 |  |
 Minority Institutions for Higher Education in Partnership with Federal Agencies
|
By: Ms. Britney White
&
Ms. Kertisha L. Dixon
View PowerPoint Presentation
Presentation Overview
- The definition of Minority Institutions for Higher Education (MIHEs)
- Why MIHEs are a vital resource to Federal Agencies.
- The Executive Orders.
- The Executive Orders in relation to MIHEs procuring partnerships with Federal Agencies such as the United States Department of Transportation.
- Benefits of partnerships between MIHEs and Federal Agencies.
- Barriers preventing partnerships between MIHEs and Federal Agencies.
- Recommendations to minimize the barriers preventing MIHEs from successfully partnering with Federal Agencies.
- Partnerships available through Federal Agencies such as the Department of Transportation and beyond.
Definition of Minority Institutions for Higher Education
MIHEs are institutions that serve the educational needs of a broad base minority population and they are broken down into four main categories;
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities
*Includes women and male only Colleges such as Spelman and Morehouse
- Hispanic Serving Institutions
- Tribal Colleges and Universities
*Institutions that serve American Indian and Alaskan minorities
- Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Institutions
Breakdown of MIHE Categories
(Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities. HBCUs as they are also referred to as are defined as “postsecondary institutions that were established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans. HBCUs enroll 14 percent of all African American students in higher education, although they constitute only 3 percent of America's 4,084 institutions of higher education. HBCUs offer all students, regardless of race, an opportunity to develop their skills and talents. These institutions matriculate approximately 24 percent of all African American students enrolled in four-year colleges, award masters degrees and first-professional degrees to about 1 in 6 African American men and women, and award 24 percent of all baccalaureate degrees earned by African Americans nationwide.
- The majority of the 105 HBCUs are located in the Southeastern states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. They include 40 public four-year, 11 public two-year, 49 private four-year, and 5 private 2-year institutions. The majority of the 105 HBCUs are located in the Southeastern states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. They include 40 public four-year, 11 public two-year, 49 private four-year, and 5 private 2-year institutions. Most are more than 100 years old with Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1837, being the oldest of these institutions.
Breakdown of MIHE Categories
(Hispanic Serving Institutions)
Cont.
Hispanic Serving Institutions are defined as;
- Accredited and degree-granting public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education with at least 25 percent or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent student enrollment. In addition to this HSIs must also have a high enrollment of needy students, low educational and general expenditures, and 25 percent or more undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent enrollment, where 50 percent of Hispanic students are low-income.
Breakdown of MIHE Categories
(Tribal and Asian Americans Pacific Islanders Serving Institutions)
Cont.
- Tribal Colleges and Universities are defined as those institutions cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note), any other institution that qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and Dine' College, authorized in the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978, Public Law 95-471, title II (25 U.S.C. 640a note).”
- Institutions that serve Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are defined as institutions of higher education that, at the time of application for grants, have an enrollment of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander undergraduate students that are 10 percent or higher of its population.
Why MIHEs are a vital resource to Federal Agencies
- MIHEs and their students are important to Federal Agencies because they produce some of America’s brightest and talented young men and women who come from minority backgrounds. These young men and women represent America at its best. They represent what America has become, a melting pot of racial and ethnic backgrounds. These institutions and their students allow Federal Agencies to diversify their infrastructure, as well as allowing them the opportunity to increase their ability to attract potential minority clients and employees.
The Executive Orders
- The White House established several educational initiatives that directed the Executive Branches and Federal Agencies to identify and implement programs that would increase the participation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian and Pacific Islander serving Institutions in FHWAs and other Federally Sponsored Program. These MIHEs are mandated by the following Executive Orders also known as (EOs):
The Executive Orders
Cont.
- EO 12928- Promoting Procurement With Small Businesses Owned and Controlled by Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions
- EO 13256-Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- EO 13230- President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
- EO 13230-Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
- EO 13256- President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- EO 13270- Tribal Colleges and Universities
- EO 13216-Increasing Opportunity and Improving Quality of Life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
- EO 13096-American Indian and Alaska Native Education
What The Executive Orders Mean for MIHEs and Their Students
These Executive Orders are necessary to ensure that all MIHEs have full participation and opportunity in programs offered by the Federal Government and Federal Agencies as a whole. Prior to the establishment of the Executive Orders, MIHEs were not granted fair and equal participation in programs offered by the various departments of the Federal Government.
The Executive Orders require Federal Agencies to:
- establish an annual goal for funds to be awarded to the MIHEs and to provide technical assistance to MIHEs regarding the program activities of the agency
- submit annual planned awards and performance awards reports to the Secretary of Education containing data on its plans/accomplishments to increase the participation of MIHEs in Federal and Federally Sponsored Programs; and
- submit data on all outreach efforts directed towards the Hispanic, Native American and Alaska Native communities
Benefits of partnerships between MIHEs and Federal Agencies
- Partnerships will assist students with equal opportunity to participate in educational programs, such as the STIPDG program
- Partnerships will assist students with equal opportunity to obtain Federal grants and fair biding on Federal contracts
- Partnerships will assist students with equal opportunity to develop research facilities and broaden their overall ability to write research grants in-house as equivalent to their counterparts at majority institutions
- Partnerships will assist students with equal opportunity to increase their institutions as well as their students involvement in development and technology based activities
What the FHWA and its Divisions have done to procure partnerships with MIHEs
- In 1991, the Federal Highway Administration’s Historically Black College and Universities and Other Minority Institutions of Higher Education Task Force recommended the establishment of partnerships to increase the participation of those institutions in the Agency’s Federal and Federal-aid highway programs. The partnerships were required to have, at a minimum, the active participation of an FHWA Division Office, a State Department of Transportation and a college or university.
