A new administrative position has been created for the fall semester 2007 at Miami University in hopes of strengthening the relationships with the Spanish-speaking communities in southwestern Ohio.
According to the creator of the Latino Community Coordinator; Michael Stevenson, assistant to the president and associate provost; the position has not yet been filled.
"The committee and I are just now reviewing candidate files," Stevenson said. "We hope to have somebody hired by the middle of May or perhaps the first of June, with a start date (beginning) fall semester."
The person will spend time in the communities in southwestern Ohio, identifying community leaders and organizations that the university can then develop relationships with. The person will also help to find opportunities in Spanish-speaking communities for current Miami students to do service learning projects and will help bring students from these communities to campus for various activities.
The job requires the coordinator to have a visible presence on all three of Miami's campuses, according to Stevenson. The position will be situated in the Center for American and World Cultures (CAWC) located in MacMillan Hall and the Office of Community Engagement and Service located in the Hanna House on the Oxford campus, but geographically many of the Spanish-speaking communities are closer to the regional campuses. Despite this, the person is expected to spend most of his or her time actually in the Spanish-speaking communities, not sitting on campus, according to Stevenson.
"(The CAWC will) be able to provide this person with office space, office equipment, resources, supplies, and whatever expertise and experience we can provide to help this person do his or her job," said Mary Jane Berman, director of the CAWC.
Stevenson hopes the position will produce a greater presence of these community members at relevant university events, summer programs, and other offerings.
"Hopefully, eventually it will increase the number of Latino and Latina students who apply from those communities to be students at Miami," Stevenson said.
The goal of this position is to eventually increase diversity on campus by bringing more Latino students into the programs offered by Miami.
"We want to build relationships and trust between Miami University and the Latino-Hispanic community," Berman said. "By building trust, we hope that students of Latino-Hispanic descent will see Miami University as a wonderful university to attend."
Berman sees this position as a positive thing for Miami's future.
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"We look at this as a way of building bridges, establishing trust, opening up doors, (and) welcoming a community that is not too highly represented on our campus in terms of our student body," Berman said.
Some students think the plan is a good idea, if it's effective.
"It sounds like a good idea to increase the Latino population on campus, but I don't know how well the Spanish-speaking communities will respond," said sophomore Spanish minor Katie Sharbaugh.
Other students are optimistic about the position's effects.
Megan Zirger, a Miami first-year Spanish and Spanish education double major, said that having more students on campus interested in Spanish will benefit the Spanish living-learning community and Spanish student organizations.
"I think people forget how relevant Spanish is right now and how much more relevant it is going to be in the future," Zirger said. "Whether or not it is designed to make Miami look good, it will be beneficial to the university."
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