Frequently Asked Questions
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SSITA |
Technical Assistance |
Seal of Excelencia |
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SSITA
How do we access the SSITA tool?
Upon affiliation to the Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS), institutions are offered the SSITA as part of Excelencia’s support. The Institutional Capacity team will provide the Lead Affiliate with the link to the online SSITA once affiliation is complete. There will be an opportunity to download the SSITA to prepare answers prior to completing the tool online.
How does an institution prepare to complete the SSITA tool?
While each institution will prepare within their context and capacity, there are some recommendations that Excelencia offers in our Planning Checklist for SSITA.
How long does it take to complete the SSITA tool?
The completion of the SSITA tool may take several days or weeks to complete, depending on an institution’s capacity to provide:
- disaggregated institutional data, strategies, and 3 practices with evidence of effectiveness in 3 areas of the Seal of Excelencia framework (enrollment, faculty/staff representation, and completion); and
- leadership strategies for mission and institutional culture.
What is the process for completing the SSITA?
- Institutions are introduced to the SSITA during their affiliation meeting to Excelencia’s network, Presidents for Latino Student Success.
- After committing to self-assess their institutional readiness and capacity to begin their journey for intentionally serving Latino students, Excelencia will forward the link to the online SSITA tool to the institution’s Lead Affiliate.
- Excelencia hosts an onboarding session with institutions interested in the SSITA tool to provide an overview of the self assessment tool and answer any questions.
- Institution completes and submits the SSITA tool online.
Who should be involved in completing the SSITA?
Completion of the SSITA requires collaboration between individuals from various departments and units at the institution. Excelencia recommends that the SSITA campus team include at least 5 representatives with reach and expertise that includes: 1) academic affairs, 2) student affairs, 3) institutional research, and/or, 4) the president/provost’s office.
What is the difference between SSITA and the Seal of Excelencia certification application?
Both the SSITA and the Seal of Excelencia certification application are based on the Seal of Excelencia framework and both are self-assessment tools. The SSITA tool does NOT offer certification, just self-assessment, and is a streamlined shorter version of the Seal certification application. The Seal certification application covers all the areas of the Seal of Excelencia framework, while the SSITA tool only covers enrollment, faculty/staff representation, mission, and institutional culture.
What happens after we complete and submit the SSITA?
Excelencia will host a follow-up session with institutions who submit their SSITA tool to help institutions: 1) reflect on findings and learnings from completing their SSITA tool, and 2) identify next steps that include participating in Excelencia’s technical assistance opportunities. Excelencia has created a technical assistance strategy to meet institutions where they are in their transformation journey. Our TA opportunities can be found here. In addition, Excelencia offers curated engagement with evidence-based practices and practitioners through its programs and initiatives such as Examples of Excelencia and Growing What Works database.
Technical Assistance
Is it required for our president to be part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) to attend TA?
There are many benefits to being part of P4LSS. However, it is not required to attend our TA. Priority is given to those institutions whose leadership is part of P4LSS whenever we have more teams interested in a TA event than we have capacity for. For more information on P4LSS and/or to affiliate, please contact our IE team.
Is it required for our president to be part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) to attend TA?
There are many benefits to being part of P4LSS. However, it is not required to attend our TA. Priority is given to those institutions whose leadership is part of P4LSS whenever we have more teams interested in a TA event than we have capacity for. For more information on P4LSS and/or to affiliate, please contact our IE team.
Is it required for our president to be part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) to attend TA?
There are many benefits to being part of P4LSS. However, it is not required to attend our TA. Priority is given to those institutions whose leadership is part of P4LSS whenever we have more teams interested in a TA event than we have capacity for. For more information on P4LSS and/or to affiliate, please contact our IE team.
Is it required for our president to be part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) to attend TA?
There are many benefits to being part of P4LSS. However, it is not required to attend our TA. Priority is given to those institutions whose leadership is part of P4LSS whenever we have more teams interested in a TA event than we have capacity for. For more information on P4LSS and/or to affiliate, please contact our IE team.
Is it required for our president to be part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) to attend TA?
There are many benefits to being part of P4LSS. However, it is not required to attend our TA. Priority is given to those institutions whose leadership is part of P4LSS whenever we have more teams interested in a TA event than we have capacity for. For more information on P4LSS and/or to affiliate, please contact our IE team.
