Webinar Series Calendar of Events 2025-2026
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Strength in Community: The AZ HSI Consortium
September 18, 2025 at 1:00pm
The AZ HSI Consortium brings together institutions across the state to advance servingness, foster collaboration, and strengthen opportunities for student success. This session will provide an overview of the mission, ongoing initiatives, and impact. Participants will learn how to connect with the Consortium, contribute to collective efforts, and leverage partnerships to expand resources and support.
Panelists:
Mara López, EdD, Director, HSI Research Center
- Paulette Nevarez, Graduate Assistant, AZ HSI Consortium
HSIs & STEM Workforce Development
October 16, 2024 at 1:00pm
Panelists:
Estrella Mountain Community College
LAWtina Mentoring Program: Leveraging Social Networks for Student Success
November 20, 2024 at 1:00pm
The Juris Doctor (JD) is one of the few graduate degrees that does not require a specific undergraduate curriculum, which can disadvantage students who have not had prior exposure to the legal profession. LAWtina leverages the University of Arizona’s BA in Law program and its designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) to inform, empower, and inspire program participants to explore and pursue careers in law. By fostering early professional identity formation, the program connects students with mentors and allows students to explore careers in the legal field while also affirming and celebrating students' cultural and personal identities. This presentation will examine the structure, strategies, and outcomes of LAWtina, providing insight into how institutions can engage communities and networks to support students in pursuing legal education and careers.
Panelists:
Jessica D. Findley, Professor of Practice and Director of Bar & Academic Success, College of Law
Janis C. Gallego, Professor of Practice, College of Law
Shaping the Future of Medicine: Student Perspectives on Equity and Inclusion
January 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM AZ time
Panelists:
- College of Medicine, University of Arizona
Understanding and Improving Transfer across Arizona: A Tri-University Data Collaborative
February 19, 2025 at 1:00 PM AZ time
HSIs are known to enroll and graduate community college transfer students at higher rates than the average nationally. However, less is understood about transfer pathways between four-year institutions. This presentation shares findings and recommendations from an 18-month, statewide collaboration between Arizona’s three public, HSI universities. Using a novel model of separate but coordinated data analysis, the project developed actionable insights for a more seamless, student-centered transfer experience across the state’s HSI ecosystem.
Panelists:
- Dr. Kendra Thompson-Dyck, Director of Assessment & Research, Student Success at the University of Arizona
- Dr. Carmin Chan, Vice Provost, NAU Online, Northern Arizona University
- Dr. Ned Tilbrook, Research Analyst, Assessment & Research, Student Success at the University of Arizona
- Dr. Elisa Sperandio, Manager of Training & Project Development, Assessment & Research, Student Succes, University of Arizona
Grad CAFE: Graduate Communities for Academic Fellowship & Efficacy
March 19, 2025 at 1:00 PM AZ time
Grad CAFE is a transformational mentoring program funded through the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) grant. Grad CAFE provides a holistic, strengths-based, community-building approach to mentoring graduate students with a cross-disciplinary, intersectional, multi-tiered model from start-up to scale-up that is easily replicated. The Grad CAFE model has the potential to reshape graduate student mentoring nationally and internationally by moving from a one-to-one top-down approach to a community and strengths-based approach that will positively impact the mental health and well-being of graduate students.
Panelists:
- Celeste Atkins, PhD, Director, Student Engagement & Recruitment and Co-Director, Grad CAFE & Grad SPACE
- Nicole Marrone, PhD, CCC-A, Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies/AuD
Linking Student Assets to Student Success: Pathways to an Engineering Workforce for the Southwest
April 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM AZ time
The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The primary objectives are (1) to improve persistence, retention, and graduation rates and placements in engineering among eligible students from rural and urban campuses using intentional asset-based practices, and (2) to investigate differences in assets, outcomes, engineering identities, and placements between students at a rural campus and those at an urban campus.
Panelists:
- Dr. Vignesh Subbian, Associate Professor, College of Engineering
Honors as Origin for a National Opportunity and Research Support in Hispanic Serving Institutions (Honors in HSIs)
May 21, 2025 at 1:00 PM AZ time
This research initiative is a collaborative effort that brings together experts, students, and institutions, supported by the Faculty HSI SEED Grant, the Honors-HSI Consortium and the HHSI Special Group within the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC). The project aims to explore, document, and measure the role and impact of honors education within HSIs as part of a broader national conversation on excellence, belonging, and student success.
Panelists:
Laurie Sheldon, PhD, Assessment Coordinator, University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology
Nadia Alvarez Mexia, PhD, Assistant Professor of Practice, W.A. Franke Honors College
Gabriella Arroyo, Hispanic Serving Initiatives Intern, Bachelor of Psychology, W.A. Franke Honors College