41.035 - Complicating Undocufriendly: Institutional Responses to Undocumented Student Services in Higher Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This session brings three qualitative studies that analyze how different institutional and state contexts within higher education respond to the needs of undocumented immigrant students. Situated within the context of a changing national legislative landscape around undocumented student access to higher education, these studies examine how colleges and universities respond to the needs of undocumented students. Each paper presents an institutional case study - drawing from both community colleges and 4-year public universities - that situates the role of campus staff and faculty in creating “undocufriendly” (Suarez-Orozco, et. al, 2015) campuses. These studies complicate actions and behaviors associated with holistic institutional responsiveness to the needs of undocumented students within a context of an increasingly hostile national political climate towards immigrants.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education

Chair

• Darsella Vigil, Unversity of Denver

Papers

• "I Just Changed the Sign!" The Role of Community College Staff in Shaping Campus Climate - Genevieve Negron-Gonzales, University of San Francisco

• Where Activism Meets the University: A Case Study of the Institutionalization of Undocumented Student Programs - Jennifer R. Nájera, University of California - Riverside

• "Our Hands Are Tied": Perceptions of Faculty and Staff Institutional Support for Undocumented Students - Susana Maria Munoz, Colorado State University - Fort Collins; Darsella Vigil, Unversity of Denver

Discussant

• Carola Suarez Orozco, New York University