Let's Talk UNLV

0:00:00
Well, welcome to another segment of Let's Talk UNLV. On KUNV, you're with co-hosts Keith and Renee. Renee, how was your weekend?

0:00:14
Pretty chill. Enjoyed the weather.

0:00:16
Was it gorgeous?

0:00:17
It was gorgeous. I took a beautiful walk and cooked some dinner and just watched some TV.

0:00:23
What about you? Hold on, Renee. What did you cook? I haven't had lunch yet or breakfast, so give me a little bit.

0:00:28
What did you cook?

0:00:29
Some cabbage and hot links.

0:00:30
Hot links, I can do the cabbage.

0:00:31
Cabbage and hot links. As you can see, I'm not the healthiest either, so I'm all about the protein, protein, protein, meat primarily sourced. But yeah, for the weekend, I didn't do much, you know, just sort of took it easy and probably did a little bit too much work, work over the weekend. You know, we have some pressing deadlines on some deliverables, so I really spent the weekend in front of the computer, unfortunately. So I didn't get to go out and enjoy the weather. I had planned, my son has the hoverboards, I had charged it. I was like, okay, I'm going to go out and ride the hoverboard and follow him on the bicycle in the community. So we didn't get to do that, which he told me I owe him big time on. So I'll make up for that next time. But I'm excited about this week's show. So we have some dynamic students with us today on the Minority Service Institution Student Council. We have members Christine Espinosa, Ava Correa, and Kashmir Cardoza. So all welcome to the show. Could you maybe share a little bit about yourself on how you may be connected or what's your standing at UNLV? It would be great.

0:01:34
I'm Christine Jan Espinosa. I am a second year PhD in higher education student and I'm also completing a certificate in assessment and evaluation at UNLV. Hello, I'm Eva Carino. I use she, they pronouns. I am currently a junior with sophomore credits because I am a triple major at UNLV with a majors in history, Asian American studies, and so I think this is to compensate the fact that I'm not in the STEM field and I am a Filipino American woman.

0:02:01
So is that well, you had me at triple major, so.

0:02:04
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

0:02:06
Yeah.

0:02:08
Kashmir, if you could share a little bit about yourself.

0:02:10
Hello. So my name is Keshif Cardoso, and I'm also a first-year doctoral student in the School of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics. And I'm really happy to be here today, as well as being a member of the Minority Serving Institution Council, or Student Council, sorry.

0:02:28
All right, so full disclaimer, I am their advisor, okay? So I take pride in that work, but so glad to have you to talk about what you're doing. So let's talk about August when all of this started. How did you come to be a part of the council? What have been some of the programming highlights that you have done thus far?

0:02:47
So before I became a member of the Minority Serving Institutions Student Council, I always served with Mr. Jose Melendrez with the Office of Community Health Partnership. I've been volunteering with his organization for a very long time, and he one day just emailed me and asked me if I wanted to be part of this council, and I looked into it, I read a little bit about it, and I was on board right the moment I read the first sentence about it. So since then, yeah, I've been all in.

0:03:23
And so Ava and Christine, what about you?

0:03:26
I started with MSI. I'm actually still an SDSJ program assistant for the African-American community, in which I create events and help try and figure out and bridge the gap between cultural diaspora, between our coaches and also American culture as well. For MSIST, I was like, maybe I should do more with this. Maybe I can implement more into this. I'm very proud and honored to be a part of this student council because not only do we have a wide variety of voices, but we also are able to bring in proposals, donations and everything like that, that we have not seen yet from an organization on campus. The first event that I was personally part of was the virtual trivia night that was on October 21st, 2020. And it was so much fun and it was also exhilarating to see all of the cahoots going off and everyone was like, oh no, I pressed the wrong one, wait, no, no, no. So it was around last July that I was approached by Dr. Blanca Vincolan and Dr. Doris Boston, both from the Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, where I am in, and they were looking for... I guess they had shared with me the call for student nominations for the Minority Serving Institution Student Council, and I left also at the opportunity for several, for many reasons actually, because previously when I was a community college transfer student, I was a transfer student to another minority, dual designated minority serving institution at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. So, I've had this very personal experience attending an MSI in the past, and I know that part of Part of my decision-making in choosing UNLV was because UNLV had the dual designations of being an NAPD or an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institution and a Hispanic serving institution. So, in general, also, my research interests are in race conscious law and policies, which is including the minority serving institution program. So, all of that combined, I wanted to definitely get involved with a council that allowed me to kind of put scholarship to practice because I don't want to just read about MSIs and research about MSIs. I want to be part of decision-making that happens at our MSIs at UNLV. And so a lot of the work that I've been reading and thinking about did get incorporated into that co-suit that Ava was talking about in October.

