Best Of WACADA 2016!

Dig Deeper: Advising Black & Latino Students
A trio of first-generation, multicultural academic advisors made their way from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to provide a stimulating presentation to a standing-room-only crowd on the importance of cultural competency when advising Black and Latino students.

 
Motivated by the desire to increase success rates of Black and Latino college students, the purpose of the presentation was to educate participants about the barriers for these respective populations in higher education.

 
Although the student populations that institutions serve are more ethnically diverse than before, statistics show that certain racial/ethnic groups are not performing as well nor graduating at the same rate as their white counterparts. Through the lens of cultural competency, this workshop focused on how to advise Black and Latino students more effectively and provided tools to best assist participants when working directly with underrepresented students.

 
During the session attendees experienced first-hand testimonies and participated in interactive activities that helped them clarify possible biases and barriers that Black and Latino students face. Participants had a better understanding of the need to practice cultural competency to better serve these students. In the end attendees left empowered to make any necessary changes by utilizing the best practices provided.

 
The team members are very involved in their respective communities and relate directly to the challenges and barriers experienced by these students today. For this reason, the session was a complete success and won “Best of WACADA 2016” which will be featured at the NACADA Region 5 Conference in March 2017 in Rosemont, Illinois.