Order 1428946: Exploring Supervisor and Peer Support on US Army Junior Leader’s Transfer of Training

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AB 540 COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:

MAKING CONNECTIONS AND REALIZING DREAMS

Michelle Gonzales Bleza

A Dissertation Presented to the

FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

December 2013

Table of Contents

List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... v

List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi

Chapter 1: Undocumented College Students in California ................................................. 1

Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 2

Conceptual Framework: Social Network Framework .................................................. 5

Microlevel Roles of Institutional Agents Within the Social Network Framework ...... 8

Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................... 10

Organization of the Study ........................................................................................... 11

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature .................................................................................. 12

Documenting Literature Selected for Review ............................................................. 14

Undocumented Latino Students’ Access to Higher Education in California ............. 16

Challenges With College Access, College-Specific Information, and Funding ... 17

Challenges for Latino AB 540 Students Associated With Residency Status ....... 28

Sources of Support for Latino AB 540 Students .................................................. 34

Discussion of Undocumented Latino Students’ Access to Higher Education in

California .................................................................................................................... 43

Institutional Agents ..................................................................................................... 44

Social Network Framework .................................................................................. 45

Institutional Agents Differ from Mentors ............................................................. 52

Empowerment Agents ........................................................................................... 53

Discussion of Institutional Agents ........................................................................ 55

Summary of Literature Review ................................................................................... 56

Chapter 3: Research Methods ........................................................................................... 58

iii

Overall Approach to the Study and Rationale ............................................................ 59

In-Depth Interviews .............................................................................................. 59

Site Selection .............................................................................................................. 60

Gaining Access ..................................................................................................... 61

Selecting Participants ............................................................................................ 61

Beginning the Study: The Interview Protocols ........................................................... 62

Field Notes and Memos .............................................................................................. 63

Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 64

Validity ....................................................................................................................... 66

Comprehensive Data Treatment ........................................................................... 67

The Constant Comparison Method ....................................................................... 68

Deviate Case Analysis .......................................................................................... 68

Using Appropriate Tabulations ............................................................................. 68

Personal Bias and Ethics ............................................................................................. 69

Personal Bias ......................................................................................................... 69

Ethical Issues Addressed in This Study ................................................................ 70

Ethics in Constructing the Text ............................................................................. 71

Data Security ......................................................................................................... 71

Summary ..................................................................................................................... 72

References ......................................................................................................................... 73

Appendix A: Roles of Institutional Agents ....................................................................... 87

Appendix B: Website Protocol for Site Selection ............................................................. 92

Appendix C: Interview Protocol for Students ................................................................... 93

Appendix D: Interview Protocol for Staff and Faculty Members ..................................... 98

Appendix E: Informed Consent Form for Student Participants ...................................... 101

Appendix F: Informed Consent Form for Staff and Faculty Participants ....................... 102

List of Tables

Table 1. Aliens Returned by Country of Nationality: Fiscal Years 2009 to 2011 ............ 30

List of Figures

Figure 1. Roles of institutional agents ................................................................................ 8

Chapter 1:

Undocumented College Students in California

In the United States, federal law requires that children have the right to a public

education regardless of documentation status (Plyler v. Doe, 1982). Students under age

18 who desire a public education have the right to pursue their educational goals without

being asked about their documentation status or that of their parents. Thousands of

undocumented immigrant children attend public schools throughout the United States,

eventually earning high school diplomas or equivalents. However, once these students

graduate from high school and want to enter higher education, state laws determine if

undocumented students can enroll in state-funded colleges and universities and/or receive

any tuition assistance.

For immigrant students without current residency documentation, gaining

entrance into a college and earning a college degree requires an understanding of

complex federal and state laws. The college-going experiences of undocumented college

students in the United States differ from state to state. Citizenship and legal residency can

only be mandated at the federal level. Consequently, some states have passed legislation

that affects undocumented college-age immigrants residing in their states. For instance,

as of May 2013 (National Immigration Law Center, 2013) 15 states had tuition equity

laws, and two states offered flat-rate tuition for all enrolled students. Although some

stories by undocumented students across the nation share similar features, until

comprehensive federal immigration laws are passed the variations in college-going

experiences for undocumented students will continue to differ depending on the state in

which students reside. For this reason, I will specifically examine undocumented

community college students in California in this study.

Statement of the Problem

In California, eligible undocumented students can enroll in public institutions of

higher education and pay California in-state tuition through a tuition equity law generally

called AB 540 (Public Postsecondary Education: Exemption from Nonresident Tuition,

2001). AB 540 was the bill’s number when it was submitted by Assemblyman Marco

Antonio Firebaugh. Passed in 2001 and implemented in January 2002, AB 540 grants

tuition equity to undocumented students who have attended high school in California for

at least 3 years, graduated or received a GED, and signed an affidavit at a state public

college or university that they will apply for legal residency when they become eligible.1

This law benefits qualified students who have spent the majority of their high school

years in California by assessing them the same tuition rates as California residents, which

is helpful. However, some of the problems with this law are not with its contents but

rather with its limitations.

AB 540 provides undocumented students with tuition equity; however, for many

undocumented Latino students who are AB 540 eligible, the cost of obtaining higher

education remains unaffordable (Gonzales & Chavez, 2012; Oliverez, 2007). Most

undocumented Latino youth in California come from low-income families who live

below or slightly above the poverty level (Pastor & Marcelli, 2013). Paying for higher

education is even more complex for this group of students. Financial aid is processed at

the federal level and supplemented at the state level. Undocumented students cannot

1 Two additional California laws were passed in 2011 that affect undocumented students. AB 130 or California Dream Act (Student Financial Aid: Eligibility: California Dream Act of 2011, 2011) allows undocumented students to be eligible for privately funded scholarships at state institutions. The financial aid application for AB 130 was released on April 2, 2012. AB 131 (which amends California student financial aid laws to include undocumented students) will not take effect until January 1, 2013 (Student Financial Aid, 2011).

apply for federal financial aid because they lack Social Security numbers. This lack of

documentation prevents these students from being considered for many scholarship

opportunities that require federal financial aid paperwork. For these reasons, less than 1%

of all students enrolled in state-run colleges California receive tuition benefits through

AB 540 (Legislative Analyst’s Office, 2010).

Another problem exists with disseminating information about AB 540 to

undocumented students who qualify. Unfortunately, there is no provision in this law

requiring high school counselors, teachers, or college officials to be knowledgeable about

AB 540 or share the benefits of this law with potentially eligible students (Abrego, 2008;

Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012; Oliverez, 2007). Since professionals at the high school and

college levels are not required to be conversant about AB 540 or distribute information

about the law, some eligible undocumented college students have reported that they paid

nonresident rates until they became aware that AB 540 tuition equity existed (Garcia,

2011; Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007).

Undocumented Latino students face typical stressors like other low-income

Latino college students. However, AB 540 students must also confront myriad issues

specific to their residency status. They fear being deported to a country of which they

may have little or no memory (Perez, 2012; Perez & Cortes, 2011). They cannot legally

drive and often have to spend much time commuting via public transportation (Abrego,

2008; Perez & Cortes, 2011). These students must also contend with not being able to

legally earn wages during their college years or after they have completed their degrees

(Abrego & Gonzales, 2010; Gonzales, 2010). These financial constraints and legal

restrictions are potholes along their higher education pathway.

In the face of these barriers, undocumented students continue to enroll in

postsecondary institutions to follow their educational dreams. Since AB 540 was

implemented in 2002, there has been a small, yet steady, increase in enrollment of

undocumented Mexican college students in states with tuition equity laws (Flores, 2010;

Kaushal, 2008). For undocumented young adults, laws like AB 540 can mean the

difference between choosing to pursue higher education or trying to find employment

without a Social Security number (Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012). AB 540 allows eligible

undocumented young adults to pay resident tuition rates at state-funded institutions. This

opportunity is diminished by lack of knowledge among educators about the law, scarcity

of information about AB 540 being provided to eligible students, and limited financial

support for students once they enroll in institutions higher education.

Educators can assist undocumented students by incorporating them into their

support networks, creating programs, and influencing policies. Many Latino immigrant

and first-generation college students have limited access to supportive staff and faculty

members at the high school (Oliverez, 2006; Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2001;

Stanton-Salazar & Dornbusch, 1995; Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-Orozco, & Todorova, 2008)

and college level (Bensimon & Dowd, 2009; Bensimon, Dowd, Trapp, & Alford, 2007;

Dowd, Pak, & Bensimon, 2013; Mmeje, 2012; Pak, Bensimon, Malcom, Marquez, &

Park, 2006). The problem is not the students’ ability to find trustworthy school personnel;

rather, it is the absence of intentional interactions with institutional agents who can assist

undocumented students in understanding their complex pathways to college. Institutional

agents are defined below within the context of Stanton-Salazar’s (2011) social network

framework.

Conceptual Framework: Social Network Framework

In the social network framework, the definition of an institutional agent is very

specific. Institutional agents form networks and share resources with students and other

professionals by design in order to create changes in social equity in education and

society as a whole. The following definition of an institutional agent is used throughout

this study:

An institutional agent is an individual who occupies one or more hierarchical

positions of relatively high-status and authority. Such an individual, situated in an

adolescent’s social network, manifests his or her potential role as an institutional

agent, when, on behalf of the adolescent, he or she acts to directly transmit, or

negotiate the transmission of, highly valued resources (e.g., high school course

requirements for admission to 4-year universities). (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p.

1067)

The capacity of an institutional agent is in the strength of his or her own social

network and his or her ability to empower youth with limited nonkin connections. An

institutional agent “mobilizes” intuitional support to benefit “low-status students,” or

students who are considered to be located on a low echelon of society as dictated by

societal norms, in a more favorable position, by using “his or her position, status and

authority, or exercises key forms of power, and/or uses his or her reputation, in a

strategic and supportive fashion” (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1076). Social network ties

are understood in terms of social capital in this framework.

Social capital, in this case, consists of “high-status institutional resources

embedded in social relationships and social structure” (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1068).

This definition of social capital is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social

reproduction (as cited in Stanton-Salazar, 2011) in which social capital is a mechanism

for distributing highly valued resources that is reproduced over time. Lin (as cited in

Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1084) noted that social capital is embedded in resources and

distributed within a social structure. A social structure, as defined by Lin (as cited in

Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1085), consists of a hierarchical structure in which differential

amounts of highly valued resources are controlled by institutional agents who share and

act upon rules and procedures for distribution of these resources.

Social capital is therefore distributed along the lines of privilege and domination

that are ingrained in hierarchical, integrated, and reproducing social structures namely

systems of stratification such as race, class, and gender (Stanton-Salazar, 2011). As social

actors, individuals are connected to each other via social networks. For this reason, this

framework is also informed by the work of Coleman (as cited in Stanton-Salazar, 2011,

p. 1084), in which communities mobilize to create high-density networks to create forms

of power. Coleman, according to Stanton-Salazar’s (2011) critique, failed to recognize

the societal forces in which some communities accumulate forms of capital while

relegating other communities—usually along class and racial lines—to inferior forms of

capital (p. 1084), including cultural capital, which privileges the cultural norms of the

dominant class or race. More recent studies with an emphasis on equity in education

(Dowd et al., 2013; Stanton-Salazar, Macias, Bensimon, & Dowd, 2010) have

demonstrated that institutional agents can intentionally work to push the boundaries of

society in order to provide the resources at their disposal to a more inclusive group of

students. Undocumented Latino students who are vulnerable to societal forces of racial

discrimination as well as exclusionary laws and policies related to immigration can

benefit from the assistance of institutional agents who have a critical awareness of their

complex societal boundaries.

Institutional agents occupy many positions on high school and college campuses.

They take on several roles in order to assist students best. Stanton-Salazar (2011)

categorized the actions and behaviors of institutional agents to empower students into

four categories: institutional agents who provide direct support, integrative agents, system

developers, and institutional agents who supply system linkages and networking support.

Stanton-Salazar based these labels of institutional agents on theoretical concepts he

developed by observing the actions and behaviors of institutional agents from his own

empirical studies as well as his collaborative work including Stanton-Salazar et al. (2010)

and Dowd et al. (2013). Within the broad categories of supportive institutional agents,

mentioned above, are microlevel roles in which institutional agents engage. In Figure 1

(Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1081) the distinct behaviors and actions of institutional agents

are defined in more detail.

Figure 1. Roles of institutional agents. Adapted from “A Social Capital Framework for the Study of Institutional Agents and Their Role in the Empowerment of Low-Status Students and Youth,” by R. D. Stanton-Salazar, 2011, Youth & Society, 43, p. 1081

Microlevel Roles of Institutional Agents Within the Social Network Framework

Institutional agents who provide direct support act in ways similar to that of

mentors or academic advisors (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, p. 15). Direct support to

students is provided through multiple roles: by providing personal and institutional

resources (resource agent), doing academic advising and conveying knowledge about the

educational system (knowledge agent and advisor), advocating on behalf of students’

needs (advocate), and helping students learn to network (networking coach).

Integrative support consists of incorporating students into professional networks

and associations where students are exposed to funds of knowledge and career

opportunities not readily available without these connections. An integrative support

agent is aware of the empowering socialization experiences derived from participating in

high-status networks and these associations are key sites where networking, help seeking,

and reciprocal exchanges of institutional support are the norm, and where “bridging” and

“brokering” are typical organizational activities as are network development and cultural

exposure. An integrative agent incorporates students into their very own professional

network (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, p. 27). A cultural guide offers integrative support

through guided cultural exposure in which students are empowered to learn to negotiate

different cultural norms and identify key agents in simultaneously existing, and often

conflicting sociocultural worlds (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1101). Integrative agents

intentionally create opportunities for students to interact with larger networks.

A system developer is an institutional agent who develops programs that will

embed students—some of whom the individual will never meet—in a system of agents,

resources, and opportunities (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, p. 16). System developers

often rely on their connections with other key faculty members and administrators with

whom they can lobby to create systemic change. An example of a system developer is an

individual in a high-ranking position who may have little interaction with students but

can design a program for undergraduate students of color to conduct research.

Institutional agents who supply system linkages and networking support act at a

systems and structural level and tend to articulate an explicit agenda to use resources and

support structures within their areas of authority to increase the educational opportunities

of racialized students (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, p. 16). To develop system linkages,

these institutional agents need to have broad networks with decision-making faculty

members and administrators.

