Clemson University conference to look at needs of underrepresented students

Published: February 27, 2012

CLEMSON — Higher education leaders from across the country will come to Clemson University March 4-6 to learn from one another at the 10^th National Conference on Best Practices in Achievement for Students of Color.

Formerly known as the Best Practices in Black Student Achievement Conference, the title change reflects an expansion of the conference to include issues affecting all underrepresented students.

“Over the years we’ve seen an increasing number of conference participants from a variety of ethnic groups, so we thought the conference needed to become more inclusive,” said Clemson Chief Diversity Officer Leon Wiles. “For example, we’ve had people from Texas and Oklahoma discussing ways to better serve Latino and Native American students. The demographics are changing at all colleges and universities around the country, and we wanted our conference to reflect that.”

The conference, which will be held at the Madren Conference Center, features two keynote speakers: Jack Thomas, president of Western Illinois University, and Deborah Santiago, vice president of policy and research for Excelencia in Education.

Thomas will speak on “Creating an Environment to Promote Student and Faculty Success” at 8:30 a.m. Monday, March 5. Thomas was named president at Western Illinois in 2011. Prior to that, he was the university’s provost and academic vice president since 2008. He has been an American Council on Education Fellow and a Kellogg-NAFEO Fellow, and he is a graduate of the Harvard Leadership Program. He is a member of the executive board for the American Council on Education Council of Fellows and is a member of the board of trustees at Stillman College.

Thomas is the author of numerous publications, a noted lecturer and a frequent presenter at professional conferences, particularly in his area of research on black males in literature. He has served as the editor and founder of Image: The Scholars Release Journal, Men and Women of Color, which showcases writers, poets and artists. Thomas earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, his master’s degree from Virginia State University and his bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M University.

Santiago’s address, “Strengthening Public Policy and Institutional Practices to Accelerate Academic Success for Latino Students,” will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 5. Santiago is co-founder of Excelencia in Education. She has spent more than 15 years leading research and policy efforts from community to national levels to improve educational opportunities and success.

Santiago has worked in federal government as a policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service and the U.S. Department of Education. She was the deputy director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Her community work has included program design and implementation for the ASPIRA Association and translating data for community engagement as the vice president for research and data at the Los Angeles Alliance for Student Achievement.

Her current research focuses on state and federal policy, financial aid, effective institutional practices and student success in higher education. Santiago has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mary Washington College, a master’s degree in urban affairs from Virginia Tech and doctoral studies at the University of Southern California. She is on the boards of the Latin American Youth Center and the National Association for College Admission Counseling. She also serves on the advisory boards for Univision’s Education Campaign and the Pathways to College Network.

Other presenters at the conference include James H. Johnson Jr., Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy for the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and James L. Moore III, professor and director of the Todd A. Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male at Ohio State University.

There will be pre-conference workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4, titled “Race Dialogue is for Everyone: Emory’s Transforming Community Project.” Based on Emory University’s Transforming Community Project, this interactive workshop will address employing strategies of dialogue, research and teaching to address issues of racial diversity on a college campus. The workshop will be led by Leslie Harris and JoNell (Jody) Usher, co-founders of Emory’s Transforming Community Project.

“We hope participants will come away with new ideas, new approaches and new programs to implement at their colleges to help students of color achieve a measure of success,” said Wiles. “This conference provides academic officers, admissions officials, faculty and student affairs administrators a great opportunity to exchange ideas and data with others from around the country.”

For registration information and a full conference schedule, visit http://www.clemson.edu/administration/diversityoffice/bestpractices/index.html.

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