FIU kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month in Washington, D.C.

D.C. weekly update: As Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off in Washington, D.C., FIU’s strengths in STEM education and educating minorities was on display at the Department of Education and on Capitol Hill.

Panelists at the CHLI Congressional Briefing discuss the importance of increasing the amount of Hispanics in STEM fields. Pictured (left to right): Carlos Becerra (FIU), Dr. Antonio Flores (HACU), Ted Wells (STEMConnector), Cris Turner (Dell), Belinda Garza (Univision).

Advances in STEM Education catch attention of White House and Congress  

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics is celebrating their 25^th anniversary by highlighting programs, models and organizations that are supporting and investing in the advancement of Hispanics in education. Among these “Bright Spots in Hispanic Education” are two widely successful FIU programs – the STEM Transformation Institute and the Mastery Math Lab. These programs optimize student success in STEM education and research by employing state-of-the-art practices such as small learning environments, active learning and peer-led education.

FIU physics professor and director of the STEM Transformation Institute Laird Kramer visited the Department of Education on Hispanic Serving Institutions Week to discuss the progress being made in this avant-garde approach to education and its accessibility to Hispanic students.

Practices like peer-led learning and modeling instruction at FIU are shown to increase passing rates in introductory Physics courses by up to 20 percent. Because of the Mastery Math Lab, College Algebra has also seen up to a 30 percent increase in passing rates.

Late last week, Carlos Becerra of FIU’s Federal Relations Office joined the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) and representatives from Dell, STEMConnector and the Hispanic Association for Colleges and Universities (HACU) to brief Congressional staff members on the important role Hispanics in higher education will play in the 21^st century market.

FIU Alumni gather for the 28th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Also last week, FIU Alumni gathered at the Hispanic Heritage Awards also celebrating the success of our Hispanic-serving institutions.

College Scorecard and Simplification of Financial Aid Application Announced 

President Obama unveiled the highly-anticipated College Scorecard website last week. The site provides useful and extensive federal data on student debt, attendance cost, graduation rate and salary after attending of more than 7,000 institutions in the United States.

According to College Scorecard, FIU ranks above the national average in every category except for tuition rate, which is well below the national mean of $16,789.

The Obama administration also announced last week that students will be able to apply for financial aid using income tax information from their parent’s tax returns two years prior rather than one year. This will facilitate the FAFSA application process for FIU students since many families typically do not have their tax returns completed for the prior year when it comes time to apply.

Hearings held on campus sexual assault and global water issues

The House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training hosted a hearing titled “Preventing and Responding to Sexual Assault on College Campuses.” University officials and organization directors gathered to discuss the issue of mandatory reporting of sexual assault to law enforcement and offered suggestions on how to prevent such assaults even before the college years.

Many of the suggestions presented align with FIU’s It’s On Us campaign and its efforts to prevent assaults.

In addition, The Foreign Affairs Committee held a joint hearing titled “The Role of Water in Avoiding Conflict and Building Prosperity.” Professors, scientists and non-profit groups alike gathered to discuss the sources of the issue and to make recommendations such as prioritizing assistance in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. FIU is already ahead of the curve in that matter as The Global Water for Sustainability Program (GLOWS) at FIU focuses much of their effort to address the same issues in those regions.

PANTHER SPOTTING:

Also at the Hispanic Heritage Awards were visiting FIU alumni:

• Gustavo Arnavat – Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic & International Studies
• Lisa Sacco – President, Aurora Real Estate Services, Co
• Julio Mallea – Car 2 Go
• Hector Mujica – Social Responsibility Strategist, Google

For more on FIU’s role in D.C. or too see what the office is involved with this fall, stay connected with FIU in D.C. on Facebook and Twitter:

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