0:06:02
You know, that's dynamic to hear some of the events that have been sort of put on through this work. And I understand as individual committee members, you also have individual projects. So if you could give us a little bit of about sort of what your project is, what interests you to pursue that particular initiative, and sort of what you expect, so where you are in that progress of your project implementation is right now. And we'll start with Ava, and then we'll go to Christine, and then Kashmir.

0:06:32
Thank you for asking that question. Originally, when I joined the MSISB, I planned on doing a diversity requirement for UNLV. Now, this diversity requirement would have followed the suits of many UC schools, as well as the University of Washington, Seattle, in which students would be exposed to ethnic studies and perhaps learn more about the cultures whether that would be in Chicano X study, African-American studies, indigenous studies, or even Asian-American studies. Now, upon realizing that was not possible at this time, I later changed my project into doing a scholarship for the APIME or Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern students and first-generation students that extends outside of STEM. I saw that there was a need for scholarships for students outside of the medical field, outside of, you know, computer science and engineering, as it's trying to also break the stigma that we are part of the model minority myth. So therefore, I am extending the scholarship to all majors who, the only qualifications qualifications are that they just need the usual, you know, GPA requirement, full-time classes, and is open to any major, whether you are medical,

0:07:45
art,

0:07:47
humanities, philosophy, any of them. Because I, the purpose of that scholarship is to not only help our community, especially during these times where we've been economically devastated by COVID, but also the fact that we can see beyond research and STEM for the AAPI community.

0:08:07
Thank you, Ava. Christine, could you share a little bit about your project and then Kashmir?

0:08:11
Of course. So, my individual project is entitled Count Us In Ethnicity Data Disaggregation at UNLV. So, I am proposing Count Us In Ethnicity Data Disaggregation at UNLV with really the intention to advocate for this at the Nevada system of higher education level and adoption. But to really understand what disaggregate means, because I know that's not necessarily a word that gets used in our day-to-day, it's easiest to think about the mandated racial categories at the level of the US Department of Education, because the umbrellas of Black or Native American and Alaska Native, Latinx or Hispanic, or Asian and Pacific Islander, these large umbrellas tend to render invisible and do not acknowledge the vast heterogeneity within these existing racial categories. And so, there are very real and material consequences if we're not considering how might students that are within subgroups falling under those umbrellas get lost or not heard or not seen as important just because maybe at the umbrella level it looks like folks are doing well or maybe there's not enough data to support like a specialized program or policy or action, right? So, I've been meeting with several senior level administrators as well as students trying to ask what can we do to try to push this forward. And I feel very honored and humbled to work with so many folks that we're going to be testing an iteration of an expanded or disaggregated list at UNLV amongst students through a partnership with UNLV Student Affairs. So shout out to Sunny Gittens and Jud Harbin for really working with me as far as UNLV Student Affairs side and Larry from CAEO and I have also been looking at the list to be tested next month. So we hope that this feedback and testing can inform the decision-making around the final list to be used at UNLV and hopefully beyond. Kashmir? So my program or my initiative is actually called a Rise to the Challenge and the reason why I envisioned this this program is because as a student at UNLV, I overcame a lot of barriers, a lot of obstacles in terms of actually getting into an undergraduate program, then following through and getting accepted into a graduate program at UNLV. So, a lot of times, especially as a first-generation student, you rarely see anyone in your family move forward with their education and go to college, graduate from college, and then pursue a graduate career. So, again, it's based on a lot of my own personal experience, and what I kind of envisioned was to help the minority student or first-generation student or anyone who wants to go to graduate school, but can't or has barriers in place that do not enable them to go into a graduate-level education or receive that graduate-level education. So, with the Rise to the Challenge, what I envision is providing to the students is application and financial assistance. So, being able to pay for a GRE prep course, paying for the examination, and then helping them with financial assistance as far as the application process. And then, also, providing mentorship services. So, actually guiding them through the application process and providing them that mentor one-on-one relationship building to successfully complete the application, but also kind of build and bridge a gap between them and the community as far as like who else is out there, who else can identify with that looks someone like me or has the same passion for education or for whatever career field I want to go into and basically build that connection and, you know, just bring it all together, and that's what I really envisioned with this program. And so far, it's going great. For this semester, we have eight students, and we've actually recently got them GRE prep courses as far as... And also, we've actually been able to work in the LSAT course and the GMAT course, which will be available for other students in the future. So, hopefully, this program continues to grow in numbers and get more students and, you know, I just want to someday envision and, you know, see more of a diversity in the graduate college at UNLV versus just me sitting in a classroom and just see myself as the only minority Latinx student in a social work program. So I kind of just want to continue diversifying the graduate program and continue bringing more people of color into the program as well.