Is it required for our president to be part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) to attend TA?
There are many benefits to being part of P4LSS. However, it is not required to attend our TA. Priority is given to those institutions whose leadership is part of P4LSS whenever we have more teams interested in a TA event than we have capacity for. For more information on P4LSS and/or to affiliate, please contact our IE team.
Seal of Excelencia
General
Do we have to be a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) to be able to apply for the Seal?
No, it is not required that an institution be an HSI. However, institutions must be part of Excelencia’s Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) network. You can check here to see if your institution is part of P4LSS. For more information on P4LSS, please contact our Institutional Engagement team at E-Action@EdExcelencia.org.
What is Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) and why is it important that our institution be part of P4LSS?
Institutional transformation requires institutional commitment. The institutional leaders who are part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS) have committed to creating environments where Latino students thrive explicitly in discussions with Excelencia’s president. These institutions are also part of the Excelencia in Action Network—sharing with, and learning from, each other’s efforts that better serve Latino students and build national momentum to make this country stronger with the talents, skills, and contributions of greater numbers of Latino graduates.
Can we continue to work on our Seal application while our institution checks if we are part of Presidents for Latino Student Success (P4LSS)?
Yes, your team can complete the application without submitting it. The application can be submitted by the deadline once enrollment is confirmed.
Is it required that we attend technical assistance institutes before applying for the Seal?
No, attending the TA institutes is not an eligibility requirement to apply for the Seal.
How do we complete the data tables in each section?
You will need to download the blank table by clicking on the live link in each section, then complete the table and save it to your files. Next, upload the completed table using the “Choose file” button within the application. Please save your application prior to downloading the table to make sure you do not lose any information.
What if we do not have the data requested (e.g., financial aid data broken down by race/ethnicity)?
Please submit the data you do have and leave blank what you do not have.
What data source is Excelencia expecting institutions to use when reporting data requested?
Excelencia generally expects institutions will use IPEDS data since it is based on institutionally reported data and can be verified; however, we will also accept data from your institutional sources.
How is Excelencia defining the data elements (e.g., retention/persistence, completion, etc.)?
Excelencia is mostly following the IPEDS definitions for the data elements. Each table also offers definitions for the data elements being requested. For more information, please review the IPEDS glossary.
How do I calculate “% change?”
The formula is: (latest year data minus first year data) ÷ by first year data.
Strategy, Program, and Practice Questions
What is Excelencia looking for in the responses to the open-ended Strategy and Program/Practice questions?
Excelencia is interested in learning the institution’s intentional alignment of data, practice, and leadership. Specifically, we want to learn about the overall strategy that guides institutional efforts in that area (enrollment, persistence/retention, support financially, transfer, representation, and completion) and then we ask you to highlight your top 3 programs/practices within that area. Please note that you should provide data for each of the programs/practices shared to show impact. Here’s a graphic of key questions to consider as your team answers the questions:
What does Excelencia mean by “alignment?”
Excelencia thinks of “alignment” as a verb. Alignment is the process of organizing an institution’s decisions and actions so that they fully support the achievement of strategic institutional goals focused on Latino student success. To be in alignment means that an institution is:
Focused on taking action that results in greater success for Latino students;
Routinely engaged in decisive and timely decision-making;
Intentional and strategic in defining the key actions taken as an institution committed to serving Latino students; and
Consistently focused on Latino student success, as a goal of institutional transformation that requires longer-term efforts to create environments where Latino students thrive.
What does Excelencia mean by “evidence of effectiveness?”
Evidence of effectiveness for a program/practice is the documented proof of your intent to SERVE Latino students and the impact of your efforts on Latino student success. It is best documented with disaggregated data.
Enrollment: Should I provide duplicated enrollment counts (a student enrolled in fall and spring all counted) within one academic year or unduplicated counts?
Please provide an unduplicated headcount for the fall term of an academic year.
Enrollment: The 2022-23 data is not available for our institution; what do we do?
If you do not have the data available, you can leave blank.
Retention: Do institutions have to complete both the Retention and Persistence Data tables?
Institutions should only complete one table, depending on the best data available.