Overall, institutional agents share and distribute resources to students or on behalf

of students due to their position of power on a high school or college campus. The focus

of this study is undocumented Latino college students. The connections between

institutional agents at the community colleges and the student participants are an

important aspect of this work, as explained next.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to understand the community-college-going

experiences of undocumented Latino community college students and their interactions

with key faculty and staff members identified as institutional agents using the social

network framework designed by Stanton-Salazar (2011). To examine the college-going

experiences of the student participants in this study, the following overarching research

question will be posed: In what ways do undocumented Latino community college

students become aware of their rights under AB 540 and how to access this benefit? For

further clarity, two subquestions will guide the research:

1. What support mechanisms assist Latino AB 540 community college students

and what challenges inhibit their college-going experience?

2. In what ways do institutional agents at the college level facilitate access to

college and ongoing support for undocumented Latino students?

Undocumented Latino students encounter a wide range of educators at the high

school and college levels. Institutional agents interact with students in intentional ways in

order to prepare students for college, guide students to transfer, achieve college degrees,

and prepare them for future careers. Institutional agents are also keenly aware of racial

inequities in society. For this reason, the categories of intuitional agents theorized by

Stanton-Salazar (2011) will be used to categorize the data. Examples of some of the

categories in the framework have not been specifically identified in published empirical

studies; however, the actions and behaviors included in the definitions are based on

observations from empirical studies of institutional agents who work with low-income

and working-class students of color. The framework, which includes distinct categories,

provides a useful way to analyze behaviors and actions of institutional agents.

Organization of the Study

Chapter 1 contains the background of the problem, the statement of the problem,

the purpose of the study, the conceptual framework, the questions to be answered, the

significance of the study, the definitions of terms, and an introduction to the

methodology. Chapter 2 is a review of relevant literature related to the research

questions. Chapter 3 is a more detailed description of the methodology to be used in the

study, including the research design, the procedures for data collection, and the plan for

data analysis. Chapters 4 and 5 will present the data on undocumented students and

institutional agents, respectively. Finally, Chapter 6 will provide applications to practice,

implications for further research, and overall conclusions of the study.

Chapter 2:

Review of the Literature

In the United States, advancing from high school to the workforce or college

marks a critical rite of passage (Gonzales, 2008a). Undocumented young adults have

described this transition as quite stressful (Gonzales, 2008a), which is opposed to their

American counterparts, who internalize this same life changing moment as joyful or

exciting. For the first time, undocumented youth begin to face challenges associated with

residency status, as they take on adult roles including driving, working, and applying for

college. Prospective undocumented Latino college students begin to prepare for college,

just like their peers, by trying to understand college requirements, beginning to fill out

college applications, and finding financial resources. At this point, their paths diverge

from students who are U.S. citizens or authorized residents. In addition to learning all the

same college-going procedures as their peers, qualified undocumented students in

California must learn that they can attend college under AB 540, California’s tuition

equity law, which gives them the right to pay in-state resident tuition rates. They also

need to learn how to apply for college under AB 540 and fund their education without

federal financial aid. They must also come to understand the legal and policy restrictions

that will affect their collegiate lives as undocumented AB 540 students. Most

undocumented students need to declare their residency status for the first time in an

academic document (college application or scholarship) in order to be granted their rights

to this benefit (Public Postsecondary Education: Exemption from Nonresident Tuition,

2001). This entails informing a high school or college official that they are

undocumented.

Undocumented youth do not have to divulge their residency status in an

educational setting until they reach college. Students are protected by law; Plyler v. Doe

(1982) allows all children to attend public schools in the United States until the end of

high school, regardless of immigration status. Due to this law, school officials cannot ask

students or their parents about their residency. In California, high school counselors and

teachers are also not required to inform qualified students about their rights under AB

540 (Public Postsecondary Education: Exemption from Nonresident Tuition, 2001), even

if students disclose that they are undocumented. This inhibits some students from

understanding AB 540 and how to apply to college as AB 540 students (Gonzales,

2008a). Unfortunately, many AB 540 students have reported that high school staff or

faculty members failed to offer assistance (Gonzales, 2008a; Oliverez, 2006),

discouraged them from going to college (Martinez-Calderon, 2010), and delivered

inaccurate or incomplete information (Gonzales, 2008a; Oliverez, 2006). Helpful high

school officials have been acknowledged by students as easing their transition to college

by providing access to resources and connecting students with helpful others (Gonzales,

2012; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Therefore, students need to find a reliable source of

information. Ideally, a well-informed counselor or teacher should be able to help them

with all their precollege preparations.

Navigating through college and successfully completing a degree continues to be

complicated for AB 540 students after college matriculation. When undocumented

students start college, they begin to experience restrictive residency laws, policies, and

procedures that influence their college-going experiences (Chavez, Soriano, & Oliverez,

2007; Oliverez, 2006). Undocumented students can be supported by an institutional

agent, defined as

an individual who occupies one or more hierarchical positions of relatively high

status and authority. Such an individual, situated in an adolescent’s social

network, manifests his or her potential role as an institutional agent, when, on

behalf of the adolescent, he or she acts to directly transmit, or negotiate the

transmission of, highly valued resources (e.g., high school course requirements

for admission to 4-year universities). (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1068)

An institutional agent is a nonfamily authority figure who guides students with

low social status by sharing his or her positional and personal resources (knowledge and

networks), developing programs, and influencing systematic change. An institutional

agent also offers validation and advocacy from the beginning of students’ transition to

college until they complete their collegiate goals, enter graduate school, or begin their

careers.

This literature review is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the

empirical research regarding the challenges that Latino AB 540 students confront daily as

well as their resources for support. The second part of the review presents the theoretical

foundation for this study based on a growing body of research on institutional agents. An

overview of social network theory as it pertains to Latino youth is discussed followed by

the evolution to the development of specific actions and behaviors of institutional agents

observed in recent research.

Documenting Literature Selected for Review

This review of the literature focuses on empirical research about undocumented

Latino students in California. The primary focus was to examine how undocumented

Latino college students become aware of their rights under AB 540. In order to explore

this topic, studies reviewed included those that identified the challenges that face AB 540

students as well as research regarding support these students receive in acquiring

guidance about their rights. The three main databases utilized during this process were

Google Scholar, ProQuest, and ERIC. Key words and phrases used in the initial database

search were undocumented college students, Latino college students, college access, and

scholarships.

The criteria in the initial review of the studies were (a) content specific to the

lived experiences of undocumented Latino college students; (b) published after 2001 in a

refereed journal, book, or report from a research center; (c) conducted in California; and

(d) faculty and staff interactions with undocumented college students. Eighty four studies

that met most of these criteria were identified. From the search, insight was obtained

concerning the challenges undocumented students confront as young adults and on

college campuses. Sources of support from family, peers, community organizations, and

school officials were also identified to provide a broader perspective of the experiences

of AB 540 students.

In the second part of this chapter, studies regarding institutional agents were

examined based on (a) use of “institutional agents” as informed by the work of

Stanton-Salazar, Bensimon, and Dowd, as well as studies based on their work on

institutional agents; (b) interactions between minority students; and (c) publication after

1995 in a refereed journal, book, or report from a research center. Studies were located

through Google Scholar, ERIC, and WorldCat databases. Additional studies were

identified using the bibliographies of the articles found in the database search. A total of

43 studies fit these specifications.

The review of the literature begins with an analysis of the studies pertaining to

undocumented Latino students. Specific attention is placed on studies about the transition

from high school to college, legal complications, and barriers to success. Sources of

support are then examined. In the second part of the review, research on institutional

agents is explored. The studies were analyzed using a framework for studying

institutional agents developed by Stanton-Salazar (2011, p. 1081), which is based on the

overarching definition by Stanton-Salazar (p. 1068) above. In this model, the actions and

behaviors by institutional agents are classified according to the forms of institutional

support provided by educators to students: direct support, integrative support, system

development, and system linkage and networking support.

Undocumented Latino Students’ Access to Higher Education in California

The complex challenges that Latino AB 540 students face daily and the various

resources for support are daunting for many of these students. Establishing and

understanding the factors that address the experiences of undocumented Latino students

in California is fundamental. California’s tuition equity law for undocumented college

students, AB 540, was passed in 2001 (Public Postsecondary Education: Exemption from

Nonresident Tuition, 2001). AB 540 allows undocumented students who meet the state’s

criteria to pay resident tuition rates. However, AB 540 did not resolve all issues for

undocumented students. First, the barriers to college access are analyzed for AB 540

students. Difficulties unique to these students in completing college applications and

funding college are explored, including lack of access to information and limited access

to financial resources. Concerns related to undocumented residency still exist. Next,

research associated with undocumented residency is explored such as legal

complications, including potential deportation and restrictions on work and driving;

discrimination against immigrants in the United States; and possibilities of not being able

to utilize their college degrees upon graduation. Finally, sources of strength for Latino

AB 540 students are discussed, such as support from family, peers, clubs and community

organizations, and school officials.

Challenges With College Access, College-Specific Information, and Funding

Filling out college materials and finding funding for college are difficult tasks for

undocumented students. Most information provided by high school officials assumes that

students are citizens or legal residents (Chavez et al., 2007; Oliverez, 2007). Finding out

how to complete a college or scholarship application without a Social Security number

usually requires students to divulge their status to a high school counselor or college

admissions counselor (Chavez et al., 2007; Gonzales, 2012; Oliverez, 2007; Perez, 2012).

Students must trust the educator from whom they are requesting help. Conversely, the

counselor or staff member must be able to assist them with this information by

understanding how to advise undocumented students (Gildersleeve & Ranero, 2010;

Oliverez, 2007). Therefore, the exploration of the difficulties of applying for college and

funding for undocumented students is necessary.

Undocumented college students can have a difficult time finding accurate

information from faculty and staff members about applying for college (Gildersleeve &

Ranero, 2010; Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012; Perez & Cortes, 2011). When AB 540 was

passed in 2001, there were no provisions included in the law that required high school

and college faculty and staff to learn about the rights of students under this law (Public

Postsecondary Education: Exemption from Nonresident Tuition, 2001). No requirements

were mandated by the state on how the law should be implemented or information

disseminated to eligible students (Abrego, 2008). Consequently, many Californians were

unaware of its passage, including high school counselors (Oliverez, 2006) and college

administrators (Gonzales, 2007; Oliverez, 2007; Perez & Cortes, 2011).

Some undocumented high school students in California received guidance from

educational professionals including college counselors, teachers, and college personnel

(Gonzales, 2008a; Perez, 2012). Unfortunately, undocumented students continue to report

that they do not always receive accurate information from these educators. High school

counselors and teachers failed to help them or did not know how to answer their

questions (Chavez et al., 2007; Gonzales, 2012; Oliverez, 2006, 2007). College

admissions and administrative staff members also provided students with inaccurate

information (Gonzales, 2012; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Oliverez, 2006) or did not share

information about AB 540 with students who qualified (Gonzales, 2011; Perez Huber &

Malagon, 2007). Why educators do not disseminate information about AB 540 to

students with college aspirations is unclear. Researchers have concluded that lack of

knowledge about the laws and policies regarding undocumented students’ higher

education opportunities (Chavez et al., 2007; Perez & Cortes, 2011), large counselor

caseloads (Corwin, Venegas, Oliverez, & Colyar, 2004; Gonzales, 2008a;

Martinez-Calderon, 2010), and some counselors’ low educational expectations for

undocumented students (Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012; Martinez-Calderon, 2010) have

contributed to this problem. Evidence from student interviews support these findings;

however, counselors themselves have not been asked about the ways in which they guide

prospective undocumented college students. The research about reasons counselors fail to

consistently inform students about AB 540 is incomplete; however, student participants

from the multiple studies mentioned above did not always receive adequate information

from educational officials placed in helping roles.

High-achieving undocumented students tend to receive better information and

support during their college application period from high school counselors and teachers

(Gonzales, 2012; Perez & Cortes, 2011). Gonzales (2012) reported that high school

counselors and teachers made phone calls to colleges and universities on behalf of

students, collected money to help students pay for college expenses, and helped students

research scholarships that did not require Social Security numbers. Gonzales attributed

this support to students from the development of trusting relationships with these

counselors and teachers from being enrolled in college preparatory courses or special

academic programs. These courses tend to have smaller class sizes allowing counselors

and teachers to interact more with the exemplary students identified as college bound.

Gonzales concluded that teachers and counselors were willing to spend more time

assisting students who they perceived as being able to succeed academically in college.

Some high school teachers as well as college faculty and staff also assist

high-achieving undocumented students once they become college students. Perez and

Cortes (2011) surveyed 37 undocumented community college students and interviewed

27. The students surveyed reported an average high school GPA of 3.14 and college GPA

of 3.13. They also completed an average of 2.14 advanced placement and honors courses

in high school (p. 63). Although the achievement among their participants varied, the

high-achieving students interviewed stated that during community college they were

motivated to complete their degrees from inspiring faculty and staff as well as high

school teachers who encouraged them to pursue higher education prior to beginning

college. Some high school teachers continued to mentor students while they were in

college (Perez & Cortes, 2011, pp. 65–67). In sum, educators at the high school and

college level can influence undocumented students to pursue higher education and

complete their educational goals.

Educators can also be gatekeepers and discourage undocumented students from

continuing their education past high school. Martinez-Calderon (2010) found that the

high-achieving undocumented students in her study were encouraged and assisted by

their counselors to seek higher education until they notified the counselor of their

residency status. Several students reported that the counselors decreased their contact

with students upon hearing this information. The students claimed that they had to

repeatedly initiate contact with counselors that had previously offered unsolicited

college-going information. Counselors suggested that two undocumented students

continue their studies in Mexico under the guise of offering helpful advice

(Martinez-Calderon, 2010). The inconsistent reports from high-achieving undocumented

students about receiving assistance and support from educators is problematic. In sum,

high-achieving undocumented students cannot always rely on counselors and teachers.

Counselors are also less likely to assist undocumented students desiring a college

education who are not identified as high achieving. This is why some undocumented

students seek out information from family, friends, and community organizations.

Undocumented students also find out about applying for college from family

members. High school students with older siblings enrolled as AB 540 students can help

students navigate the application process and guide them to trusted counselors and

teachers (Gonzales, 2010). However, AB 540 students who were the first in their family

to apply for college also relied on family members as their main source of information to

assist them with college going (Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2008a; Oliverez, 2006).

Although many undocumented students have expressed emotional and financial support

from family members, family members do not always know the latest information about

college access laws for undocumented students (Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Perez, Cortes,

Ramos, & Coronado, 2010). Family members sometimes provide inaccurate information

to these students about their rights to enroll in public institutions via AB 540 and pay

in-state tuition rates (Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2008a; Oliverez, 2006). Family members

sometimes have out of date information from before AB 540 was enacted causing them to

give erroneous guidance (Gonzales, 2008b). Laws and policies about undocumented

students in higher education in California have changed drastically since the late 1990s

from undocumented students being required to pay international tuition rates in 1992

(Bradford v Regents of the University of California, 1991) to becoming eligible for

tuition equity in 2002 (Public Postsecondary Education: Exemption from Nonresident

Tuition, 2001). New laws recently passed in 2011 enabled undocumented students in

California to apply for institutional scholarships (Student Financial Aid: Eligibility:

California Dream Act of 2011, 2011) and state financial aid (Student Financial Aid,

2011) beginning in 2012. Family members might not always be privy to these

opportunities.

