The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has announced the launch of a new fellowship program that seeks to increase the number of Hispanic leaders in presidential positions across higher education.
The HACU Presidential Leadership Academy, or La Academia de Liderazgo, will prepare vice presidents and other senior academic administrators for executive leadership roles at a range of higher education institutions, but particularly Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) or emerging HSIs. Selected fellows for the one-year program will participate in a series of webinars and three seminars, the first of which will coincide with the HACU Annual Conference in October 2019.
“We’d like to believe that the quality of the experiences that students have at institutions are enhanced whenever they have the opportunity to interact with folks who come from backgrounds similar to theirs in terms of life experiences,” said Dr. Tito Guerrero, program director of La Academia. “We think that goes all the way to the top, to the president or chancellor of a university.”
HACU officials note that La Academia is a “direct response” to the declining rate of Hispanic university presidents even though there has been an “unprecedented growth” in Hispanic college student enrollment. Between 2006 and 2016, the rate of Hispanic University presidents dropped from 4.5 percent to 3.9 percent.
“Soon, if not already, 1 in 5 college students will be Hispanic, yet it is unlikely that many will enroll in a college or university with a Hispanic president,” a HACU overview said.
As a result, selected La Academia fellows will come away from the intensive program with a better sense of what they are committing to when they become a university president, chancellor or CEO and a stronger network of contacts to support their leadership development towards the presidency or chancellorship, Guerrero said.
What sets the program apart from other leadership development opportunities is the access to mentorship from more than a dozen nationally recognized current and emeriti presidents and senior-level administrators who have a combined 100-plus years of experience, HACU leaders said. Program mentors will support fellows’ leadership development beyond the three seminars.