Persistence: Should I only count “first-time freshmen” who enroll in the fall and return for the spring, or all students enrolled for that academic year?
We want institutions to include all students enrolled in an academic year, not just first-time freshmen.
Transfer: Should institutions use fall or annualized data?
Excelencia generally expects IPEDS data as it is institutional data that can be verified. Estimates or annualized data is ok if IPEDS data is not available.
Support Financially: Does Excelencia evaluate institutional awarding policies?
Excelencia focuses on the strategy for using financial aid and its impact on Latino students and not on awarding policies.
Representation: What do you mean by “Staff” and “Part-time Faculty?”
The definitions of “staff” and “part-time faculty” are determined by each institution. The table provides space to share your definition.
Representation: Clarify what is intended for the 'Administration/Administrator' category as it relates to faculty with dual roles.
We are not looking for mutually exclusive data. For this purpose, faculty with dual roles may be included as administrators and as faculty.
Degree Completion: Should I report 3-year or 6-year completion rates for one cohort?
We prefer to see your institution’s 6-year completion rate for a cohort.
When is the application due?
The application is due TBD.
May I fax, scan, or mail the completed application directly to the Excelencia in Education office?
No, only applications submitted through our online application submission system will be considered.
How will I know If I successfully submitted our application?
After submitting your application, an automated confirmation will be sent to the email addresses provided in the application for contact and president.
I received an email confirmation that Excelencia in Education received my application, are there additional steps that I need to take in this process?
No, Excelencia staff will follow up about your submission should they have any additional questions.
Can I make changes to an already submitted application?
You must email the Seal team at Seal@EdExcelencia.org as soon as possible to notify Excelencia that you are requesting a change to your submission.
Can supplemental documentation be submitted with the application?
No, Excelencia is not accepting additional attachments to the application to ensure all institutions are equally reviewed.
How is Excelencia evaluating our responses?
Excelencia is holistically evaluating the applications. We are looking for institutions that are going beyond enrollment to intentionally SERVE Latino students. We are focusing on the alignment of data, practice, and leadership throughout the application.
Are sections of the application reviewed separately?
The application is reviewed in its entirety by each reviewer to better understand the alignment between institutional efforts and achievements.
Who will review the applications submitted?
The applications will be reviewed by Excelencia staff and members of the Seal Advisory Council. The final selection of institutions that will receive the Seal of Excelencia will be made by Excelencia staff.
How will we know the status of our application?
Institutions who are selected as Finalists will be notified at the end of July.
If we are selected as a finalist for the Seal, what happens next?
Institutions that are selected as finalists for the Seal of Excelencia will be required to participate in an interview with Excelencia. Interviews with the president/chancellor of each institution will be conducted in August.
Are Interviews with finalist institutions limited to presidents?
While it is expected that presidents/chancellors will take the lead for the Seal of Excelencia finalist interviews, these are not limited to only presidents. The number and composition of the institutional group is left to each institution’s discretion.
How long will the finalist interviews be?
Seal of Excelencia finalists will be emailed a notification with all details and next steps in July.
If we aren’t selected as a finalist, can we find out why?
Excelencia offers a follow up session for all institutions that are not certified.
Is there a target number of institutions to be certified as Seal of Excelencia recipients every year?
No. Excelencia’s sole focus is to identify those institutions making significant progress in their transformative efforts to better serve Latino, and all, students.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CERTIFIED INSTITUTIONS
How will we know if we have received the Seal of Excelencia?
The institutions selected as Seal of Excelencia 2023 certified institutions will be notified by email with additional details on the announcement.
When will Seal of Excelencia certified institutions be announced?
Excelencia will recognize the institutions certified with the Seal of Excelencia on September 29, 2023 in Washington, DC.
What if we do not earn the Seal of Excelencia?
For institutions that do not earn the Seal, Excelencia offers a follow up session that includes identifying Excelencia technical assistance support.
When will non-certified Seal of Excelencia applicants be able to reapply?
Excelencia intends to accept applications for the Seal of Excelencia annually. Prior applicants who were not certified are welcome to reapply.
A PDF of the Seal of Excelencia FAQs can be accessed here.
If you have any other questions that have not been included in these FAQs, please send an email to Seal@EdExcelencia.org with your specific question. Thank you!