0:12:58
So each of you in your own way talks about this being an opportunity to eliminate or reduce barriers. And so I'm curious, given the menu of student leadership opportunities that are available at UNLV, what makes this leadership opportunity distinct as you chart your way to remove barriers for the communities that you talk about?

0:13:30
So how I think serving on this council is different than perhaps perhaps, like, registered student orgs on campus. I think about, like, actually our previous student council meeting and really reflecting on these various initiatives that we had just spoken about, that Kashmir, Eva, and I have gotten a chance to even share a little bit about here in this space, because I think that, for me at least, like, I can dream about data disaggregation all on my own, maybe in my little corner, but I think perhaps serving on this MSI Student Council with that particular, I guess, additional responsibility or role in really leading or helping facilitate an initiative is unique. And I do want to say that serving on the MSI Student Council has just given me an opportunity to work with incredibly brilliant student leaders that I might never have had the chance to meet otherwise. And even if we're still in this remote learning and teaching environment too, I'm so, I guess, honored and really blessed to even get to meet them even in this virtual space. And I know we come from different parts of campus. As you even heard here, like we all represent different majors. And I also think serving on the MSI Student Council has at least given me an opportunity to be in decision-making conversations and spaces with key UNLV admin and faculty to move those initiatives even further, right? So like I think that in and of itself that access and opportunity to like be a student voice in those very important circles is important to pushing for and advocating for tangible changes at UNLV.

0:15:16
Ava, Kashbir, did you want to add something?

0:15:18
I can add something. So I'm actually really glad that I was nominated to be a part of MSISC. I felt as if I can make more of an impact. Now I am not, I'm not going to say that I'm the face of the academic community at UNLV, because I am not. I am not by a long shot. But knowing that we have the ability to work with not only undergraduate students, but also grad students, international students, it expands my position and what I can do as a student leader and really get to know the UNLV community as a whole, instead of being like, I'm only going to focus on the African-American community that are undergraduates. That's a very niche community at UNLV. But understanding and knowing what people go through on campus. We can get proposals together. We can talk to higher administration through Dr. Watson because she has these connections, and I'm very, very happy to have these type of connections. Not only that, I would be able to help students with whatever they may need and understand that even if we may come from a lot of different identities and cultures, that should not, you know, that should not prevent us from helping them and becoming, you know, at the end of the day, running rebels, because at a school, we are still... You and all these students, we're still trying to navigate everything that's happening in this pandemic that is still going on. So, one thing that I feel like has actually made this experience like super wonderful and super great is the fact that I was able to identify a barrier or a few barriers that I experienced as a student and then use that experience and basically break them down for other students. And it's just, it's amazing how this council actually gave me the opportunity that so many people would dream...only dream about and only, you know, possibly never get the chance to actually work out a whole program and work out like a whole plan to implement and actually take forward. A lot of times, only upper management are allowed to take experiences like this and actually put them into a plan and set in a place where just here, we're just students and we're just basically getting the experience and the resources that we need to, as students implement these plans and make our visions or dreams come to reality. And again, it's implementing change and it's breaking down those barriers for other students. And I think it's just, it's been an amazing experience and it's definitely been an eyeopening experience

0:18:02
for me as a student.

0:18:04
And I know, Ava and Kashmir, you mentioned in your individual projects about providing direct support and services for students. So could you speak to what has been some of the responses from the students when you've reached out to them or when they've responded to the call to receive the scholarships or the graduate school support? So my scholarship still isn't implemented yet but I'm hoping

0:18:28
I can do it in the next semester or at least by spring break even if that's even possible. But I know personally when I when I ask my friends or I ask like what do y'all need from students from the MSIESC, they're like we need scholarships. Especially my friends who are either first generation or they're in the opt-in-a diaspora, they often say there are only scholarships for those who are in like nursing, computer science, engineering, and those are fantastic career choices, absolutely fantastic career choices. And I know like those majors are difficult to get into and I'm not like putting them down anyway whatsoever. But a lot of my friends also feel isolated because of the fact that they might be psychology or philosophy and law or film majors, and they're like, there's really no scholarships out there for us by the UNLV community. So that is another reason why my scholarship is so important to me. And also, the response I've had, the response I've had lately is it's very much like, oh my god, I can't wait till it's out and everything like that.

