By: Amanda Giust & Dr. Diana M. Valle-Riestra, Albizu University, Miami Campus
Albizu University – Miami (AU-Miami) is a primarily Hispanic serving institution. The most recent enrollment data demonstrated that 78.3% (483) of the 617 graduate students identified as Hispanic/Latino. Over the past five years, enrollment of Hispanic graduate students at AU-Miami has steadily increased and it is anticipated with the award of the Title V PPOHA grant, the enrollment will continue to grow. With the increase in Hispanic enrollment, there is a need to support these students in completing their graduate programs by implementing retention strategies that ensure their success.
During the second year of the Title V PPOHA grant (2020-21 academic year), an emphasis was placed on working with students in the Human Services (Ph.D.) and Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) doctoral programs. A series of three meetings occurred with the Human Services department and two meetings with the Clinical Psychology Department to discuss the current struggles of doctoral students in terms of writing a dissertation or completing a doctoral project. Difficulties identified included: a) students who are English as a Second Language Learners, b) inability to summarize information, c) grammar, and d) paper organization.
To address these problems, students were referred to the Graduate Student Research Center (GRSC) to receive one-on-one tutoring. Using one student initially as a pilot, a process was developed as follows: a) hold preliminary meeting with student to identify research topic, stage of writing process, and perceived academic challenges, b) student sends via e-mail an initial draft for review, c) track changes and detailed feedback is provided, d) a virtual meeting via Zoom is scheduled, e) the one-on-one meeting focuses on a discussion about the feedback and direction of the paper, f) detailed notes of the session are recorded, and g) follow up appointment is scheduled.