Incorrect or incomplete advice can have dramatic effects on students. Students

can remain confused about whether or not they qualify for AB 540 or if information they

receive about AB 540 is believable. Students have declined admission to universities out

of fear that they would be unable to enroll (Abrego, 2006, pp. 219–220). Others have

elected to enter the workforce and forgo their college aspirations (Gleeson & Gonzales,

2012; Gonzales, 2008a, 2011; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012). Upon hearing about AB 540

from sources outside their school, students can become discouraged from requesting

more information from their counselors who may give them information inconsistent

from advice obtained from family and friends.

Some undocumented students ask counselors or teachers for guidance regarding

AB 540 late in their high school career because they are not always aware that they are

undocumented. For many students in this situation, their family members do not inform

them of their status until they ask (Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Perez Huber & Malagon,

2007; Perez, 2009). Students will ask their parents for assistance in completing college

paperwork or for a Social Security number. At this time, their parents have to notify them

that they are not citizens or legal residents. Undocumented students who do not find out

about their status until their junior or senior year of high school have to come to terms

with the shock of their new identity and the sudden knowledge that they will be denied

privileges like their peers of working, driving, and entering into contracts to rent

apartments or obtain car loans (Gonzales, 2008a). Some students who found out about

their status as they were filling out college applications opted to enter the workforce even

though they were college ready (Gonzales & Chavez, 2012). Due to their lack of

awareness about their status, students determined to go to college have less time to plan

including learning about AB 540, college application procedures, and researching

scholarships.

Some undocumented college students who are eligible for AB 540 remain

uninformed of the law even after matriculating to a public college or university so they

begin paying out-of-state tuition (Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Perez Huber & Malagon,

2007). In part, this problem exists because some college officials are unaware of policies

regarding undocumented college students (Gildersleeve, Rumann, & Mondragon, 2010;

Hernandez et al., 2010; Perez & Cortes, 2011). Gildersleeve and Ranero (2010) put the

onus of incorporating undocumented students into college and university life on student

affairs professionals. They implored admissions and outreach staff to understand laws

that affect undocumented students regarding admissions and funding. They presented the

role of student affairs as one of advocacy and support for all students. In their

observations, student affairs practitioners need to take into account the lived experiences

of undocumented students. By doing so, they would be able to improve their program

offerings to be more inclusive of undocumented students. Although the focus of

Gildersleeve and Ranero’s article (2010) is on student affairs professionals, this same

logic should apply to faculty members and other administrators. Ideally, undocumented

students should feel comfortable approaching any faculty or staff member with a question

about AB 540 and feel confident they will be directed to an office or individual that can

provide them with assistance. Of primary importance to undocumented students is how to

fund their education.

The largest barrier that undocumented college students face is funding their

college education (Chavez et al., 2007; Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Martinez-Calderon,

2010; Oliverez, 2007; Perez, 2012). Paying for college is difficult for students from

low-income and working-class families (Oliverez & Tierney, 2005). Undocumented

college students are not eligible for federal financial aid. Additionally, as undocumented

Latino students move from childhood to adulthood, most are expected or feel obligated to

take on adult roles within their families including contributing to the family income and

assisting with the well-being of the home and family (Gonzales, 2008a; Perez, 2009). For

Latino AB 540 students, financing a college education is complicated by coming from

low-income families who can offer meager assistance, having a restricted number of

scholarships that do not require FAFSA documents, working without a Social Security

card, and having limited time to engage in creative funding.

For undocumented students, paying for college is complex. Student access to

finances is tightly coupled to the financial situations of their families. The majority of

undocumented Latino students come from low-income families (Fortuny, Capps, Simms,

& Chaudry, 2009; Pastor & Marcelli, 2013). Most families are unable to assist Latino AB

540 students much in paying their tuition and other educational expenses (Chavez et al.,

2007; Gonzales, 2008a). Many undocumented young adults in college assist their

families with rent and purchase family food and needs in addition to funding most of

their own educational expenses (Gonzales, 2008a, 2010; Perez, 2009; Perez & Cortes,

2011; Perez Huber, 2009). In some studies, well-intentioned family members told

students who they wanted to help pay college expenses when they applied to college but

were unable to assist once the students began their coursework (Oliverez, 2006; Perez,

2009; Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007). Other students were hesitant to accept money

from family members because they were aware of their limited finances (Oliverez, 2006;

Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007). Some undocumented immigrant students express guilt

about prioritizing school expenses over family needs (Gonzales, 2008a, 2010; Perez,

2009; Perez & Cortes, 2011). Deciding to go to college can be emotionally taxing for

undocumented Latino students. Many parents have stated that the reason they came to the

United States was to improve the educational opportunities for their children

(Suarez-Orozco et al., 2008). As children become young adults and aware of the financial

strain that paying for a college education will place on their families, their decision to go

to college to reach their educational capacity is intertwined with the state of their

families’ financial affairs.

Poverty also plays an important role in college choice (Abrego & Gonzales, 2010;

Chavez et al., 2007; Gonzales, 2009b; Perez, 2012). The financial situations of families

can greatly affect the choice of even beginning a college education for students who are

college ready (Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012; Gonzales, 2011; Oliverez, 2006). Paying for

college is difficult for students from low-income and working-class families (Oliverez &

Tierney, 2005). For undocumented students with few opportunities for family assistance

and no federal financial aid, paying for a university education is often beyond their means

when they graduate from high school (Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012; Gonzales, 2011).

Many undocumented students elect to attend a community college that costs much less

than a public university even if they are accepted to a university following high school

(Garcia, 2011; Oliverez, 2006; Perez, 2012). Family income is of great concern to most

undocumented Latino students, but accountability to the family extends beyond finances.

Although not all undocumented immigrant students have significant

responsibilities to their family’s financial well-being, family relationships and obligations

usually play a significant role of the lives of most undocumented Latino college students.

Expanded family duties for undocumented college students include caring for younger

siblings (Gonzales, 2008a; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Perez, 2012; Perez & Cortes, 2011;

Sy, 2006) and language brokering (translating for family members in acquiring legal,

medical, educational, and other needed resources; Sy, 2006). Some students accept their

role as contributing providers upon high school graduation (Gonzales, 2008a). Other

students express resentment when expected to take on more family obligations as young

adults (Perez, 2012; Perez et al., 2010). Overall, family duties are strenuous and time

consuming, which can limit students’ availability to search for scholarships, work, and

earn money through creative means.

Scholarships for which undocumented students are eligible are difficult to find

(Oliverez, 2007). Undocumented students can only apply for privately funded

scholarships that do not require FAFSA completion (Oliverez, 2007; Perez, 2012; Perez

& Cortes, 2011). For this reason, only a limited number of scholarship applications are

open to undocumented students. According to Oliverez (2007), many organizations

provide scholarship lists for undocumented students; however, these lists quickly become

out of date, so students must sift through each list to determine which scholarships are

still available (p. 94). The process of finding scholarships takes time, then students must

go through the arduous activity of completing applications, writing essays, and requesting

letters of recommendation (Oliverez, 2007, p. 94). The majority of these scholarships are

also available to all college students, increasing the competition for scholarships among

undocumented students and documented students alike (Chavez et al., 2007; Oliverez,

2007). Little has been written about the lengthy process undocumented students engage

in when securing funding for scholarships. Scholars agree that it is difficult for most

undocumented students to pay for their all college expenses using scholarships (Garcia &

Tierney, 2011; Oliverez, 2007). Overall, undocumented students cannot rely on

scholarships as a main source of funding their education. They must also work or earn

money through entrepreneurial efforts.

Working without a Social Security card usually means being employed in the

service industry or in manual labor for little money. The majority of undocumented

Latino students work long hours in low-paying jobs to pay for their college courses

(Chavez et al., 2007; Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Oliverez, 2007;

Perez, 2012). Most of these jobs are paid in cash or do not require background checks.

Also, because they are unable to work legally, they are foreclosed from applying for work

study (Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Oliverez, 2007) or to be employed on campus as research

or student assistants (Gonzales, 2010). Work study and campus jobs open up

opportunities for students such as connecting to a faculty member that could write a letter

of recommendation or gaining work experience in their field of study. Undocumented

students are excluded from these important connections that are available to other

students.

Undocumented students also work as consultants or tutors (Gonzales & Chavez,

2012; Hernandez et al., 2010; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Vargas, 2012). Students find

other creative ways to fund their education including fundraising by having car washes,

food sales, or selling handicrafts (Chavez et al., 2007; Perez Huber, 2009; Perez Huber &

Malagon, 2007). Other students have reported that they have been fortunate to obtain

sponsors (Garcia, 2011; Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Gonzales, 2012; Martinez-Calderon,

2010; Oliverez, 2007). Sponsors can include former teachers (Garcia & Tierney, 2011),

family friends (Garcia, 2011; Gonzales, 2012; Martinez-Calderon, 2010) and mentors

(Gonzales, 2008a). Oliverez (2007) observed students using a portfolio of their

transcripts, resumes, letters of recommendations, and a personal statement to solicit

sponsorships from their personal contacts as well as local businesses (p. 94). Paying for

books, supplies, food, transportation, tuition, and other expenses can be time intensive by

applying for scholarships and securing sponsors. These tasks can be overwhelming in

searching for funds that are elusive and difficult to obtain.

At times, undocumented students stop taking classes for a term, a year, or longer

to save enough money to pay for courses (Gonzales, 2011; Perez Huber & Malagon,

2007; Perez & Cortes, 2011). Students often do not know how they are going to pay for

each term (Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007). The stress associated with not knowing if the

next round of courses will be paid for can be emotionally taxing (Gonzales, 2008a; Perez

& Cortes, 2011). Some undocumented students drop out of college because they feel that

college expenses are too high (Gonzales, 2008a, 2011). Gonzales (2008a) also observed

students moving out of their family homes due to the humiliation of not being able to

assist their families financially or becoming physically ill due to their stress about

finances.

Finding funding is difficult for all low-income students. Undocumented students

have few choices about how they can earn money and secure funding. They cannot apply

for financial aid, obtain loans, or work legally. In order to be able to complete their

educational goals, undocumented students must rely on financial and emotional support

from others.

Challenges for Latino AB 540 Students Associated With Residency Status

The legal restrictions associated with being undocumented are magnified once

students advance from high school to college (Gonzales, 2008a; Gonzales, Antonio

Garcia, & Castrejon, 2013). Their residency status is questioned more frequently

(Gonzales, 2009b, 2011),and they face the possibility of being deported to a country of

which they might have little or no memory (Perez, 2012). They also begin to encounter

myriad legal restrictions that were not as prevalent in their lives as children (Gonzales,

2008a, 2009a; Gonzales et al., 2013). Anti-immigrant hostility and discrimination also

adds to their concerns (Gonzales, 2009b, 2012; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012). Students have

reported stress from dealing with issues related to their residency status to illnesses such

as ulcers, fatigue, headaches, (Gonzales, 2008a, p. 196; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012) and

depression (Gonzales & Chavez, 2012; Perez & Cortes, 2011). Each of these challenges

is discussed as reported in the literature in this section.

The fear of deportation has been reported among undocumented students as a

concern in several studies (Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Gonzales, 2008a; Gonzales et al.,

2013; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Perez, 2012; Perez & Cortes, 2011). When an

undocumented high school student transitions out of high school to go to college or to

work, many of these young people are confronted for the first time with the possibilities

of having to prove their residency and face deportation (Gleeson & Gonzales, 2010;

Gonzales, 2008a). After leaving the cocoon of high school, undocumented students felt

like they were “living a nightmare” and expressed feelings of “hopelessness” (Gonzales,

2008a, pp. 190–196; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012) as well as shame, fear, and anxiety

(Gonzales et al., 2013; Perez & Cortes, 2011, pp. 50–52).

Fear of deportation is supported by reality. Undocumented students reside in the

United States without authorization. The number of deportations decreased from 584,436

in 2009 to 323,542 in 2011 (Simanski & Sapp, 2012). For Latino students, the reality of

deportation remains significant. Latinos overall make up the largest group of deportees.

Mexican nationals have been deported more frequently than individuals from any other

country (Simanski & Sapp, 2012). College students without violent criminal records are

to be given “prosecutorial discretion,” or receive low priority for deportation, due to

arriving in the United States as a child according to the “Morton memo” issued by the

director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Morton, 2011). The residency status

of a student is also part of the student’s record and cannot be revealed by educational

officials according to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (1974). These

factors do not mean that college students are not deported or detained by immigration

officials; it is just less likely that they will be deported if they do not commit a felony.

The fear associated with deportation among college students, however, is not diminished

due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies (Gonzales et al., 2013). This fear

can lead to isolation, causing students to keep their residency status a secret, which, in

turn, can limit the possibilities of receiving support from educational professionals

(Gonzales et al., 2013).

Table 1.

Aliens Returned by Country of Nationality: Fiscal Years 2009 to 2011

Nationality

2011 2010 2009

No. % No. % No. %

Total 323,542 100.0% 475,613 100.0% 584,436 100.0%

Mexican 205,811 63.6% 354,507 74.5% 469,610 80.4%

Other 117,731 36.4% 121,106 25.5% 114,826 19.6%

Note. Adapted from Annual Report: Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2011, by J. Simanski & L. M. Sapp, 2012, retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/ publications/immigration-statistics/enforcement_ar_2011.pdf

Undocumented students also fear for the deportation of loved ones. They deal

with the reality and fear of parents and family members being deported (Chaudry et al.,

2010; Gonzales, 2008a; Perez et al., 2010; Perez & Cortes, 2011). To add to their stress,

undocumented students are often separated from relatives who reside in their countries of

origin without any possibilities of visiting them in person (Suarez-Orozco et al., 2008).

Overall, in the studies cited above, the stress associated with deportation and separation

from family members can weigh heavily on undocumented college students.

Additional burdens of undocumented young adults in California include the

inability to get drivers’ licenses, travel via planes or trains, or enter into any legal

contracts (Gonzales, 2008a) including those for rental properties, credit cards, and loans.

