Hispanic Serving Institution: A New Title for CSN

By Jennifer Hurtado

Nearly 27 percent of CSN students are Hispanic, according to the Nevada System of Higher Education’s diversity report. These numbers recently qualified CSN as a Hispanic Serving Institution opening doors to federal grants.

CSN was honored at this year’s Latino Network of Southern Nevada Summit, an organization that focuses on issues affecting the Hispanic community.

Clarissa Cota, HSI Task Force chair member and professor at CSN, represented the College’s recent achievement with a detailed presentation at the event.

“Becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution is based on enrollment and the financial need of our students,” Cota said. “The federal government now will accept CSN applications competing for Title V funding.

“As of last week, Title V grants opened, which schools will now compete for the funds,” Cota said. “We have been preparing for this for over a year now. We have a 45-to-60-day window to submit a proposal so our first will be submitted on May 19.”

“This is the greatest thing that could ever happen to CSN,” said CSN student Aaron Guerra, president for CSN’s Hispanic Student Union. Since the news is fairly new, Guerra said HSU will begin planning events to commemorate the achievement very soon.

“Some grants should be made to serve Hispanic students directly so they don’t witness barriers because they are more vulnerable to be discouraged in higher education,” said CSN student Jose Rivera, president of one of the largest Hispanic organizations called SOL. “Chicano studies should be implemented as well, also keep it at six credits for students to qualify for the Millennial scholarship since it helps out a lot of students in the Hispanic community.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education “Nevada’s Report Card” Latino’s are the largest growing group in public schools.

There are 409 Hispanic Serving Institutions, which has doubled in the past decade, according to Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities analysis dated Feb. 11, 2015.