Paper presented at:
UGA16th ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CONFERENCE:
think. ink. link.
Paper won: People’s Choice 2016 IRC: Best Paper Presentation
Hugo Alexander Moran Chavez
Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication
129A Four Towers Building
University of Georgia
Presented in the Spring of 2016; published on April 2018
Latino International students in US Universities make a unique and substantial impact across disciplines. These students diversify the campus, contribute to the economy of the host university, and change the lives of many students. They provide global perspectives and novel ideas to students who may not have an opportunity to study abroad and experience other cultures. In colleges of agriculture, they also shape academic programs and classes by providing new knowledge, a multicultural lens to Agriculture, interdisciplinary ideas, and experience with agriculture in different economies, systems, and environments. Efforts to help these students succeed will benefit the students themselves, US universities, and may also impact food security issues around the world. These students may be essential in preparing Latin America to become a food superpower and contribute to the global journey of feeding 9 billion people by 2050. Latino International students may expand the knowledge, skills, and education acquired in the US and apply it to solve problems of food security not only in Latin America but around the world. In this context, it is of crucial importance to support their success and path while in College. This research aims to build a framework to help students in this journey by examining the factors that affect their success and may be used by any College or University to create better recruitment and retention techniques. Preliminary results suggest that academic background, stress levels, opportunities to play soccer and socialize with peers, availability of career centers, open-door policy of professors, availability of bilingual documentation, and a number of peers with similar background are factors affecting the success of Latino international students.
Keywords: Latino, international, success