Friday, Nov. 12, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.
Community College of Southern Nevada student Claritssa Sanchez is well on her way to becoming a high school history teacher.
Graduating this December with her associate's degree, the 19-year-old plans to transfer to UNLV for the spring semester.
But the Millennium Scholar questioned whether she'd be in college at all if she didn't receive strong advising as a senior at Rancho High School.
As the child of immigrants, Sanchez said she didn't have any role models in her family to guide her through the often "intimidating" college process, and like many other Hispanics she knows, she isn't sure she would have taken those first steps to enroll without the outside help.
As the state's most diverse institution, CCSN Chief Richard Carpenter said it's essential that the college do more to help students such as Sanchez navigate their way through the system.
"Community colleges are the front door to the universities for many minority students," Carpenter said, noting that national studies have shown that about one-third of all minorities who receive four-year degrees begin their higher education at a community college.
More than half of all of the minority students enrolled in any of Nevada's higher education institutions are attending the Community College of Southern Nevada, according to enrollment data from the state's university system.
Minorities -- Hispanics, Asians, blacks, American Indians and native Hawaiians -- represent about 40 percent of CCSN's known student body. Minorities make up about 30 percent of the student bodies of UNLV and Nevada State College at Henderson, according to preliminary enrollment data for fall 2004.
The community college also has a higher number of minority faculty and staff, with about 13 percent black and 13 percent Hispanic, according to data provided by the three Southern Nevada institutions. About 5 percent of faculty at UNLV are Hispanic and less than 4 percent are black. At Nevada State College, about 10 percent of full-time faculty are black and another 10 percent are Hispanic.
In the past five years, CCSN's minority population has consistently grown at a much faster rate than the Caucasian population, Carpenter said, and with the exception of 2002, the minority population grew faster than the rate of growth for the institution as a whole.
CCSN's Hispanic, Asian and Hawaiian populations were the only ethnic groups to have any increase this fall when the community college was forced to turn about 2,200 students away because of a lack of space, Carpenter said.
The black population shrank by about 76 students from fall 2003 to fall 2004, and the Caucasian population dropped by 681 students during the same time frame, according to preliminary enrollment data released by CCSN officials.
The black population had generally been increasing in previous years, Carpenter said, but not nearly as fast as the Hispanic population.
"I think what you are seeing here is that the demographics of the community are changing radically and dramatically," said Carpenter, who has held the reins at the college for about three months. "It's going to change even more in the next five years and we've got to accommodate that, particularly the growth among minorities. I'm not sure what we've done to address those specific needs."
In the same five-year period in Clark County, the Hispanic, Asian and black populations have also grown at a faster rate than the Caucasian population. Hispanics, now numbering about 420,000 in Clark County, grew the fastest, averaging an annual increase of about 8 percent. In comparison, Caucasians increased at an average rate of 3.3 percent, blacks at 4.3 percent and Asians at 7.6 percent.
Carpenter said he's not surprised that there is a greater population of minorities at CCSN than at the other institutions, but he says that heightens the need to serve those students well.
The very nature of a community college, with its lower tuition, more flexible classes, and its focus on helping students transition from high school to college is often attractive to minority students who often are more likely to have work and family obligations competing for their time, Carpenter said.
The college hasn't done enough to specifically market to those students or to other populations that make up such large portions of the student body, such as the increasing number of older students, Carpenter said. About 35 percent of the college's student body is over age 30, compared with about 45 percent aged 18 to 24. For Carpenter, the decrease this year in the number of black students also sends up a red flag that the institution is particularly not meeting the needs of that group.
Despite the decrease, CCSN still comes closer to resembling the ethnic breakdown of Clark County than any other institution in Southern Nevada.
Looking only at the ethnic breakdown for college-age adults age 18 or older, as compiled by the Nevada demographer's office, the community college actually has a slightly higher population of both blacks and Asians than the county at large. About 10 percent of the student body is black at CCSN compared with 8.4 percent in the county, and about 12 percent of CCSN students are Asian compared with 7.2 percent in the county.
Carpenter said he hopes to see the college's 17.4 percent Hispanic enrollment quickly grow to meet the county's average of about 21.2 percent.
Carpenter said he believed that because CCSN has accumulated a "critical mass" of students in each of the major ethnic groups -- Hispanic, Asian and black -- more of those students will be encouraged to enroll in the future because they can see people on campus "who look and act like" them.
"The more diverse we are the more diverse we are likely to become because it creates an environment where diversified is welcomed, valued and where people will be able to feel more comfortable," Carpenter said.
Sanchez agreed, noting that being able to see others like herself succeeding on campus helps her know she can succeed too. As president of the Student Organization of Latinos, her group tries to encourage other Hispanics to go to college and become active in the community.
Sanchez said she'd also like to see the college do more outreach to adults in minority communities who may not know what CCSN can offer or who may think it is too late to pursue a degree.
But a bigger barrier, especially for many Hispanic students, is navigating language differences, Sanchez said.
Students who do not have a strong command of the English language often struggle with "where to go and who to talk to" when they need services on campus, Sanchez said, and the college could use more interpreters or Spanish-speaking staff.
Ann Johnson, interim vice president for student services, said the college does try to help minority students form connections on campus so they do know who they can go to when they need help or just advise on what classes to take.
CCSN's black and Hispanic faculty hosts mixers on the Cheyenne campus each semester to help those students form connections or find mentors to help them through their time at the college, Johnson said. About 50 percent of students attending the Cheyenne campus are minorities, and the North Las Vegas campus has a higher population of Hispanic and black students than any other campus, according to enrollment data.
"We try to provide the best possible services for all of our students, but we also know our minority students are the first to leave if they feel alienated or unwelcome," Johnson said.
Other retention programs aimed at helping all students also specifically address many of the issues minorities face, Johnson said.
The federal Trio program helps the college pay for increased tutoring, mentoring and counseling services for students who are from low-income families, who are first-generation college students or who are handicapped, Johnson said, and many of CCSN's minority students fall into the first two categories.
A new Students First program instituted last fall mandates that all degree-seeking students or those who plan on transferring later to a bachelor's degree granting-institution go through orientation and regular advising sessions to make sure they stay on track, Johnson said. The program also tests degree-seeking students immediately on their math and English skills to make sure they are placed in the appropriate classes earlier in their degree program.
The community college is also looking at establishing an office for equity and diversity that would coordinate the college's efforts to recruit and retain minority students, said Larry Mason, dean for student development and community outreach at CCSN and a member of the Clark County School Board.
The office would help coordinate the college's efforts to recruit and retain minority students, faculty and staff, Mason said. As the faculty adviser for the college's Student Organization of Latinos, Mason said he believes there needs to be greater accessibility and more information for minority students.
Carpenter said his first priority is finding more space for the college to use so that no students are turned away in the future, but he is also communicating with the various chambers of commerce that represent the black, Asian and Hispanic business communities to see how the college can best meet the needs of the populations they serve.
"This is something we are committed to, absolutely committed to," Carpenter said.
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