Academic advising, institutional programs and student engagement are critical factors to Hispanic student success, according to officials at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and El Paso Community College (EPCC). The two schools have formed a joint partnership program for the students in their area.

Speaking at a session in the annual conference of American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) held in Orlando, Fla., last week, the college officials said their joint initiatives were intended to encourage the largely Hispanic population (77 percent) in the town along the U.S.-Mexico border. The porous border traffic attracts trade, laborers and students, said Diana Guerrero, director of enrollment evaluation and technology at UT-El Paso.

“The majority of the students are commuters and female,” said Guerrero. “And many of them are first-generation from low-income families.”

These students have several fears when they go into college, including  fear of large campuses or classes and fear of failure to manage time and resources.

It is important for EPCC and UTEP to work together to make the students understand the need for college and make them feel welcome on campus, said Tammie Campos, EPCC’s dean of students. The UTEP-EPCC Transfer Task Force assists students with the admissions and transfer process. ACCUPLACER — a skills-application test developed by the College Board — is used for placement by both colleges. EPCC teaches additional developmental courses that UTEP cannot offer, but some EPCC developmental math courses are taught on the UTEP campus, the school officials said.

The schools also identify the students who are at-risk for departure, said Cassandra Lachica, assistant director of admissions at UTEP. Risk of departure is associated with low GPA scores and with students who were 20 years of age or older at the time of first enrollment. Females and international students were less likely to quit college.