Traveling around their local area and throughout the state can be very difficult for

undocumented students. If undocumented college students want to drive in California,

they cannot obtain drivers’ licenses or purchase car insurance. If students choose not to

drive, they have to rely on friends or family members with licenses (Gonzales, 2010;

Perez, 2009). Many undocumented students use public buses as their primary means of

transportation (Garcia & Tierney, 2011; Gonzales, 2010; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012;

Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007). These restrictions influence course choices and limit

involvement in student organizations (Abrego, 2008; Perez, 2012; Perez Huber, Malagon,

& Solorzano, 2009). Using public transportation can mean long commutes to campus for

students, which restricts students’ time on campus to bus and train schedules.

The difficulties with transportation also affect students’ choices about where to

apply for college (Oliverez, 2006; Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007). Traveling between

states or out of the country is also complicated. Opportunities to travel to academic

conferences are restricted to local venues (Gonzales, 2010), which limits academic and

professional development. Driving without a license and riding public transportation also

increases the risk of coming into contact with police and immigration agents, which

might lead to being deported (Contreras, 2009; Gonzales, 2011; Gonzales & Chavez,

2012; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Perez & Cortes, 2011). For these reasons, fear of

deportation for themselves is heighted for undocumented college students who must

commute to college as well as move through their communities to work and go about

their daily lives.

Unfortunately, anti-immigrant hostility and discrimination toward Latinos adds to

the difficulties experienced by undocumented students on campus. The stress associated

with these negative sentiments can push some undocumented students to remain in the

shadows (Gonzales, 2007, 2008a; Gonzales et al., 2013). Hostility is manifested along a

continuum. Blatant anti-immigrant hostility is easily identified. Students also experience

microaggressions, which are persistent, often daily feelings of exclusion that leave

minority students with a sense of isolation (Yosso, Smith, Ceja, & Solorzano, 2009). The

discriminatory acts of others including flagrant actions and microaggressions toward

Latinos can provoke anxiety, anger, and fear among undocumented Latino college

students resulting in an uncomfortable campus climate and limiting their choice of

interacting with others in the campus community.

Anti-immigrant hostility toward Latinos is well documented (Massey & Sanchez,

2010; Velez, Perez Huber, Lopez, de la Luz, & Solorzano, 2008). Socially, immigrants

have been stereotyped as a threat to American nationals (Massey & Sanchez, 2010).

Politically, laws and policies and militarization of the U.S.–Mexican border “have been

implemented to promote systematic discrimination” of undocumented immigrants and

legal permanent residents (Massey & Sanchez, 2010, p. 58). Hostility has led to violence

toward Latinos and the organization of vigilante groups to search for undocumented

immigrants crossing the border from Mexico.

Hatred projected toward Latinos is real. Attacks include negative media portrayals

(Velez et al., 2008) as well as brazen actions by individuals and groups. Hate crimes

against Latinos, have been labeled by youth perpetrators as “beaner hopping” (Massey &

Sanchez, 2010, p. 71), with the number of reported victims to the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI) increasing by 30% against Latino immigrants and nonimmigrants

between 2002 and 2007 (Massey & Sanchez, 2010, p. 71). According to the most recent

FBI (2012) data, 891 incidents based on ethnicity or national origin were reported, with

58.8% deemed “anti-Hispanic” and the rest (41.2%) categorized as “other

ethnicity/national origin bias.” The plethora of hate crimes against Latinos merited its

own category by the FBI, whereas all other hate crimes against ethnicity or national

origin were aggregated as “other.” It is also important to note, these figures are

underreported by undocumented immigrants that may have been victimized during this

time frame and due to victims’ fear of deportation.

Hostility toward Latino immigrants fuels the creation of organizations called

“nativist extremist” groups that “go beyond advocating for immigration reduction and

confront or physically harass suspected unauthorized immigrants” (Potok, 2013).

Members of one of these groups with headquarters in southern California, the Minuteman

Civil Defense Corps, voluntary patrols the US-Mexican border with rifles in pursuit of

undocumented immigrants as they cross the border for the purpose of turning them in to

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents (Gilchrist, 2012;

Molina, 2011). “[Minutemen] volunteers often tied undocumented immigration, which

they defined as a crime, to other forms of lawlessness such as drug and people

smuggling, identity theft and document fraud, and gangs” (Molina, 2011, p. 104).

Extreme hatred directed at undocumented Latino immigrants perpetuates negative

stereotypes and engenders fear among undocumented immigrants.

In the midst of negative sentiments expressed by extremists in the media and

individuals, AB 540 students depend on United States citizens to support them in their

efforts to continue to live, study, and work in this country. AB 540 students face

uncertainty because they need citizens to change federal laws to enable them to secure

permanent residency or citizenship in a country they have lived in for the majority of

their lives. Unfortunately, AB 540 students must also face the prospect of not being able

to work in their field of study after they have completed their degrees (Abrego &

Gonzales, 2010; Gonzales, 2011; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012; Martinez-Calderon, 2010;

Perez, 2009). Many undocumented students have expressed their desire to obtain a

college education in case their residency status changes or federal immigration laws are

enacted that would enable them to apply for jobs requiring a college degree (Gonzales,

2009b; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012; Perez, 2009). Under current laws, if they choose not to

pursue a degree or cannot afford to continue their education, they are forced to enter the

undocumented “underground” labor market (Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012). Many of the

jobs available to individuals without Social Security numbers involve arduous manual

labor or strenuous work in the service sector (Fortuny, Capps, & Passel, 2007; Pastor &

Marcelli, 2013). Undocumented immigrants with college degrees increase their chances

of upward mobility if immigration policies are reformed. Change in residency status is

difficult, but is a possibility. Kaushal (2008) examined Citizenship and Immigration

Services (CIS) data for 1990–1999 and found that during this time period, 1.37 million

undocumented persons adjusted their status to legal residents (pp. 774–775). CIS no

longer reports these data (Kaushal, 2008), so it is unclear how many undocumented

immigrants were able to become United States citizens or legal residents. Debates about

issues related to immigration are raised daily in all branches of the government. Whereas

the prospects for undocumented immigrants to change their status is in hands of

government officials and voters, undocumented college students and recent graduates

must wait to find out if they will be able to utilize their academic credentials once they

complete their academic goals.

Sources of Support for Latino AB 540 Students

Undocumented students persist in college with a support system consisting of

families, friends, social and political organizations, mentors, and educators. Most of these

individuals and groups provide emotional support (Gonzales et al., 2013; Perez & Cortes,

2011; Perez Huber, 2009). They also bolster students to succeed by delivering resources

and knowledge (Gonzales, 2010, 2012). Families and friends offer encouragement,

personal guidance, and financial assistance when possible (Martinez-Calderon, 2010;

Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007). Social and political organizations provide undocumented

students information on current laws, an outlet for expressing beliefs, and experience in

grassroots organizing (Abrego, 2008; Gonzales, 2008b; Perez, 2012; Terriquez, Rogers,

Vargas-Johnson, & Patler, 2013). Mentors bestow wisdom about life experiences and

insight on career aspirations (Gonzales, 2012). Educators supply knowledge about

college going and information about educational policies and practices (Gonzales, 2012).

The resources provided often overlap giving them options on where to seek assistance.

Some students have stronger support networks than others. Without a viable support

system, students can experience isolation and despair, which can lead to dropping out and

entering the undocumented workforce (Gonzales, 2008a). Most undocumented workers

have low-paying and often labor-intensive jobs (Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012; Gonzales &

Chavez, 2012). Going to college does not preclude students from working while

undocumented during college; however, it can improve their opportunities for less

strenuous work and their career chances if their residency status changes or legal

restrictions are lifted.

Families are important to student success. Immigrant parents often cite their

primary reason for coming to the United States with their children was to improve their

children’s’ lives (Massey & Sanchez, 2010; Perez, 2012; Suarez-Orozco et al., 2008).

Parents provide students with much needed love and support (Martinez-Calderon, 2010;

Perez & Rodriguez, 2011; Perez et al., 2010; Perez Huber, 2009; Sy, 2006).

Undocumented siblings or family members with college experience can also assist their

younger relatives by connecting them to resources (Gonzales, 2010). Hurtado, Carter, &

Spuler (1996) found that Latino students found their families instrumental in supporting

them emotionally through their first year. Maintaining family support was linked to

positive emotional adjustment (Hurtado et al., 1996, p. 147). Although many families

cannot support their college students financially, families often provide much needed

emotional support.

Family configurations can be complicated and complex. Many undocumented

immigrants leave their country of origin knowing that reunification with family members

and loved ones in their countries of origin is difficult or impossible. Families sometimes

immigrate in stages with the father or mother preceding the rest of the family to find

work and a place to live (Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Suarez-Orozco et al., 2008). During

the time the initial immigrant adjusts, he or she develops a social support network in

order to survive. Once families come together in the United States, the outcome can be

very positive and the family becomes a united body once again (Suarez-Orozco et al.,

2008). However, separation can lead to strained relationships between couples and/or

children causing a disruption in the family unit (Gonzales, 2008a; Oliverez, 2006). A

parent can also get deported (Chaudry et al., 2010). A single parent, often a mother, finds

herself as the sole provider (Chaudry et al., 2010). She will develop a network from her

community in order to work and raise her children. Connections with others through this

process serve the purpose of obtaining resources including social connections and

employment.

Families teach their children important social networking skills that they have

utilized to survive. Many Latino immigrant families develop strong bonds with each

other for emotional support and to share resources including child care and knowledge

about community opportunities, job prospects, and legal information (Perez Huber,

2010). Children learn how to network by observing their parents, which becomes a skill

that can help them throughout their lives (Perez Huber, 2009; Stanton-Salazar, 2001).

Undocumented Latino immigrant families often network with extended families,

neighbors, and co-workers (Perez Huber, 2009; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Mexican families

call these extended family members compadres; literally translated, this means

“co-parents” and is an intentional networking method used to strengthen the family

(Stanton-Salazar, 2001). Developing social support networks among educators allows

students to use similar skills, but as young adults, understanding which individuals with

whom they should connect and to what degree they should persist in pursing those

relationships can be difficult to negotiate. When educators reach out to students and

encourage bonding, undocumented students can benefit from these relationships.

Some undocumented students are successful at creating helpful support networks

in college because their families have modeled this process to them (Perez Huber, 2009).

Gonzales (2008a) found that undocumented Latino students who had experienced

building supportive relationships with educators or mentors prior to going to college were

able to establish helpful relationships more easily once they started college. The

challenge reported by Latino students is the persistent feelings of isolation and alienation

as a result of institutional racism (Yosso et al., 2009). Institutional racism can hamper a

student’s ability to connect to others on campus (Martinez-Calderon, 2010). A coping

method of finding a sense of family, home, or camaraderie is for students to find a

counterspace that provides them a setting in which they can interact with students like

themselves (Carter, 2007; Harper, 2006; Yosso et al., 2009). One type of counter-space

for undocumented students in California is AB 540 student organizations. Many students

are able to find emotional support and expand their resources from peers,

community-based organizations and AB 540 campus student clubs.

Latino students develop a sense of belonging among college friends to find a

“sense of home” in order to overcome adversity and isolation. Peer relationships have

often been acknowledged as a source for Latino AB 540 students to find a sense of

belonging on a college campus (Contreras, 2009; Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado,

Clayton-Pedersen, Allen, & Milem, 1998). Specifically, students develop friendships

(Attinasi, 1996; Martinez Aleman, 1997) and learn important academic information

(Attinasi, 1996). Undocumented students also engage in student activism as part of

organized groups, which helps them to connect with peers with shared political views.

AB 540 clubs and community organizations often provide an outlet for student

activism. Student activism gives students a sense of purpose and allows them to share

their beliefs and experiences with the campus community and the general public (Chavez

et al., 2007; Gonzales, 2008a; Oliverez, 2006; Perez Huber, 2009; Terriquez et al., 2013).

Student activism is very empowering for undocumented students and also serves as a

method for overcoming adversity to combat hostility and microagresssions (Abrego &

Gonzales, 2010; Galindo, 2011; Gonzales, 2008b; Terriquez et al., 2013; Velez et al.,

2008). Yosso et al. (2009) stated,

Though certainly injured by racial microaggressions, Latinas/os do not consider

themselves helpless victims. They respond to the rejection they face from a

negative campus racial climate by building communities that represent and reflect

the cultural values of their home community. (p. 680)

Velez et al. (2008) distinguished two forms of activism—indirect and direct.

Direct activism “consists of overt political acts of protest that often involve the physical

body as a vehicle for protest, including walkouts. sit-ins, or wearing clothing with

political slogans that represent the movement” (Velez et al., 2008, p. 16).

In the case of youth, indirect activism often means acting in a way deemed

appropriate by school authorities. Indirect activism does not equate to a lack of

protest. On the contrary, youth who employed indirect activism . . . [participated]

in activities such as writing biographies of their lives and those of their families

and friends who are immigrants, or by mentoring and informing peers about the

immigration debate and the problems it would create for Latina/o communities.

(Velez et al., 2008, p. 16)

AB 540 students engage in direct and indirect activism. Direct activism is

evidenced by some students who have been vocal in “coming out” in the media

individually and collectively during protests (Galindo, 2011; Terriquez et al., 2013;

Vargas, 2012), on the Internet (DreamActivist.org, 2012; United We Dream, 2012), as

well as to friends, college officials, and community members (Gonzales, 2008b;

Terriquez et al., 2013; Velez et al., 2008). Students from AB 540 clubs have advocated

for themselves and other undocumented students during testimonies in front of state and

federal legislative groups (Gonzales, 2008b; Gonzales & Chavez, 2012; Perez Huber,

2009; Seif, 2004). Student activism about the rights of undocumented students and

immigrants’ rights has assisted other students and the public at large to become more

aware of issues affecting immigrants as well as the benefits immigrants provide to the

United States.

Immigration reform is an important topic among government officials. However,

the details of how students can utilize the opportunities afforded by tuition equity laws

are not often included in public forums. Undocumented students are confused about

tuition equity laws or completely oblivious. For this reason, in California AB 540 student

organizations engage in indirect activism by educating other students (Gonzales, 2010)

and conducting outreach to high school students (Chavez et al., 2007). In AB 540 clubs,

students build friendships with other undocumented students as well as find out about

scholarships, fundraising, legal issues, and volunteer experiences (Gonzales, 2008a;

Oliverez, 2007; Perez, 2012; Perez Huber, 2009). Community organizations dedicated to

immigrants’ rights work with campus clubs and can serve as supportive counter-spaces

for undocumented students if a club does not exist on their campus (Gonzales, 2008a;

Terriquez et al., 2013). They also help students to connect with other local students at

neighboring high schools and colleges as well as community supporters (Gonzales,

2008a; Terriquez et al., 2013). Being involved in campus and community-based

organizations also encourages undocumented youth to seek higher education. In a study

of 2200 undocumented youth over the age of 18, Terriquez and Patler (2012) found that

out of the 410 participants identified as leaders in immigrant rights organizations, 95%

had enrolled in some form of postsecondary education compared to 79% of the total

population studied (p. 2). When AB 540 was passed without guidelines on how to

implement the law, student organizations and community groups took on the

responsibility of educating members and college officials about the intricacies of the law

as well as ways in which AB 540 students might seek funding for their education

(Chavez et al., 2007; Gonzales, 2008a). Outreach conducted by campus and

community-based organizations help younger students learn about AB 540 as well as

give them a resource to rely on when they complete the transition to college.

