Mountain View College students at "Casa Guanajuato" in Oak Cliff, Dallas

According to Dr. Bobby Alexander, director of the project, and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate studies in UTD's School of Social Sciences, only about 6 percent of Hispanic Americans who enter college presently complete a four-year degree program. The reasons for this include lack of  finances, the perceived social and cultural distance of these students from the professional world of work, the apparent lack of relevance of college education, and insufficient academic preparation.  The purpose of the three-year project is to design and implement a family-based ethnographic  model that will involve the Hispanic communities and other local agencies and will help students and their families confront and overcome those four barriers to academic and professional  advancement.

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U.T. Dallas, in close collaboration with Dr. Corina Gardea, former Executive Director of Educational Partnerships with the Dallas County Community College District Office, has partnered with DCCCD Schools to develop and offer two core courses.  El  Centro College has offered "English 1302"; the course delivers critical thinking skills needed to succeed at the 4-year college. This course includes research in the social sciences, sciences, and related fields. Mountain View College offers Cultural Studies." This course trains students in ethnographic methods needed to observe and participate in the diverse cultures, people, and community organizations in  the Hispanic community in Oak Cliff, a Dallas neighborhood with the city's largest Hispanic population and Mexican migrant endure. 
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Students design field-based projects on topics of their choice ranging from health care to education.  Students learn how to use a family tree and a field journal to record information.  A field site funded buy the grant anchors the course in the community.  Students can apply the knowledge and skills they acquire in the field in future professions in education, health, law, business, government, and other areas. These courses also will be offered with a higher level of requirements at UTD for students who wish upper-division credit.
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Other U.T. Dallas faculty, staff and students directly involved in the project are Anthropologist and Research Scientist Dr. Laura Gonzalez; Dr. Bobby Alexander, Anthropologist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies in Social Sciences; Dr. Vincent P. Kelly, educator and project Researcher; Dr. Victor Garcia, currently an Associate Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a visiting Research Scientist, and Dr. Richard Scotch, Professor of Sociology and Political Economy, who will evaluate the project so that it can be well documented. Students involved in the project are Dr. Percy Galembertti, Research Assistant and a student in the School of Social Sciences’s Ph.D. program in Political Economy; and Norma Gonzalez, Research Assistant, and a graduate majoring in Sociology. Drs. Gonzalez, Garcia, V. and R. Kelly, and Alexander will assist Mountain View and El Centro Colleges in designing and teaching the courses. 
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Although local in design, the project is expected to have a much broader impact since the problem
is nationwide in scope. All participating faculty are expected to disseminate the findings of the
project throughout not only Texas but also the nation. The importance of the grant to the U.S.
Department of Education is partially evident from the fact that UTD received the largest grant of the
13 given, being about $200,000 greater than that given other recipients. 

This page was last modified on September 19, 2003,
and is maintained by Dr. Geoffrey Grimes.
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