tr
tr immigration conference
tr tr tr tr tr
tr
tr
tr
tr
tr
I M M I G R A T I O N      C O N F E R E N C E     2 0 0 8
tr
tr
tr About the Conference tr
tr
 
Conference Overview

     As an education community, there is an intent need to build a national effort that informs and focuses educators and advocacy groups on the serious challenges that immigrant students and their families face in gaining access to a higher education.

     The inability of lawmakers to find workable policy consensus on the complex issue of immigration has been tragic; keeping very talented young people from enrolling in postsecondary education in the United States. As educators, if we fail to discuss and address this issue, our biggest failure will be the continual denial of college access to capable and qualified students. These young people need the chance to succeed and a college education would give them this opportunity.

     The heart of this intended effort is to stimulate a national conversation with educators on the opportunities and challenges inherent in the issue of immigration. This work began with an invited conference at the University of Michigan in June 2007 and this gave rise to the development of a potentially powerful network of well situated educators and advocates across the United States. We now seek to extend this network and establish a strategic agenda for institutions of higher education.

     The Cal State Fullerton conference is the second in a minimum of five national conferences over the next 18-24 months in states identified as having a significant stake in issues of immigration. These conferences will further a national dialogue in one of the most impacted regions with regard to immigration and access to higher education. The conferences are aimed at strengthening the knowledge base among educators about the intersecting issues of immigration and educational access, and on setting strategic policies regarding educational access within institutions and across the states.

     By engaging college presidents, community leaders, state higher education officers, legislators, students and researchers, the proposed conferences will have the potential to:

  1. Build a common foundation of our current knowledge on immigration and the social, cultural and economic impact it is having within and outside of the United States;
  2. Clarify and share information with policymakers and citizens on what is at stake for students, communities, higher education institutions, and society in the current immigration debate;
  3. Strengthen the connection between relevant research, institutional practice and policy;
  4. Form collaborative partnerships between policymakers, established and rising scholars, and grassroots organizations;
  5. Develop policy recommendations and organizational initiatives that address the challenges and the opportunities of the immigration issue at the national, state, institutional and community organization levels; and
  6. Create a sustainable working agenda and put into action participant recommendations that identify the roles and responsibilities of individuals and institutions that will continue to promote an understanding of and a strong commitment to immigrant communities.