Guillermo Ortega

In summer 2023, Texas launched the FAST initiative to fund free dual credit courses for high school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Drawing on a sensemaking framework, this qualitative case study examined how ten high school dual-credit practitioners in one Texas metropolitan area understood and implemented the policy during its first year. Findings indicate that while community colleges and leaders supported implementation, high school staff faced communication challenges due to limited capacity and training. Despite these barriers, practitioners used different strategies to raise awareness among students and families. The study highlights both the promise of the FAST initiative and the on-the-ground complexities of implementing a policy to expand access to college in high school settings, offering a real-time account of policy implementation and extending sensemaking theory to cross-sector settings that characterize dual-credit policies.

This quantitative study examines gendered patterns of financial resource allocation between men’s and women’s basketball programs at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Texas. Using the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) data from 13 institutions, we examined operating expenses, total expenses, and revenues. Guided by a critical feminist framework, paired-samples t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were conducted to examine differences in financial allocations between men’s and women’s basketball programs. The finding revealed that women’s basketball programs consistently reported lower operating expenses, total expenses, and revenues than men’s programs. Results indicated that these disparities were systematically patterned across institutions. This study contributes new empirical insights into gender equity within HSI athletics. The article concludes with implications and future research within HSI athletic programs.

This study explores how faculty of color describe their postdoc experiences, using the theory of racialized organizations as a framework. We interviewed fifteen faculty of color who previously held postdoc positions to examine their perceptions of racism in preparing for tenure-track careers. The findings reveal that whiteness operated through two main mechanisms: likability and ideal worker norms. Organizational practices either (re)produced or disrupted racial hierarchies that dehumanized Postdocs of Color. Postdoc supervisors emerged as key agents in fostering supportive environments that honor the racial identities and cultural values of Postdocs of Color. We conclude with recommendations for research and practice aimed at reversing racial barriers for postdocs of color on their path to tenure-track roles.

Objective/Research Questions : Extending Garcia’s notion of servingness , our study explored the prevalence and usability of artificially intelligent (AI) chatbots within all 234 HSI community colleges according to the most recent HACU list. The research questions for our study are: (a) Do HSI community colleges embed artificial intelligence in the form of chatbots into their websites to facilitate access to information? and (b) To what extent do HSI community college chatbots respond to the needs of Spanish-speaking stakeholders? Methods : We utilized a mixed-methods approach where we explored each institution’s website to locate possible chatbot integration. Once we reviewed each home page, we employed a binary coding strategy (0 = no, no chatbot 1 = yes, chatbot integrated). Then, we interacted with each chatbot—first in English and then in Spanish—during normal business hours to explore their level of interaction and coded these interactions. Results : Findings suggest HSI community colleges rarely utilize AI chatbots, and when they do, they often do not facilitate access to Spanish-language information nor provide the option to chat with a Spanish-speaking human agent. Conclusions/Contributions : Few studies have explored how higher education institutions use chatbots to facilitate access to information, and even fewer studies explore linguistic equity of these AI chatbots. Our findings contribute to research on the use of AI chatbots within community colleges and HSI servingness , specifically demonstrating how providing Spanish and bilingual resources and services through AI chatbots can enhance servingness .

Objective: This study is guided by Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework and examines community college choice for athletes who eventually transferred to an NCAA Division I institution. Specifically, we aimed to answer the following research question: (1) What factors influenced college athletes’ decisions to enroll at a community college? (2) What experiences impacted community college athletes’ decisions to transfer to NCAA Division I institutions? Methods : Using a case study design, we interviewed 11 college athletes to understand their academic and athletic transfer pathway to a NCAA Division I institution. Based on our interviews, the following themes emerged: (1) college sports opportunities , (2) athletic steppingstone , (3) athletic transfer network , and (4) family influence. Results : Specifically, we found resistant capital was evident in our participants’ responses because their decision to enroll in community college was largely due to their desire to participate in sports after high school. Another central finding of this study is how many participants enrolled at community colleges with aspirations of playing at Division I institutions. Regarding our second research question, this study found how experiences with community college athletic personnel provided our participants with navigational capital. Our findings also reveal how familial capital influenced our participant’s decision to enroll in community college athletic programs and continued education at a 4 year institution. Conclusion : The authors provide recommendations to researchers and practitioners to further support and explore how community college athletes access NCAA Division I institutions.

Using the Student Athlete Climate Dataset, this paper examined factors associated with Latina/o college athletes’ intent to transfer for academic and athletic reasons. This study offers insight regarding how gender, NCAA Division, and geographic location can influence Latina/o college athletes’ decision to transfer. In addition, the roles of faculty members and head coaches were significant in Latina/o college athletes’ intent to transfer for athletic reasons.

Latinx faculty play a significant role in supporting the success of Latinx students. However, a culture of niceness at Historically White Serving Institutions with Hispanic-Serving Institution designations could reproduce inequities for Latinx faculty and thus contribute to their departure. We created a composite counterstory from interview data with Latinx faculty to illustrate how Latinx faculty created validating and supporting environments to critique and collectively transform the culture of niceness.