What is the role of HSIs in building a diverse nursing workforce? With intentionality and partnership, HSIs can and should train bilingual, bicultural nurses. In this episode Dr. Garcia welcomes Dr. Tina Loarte-Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce and founder/author of Latinas in Nursing. The conversation addresses critical gaps in nursing diversity, noting that only 7-8% of the nation's 5 million nurses identify as Latinx despite Latinxs representing 30% of the population. Dr. Loarte-Rodriguez shares her personal journey from often being the only Latina in nursing settings to creating resources for representation and belonging in healthcare, including her book Latinas in Nursing and the follow-up Latinos in Nursing. She offers strategies for HSIs to increase Latinx representation in nursing through partnerships with state nursing workforce centers and community organizations. We also discuss barriers facing Latinx nursing students, including financial constraints from recent federal loan restrictions that cap graduate borrowing. The episode emphasizes the need for culturally relevant nursing curricula, bilingual training for heritage Spanish speakers, and increased Latina faculty representation in nursing programs.

Guest:

Tina Loarte-Rodriguez (she, her, ella)

Executive Director, Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce

Author, Founder, & CEO, Latinas in Nursing

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tina-loarte-rodríguez

Website: https://latinasinnursing.org/

APA Citation

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, April 26). Building a Diverse Nursing Workforce: The Role of HSIs (No.708) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/

Show Notes:

• https://www.ctcenterfornursingworkforce.com
• https://latinasinnursing.org/

In this episode we talk about policies of possibility and the ways HSIs along the Mexico-U.S. border support transborder students. We feature Dr. Mark Sanchez, CEO/President of Southwestern College in California, who advocated for California's Assembly Bill 91, a five-year pilot program starting in 2024 that provides low-income Mexicans living within 45 miles of the Mexico-California border with non-resident fee exemptions to attend college while paying in-state tuition. Dr. Sanchez shares his personal journey as a first-generation college student who attended Southwestern College and returned 35 years later as its president. Moreover, he emphasizes the college's location just 7 miles from the Mexico-U.S. border and highlights the binational economy between Tijuana and San Diego County, which generates about $250 billion annually. We discuss several key aspects for serving transborder students, including the creation of basic support facilities like lounges, microwaves, refrigerators, and shower access for students who may arrive hours early due to unpredictable border crossing times. The episode addresses the current political climate, with Dr. Sanchez explaining how the college supports immigrant, undocumented, and transborder students throughout these challenging times.

Mark Sanchez (he, him, el)

Ceo/President, Southwestern College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mark-sanchez-57820232a

Instagram: @swc_president25

Website: https://www.swccd.edu/about-swc/leadership/office-of-the-superintendent-president/index.aspx

APA Citation:

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, April 12). Beyond Fronteras: How HSIs Support Transborder Students. (No.707) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

Emerging into HSI-ness is a powerful construct that we continue to explore in this episode. Irvine Valley College (IVC) is an emerging HSI community college that has been intentionally transforming its campus to better serve Latine/x students without waiting for federal HSI eligibility or Title V funding. The college is already an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI), having reached 41% API enrollment and receiving federal funding. In this episode our guests describe their commitment to servingness, equity, and attaining dual-eligibility regardless of the federal government’s attacks on funding. The college developed a comprehensive year-long training series based on the Transforming HSIs for Equity and Justice book and workbook that brought together faculty, classified staff, and administrators to examine institutional policies, practices, and power structures through an equity lens. This work emerged from their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Council, which operates under an innovative tri-chair model ensuring shared leadership across all campus constituencies. Through this episode we learn how the college has built and maintained its commitment to equity and servingness, demonstrating that transformational change can occur through internal resources, strong leadership, and a campus-wide culture of caring for students.

Guests:

Martha McDonald (she, her, ella)

Vice President for Student Services, Irvine Valley College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mcdonaldmartha

Julie Fagundes Scholl (she, her)

Program Coordinator- Adult English as a Second Language (AESL), Irvine Valley College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julie-f-scholl

Rebecca Beck (she, her, ella)

ESL Faculty/Academic Senate President, Irvine Valley College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rebecca-beck-6882232b5

APA Citation:

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, March 29). Building HSI Mindsets: Irvine Valley College’s Training Approach. (No. 706) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.