Well, I have lots of different titles. When I was first hired my title was Minority Student Success Specialist. Then it developed into Multicultural Specialist. But whatever I'm called I like to be seen as an advocate for underrepresented students because that's really what I do with my job. Because I think that students sometimes have a lot of barriers, whether they are personal or economic.
Studies show that there are two main ways to keep students in school.
One is student involvement and the other is financial stability. I try to get students involved in leadership opportunities through student government and student clubs, and I try to help them get financial assistance through scholarship opportunities and our financial aid office here on campus. If I can keep them in school through the year and they are making passing grades, that's a success. I think any student approaching any institution of our size for the first time would see it as a scary place. But I know that many minority students specifically choose Chemeketa because they hear that we have people who will work with and for them.