What the FHWA and its Divisions have done to procure partnerships with MIHEs
Cont.
- After a six-year pilot program, “Congress in the Transportation Equity Act” for the 21st Century authorized funding for the first transportation career education program for secondary school youth entitled “National Summer Transportation Institute” (NSTI).
What the FHWA and its Divisions have done to procure partnerships with MIHEs
Cont.
- The NSTI program component was used to design another national transportation initiative, the “Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program” that was established by Former Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater
- The Federal Highway Administration has developed many initiatives to target MIHEs and their students such as the “Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups”. This program was developed to ensure that students from diverse backgrounds are provided with hands-on experience and on-the- job training, and the one of a kind opportunity to work on current transportation-related topics and issues through mentorship and research.
What the FHWA and its Divisions have done to procure partnerships with MIHEs
Cont.
Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute
- DOT, in partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute (HSFI), recently launched the DOT/HSFI Next Generation of Public Servants Scholarship Program. This pilot program allows DOT to provide academically accomplished Latino college students a pathway to complete their college degree and learn about the Department of Transportation and the career opportunities available in each of DOT's Operating Administrations, the Office of the Secretary and the Office of Inspector General.
- Through the DOT/HSFI Next Generation of Public Servants Scholarship Program, 12 outstanding Hispanic college students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 were each awarded a $3,000 scholarship.
Barriers Preventing Successful Partnerships Between MIHEs and Federal Agencies
- MIHEs were started after and/or with fewer financial and political resources than their counterparts at Majority serving Institutions. It should also be noted that these institutions faced added barriers of discrimination. Due to these factors, MIHEs have not been and are not on an equal playing field to seek and utilize the resources of Federal Agencies in contrast to their counterparts at Majority Institutions.
- While the Executive Orders set up mandates, many Federal Agencies have yet to meet the requirements asked of them. Many Federal Agencies do not have programs to benefit MIHEs and their students. These agencies have Equal Employment Opportunity programs however, these agencies do not tailor these programs to understand what the needs of MIHEs are and how they can work to meet these needs.
- Federal Agencies as a whole do not designate enough capital to MIHEs to equip them with the necessary tools to hire grant writers or develop research based facilities to make them competitive for things such as Federal contract bids, or research grants as to equal that of their counterparts at Majority serving institutions.
Recommendations to Minimize the Barriers
- Federal Agencies need to allot more money from their budgets for MIHEs to allow these schools to build their institutions faculties and overall resources.
- Agencies need to develop specific programs to reach out and recruit MIHEs for all of their internship, job, grant, and research based opportunities. Specifically, programs need to focus on helping MIHEs to build their infrastructure, increase master or PH.D level professors and programs to increase their knowledge of research opportunities.
- Currently, the Executive Orders are controlled by the President so depending on what Administration is in office determines the level of importance and attention that will be given to the Executive Orders. To ensure the perpetuity of opportunities for MIHEs the Executive Orders need to be turned into legislation passed by Congress so that all Federal Agencies will have no choice but to develop programs and outreach for MIHEs and their students.
Other Federal Agencies With Programs to Benefit MIHEs
- The United States Department of Education
- The United States Department of Commerce
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation
- The United States Department of Defense
- The United States Department of Health and Human Resources
- The United States Department of Homeland Security
- The United States Department of State
- The Central Intelligence Agency
- The Environmental Protection Agency
Works Cited
- Bard, Stephen “Institutions Serving Minority Students Propose Changes to Higher Education Act,” Chronicle of Higher Education 49, no. 26 (2003), http://web.ebscohost.com.
- Brown, Hattie & Williams, Linda J., Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Institutions of Higher Education Program, 2004 AASHTO National Transportation Civil Rights Conference, San Diego, California, (September 6, 2004), www.international.fhwa.dot.gov/civilrights/2004.
- Capital briefs, Community College Work 16, no. 4 (2003), http://web.ebscohost.com
- Klein, Alyson, Higher Education Act May Finally See Action, Education Week 26, no. 18 (2007).
- Lane, Kristina, Bill Would Expand Higher Ed. Access for Minorities, Low-Income Students, Community College Week 16, no. 4 (2003).
- Executive Order 13270 of July 3, 2002.
- Executive Order 12928 of December 16, 2004.
- Executive Order13230 of October 12, 2001.
- Executive Order 13256 of February 12, 2002.
- 2007 Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups, www.fhwa.dot.gov/education/stipdg.htm.
- Minority Institutions of Higher Education Annual Planned and Performance Awards Report, U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, (December 2005)
Conclusion
- Closing Remarks
*The perspective of a MIHE student
- Additional Questions
|
|