Individuals can also engage in indirect activism as part of a student organization

or on their own. An example of an AB 540 student involved indirect activism is when the

student identifies themselves as AB 540 student and shares their story. After AB 540′s

passage in 2001, students have been empowered by constructing an AB 540 identity

(Abrego, 2008; Abrego & Gonzales, 2010). Abrego (2008) found that undocumented

students in California use the label “AB 540 student” to legitimize their status as students

and helped remove the stigma associated with being “illegal” in the eyes of the law. By

calling themselves “AB 540 students,” they emphasize their legal right to be students at

California institutions of higher education (Abrego & Gonzales, 2010). Similarly, at a

national level, many undocumented students have identified with the label of

“DREAMer” to show that they would benefit directly from the passage of the federal

DREAM Act. Students engage in campus and community organizations that support

undocumented students and undocumented immigrants at large. As Gonzales,

Suarez-Orozco, and Dedios-Sanguineti (2013) observed, “For many college-going

respondents, this civic work often turned into a virtuous circle where, by helping others,

they found a sense of purpose and a role that served to augment their own well-being” (p.

1190). The external support from participating in organizations for immigrants on and

off-campus helps college students to continue to pursue higher education despite difficult

barriers and negative forces.

Social peer networks, such as AB 540 student organizations, assist undocumented

students in finding out about college admissions, other college information (i.e. AB 540,

scholarships, college requirements, etc.) and financial support (Gonzales, 2008a;

Oliverez, 2007; Perez, 2012; Perez Huber, 2009). Immigrant students studied reported

that they did not have an adult to guide them or they relied regularly on one or two

helpful adults including mentors from the community, teachers, or counselors (Oliverez,

2006; Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Stanton-Salazar & Dornbusch, 1995; Suarez-Orozco et al.,

2008). Undocumented students need to engage with educators in order to accomplish

their goals. High school and college officials need to provide documentation such as

transcripts for students to apply for AB 540 status. Letters of recommendation by school

and college officials are needed for college scholarships. Most importantly, access to

faculty and staff members who support AB 540 students assists college students in

transitioning to college, transferring if they are enrolled in community colleges, and

completing their college degrees.

Support from adults outside the family circle has been observed as limited.

Immigrant children interviewed in several empirical studies only had one or two

educators that they acknowledged as a mentor (Oliverez, 2006; Stanton-Salazar, 2001,

2008). Although many students included in these studies were first-generation college

attendees, 40% of students relied on family members as their primary resource for

college-going information (Suarez-Orozco et al., 2008, p. 86). Others in Suarez-Orozco et

al.’s (2008) study utilized school officials or staff members from after-school programs

(28%; p. 86). Unfortunately, as Oliverez (2006) commented, advice from school mentors

was usually requested in times of desperation such as right before a scholarship or

application deadline (p. 229). However, 20% of students in Suarez-Orozco et al.’s (2008)

study reported that they had no resources that provided college-going information (pp.

86–87). As discussed earlier, some family members might not understand the details of

tuition equity laws, like AB 540, and might provide inaccurate information to students

(Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2008a). For this reason, having a nonkin adult, especially an

educator, who can give detailed guidance about application procedures, scholarships, and

resources to potential undocumented college students is imperative for undocumented

students to complete the transition from high school to college.

Discussion of Undocumented Latino Students’ Access to Higher Education in

California

In sum, once a student enters a community college and is able to obtain AB 540

status, he or she continues to face difficulties. Obstacles such as understanding college

policies and procedures and learning about the transfer process are some of the issues

with which they must deal similar to other low-income first-generation Latino students

(Bensimon & Dowd, 2009; Bensimon et al., 2007; Dowd et al., 2013; Mmeje, 2012).

However, unlike their documented counterparts, AB 540 students continue to struggle

with issues including legal limitations, obtaining funds for their education and other

expenses, and anxiety about deportation. When college officials are not informed about

AB 540 and other laws that pertain to undocumented students or the daily challenges that

some undocumented students face, they cannot fully assist undocumented students who

might come to them for guidance. Finding adequate assistance from college officials can

be complicated for undocumented students. AB 540 students have to identify individuals

that are trustworthy and aware of resources on their campus, in the community, and at

universities where they might transfer. Undocumented students who are also from Latino

backgrounds face additional challenges when faculty and staff members fail to reach out

to students, connect to them personally, and integrate them into programs that prepare

them for transferring to a university (Bensimon et al., 2007; Pak et al., 2006).

Studies on first-generation Latino community college students found that students

could not identify a college official who they relied on for support or only had trusting

relationships with only one or two individuals (Bensimon & Dowd, 2009; Bensimon et

al., 2007; Dowd et al., 2013; Mmeje, 2012; Pak et al., 2006). Undocumented students

interviewed for several studies mentioned briefly that they had been mentored or assisted

by a college official (Gonzales, 2012; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Perez & Cortes, 2011).

College faculty and staff members have also noted that they have assisted undocumented

students (Perez & Cortes, 2011). However, the relationships between undocumented

students and college officials have not been the focus of any study to date. The details of

these relationships, especially the types of resources supplied by collegiate faculty and

staff members and verified by undocumented students is absent from the research.

Overall, educators need to be prepared to support undocumented Latino students

in intentional ways. The burden of seeking out assistance and evaluating if an educational

professional can be trusted with such personal information, like one’s residency status, is

not the sole responsibility of undocumented students. By openly showing support of

immigrant students, providing resources, and embedding students in social networks,

educators can assist undocumented students in fulfilling their educational goals. In the

next section, proactive educational officials who engage in these types of activities, called

institutional agents, are described in more detail.

Institutional Agents

An institutional agent utilizes his or her position, status, and authority within a

hierarchal educational system to funnel institutional support in the form of highly valued

resources, opportunities, privileges, and services toward underrepresented students of

color, working-class, first-generation college, and immigrant students for their

educational benefit and achievement (Stanton-Salazar, 2011). An institutional agent is a

nonfamily authority figure in a high-status position of power who guides students with

low social status by sharing his or her positional and personal resources (knowledge and

networks), developing programs, and influencing systematic change (Dowd et al., 2013).

Students are directly supported by an institutional agent in navigating complicated

academic requirements and application procedures; validating students’ educational

aspirations; and providing students with a sense of belonging (Dowd et al., 2013).

The most notable contribution to the literature in higher education from studies of

institutional agents is the understanding of the behaviors and actions of institutional

agents at the micro level in assisting underserved students successfully transition to

colleges and universities, become integrated into campus life, prepare for graduate school

and careers, and graduate with the tools to succeed beyond the undergraduate

experiences. These behaviors and actions by institutional agents in providing resources to

underserved students were categorized through qualitative data analyses, which led to the

development of Stanton-Salazar’s (2011, p. 1081) social network framework. This

section begins with an overview of the social network framework followed by examples

by institutional agents found in the literature that illustrate the microlevel roles identified

in the framework.

Social Network Framework

A growing body of empirical research on institutional agents using a social

network framework (Stanton-Salazar, 2011) has emerged that examines institutional

agents that work with high school and college students. It is during these developmental

years that adolescents move from dependence on family members to educational officials

in positions of power to provide resources and knowledge to promote students from high

school to college graduation. The critical time from applying to college to college

matriculation has been referred to as a “rite of passage” students experience as they move

from an identity as an adolescent to one as an adult (Gonzales, 2008a). Undocumented

students described this time “stressful” and living a “nightmare” instead of enjoyable like

their United States citizen peers they have studied with for many years. Adolescents

become more engaged with authority figures, groups, networks, within the “sociocultural

worlds of the family, community, peer group, the school and other predominant

institutions (e.g., police and judicial system; the labor sector)” (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p.

1069). United States born students get their driver’s licenses, their first job, and apply for

federal financial aid and college. Undocumented students cannot legally drive or work,

nor can they apply for federal financial aid. However, they can apply for college and

begin their collegiate careers. Institutional agents work with undocumented students daily

and have the potential of assisting them through this key time in their lives.

Stanton-Salazar (2011) identified four key roles in which institutional agents

engage: direct support, integrative support, system development, and system linkage and

networking support. An institutional agent “mobilizes” intuitional support to benefit

low-status students by using “his or her position, status and authority, or exercises key

forms of power, and/or uses his or her reputation, in a strategic and supportive fashion”

(Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1076). Each of these roles are described below with examples

from the educational literature to illustrate how each has manifested in educational

settings.

Institutional agents offers direct support when they provide personal and

positional resources. Personal resources are in the possession of individual institutional

agents and can be given freely without approval from a higher authority (Stanton-Salazar,

2011, p. 1079). Personal resources can include knowledge such as information about

scholarships. Positional resources are connected to an organization, network, institution,

or social system (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1100).

At community colleges, institutional agents can assist students in transferring to

baccalaureate-granting institutions by offering direct support through personal and

positional resources. Based on Stanton-Salazar’s understanding of institutional agents, a

definition for “transfer agents” was coined by Pak et al. (2006). Transfer agents are

teachers, counselors, or other authority figures that assist students in achieving their

transfer goals (Pak et al., 2006, p. 6). They provide direct support by providing

information about transfer procedures and offering guidance and motivation for students

to pursue bachelor’s degrees. Transfer agents, as described by the students in the study,

seemed to have an “internal drive” to assist students in transferring, validating students’

goals, and providing students with a sense of belonging (Pak et al., 2006, p. 7). Without

the direct resources provided by transfer agents, community college students might miss

important opportunities to increase their time toward transferring. For example,

community college students who had the intention of transferring to a university, did not

require much remedial coursework, and did not transfer, reported that they lacked access

to direct resources that could have been provided transfer agents. These resources

included time with counselors and transfer information. They accumulated too many

credits and took courses that were not transferable. The students stated that the location

of a transfer center was difficult to find so students missed opportunities to interact with

university admissions recruiters. All of these factors led to anxiety about transferring

(Bensimon et al., 2007, pp. 33–37). Transfer agents can counteract these issues by

utilizing positional resources. Transfer agents that are community college counselors, can

involve faculty members to create a transfer culture and present transfer information in

class. In the study by Bensimon et al. (2007, pp. 33–37), transfer agents directly

supported students and improved the conditions for students to successfully transfer by

improving the transfer website and visibility of the transfer center; improving electronic

communication between students, staff, and faculty members; and actively participating

in recruitment activities with students. Dowd et al. (2006) concluded that transfer agents

are necessary for students to successfully transfer in order for students to feel supported

at a relational level, understand complicated information such as policies and practices at

a structural level, from a culturally sensitive perspective.

In a study of the life histories of nontraditional students (Latino students on the

West Coast and nontraditional age students on the East Coast) who successfully

transferred to universities, Dowd et al. (2006) found that transfer programs provided

much needed direct support. On the West Coast a transfer program director was identified

as an institutional agent, as was an academic dean on the East Coast. The students

interviewed described these individuals as advocates that acted on their behalf and were

available when needed. They acted as resource agents by providing personal resources in

the form of money to assist a student with rent. They also served as knowledge agents by

assisting a student to find an academic advisor. They also aided a student as advisors by

supporting a student to drop her Latin class with dignity (Dowd et al., 2013, p. 17).

Students were open to receiving direct support from these institutional agents because

they developed rapports with these individuals and the institutional agents earned their

trust. The institutional agents made themselves available to the students and the students

were able to benefit from these relationships especially in their times of need.

Mmeje (2012) also studied a special “transfer academy” that was developed at a

California community college based on the work on transfer agents (Bensimon et al.,

2007; Dowd et al., 2006; Pak et al., 2006). The transfer academy helped students connect

with transfer agents in order to receive direct support in the form of resources and

opportunities that enabled them to successfully transfer. In all these studies, a necessary

step for student success was for transfer agents to actively reach out to students

(Bensimon et al., 2007; Dowd et al., 2006, 2013; Mmeje, 2012; Pak et al., 2006) Like all

institutional agents, transfer agents do not expect students to seek them out. They

understand that many students who might need assistance in transferring are

first-generation college students who might be unaware where to begin on a transfer path.

Transfer agents speak about their programs in classrooms and have faculty members

actively promote their programs to inform as many students as possible

Integrative support occurs when institutional agents incorporate students into

professional networks and associations. Students are exposed to funds of knowledge and

career opportunities not readily available without these connections. Examples of

integrative agents include “Professor David Ramirez” who arranged gatherings at his

house between Latino undergraduate students and graduate students in science,

technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The power in connecting young

undergraduates with graduate students who have recently completed the transition to

graduate school is empowering for these students. Professor Ramirez also integrated

students into his professional organization of Chicano and Native American scholars and

scientists (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, pp. 28–29). Another professor at different

university, “Professor Tovar,” acted as an integrative agent by encouraging Latino

students to request to be lab assistants while lobbying some of his colleagues to give

these students the opportunity to work in their labs. Professor Tovar worked behind the

scenes to initiate contact with both the students and the faculty members in order to

facilitate positive results (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, pp. 28–29). The examples of these

integrative agents illuminate the ways in which individual faculty members and

administrators can use their influence and power to integrate students into networks that

can facilitate Latino students to pursue STEM careers where Latinos are highly

underrepresented.

A system developer is an institutional agent who develops programs that will

embed students—some of whom the individual will never meet—in a system of agents,

resources, and opportunities (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, p. 16). A system developer will

structure the selection of faculty members who share a critical consciousness about

inequities in education. They will also actively recruit underserved students to participate

in programs that promote upward mobility such as an undergraduate research program

with a STEM emphasis (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010).

Institutional agents can also develop systems to incorporate students into the

campus culture. Institutional agents are aware of campus climate and strive to give

students a sense of belonging (Dowd et al., 2013). A strong sense of belonging to a

campus has been linked to Latino college persistence (Attinasi, 1989; Hurtado & Carter,

1997; Hurtado et al., 1996). A lack of connection to an institution could cause feelings of

alienation and isolation. The subsequent behavior could be dropping out or feeling like an

outsider (Hurtado et al., 1998). Belonging to a campus for undocumented college

students could mean having college staff and faculty members understand AB 540 and

the complex legal situations of undocumented students (Perez Huber & Malagon, 2007).

