Courageous leadership: Recruiting and Retaining Latino(a) Faculty and Higher Education ProfessionalsOctober 15, 2015 at noon to 1 p.m.

This professional webinar session provides higher education administrators and staff an opportunity to learn about the importance of developing a comprehensive strategy to recruit and retain Latina/o faculty members and professional staff. The demographic reality of the growing Hispanic undergraduate and graduate student population compels higher education leaders to employ courageous leadership to create proactive measures that ensures their faculty and leaders reflect the diverse communities that they serve. Towards that goal, this webinar highlights key programmatic and policy recommendations, based on empirical evidence, to support institutional initiatives to improve Latino(a) faculty and professional staff representation.

Dr. Luis Ponjuan is an Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration and the Research Director of the IDEAL (Investing in Diversity, Equity, Access, and Learning) research project in the Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas AandM University. He has a comprehensive research agenda focused Latino students, Latino male students, and faculty members of color. He has spoken at the White House for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, the United States Congress and the State of Nevada Higher Education system to raise awareness about Hispanic students and faculty representation in higher education. Dr. Ponjuan was awarded the 2014 Outstanding New Faculty member in his college. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan, Master's degree from the Florida State University, and Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of New Orleans. He is a first generation Cuban immigrant and college graduate.