSI 201:
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Persistence and graduation rates specifically for our Hispanic/Latinx students
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Development of academic identity and self-concept, leadership identity, racial identity
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Visibility of cultural signifiers on campus
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Compositional diversity of faculty, staff, administrators, and graduate students
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Campus Safety
"I hope that UNC becoming an HSI will make me feel like I'm at home on campus. Where I can hear the sounds of my people, and see the colors of my culture reflected in the very fibers of UNC."
— Brenda Vargas '23, UNC alumna