Latino AB 540 students, like other minority students, can gain a sense of belonging by

institutional agents involving them in formal structures such as academic programs such

as honors programs, learning communities, or special programs for minority students for

which they qualify.

Institutional agents who supply system linkages and networking support act at a

systems and structural level and tend to articulate an explicit agenda to use resources and

support structures within their areas of authority to increase the educational opportunities

of racialized students (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, p. 16). To develop system linkages,

these institutional agents need to have broad networks with decision-making faculty

members and administrators. At a state flagship university, department chair “Professor

Ramirez” influenced the science department at a nearby Hispanic-serving community

college to align their courses with the ones offered at the university. This enabled

students to transfer directly into the university after completing their community college

work. He also worked with another professor who reached out to the local high schools to

design a more rigorous curriculum so students were more prepared upon high school

graduation to succeed in science courses (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010, pp. 31–32).

In sum, institutional agents have been identified through empirical observations as

providers of key resources to underrepresented students of color. The development of

social networks that include institutional agents have been acknowledged as a means to

success for Latino students and other students with low social ties in gaining access to

universities (Bensimon & Dowd, 2009; Bensimon et al., 2012; Bensimon et al., 2007;

Dowd et al., 2013; Harper, 2009; Kimura-Walsh, Yamamura, Griffin, & Allen, 2009;

Mmeje, 2012; Pak et al., 2006; Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Stanton-Salazar & Dornbusch,

1995) and career pathways that are underrepresented by minorities (Bensimon et al.,

2012; Dowd, Malcom, & Macias, 2010; Griffin, Perez, Holmes, & Mayo, 2010; Malcom,

Dowd, & Yu, 2010; Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010). Institutional agents motivated by social

equity and social justice can reallocate resources (such as college preparatory curriculum

and information about college going) and opportunities (like tutoring and internships) to

students with low social status through a process of counter stratification

(Stanton-Salazar, 2011).

Institutional Agents Differ from Mentors

Peers and family members offer needed encouragement for students to succeed.

however institutional agents provide resources for students to gain college access. For

undocumented youth, peers and family members can offer advice, emotional and

financial support, and friendship (Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Perez Huber, 2009). They

can also connect students to institutional agents by bridging them to their own social

networks (Garcia, 2011). Mentors that are not associated with a school also provide

academic, psychosocial, interpersonal, and career development support (Nora & Crisp, as

cited in Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010). Unfortunately, mentors and other nonkin adults

may not have the social capital to exert authority over a gatekeeping school official or

connect a young person to a peer group dedicated to college-going or college-preparatory

curriculum (Stanton-Salazar, 2011). This is the reason why institutional agents are

defined as having sources of knowledge and influential connections that they are willing

to share with developing young adults.

Another key difference between peers, family members, and mentors and

institutional agents is institutional agents have the ability to affect change at a structural

level (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010). Many institutional agents provide direct support like

peers, family members, and mentors; however, institutional agents can push a step further

by initiating changes to assist more than a single need for an individual student. For

instance, they assist students of color by soliciting funds for college enrichment programs

and lobbying for state and federal resources (Stanton-Salazar et al., 2010). The merit of

an institutional agent is based on the strength of his or her own social network and his or

her ability to empower youth with limited nonkin connections.

Empowerment Agents

An institutional agent who possesses the motivation and ideological

consciousness to act counter to established and hierarchical social structures on behalf of

low-status youth can be labeled an empowerment agent (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1090).

Stanton-Salazar (2011, p. 1090) identified the five characteristics of an empowerment

agent as

1. The degree to which they are aware of the social structural forces within

society and within their institution that function to problematize the success of

low-status students (e.g., low financial resources, lack of recruitment, and

retention efforts);

2. On their level of critical awareness that the success of low-status students or

youth within the institution is contingent on their receiving systematic and

tailored provisions of “institutional support”;

3. On their willingness to not act on the established rules of social structure that

serve the purpose of consolidating resources within the upper levels of the

hierarchy (e.g., advocating only for students in advanced placement courses);

4. On the contents of their identity and their ideological

commitments—particularly, on whether they identify themselves as one of

those agents responsible for advocating on behalf of the low-status students

and for providing them with varied forms of “institutional support”; and

5. Their motivation and willingness to be identified by the larger personnel

community that they are an advocate and an agent for low-status students.

Another significant quality of an empowerment agent is a motivation driven by a

“critical consciousness” of structural racism within educational institutions and society

(Stanton-Salazar, 2011). Stanton-Salazar (2011) explained the empowerment of

institutional agents to become a “moral agent for positive change in the world that both

agent and youth inhabit” (p. 1091). Similarly, Gonzales, Suarez-Orozco, and

Dedios-Sanuineti (2013) called these reciprocal benefits to undocumented students and

civic leaders who engaging in community organizations as a “virtuous circle” (p. 1190).

Students are inspired to become entrenched in the institutional social networks of

empowerment agents and to develop ties on their own with key contacts that can help

them achieve their ultimate academic goals.

Stanton-Salazar (2011) incorporated Freire’s (1993) concept of

“conscientizacao,” or “critical consciousness,” to further refine the notion of

“empowerment social capital” (pp. 1090–1091). “Conscientizacao” is “the ability to

perceive and interrogate the social, political, and economic forms of oppression that

shape one’s life and to take collective action against such elements of society (or social

structure)” (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, pp. 1090–1091). Authentic empowerment gives

agency to students in which the institutional agent not only enables the student, but

participates with them in creating change. The institutional agent facilitates students to

see the connection with their goals and how to achieve them as well develop a process for

assessing what resources are necessary and how to acquire them in order to sustain

continued progress throughout their lives (Zimmerman, as cited in Stanton-Salazar, 2011,

p. 1093). Empowerment also comprises challenging students to see the barriers or

hindrances to reaching their goals and to utilize their networks to mobilize for collective

action. In essence, students learn to “decode the system” and utilize resources of others or

within the institution by receiving support by institutional agents. Stanton-Salazar (2011)

called this “empowerment social capital” (pp. 1093–1094).

Empowerment agents speak openly about societal inequities in order to help

students learn to navigate through societal barriers. For community college students, this

is important for students to succeed in college and beyond. Students need to engage in

opportunities that will help them form networks on their own outside the institution with

the understanding of hegemony in our current society. Institutional agents with an

empowerment agenda give students the tools to expand their networks by connecting

them with individuals from their networks as well as locating key individuals that will

help students fulfill their collegiate and life goals.

Discussion of Institutional Agents

Institutional agents interact with students in intentional ways to guide students

toward college, achieve college degrees, and prepare them for the future. Institutional

agents that choose to work with undocumented students are keenly aware of racial

inequities in society. For this reason, the categories of intuitional agents by

Stanton-Salazar (2011) and how they have been studied were selected for this review.

The framework, which includes distinct categories, provides a useful means of analyzing

behaviors and actions of institutional agents.

These interactions of undocumented youth with educators are stymied with the

additional pressure of deciding which institutional actors can be trusted with the

knowledge of their undocumented residency status (Gonzales, Antonio Garcia, &

Castrejon, 2013; Martinez-Calderon, 2010; Perez & Cortes, 2011). Identifying an

institutional agent with a clear grasp of the laws and policies regarding undocumented

students in higher education as well as societal pressures can be elusive for AB 540

students (Chavez et al., 2007; Gonzales, 2007, 2009b; Oliverez, 2006, 2007). Interactions

with police, immigration officials, and employers become contentious as students take on

adult activities such as commuting by public bus, driving without the opportunity to get a

driver’s license, and working without residency papers (Abrego & Gonzales, 2010;

Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012; Gonzales, 2008a, 2009a).

Undocumented students are in a quandary during this life change from

adolescence to adulthood. Revealing their status might assist undocumented students in

their collegiate pursuits; however, the risk involved in sharing this information has the

potential of drawing attention to the documentation status of themselves and their

families. For this reason, institutional agents need to gain the trust of AB 540 students in

order to tie them into supportive networks. Institutional actors can assist undocumented

students even if they do not possess an empowerment perspective. For instance, they can

offer resources such as knowledge about transferring and scholarships. They can assist

them in gaining access to honors programs and leadership positions. Overall, they can

help undocumented students within the confines of the social order complete their

education. Empowerment agents that support undocumented college students work within

the system as well as counter to the system when the system needs to be adjusted or

reworked.

Summary of Literature Review

This literature review served two purposes. First, the literature on the daily trials

of undocumented Latino students in California was explored. Second, studies on

institutional agents who connect with youth of color were presented. Both sets of

literature are small, yet burgeoning. As more undocumented Latino students enroll in

college, researchers will continue to publish more studies allowing a more nuanced

understanding of this group of students with unique experiences. Similarly, studies on

institutional agents based on the framework by Stanton-Salazar (2011) will continue to

influence future research.

The construct of empowerment agent is a new theoretical concept that evolved

from studies of institutional agents. Empowerment agents work with students without

socio-economic power from a social justice perspective to change the world into a more

equitable society. The theoretical characteristics of empowerment agents proposed by

Stanton-Salazar (2011) have not been studied in relation to empowering undocumented

college students. This evolution on the work of institutional agents is important to review

due to the quickly changing political milieu in which undocumented college students

currently occupy.

The study contained in this dissertation involves undocumented Latino

community college students and the institutional agents that work on the campuses they

attend. The next chapter includes the research methods used based on the literature

reviewed in this chapter.

Chapter 3:

Research Methods

The purpose of this study is twofold. The first aim is to understand the ways in

which undocumented Latino community college students who attend Hispanic serving

institutions (HSIs) that enroll over 25% Latino students, learn about the AB 540 law,

enroll as AB 540 students at their individual campuses, and learn to navigate barriers

associated with their residency status. Another goal is to understand the social networks

Latino AB 540 students utilize in achieving their educational objectives and the ways in

which faculty and staff members are incorporated into these networks. To understand

these phenomena, the main research question posed is: What support mechanisms assist

undocumented Latino community college students and what challenges inhibit their

access to college via AB 540 at HSIs?

In this chapter, the methods are explained. Next, the research procedures are

described and the approach to the study is provided. Finally, the trustworthiness of the

data, personal bias of the researcher, and ethics are explained.

This study is designed to understand the lived experiences of Latino AB 540

community college students and the faculty and staff members who work with these

students. Qualitative data will be derived from interviews at two different community

colleges in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties (east of Los Angeles County) in

Southern California. I believe that the projected participants can best describe their daily

lives, and this belief forms the foundation of this study. Interviews will be used as the

primary form of data collection. It is important to have the participants describe their

personal experiences as AB 540 students or as community college faculty/staff members

who work with AB 540 students.

Overall Approach to the Study and Rationale

Gathering in-depth interviews is the most appropriate form for gathering the data

in order to gain the perspectives of individuals with personal experiences attending a

community college as a Latino AB 540 student or working at a community college with

this student population. In addition to interviews, observations will be made while

conducting interviews on campus. An analysis of each campus website will be used to

select sites (see Appendix A). Written and verbal communications with participants will

also be included as part of the data to be analyzed. Additionally, field notes and memos

will assist in triangulating the data. Included in this section is the approach to gaining

access to each college, designing interview questions, and the process used for data

analysis. The decision to conduct in-depth interviews and rationale for the suitability of

this form of data collection are provided in this section.

In-Depth Interviews

The data will be gathered in order to share the participants’ lived experiences.

Kvale (1996) asserted that knowledge is gained by interpreting the meanings and

descriptions of specific situations of the interviewee’s lived world in everyday language

(p. 30). It is hoped that Latino AB 540 students will share the ways in which they learned

about AB 540 and how to enroll in their community college as AB 540 students, as well

as the challenges they face due to their immigration status and strategies they employ to

overcome any barriers. Students will also be asked to describe how faculty and staff

members assist or hinder their goals to academically succeed at their individual

community colleges in Southern California. Faculty and staff members will be asked how

they engage with Latino AB 540 students, the processes they use to assist students with

whom they come in contact, and interactions with their colleagues about issues that affect

AB 540 students.

Site Selection

Research will be conducted in California because it is estimated to have the

largest undocumented Latino population in the United States (Passel & Cohn, 2009). In

order to select the community colleges used for this study, I will analyze the websites of

community colleges in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. In Riverside and San

Bernardino counties, there are approximately 215,000 undocumented immigrants (6% of

the total population), with 84% originating from Mexico (Fortuny et al., 2007). Riverside

and San Bernardino counties are located east of Los Angeles County. These counties are

adjacent to each other. The community colleges in these counties are feeder schools to

the same public universities, including the University of California, Riverside and

California State University, San Bernardino.

In order to narrow the choices of possible research sites, I will analyze the

websites of each of the community colleges in these areas (the complete website protocol

can be found in Appendix A). Some basic information to be gathered includes the

demographics of each institution; the names and contact information of the president and

vice president of student affairs, as well as the directors of institutional research (if the

college had such a position), admissions, and financial aid; and a list of first-year

programs, honors programs, programs for minority students, and programs for

low-income students. The criteria for admission and any specific pages directed toward

assisting AB 540 students will also be queried. Each website will also be screened to see

if a club for undocumented students can be found on the official campus website.

Gaining Access

In order to gain access to the selected community colleges to begin the interviews,

I will e-mail the directors of institutional research with the approval of the dissertation

chair and the USC Institutional Review Board. Attached to each e-mail message will be a

description of the project, as well as the informed consent forms and protocols for

students as well as faculty and staff members. I will meet with the institutional research

director or the administrator in charge of authorizing research studies in order to

understand the internal policies on each campus for conducting outside research and to

insure compliance with these policies and complete any required paperwork. I will also

meet with each vice president of student affairs. Initial e-mails of inquiry will be sent to

potential faculty and staff members recommended by the vice president to participate in

the study.

Selecting Participants

Interviews will be conducted over an 11-month period (September 2011 to July

2012). I will contact faculty and staff members recommended by the vice presidents of

student affairs via phone and e-mail to encourage them to take part in the project. Faculty

and staff members will also be asked if they would be willing to contact some Latino AB

540 students to participate in this study. At the beginning of each interview, each student

participant will be provided with the informed consent form, which includes the study’s

e-mail address and phone number. At the end of each student interview, students will be

encouraged to invite some of their friends to participate in interviews, in order to include

students who might not have contact with the staff liaison.

In the next sections, the site selections are described. Basic student demographics

are included. A list of programs found during the website analysis that cater to

low-income, first-generation college students, Latino students, and minority students in

general is provided.

