An Overview of our Student Mentoring Program Victor Saenz, PhD Associate Professor & Executive Director, Project MALES University of Texas at Austin Engaging a Campus, Serving a Community Longhorn Center for Civic Engagement March 27 th, 2014

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz Research Agenda Project MALES Student Mentoring Program Latino Male Educational Success (K-16) Student Mentors/ Work- Studies *NEW* Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color Summer 2013 Launch; 14 institutional members (K-16) Project MALES Student Council WHAT IS Project MALES?

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz What are the goals for Project MALES? 3

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz Project MALES Student Mentoring Program CURRENT PARTNERS University of Texas – Austin ◦ Division of Diversity and Community Engagement  Project MALES  Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence  UT Elementary School (*new partner) Communities in Schools – Central Texas ◦ XY-Zone  Travis High School (Austin ISD)  Lanier High School (Austin ISD)  Reagan High School (Austin ISD) 4

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz Project MALES Student Mentoring Program – Brief History 5

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz Project MALES Student Mentoring Program STRUCTURE 6

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz Project MALES – LEARNING OUTCOMES/SKILLS 7

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz Project MALES - ACHIEVEMENTS Funding/Support ◦ Greater Texas Foundation ◦ Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation ◦ Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board ◦ UT- Austin Division of Diversity and Community Engagement National/State Recognition ◦ College Access Award, Hispanic Scholarship Consortium ◦ Mentoring Award, UTSA Mentoring Summit (Jan ◦ Mentions in: Diverse Magazine, Think Progress, Chronicle of Higher Education, Journal of Hispanic Higher Education ◦ Partnerships with College Board & Institute of Higher Education Policy Community Engagement/Raising Awareness ◦ Annual UT Latino Male Symposium ◦ Feria Para Aprender – since 2012 ◦ Con mi MADRE ◦ Fathers Active in Communities & Education (FACE) ◦ Dove Springs neighborhood ◦ TG, College Access and Affordability Telethon 8

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz Project MALES - FUTURE Service Learning Course – Fall 2014 ◦ Through College of Liberal Arts ◦ Reading assignments and critical discussions on mentoring and experiences of male youth in schools Local Expansion of Mentoring Efforts ◦ Middle Schools and Elementary Schools  Already at U.T. Elementary School ◦ Partnership with Male Mentoring Initiatives  African American Male Research Initiative UT-Austin  ACC & AISD efforts Statewide Collaborations ◦ Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color 9

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS 1.University of Texas 2.Texas State University 3.University of North Texas 4.University of Texas San Antonio 5.Prairie View A&M University* Consortium Membership TWO-YEAR INSTITUTIONS 1.El Paso CC District 2.Austin Community College District 3.Palo Alto College 4.San Antonio College 5.Northeast Lakeview College 6.South Texas College 7.Tarrant County College District 8.Lone Star College District INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS 1.La Joya ISD 2.Austin ISD 3.El Paso ISD* 10 * New members

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz The GOOD NEWS: A Growing Chorus

© 2014 Victor B. Sáenz What can we do about academic success for males of color?

Thank You! For more info: Project MALES Executive Staff Victor B. Sáenz, PhD, Exec. Director Associate Professor, UT-Austin Enrique Romo, PhD, Director, Project MALES, UT-Austin Luis Ponjuan, PhD, Co-Director Associate Professor, Texas A&M University Victor B. Saenz, Ph.D. Program Staff Sarah L. Rodriguez Claudia Garcia Louis Jorge Segovia Jose Del Real Mike Gutierrez