0:19:44
So, yeah.

0:19:45
Thank you for that. Kashmir, could you share what your response has been from students?

0:19:49
Yes, so I'm currently conducting interviews with students that apply for the scholarship. So far, I don't want to say similar, but somewhat near the same area. They've all been super grateful and super thankful that this opportunity exists because some of the responses I received is that there's other focuses as far as financial, a financial focus that they would rather put their time and money into versus, you know, paying for a GRU prep course. Yes, they care about being a very potential candidate for a graduate college or a graduate program, but they just can't afford the prep course overall. Looking at a CalPERS prep course is $900, almost $1,000 to take the course and, you know, at the end, take the examination, which in the end actually comes out to $1,500, I believe, for each student. So by being able to provide these prep courses and being able to pay for the examination, it's actually taking a huge stress load from the student and allowing them to focus their mindset on something else, something more important, like their personal statement or where they would want to contribute as far as their education. So they're all super grateful. They're all super, you know, excited to be able to apply for a program and actually see some form of assistance when it comes to their finances or when it comes to a social support for them. So, I'm going to get you out of here on this last

0:21:34
question. I know MSI week is coming March 1st through March 5th. And so we only have five minutes left, so if you could really share with us what are the highlights of that week. Christine?

0:21:45
Yes, absolutely. I'm happy to share highlights for the week. So the UNLV Minority Serving Institution Student Council has been working behind the scenes in preparation for this upcoming MSI week from March 1st through 5th. And we have some events that we have been brainstorming to still engage students, faculty, and staff, even in this remote setting, while also still celebrating and honoring the university's dual anaphyseal HSI designation. So some events include, the MSI Student Council is sponsoring an NC healthcare workers lunch appreciation throughout the entire week. So from Monday, March 1st through March 5th. We will also be highlighting the student council members themselves as well as individual projects that week. This podcast will also go live during that week of MSI week. We will make other announcements as far as other funds that the MSI Student Council is supporting, such as the SOS Emergency Relief Fund, the Immigration Clinic Fund and others. And then our premier event or our signature event will be on Friday, March 5th, a conversation with faculty, UNLV as an MSI, ANA-PZ and HSI that will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. So if you folks want more information, you can check out our Instagram at UNLV MSISC, as well as if you want to check out the panel, you can check out tinyurl.com forward slash MSIPanel. Thank you.

0:23:24
Yeah, so thank you for joining the show. Thank you for sharing. And, you know, Renee, I think about when I was a student and some of the things that they're doing, I was the ultimate slacker, right? You know, my biggest concern was just going to class and hanging out in the then student union, the Moyer Student Union. So that, you know, but just to hear, you know, on a takeaway side that, you know, the dynamic and diverse individual projects that that these three students are engaged in and that they're thoughtful projects. They really address the emerging needs of students that sort of fall into this MSI category and HSI category. And, you know, just in particular, you know, I was just drawn into the scholarship component with just really recognizing identifying students in disciplines with limited scholarship opportunities. And then also with the necessity to really diversify graduate school enrollment and being mindful of the unique needs that these students face and how do we provide them with resources to help them be better represented in graduate school. So I thought those were two dynamic projects. And then just lastly, you know, this disaggregation project, you know, it resonates with me as well because we, too, are working on a similar project within our organization. It's important to understand the unique challenges that may be embedded within the umbrella term of performance with some of the ethnicity and race categories that are currently constructed.

0:24:48
So, Renee, what were some of your takeaways from today? Well, I'm just mindful of all the hard work. I mean, this group started in August 2020 in the midst of COVID, but they did not let this stop them. The proposals that they came forward with, their budget requests, have all just been phenomenal. And to know that they only get a $2,000 stipend to do this work, and that they would put themselves in places to make change because of their experiences and they're trying to reduce barriers. And they've done homecoming, they've done first generation week, they've done a spring kickoff, and they've also now are tackling MSI week in addition to the individual projects. To do all that, like I said, again, in the midst of COVID, it is just out, it's remarkable. And so I look forward to March 1st to March 5th, and I'm sorry, March 1st to March 5th for all the events that are planned and looking forward to seeing what the MSIS League has

0:25:45
in store.

0:25:46
Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of KUNV Let's Talk UNLV. For my co-host Keith, I'm Renee. Tune in next week, Wednesday at 12, on KUNV 91.5 Jazz in May. That's a wrap. That's a wrap.

0:26:00
That's a wrap.

Transcribed with Cockatoo