Dominican Featured in Report on Federal Grants Secured by Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Dominican University is featured in a new report from Excelencia in Education exploring several Hispanic-Serving Institutions that have successfully competed for federal grant funding.

The university was one of six institutions of higher learning interviewed for the report, entitled Beyond an HSI Designation: Exploring Strategic Practices for HSI Grant Participation. Each was asked to share their strategies for preparing grant applications, how they have used the funding, and what it means to them to be an HSI.

“Together, these six HSIs recognize that intentionally serving Latino students is an institution-wide responsibility and that HSI grants represent a critical, although temporary, mechanism for institutional transformation,” the report states.

The report notes that between 2017 and 2022, Dominican was the recipient of three grants through the Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions program and one HSI STEM grant, each aimed at enhancing student success, with a special focus on the university’s Hispanic population.

Faculty development, the creation of the Center for Cultural Liberation, enhancement of STEM services, and internships and career path preparation are noted among the initiatives the grants have or will fund.

“Within the past year, Dominican University experienced a change in leadership, which has propelled the institution to intentionally consider what it means to be an HSI and how that translates into practice,” the report says. “Prior to the change in leadership, most ‘HSI work’ was done in silos rather than institution-wide. These efforts have since shifted to conversations amongst campus leadership on how to embody an HSI identity as a collective.”

Read the full report at www.edexcelencia.org/media/2079.

Excelencia in Education is a nonprofit research Institute and public policy analysis group with a focus on educational institutions