2024 - ECC Hosts Leading Expert to Discuss the Meaning of ‘Servingness’ for HSI

Elgin Community College (ECC) welcomed Gina Ann Garcia, PhD, a leading scholar on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), author, and professor at the Berkeley School of Education, to the college’s annual Employee Convocation on Thursday, August 15. The event marked the start of the fall semester, with students returning on August 19.

Garcia delivered a compelling presentation titled “Defining Servingness in Practice at Hispanic-Serving Institutions.” The presentation addressed what it means to be an HSI and shared valuable insights with the ECC community on the importance of creating an inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students.

“Becoming an HSI doesn’t mean you only serve Latinx students,” Garcia emphasized. “HSI serving isn’t an exclusionary process. It’s about building the capacity to serve all students.”

She highlighted the significance of incorporating cultural elements into the learning environment to enhance student engagement and outcomes.

“Institutions need to elevate the ‘s’ in serving,” she continued. “Servingness gives us the capacity to transform, which creates an environment that leads to academic and liberatory outcomes, experiences, and histories. HSI says to bring the cultural spaces in because they make the learning environment better.”

According to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, HSIs are defined as higher learning institutions with a full-time undergraduate enrollment that is at least 25% Hispanic.

ECC has been designated a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education since 2009. Federal law defines a Hispanic-serving institution as one with 25% or more Hispanic undergraduates.

ECC’s Hispanic/Latinx student population has surged by 30% since fall 2018, reaching 52% of the total enrollment for the fall 2024 semester. This is the fastest-growing student demographic at the college, reflecting ECC’s commitment to serving the diverse needs of its communities.

ECC submitted its equity plan to the Illinois Community College Board in May. The plan focuses on access, retention, and other issues by race, gender, income, and disability status.

ECC is committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive campus community that empowers all students to reach their full potential. By hosting events like this, the college demonstrates its dedication to understanding the needs of its diverse student population and creating an environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

Dr. Gina Ann Garcia’s Bio:

Dr. Gina Ann Garcia is a professor in the School of Education at UC Berkeley. Her research centers on issues of equity and justice in higher education, emphasizing understanding how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) embrace and enact an organizational identity for serving minoritized populations. She explores the experiences of administrators, faculty, and staff at HSIs and the outcomes of students attending these institutions. As an equity-minded scholar, she tends to the ways that race and racism have shaped institutions of higher education.

Dr. Garcia is the author of “Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges & Universities,” for which she won the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Book of the Year Award in 2020, and the editor of the book Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Practice: Defining “Servingness” at HSIs. Her newest book, Transforming Hispanic Serving Institutions for Equity and Justice, was released in Spring 2023 and is now available.

She has delivered over 150 public lectures and workshops across the country and consults directly with HSIs to work towards organizational transformation. She is also the host of the popular podcast ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? and founded the Cal HSI Center, which advances HSI research that informs practice and policy.

Dr. Garcia graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, the University of Maryland, College Park, with a master’s degree in college student personnel, and the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Ph.D. in higher education and organizational change. She is a proud alumna of an HSI and was a Title V Coordinator at Cal State University, Fullerton, which drives and motivates her research and praxis.

To learn more about Dr. Garcia, visit ginaanngarcia.com. For more information about Elgin Community College, visit elgin.edu.