Gateway Technical College has been named a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, the first technical college in Wisconsin to gain that designation.
The Department of Education says that to be named an HSI, a college’s full-time equivalent student enrollment must be at least 25 percent Hispanic. Currently, 26.5 percent of Gateway students are Hispanic.
“Gateway Technical College is proud and honored to receive the Hispanic-Serving Institution designation from the U.S. Department of Education,” says Gateway Technical College President and CEO Ritu Raju. “We are excited to expand our institutional capacity and leverage resources through the national network of HSIs to bring value to our community in southeast Wisconsin.”
Raju also serves on the national Presidents for Latino Success – part of the Excelencia in Education network – and is the only representative from Wisconsin.
“The HSI designation indicates Gateway is committed to serving, enrolling and graduating Hispanic students within the three counties that we serve,” says Tammi Summers, Gateway vice president, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “As our Latino population continues to grow in Southeastern Wisconsin, we are committed to supporting the academic success of students and their overall well-being.”
“Similar to other underrepresented minority populations, Gateway is focused on increasing our retention and completion rates with our Hispanic students and creating a culture of care and belonging,” says Summers. “Educational research has indicated that when an institution employs best practices that support student success for Hispanic and Black/African American students, all students in the college benefit.”
“The Hispanic-Serving Institution designation reflects our responsibility for servingness within all our Gateway campuses,” says Elizabeth Rosiles-Zavala, director of Hispanic Student Programming. “Our responsibility is to provide a sense of belonging, and serve with care and intentionality. All our students need to feel welcome inside and outside the classroom.
“We need to recognize the growing diversity of our student body and position ourselves to better serve them in ways that can impact their academic success. The HSI designation opens new opportunities for us to increase our funding opportunities, expand our support services, strengthen our community and foster a diverse learning environment.”