This is in part because the field has been peripheral to the traditional disciplines and institutional support for Latino scholars throughout the Midwest has been weak. Scholars are confident that there is an abundance of research materials and of theoretical and thematic contributions that their studies can make to their respective disciplines. Nevertheless, they identified a number of challenges which have to be met in order for the field to a maturity and respectability. A programmatic research agenda needs to be conceptually defined.
Sources have to be identified, catalogued and publicized.
Institutional support has to be organized, particularly at the departmental level, to provide an environment and investment of resources that validate the importance of Latino research. The participants were unanimous in their agreement that campus environments in the Midwest need to be improved to provide greater respect for Latino faculty and support for their professional development. There was a widespread feeling that Latinos are subjected to a complex set of often conflicting demands and prejudices that undermine their careers and make them vulnerable to a revolving door syndrome of impermanent Latino faculty in non-tenured positions. There is a particularly strong imbalance in service demands with some scholars at one extreme being confined to and, at the other extreme, being excluded from diversity committees. The tenure-review process has the additional danger that departments have no contact with scholars who can assist in assessing quality of Latino research.