Author(s):
Need: Our project, known as “University of California’s Servingness,” is dedicated to establishing a robust transfer pathway in Computing between Community Colleges and the University of California’s system. The primary focus of our endeavor is to advance the transition from merely enrolling racially diverse students to genuinely serving them in ways that foster greater persistence, graduation rates, and career placement. We posit that universities can better exemplify the concept of “serving” Hispanic and Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students who attend predominantly white institutions by investing in effective transfer pathways. Guiding questions:How can Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) qualitatively and quantitatively define and assess servingness?How can we adapt, refine, and implement a servingness framework in an HSI within Computingprograms that serve Transfer students?Can HSIs reliably use servingness as an index for measuring equity in Computing for their programs and services, including equitable Transfer pathways?Outcomes: Framework Development and Implementation: We focus on adapting, refining, and implementing a servingness framework to identify and eliminate institutional barriers for Transfer students in Computing. This involves qualitative and quantitative assessment of servingness to facilitate the identification of policies and structures that act as supports or barriers for students from racially diverse backgrounds.Strategy and Improvement: We seek to enhance servingness in Computing by identifying strategies that support racially equitable persistence and graduation for Transfer students. This entails adapting the servingness framework specifically for HSIs within Computing programs that serve Transfer students and using strategic adaptations to deliver impactful servingness practices.Assessment and Impact Evaluation: We will assess the effectiveness of the adoption of the servingness framework, policies, and practices in advancing equitable graduation rates, graduate school placements, and career placement rates for Transfer students in Computing. This includes evaluating critical initiatives that improve racial equity in Computing degree persistence, graduation, career success, and graduate school placement, as well as analyzing how each servingness initiative affects transfer students’ perceptions of overall institutional servingness. Additionally, it explores whether HSIs can reliably use servingness as an index to measure equity in Computing education for their programs and services, including equitable Transfer pathways.Broader Impacts:A successful implementation models how servingness strategies yield greater equity in Computing and, therefore, greater institutional effectiveness. It will also increase racial equity through Computing degree attainment for UCSC students, partner 2-year institutions (Cañada College, City College of San Francisco, City College of San Mateo, De Anza College, Foothill College, Hartnell College, Mission College, and San Jose City College), and the University of California system. It will impact Hispanic and Minority Serving Institutions nationwide by modeling how R-1 HSIs can create and improve a transfer-receptive culture through high-impact servingness framework policies and practices. The project’s interventions and study actions could contribute evidence illustrating that developing racially diverse students’ academic and scientific identity increases their persistence and success in Computing and contributes to their successful integration into the scientific community. The project will help address the gap in publicly available, demographically disaggregated Computing graduation and career placementinformation.
Coauthors
Carmen Robinson, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. Kip Tellez, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA.