Beginning the Study: The Interview Protocols

The interview questions will be based on the literature and the theoretical

framework. Two protocols will be used—one for student interviews (see Appendix C)

and another for faculty and staff interviews (see Appendix D). The protocol for students

will begin with questions about students’ high school experiences as undocumented

students and when they learned that they could pay in-state tuition at state institutions via

AB 540. Questions will then be posed to students about the challenges of being an

undocumented student related to their residency status followed by difficulties associated

with college access, information about college going and navigating college, and finding

funding. They will be also asked from whom and in what ways they found support.

Faculty and staff members will be asked about their knowledge of AB 540 and

undocumented students, the ways in which they interact with AB 540 students, and the

types of resources and support they supply to AB 540 students.

The student protocol will be reviewed by undocumented students who do not have

any connection to the community colleges studied. The faculty and staff protocols will be

reviewed by two current community college staff members who do not work at the

selected colleges. Two individuals who have previously worked at community colleges

not included in this study will be also asked to provide feedback. None of the reviewers

will know which colleges are included in the study.

The questions in both protocols will be designed to prompt participants to share

information about social networks and institutional agents, which is a major objective of

this study. Both the student protocol and staff and faculty protocol will include questions

about interactions between students and faculty and faculty and staff members.

Organizing each protocol with the end result of the study in mind will contribute to

making the analysis more straightforward, which is a method shared by Kvale (1996, p.

130). For instance, some of the questions in each protocol will be designed to have

participants elaborate on specific behaviors of institutional agents supplied by

Stanton-Salazar, Macias, Bensimon, and Dowd (2010). Participants will be allowed to

speak freely instead of simply asking each question one by one off the protocol in a

survey fashion. This will allow the participants the flexibility of describing networking

practices in their own words in order to clarify the roles of institutional agents in relation

to Latino AB 540 students at these particular colleges.

Field Notes and Memos

Field notes will be used throughout the study to shape the interviews and assist

with data analysis. Field notes will capture initial thoughts during interviews to ask

follow-up questions without interrupting the participant. Insightful comments by

participants will also be noted during the interview as reminders to pay close attention to

a phrase or comment that might be useful when conducting analysis. Additional field

notes will be written immediately following each interview to gather initial insights as

well as include any information shared by a participant after the recorder has been turned

off.

The idea of using field notes for this study was inspired by the methodological

instruction described by Patton (2002). Patton claimed that there are four reasons why

taking field notes during an interview are important. First, notes help the interviewer

formulate follow-up questions during the interview itself. Second, the researcher can look

over the field notes before the transcripts are written in order to stimulate early insights

that could be pursued with follow-up interviews.2 Third, field notes help the researcher

locate important quotes after the transcript is written. Fourth, notes can be used as a

source for back-up in case the recorder malfunctions or an interview is inadvertently

erased. Notetaking also helps pace each interview and record nonverbal cues (Patton,

2002, p. 383). Right after each interview, as modeled by Patton (p. 384), details about the

interview setting and impressions about the interview itself will be recorded using field

notes.

Similar to Patton’s (2002) method described above, only very brief notes will be

written down during the interviews themselves in order to listen more intently to the

participants. I will include in the field notes my impressions of the participants during the

interviews and important insights raised by the participants. Unlike the work of Patton,

the field notes are not intended to replace interview data. Recordings will be made with

two devices in order to minimize loss due to equipment failure or loss a device. I intend

to use memos throughout the study, a technique described by Charmaz (2006, p. 72).

Charmaz writes memo-writing using freewriting to stimulate the creative process (p. 80).

Data Analysis

The type of data analysis I will use in this study is phenomenological—more

specifically, “modified analytic induction” (Patton, 2002, p. 493). In studies that use

analytical induction, preconceived hypotheses identified prior to analysis are explored as

opposed to an open approach to inquiry more traditionally found in “purer forms of

phenomenological inquiry” (Patton, 2002, p. 493). The reason the analysis is labeled

2 Follow-up interviews will not be conducted with students in order to protect their identities. Students will be provided with a Google Voice number and a gmail e-mail address that will be used only during data collection. Students will not be asked to sign a written form of consent; rather they will be asked to provide their verbal consent, which will be recorded at the beginning of each interview.

“modified analytical induction” is that the definitions by Stanton-Salazar (2011) and

Bensimon et al. (2012) have been used to frame the questions of inquiry; however,

throughout the analysis, a priori microdefinitions of institutional agents will not be

strictly adhered to. Definitions of the roles of institutional agents from the study by

Stanton-Salazar and colleagues (Bensimon, Dowd, Stanton-Salazar, et al., 2012;

Stanton-Salazar, 2011) will be the starting point for the analysis. Modified analytical

induction as a method of data analysis will allow for the knowledge claims to be

assembled in a more fluid schema without the restrictions of strict definitions that were

developed for related, yet different, studies of human behavior. Similarly, Patton (2002,

p. 494) noted that qualitative inquiry can move beyond discovering nascent ideas to

generating new theory. He added that a “mainstay of science” (p. 494) includes

reexamining dominant beliefs or explanatory paradigms within a discipline or group of

practitioners, which is one goal of this study.

The text documents from the transcripts will be stored in ATLAS.ti, a qualitative

data software program that also assists in organizing codes. ATLAS.ti contains computer

software that can assist researchers in data analysis. These functions of the software will

not be utilized in data analysis. The benefit of placing the text in ATLAS.ti is that all the

text can be collected in a single textbank; it can be easily searched for phrases and words,

and quotes related to individual codes can be printed out. This process is analogous to

printing out a dataset and coloring similar codes with the same colored highlighter.

Interviews will be coded using an iterative process. The steps are described below.

In the first phase of coding, codes will be derived by noting interesting comments

that related to the research questions and similar situations between interviewees. Ryan

and Bernard (2000) described this process of coding as “open coding” in which “the

investigator identifies potential themes by pulling together real examples from the text”

(p. 783). A major point of this study was to examine the ways in which institutional

agents (Bensimon et al., 2012; Stanton-Salazar, 2011) assist Latino AB 540 community

college students. The idea is to identify potential themes about institutional agents that

might be unique to the data collected. The research questions will include finding out the

ways in which students learned about AB 540 before they began community college and

how they enrolled in college as AB 540 students. These answers will be taken directly

from the interview data by using “open” and “in vivo” coding.

In the next phase of analysis, the text will be coded using codes that correspond to

the definitions of institutional agents by Stanton-Salazar and colleagues (Bensimon et al.,

2012; Stanton-Salazar, 2011). The majority of the dataset for this study will consist of

interviews. Below validity is addressed. The validity of collecting valuable data as well

as how those data are analyzed will be considered prior to beginning the study, during

data collection, and throughout data analysis. The processes for testing validity to be used

in this study are described below.

Validity

According to Kvale (1996, p. 236), validity involves dealing with issues of truth

and knowledge. This creates a quandary that all qualitative researchers grapple with.

Silverman’s (2000) method for testing knowledge claims was selected for this study

primarily because he suggested analyzing data throughout data collection in an iterative

process as well as examining knowledge claims comprehensively after all data are

collected for the study. He also noted that a knowledge claim does not always have to

concur with an observation by another participant because it might be a claim unique to a

particular individual or situation. In qualitative research human subjects are used each

with their own experiences that may or may not always align with others.

Silverman (2000) offered five principles that can be used to test validity: the

refutability principle, the constant comparison method, comprehensive data treatment,

deviate case analysis, and appropriate tabulations (pp. 177–186). Each of these

techniques are discussed below including how these approaches will be used throughout

the data collection and analysis portion of this study.

Silverman (2000) noted that qualitative researchers search for objectivity by

seeking to refute initial assumptions. He called this the “refutability principle” (p. 178).

In order to accomplish this, data must be scrutinized by every plausible test (p. 178).

Silverman stated that one of the issues in writing up qualitative research is

“anecdotalism” (p. 177). Silverman advised that qualitative researchers must avoid the

temptation to “jump to easy conclusions” simply because evidence seems to be leading

along an interesting path (p. 178). Silverman proposed using the following four methods

to avoid this trap of listing anecdotal information. The relevance to this study is explained

below.

Comprehensive Data Treatment

The data will be analyzed by identifying categories early on in the study and

clarifying responses by participants. Ongoing data collection and data analysis will

permit the examination of responses by all the interviewees in the study. Additionally, the

data analysis will not be deemed complete until all interviews have been conducted and

examined. Consequently, interviews conducted later in the study will be analyzed in

reference to all earlier interviews allowing for interviews conducted at the beginning of

the study to be revisited and knowledge claims to be reviewed, refined, or reevaluated.

The Constant Comparison Method

In the constant comparison method of validity, qualitative researchers should

attempt find at least one additional case to test a probable knowledge claim, which could

mean applying claims to different cases entirely or comparing data fragments from a

single case (Silverman, 2000, p. 179). There will be multiple participants in this study,

allowing for comparisons to be made between individuals studied.

Since the data will be analyzed simultaneously with data collection, subsequent

interviews with additional participants will allow for some interpretations about possible

knowledge claims to be explored. The flexible format of the interviews where

participants engage in a conversation instead of being asked questions in a survey fashion

will allow follow-up questions to be asked to examine ideas expressed in interviews by

previous respondents to see if similar observations had been made by other participants.

This process is also called “member checking.”

Deviate Case Analysis

In conducting an analysis, deviant cases should be investigated and analyzed

(Silverman, 2000, p. 179). By including interviews with multiple participants in this

study, instances that are unique can be identified and not immediately dismissed.

Using Appropriate Tabulations

Silverman (2000) recommended counting the reoccurrence of categories within a

dataset in order to manage a large body of data (p. 184). At first glance this technique

appears to be a quantitative method. However, Silverman advocated this technique as a

matter seeing the number of times a category, name, or phrase occurs in a set of data. The

frequencies of particular categories will not be included in the final analysis. However,

this method will be used to analyze the extent to which a category or categories were

repeated in the data. All of the transcribed data and field notes will be placed into Atlas.ti,

a qualitative analysis computer program. This program will be used to organize the data.

The program also has the ability to count the frequency a category, word, or name that

appears during the coding process. For instance, if the name of a staff or faculty member

comes up frequently and that individual was not originally targeted as a participant, the

individual can be approached and invited to be interviewed for the study. Noting

frequently occurring names, phrases, and organizations helped shine a light on

information that needed further examination.

Personal Bias and Ethics

Every researcher deals with personal bias and ethics. For qualitative researchers,

who interact with individual participants, personal bias and ethics must be brought forth

before a study begins. I have discussed this topic with my dissertation chair; in addition,

the study will be approved by administrators at each community college before

interviews begin.

Personal Bias

Every respondent will be treated as an individual who merits respect as a unique

human being. Each conversation will be approached without the presumption that I know

the experience of the person being interviewed. Due to the lack of interaction with

interviewees prior to interviews, I will spend time on each campus during the interviews

as well as before and after interviews, which will allow me to make observations. In this

vein, Hammersley (2002) claimed that one of the most valuable characteristics of

ethnographic research is in “its commitment to seeking to understand the perspectives of

others, rather than simply judging them as true or false” (pp. 67–68). As an employee at a

research university who has never worked at a community college, my prior knowledge

of the community colleges selected is minimal and based mainly on the website analyses.

As a researcher, I must acknowledge my limitations in directly relating to the

interviewees. I do not have a personal understanding of growing up in an immigrant

household. I am Chicana and my family is primarily of Mexican descent. I was born in

the United States, as were my parents and three of my grandparents. As an administrator

in higher education for over 20 years, I do not assume that I understand the daily work of

the faculty members and staff at community colleges. In other words, I will not take any

perceived similarities between me and my participants for granted. I will ask my

interviewees to explicitly state details about their lives that only they can know and

describe. I do, however, have a general understanding of the work of student affairs

practitioners. I also have experience teaching freshman writing at a university as well as

multiple leadership courses. This experience gives me insight into developing questions

for the staff and faculty member protocol, but I do not have any first-hand understanding

of the issues they encounter that are unique to the community colleges at which they

work.

Ethical Issues Addressed in This Study

Possible ethical dilemmas can be expected, given the controversial topic of the

study prior to the beginning of the research. Of the utmost importance throughout this

study is the fact that all of the students to be interviewed are undocumented college

students, so confidentiality will be extremely important to all the participants.

Confidentiality plays a strong role in all studies involving human subjects; however, in

this study, revealing a participant’s identity could have legal consequences. If any of the

participants were to have their residency status revealed to U.S. immigration authorities,

they could be detained and possibly deported. Their presence in the United States is

considered an illegal civil act by the U.S. government. This possibility has been kept in

mind throughout this dissertation project. It is important to acknowledge this reality in

data collection in order to take appropriate precautions.

Ethics in Constructing the Text

One of the difficulties in working with in-depth interview data is presenting

individual actors who are multifaceted. In-depth interviews require spending significant

time with each participant. The challenge is to portray the individuals studied as complex

characters. I have anticipated possible difficulties that could be encountered. Analyzing

the data comprehensively will be key in representing the stories as told by the participants

in a way that is respectful to the individuals as well as to individuals who may read this

work.

Data Security

Data security is important when conducting any qualitative study. In this

particular study, the student participants and many of their family members are also

undocumented. This means that they are at risk for deportation if discovered. For this

reason, data security is not only important but essential. I will take extreme care to avoid

disrupting the lives of these students and/or their families.

All field notes and files will be saved electronically and protected with passwords.

Also, only pseudonyms will be used in any written notes, reports, and transcripts.

Additionally, the consent to interview from each participant will be recorded orally

instead of on a signed form. All of the interviews will be saved in MP3 format to a

computer that is password protected.

Student participants will never be asked for last names; they will also be informed

that they can choose a pseudonym if they do not want to divulge their first name.

Pseudonyms will also be assigned to staff or faculty member mentioned by other

participants.

Each of the community colleges will be assigned pseudonyms for the purpose of

the study. There are 15 community colleges in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

For this reason, it will be difficult for readers to discern which community colleges have

been selected as sites.

Summary

This study will describe the prematriculation processes and ongoing support

mechanisms of AB 540 community college students. Accounts from community college

faculty and staff members will also be included. This study fits into the literature on

undocumented college students and will contribute to knowledge about the ways in which

the experiences and strategies of these students are informed by the current time frame.

Additionally, the interviews with faculty and staff members will allow individuals who

work with AB 540 students on a daily basis to share some strategies they have used to

assist undocumented students. The website protocol, interview protocols for students and

staff and faculty members, and informed consent forms can be found in the appendices at

the end of this proposal. The methods described in this chapter form the structure from

which the data will be collected and analyzed.

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Appendix A: Roles of Institutional Agents

An institutional agent is an individual who occupies one or more hierarchical

positions of relatively high status and authority. Such an individual, situated in an

adolescent’s social network, manifests his or her potential role as an institutional agent,

when, on behalf of the adolescent, he or she acts to directly transmit, or negotiate the

transmission of, highly valued resources (e.g., high school course requirements for

admission to 4-year universities; Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1067). Institutional agents

assist students by offering direct and integrative support, developing systems, as well as

providing system linkages and networking support (Stanton-Salazar, 2011).

Institutional Agents Who Provide Direct Support

Direct support to students is provided through multiple roles: by providing

personal and institutional resources (resource agent), doing academic advising and

conveying knowledge about the educational system (knowledge agent and advisor),(

advocate) direct support to students is provided through multiple roles: by providing

personal and institutional resources (resource agent), doing academic advising and

conveying knowledge about the educational system (knowledge agent and advisor),

advocating on behalf of students’ needs (advocate), and helping students learn to network

(networking coach). When enacting the direct support role types, the institutional agent

acts in ways similar to that of a mentor or academic advisor acting on behalf of students’

needs (advocate), and helping students learn to network (networking coach; Bensimon et

al., 2012, p. 15).

Resource agent: Staff or faculty member who provides personal and positional

resources to students. This can include understanding policies and procedures as well as

physical resources such as books.

Knowledge agent: Staff member or faculty member who conveys knowledge

about the educational system, including navigating the community college terrain. This

includes explaining policies and procedures.

Advisor: Advisors offer direct support with personal and academic issues or

problems, listen to students, and assist them in constructing solutions. Staff or faculty

members with professional counseling training sometimes counsel students in a

therapeutic capacity by providing ongoing therapy or interventions to assist students in

finding appropriate mental health treatment.

Networking coach: Staff or faculty member who helps students learn to network

with key agents by modeling appropriate networking behaviors, developing relationships

with influential people, and connecting students with these individuals.

Institutional Agents Who Provide Integrative Support

Integrative support agent: This type of institutional agent integrates students into

professional networks and associations, where students are exposed to knowledge funds

and career opportunities not readily available without these connections. An integrative

agent is aware of the empowering socialization experiences derived from participating in

high-status networks; these associations are key sites where networking, help seeking,

and reciprocal exchanges of institutional support are the norm, and where “bridging” and

“brokering” are typical organizational activities, as are network development and cultural

exposure. An integrative agent also fulfills the role of institutional agent when

incorporating students into his or her own professional network (based on Bensimon et

al., 2012, p. 1100).

Integrative agent: Integrative agents coordinate students’ integration and

participation in networks and professional venues (professional associations,

departments, schools, etc.) in order to enable students to expand their own supportive and

professional networks. They teach students to identify and build networking relationships

with other institutional agents at their institution, as well as with community leaders who

can serve as mentors, influence state and federal policies, and provide volunteer

opportunities so students can perform community service and learn job skills.

Cultural guide: A cultural guide is a staff or faculty member who prioritizes

building significant relationships with racialized students as well as their colleagues and

members outside the institution who can assist students in succeeding personally and

academically. These institutional agents are often the first persons that students, staff, and

faculty members on a campus seek out when an issue arises or there is a question about

policies that impact or might impact a target group of students. A cultural guide

constantly engages in learning and disseminating information about state-wide and

national policies and laws via written and verbal communication. These are individuals

who prioritize building personal relationships with low-status students. They also make a

concerted effort to grow the network of supportive staff and faculty members on whom

targeted students can rely for assistance.

Institutional Agents Who Are System Developers

System developers are institutional agents who develop programs that will embed

students—some of whom they will never meet—in a system of agents, resources, and

opportunities (Bensimon et al., 2012, p. 16).

Program developer: An institutional agent who builds a system of success for

targeted students by developing programs that will embed students—some of whom they

will never meet—in a system of agents, resources, and opportunities.

Lobbyist: An institutional agent who builds ties with members of organizations at

his or her institution and others as well as within the community, developing programs,

lobbying for resources and funding, influencing policies at the state and college

level—all with the goal of increasing access to college for underrepresented students and

building a viable organizational support system for students’ long-term success once they

are enrolled.

Political advocate: A political advocate joins political action groups that advocate

for social policies and institutional resources that benefit targeted students. Political

advocates are involved in institutional or state-wide policy-making groups or grassroots

organizations that actively engage in changing state and national laws and educating

others about issues that affect underrepresented students.

Institutional Agents Who Develop System Linkages and Networking Support

Institutional agents who act at a systems and structural level tend to articulate an

explicit agenda to use resources and support structures within their areas of authority to

increase the educational opportunities of racialized students (Bensimon et al., 2012, p.

16).

Recruiter: This institutional agent actively recruits targeted students into

programs, departments, and enrichment opportunities, and so on. He or she also takes

steps to collaborate with high schools and community colleges to ensure that

underrepresented students who qualify are knowledgeable about opportunities prior to

arriving on campus and are included in campus programs once they matriculate.

Bridging agent: A staff or faculty member who has a strong social network and

connects students with other institutional agents on campus. A bridging agent often

follows up with both parties to insure that a relationship has been solidified.

Institutional broker: An institutional broker introduces two parties and negotiates

systematic agreements that solidify relationships with different institutions, including

working with high school personnel to improve matriculating efforts. They also assist in

developing communication between transfer students and university officials to assist in

easing the transition to baccalaureate-granting institutions. An institutional broker helps

embed students in a university’s social network as well as academic enrichment

programs.

Coordinator: An administrator or faculty member who assesses student needs and

assists students in identifying resources or provides resources to underrepresented

students. Coordinators follow up with students to ensure that students use the resources

offered.

Appendix B: Website Protocol for Site Selection

• Campus website’s main page

• Campus Name, Address, Main Phone number

• Name, Title, Contact information

• President

o Director of Intuitional Research

o Director of Admissions

o Director Financial Aid

o Director(s) of First-Year Programs, Honor’s Programs, Programs for

Minority Students, Programs for Low-Income students

• Demographics

o Students by ethnicity and income

o Staff by ethnicity

o Faculty by ethnicity

• AB 540 organization’s website (if available)

o Contact information of advisor

Appendix C: Interview Protocol for Students

Structural-Informational

• Describe your high school academic experience.

• Describe the ways your teachers helped you with your goal to go to college.

• Describe the ways your high school counselor helped you with your goal to go to

college.

• Did you take honors or AP courses? Which courses?

• Were you involved with GATE? AVID? Other academic programs? An academic

career academy?

• What was your GPA/class rank? Did you receive any academic awards?

• What extracurricular experiences were you involved in?

• Leadership activities?

• Community service?

• What does AB 540 mean to you?

• At what point did you understand AB 540?

• How did you learn about AB 540?

• What information did you learn about scholarships?

• What did you need to do to obtain AB 540 status?

• Which offices did you have to go to?

• Did you find all the answers you needed right away?

• Was there any information you know now about AB 540 that would have been

helpful to you before you started this process?

• Which offices were the most helpful?

• Did you experience any difficulties? Please describe the issues you experienced.

• Is there a faculty member or staff member that you would consider a mentor?

• Tell me about this person.

• What is most memorable experience you can share when this person helped or

supported you?

• Others

Structural-Cultural • What is your age? When did you come to the United States?

• What is your country of origin? What are your memories of this country?

• Do you speak Spanish at home? School? With whom do you communicate in

Spanish?

• How did you find out about being an undocumented student?

• Do you remember coming to the United States? Will you tell me about this?

• What experiences have you had with students who are citizens or legal residents?

Relational-Informational

• At what point did you decide that you wanted to go to college?

• In what ways did others influence your decision?

• Family members?

• Counselors?

• Other mentors?

• Friends?

• AB 540 students are not eligible for state or federal financial aid. How has this

affected you?

• What other limitations do you face as an AB 540 student?

• Describe a difficult situation related to being undocumented since you have been

enrolled at X-COLLEGE?

• Did you seek the advice of a faculty member or administrator?

• What expectations did you have of X-COLLEGE before you started college?

• In what ways have these expectations been met? fallen short?

• How do you go about meeting faculty members and administrators?

• Describe your experiences with administrators on campus.

• Financial aid?

• Counseling?

• Transfer Center?

• Others?

• Describe your experiences with faculty members on campus.

• Do you plan on transferring to a university?

• What information have you learned about what classes to take or other transfer

information?

• What universities will you apply to?

• Have you visited these schools?

• What specific steps are you taking to stay on track for transferring?

• How do you know what classes to take?

• How often do you see your counselor?

• Are you involved with any first-year programs? Honors programs? Others?

• Do you utilize the transfer center?

• Where and when do you study?

Relational-Cultural

• Did you have any mentors or role models in high school? • If so, tell me a story or a significant experience you had with your role model?

• If not, were there any teachers, counselors, community members that assisted

you?

• Who are your current mentors and role models? In what ways do they assist you?

• Tell me about your friends.

• In what ways do your friends support you? Hinder you?

• Share your most positive experience since you have been a student at X-COLLEGE.

• Do you participate in an AB 540 Club?

• What is your role in the club?

• In what ways has participating in this club assisted you meeting new friends?

• What social experiences do you share with AB 540 Club members?

• Describe your experiences with other students outside of the AB 540 Club.

• What additional extracurricular activities have you been involved with as a college

student?

• Are you involved with a community organization?

• Are you politically active?

• Do you volunteer in the community?

• Describe your family. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

• Do you live at home? What is life like for you at home?

• What are your parents’ occupations?

• Did you migrate with both of your parents?

• When you think about your family and your school obligations, what comes to mind?

• What obligations do you have outside of school?

• Describe your family commitments.

• Do you have a job?

• What do you do?

• How do you get to your job?

• How many hours do you work per week?

• Other commitments?

• Do you have contact with your family members in your country of origin?

• If so, how do you stay in touch?

• If not, what prevents you from connecting with your family?

Additional Questions or Concerns

• Do you have anything that you would like to share that I have not asked about?

• Do you have any additional questions for me?

Thank you for your participation. If you need to reach me, I have provided you

with my contact information.

Appendix D: Interview Protocol for Staff and Faculty Members

Agreement of Consent

• Do you agree to participate in this interview?

• Do you understand that you may decline to respond to any question at any time?

• Do you understand that you may withdraw from participating in this interview or

study at any time?

• Did I provide you with a copy of the “Informed Consent Form” that includes my

contact information?

Structural-Informational

• What are the requirements for entering X-COLLEGE?

• Are the requirements different for AB 540 students?

• What does a student have to do become designated as AB 540?

• What paperwork do they need to supply?

• What identification do they need to share?

• Are there special forms that they must complete?

• Can they fill out all of the forms on-line?

• If not, which offices do they need to go to?

• What process does a student have to go through to receive scholarship or financial

monies?

• If an AB 540 student receives a scholarship, what process must they follow to

receive their funding?

• What does AB 540 mean to you?

• What do know about AB 540?

• How did you learn about AB 540?

• Are you required to attend specific training on AB 540?

• Is there voluntary training that you can attend? Have you attended these sessions?

If not, how do you obtain information about AB 540 students?

• What information can you share with AB 540 students about scholarships? AB

540 students are not eligible for state or federal financial aid. Does this change the

information you share with AB 540 students?

• Are you involved with academic advising?

• What resources do you share with students about academic programs? Transfer

programs?

• What do you share with AB 540 students about academic programs? Transfer

programs?

Structural-Cultural

• Have you developed any programs for low-income students? Minority students?

First-generation college students?

• In what ways can AB 540 students participate in these programs?

• Have you designed any programs specifically for AB 540 students?

Relational-Informational

• Do you mentor any AB 540 students?

• • Describe an issue you assisted an AB 540 student resolve

• Describe a difficult situation you had to deal with in working with an AB 540

student?

• Did you seek the advice of another faculty member or administrator?

100

• Was the situation resolved?

Relational-Cultural

• Share your most positive experience with an AB 540 student since you began

working at XCOLLEGE.

• • Was there ever a time that you could not assist an AB 540 student?

• Did you connect that student with another colleague?

• Was the student’s issue able to be resolved?

• Is there an AB 540 Club on your campus?

• Do you participate in any AB 540 Club events?

• Do you volunteer in the community?

• Are you involved with any community organizations?

• Are you politically active?

• Do you advocate for AB 540 students or the DREAM Act?

Additional Questions or Concerns

• Do you have anything that you would like to share that I have not asked about?

• Do you have any additional questions for me?

Thank you for your participation. If you need to reach me, I have provided you

with my contact information.

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Appendix E: Informed Consent Form for Student Participants

Statement of Purpose

In this study I would like to learn about the process Latino AB 540 students follow to obtain AB 540 status. I would also like to understand the support mechanisms that assist AB 540 students in obtaining their educational goals. I will interview faculty and staff members as well as students from multiple community colleges.

Introduction of Interviewer

I am a graduate student at the University of Southern California. I am working on my dissertation in order to earn my Ed.D. I have lived in Southern California most of my life. I have worked with undergraduate students for almost 20 years primarily in California. My study has been approved by my dissertation committee as well as USC’s Institutional Research Bureau (Human Subjects). Confidentiality, Right to Review Data, and Risks

In my scholarly work, I will use pseudonyms for the names of the institutions as well as any participants including faculty members, staff members, and students. I will also remove any identifiable information. My interviews will be recorded and converted to mp3 documents that will be saved on my password-protected hard drive of which I have sole access. My list of participants will not be disclosed to any person at the college or to USC. As a participant, you will be able to read my completed data chapter prior to my submission to my dissertation committee. Duration of Participation and Benefits

This interview will take approximately one hour. Your participation is completely voluntary and you will not receive any compensation. The benefit of completing this interview is for me to be able to include your point of view on undocumented community college students in California in my scholarly work. This will include primarily my dissertation work. I might also present my findings at conferences or in other publications. If you are uncomfortable with any question, you may decline to respond. If, at any time, you wish to withdraw your participation from this interview or this study, you may do so. Thank you, Michelle Gonzales Bleza, M.S. USC Doctoral Candidate ab540research@gmail.com 951.225.5401

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Appendix F: Informed Consent Form for Staff and Faculty Participants

Statement of Purpose

I am a graduate student at the University of Southern California. I am working on my dissertation in order to earn my Ed.D. I have lived in Southern California most of my life. I have worked with undergraduate students for almost twenty years primarily in California. My study has been approved by my dissertation committee as well as USC’s Institutional Research Bureau (Human Subjects). Confidentiality, Right to Review Data, and Risks

In my scholarly work, I will use pseudonyms for the names of the institutions as well as any participants including faculty members, staff members, and students. I will also remove any identifiable information. My interviews will be recorded and converted to mp3 format and saved on my password-protected hard drive, to which I have sole access. My list of participants will not be disclosed to any person at the college or to USC. As a participant, you will be able to read my completed data chapter prior to my submission to my dissertation committee. Duration of Participation and Benefits