CLAVE Doctoral Fellows Announced, Speak in Their Own Words About Their Doctoral Experience
The Centro de Excelencia at National Louis University serves as the hub for programs and initiatives that advance our work as a community and career focused Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).
CLAVE is an acronym for “Comunidades Latinas Académicas con Visión de Éxito,” [Latino Academic Communities with Vision of Success], and through its Graduate Student Institute, the Center seeks to increase the retention and graduation of Latinx graduate students. This work is supported by the Promoting Post baccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA) program, a grant from the Hispanic Serving Institutions Division of the Department of Education.
The CLAVE Doctoral Fellowship is a program within the CLAVE Graduate Institute designed to develop and support a network of promising Latinx doctoral scholars. They are awarded to Latinx doctoral students who demonstrate strong potential to become educators, leaders, and scholars at local, state, and national levels. The Fellowships provide financial assistance, individual and group mentoring, and opportunities to teach a graduate level course and/or participate in research in collaboration with a NLU faculty member.
The Centro de Excelencia is committed to continue to support the academic community as a whole, and these Fellows as they make their mark at National Louis University and in their communities.
We congratulate, and are proud to introduce, the inaugural 2020-2021 CLAVE Doctoral Fellows:
- Alma M. Vera, Teaching & Learning (Reading, Language, & Literacy)
- Alondra Medina-Reyes, Clinical Psychology
- Azalia Torres, Clinical Psychology
- Dora M. Guzman, Teaching & Learning (Reading, Language, & Literacy)
- Grisel M. Robles-Schrader, Community Psychology
- Guadalupe Barrios, Community Psychology
- Isabel Castro, Higher Education Leadership
- Luis Narvaez, Higher Education Leadership
- Stephanie Herrera, Higher Education Leadership
The Centro de Excelencia is now accepting applications for the 2021-2022 CLAVE Doctoral Fellowship program. The deadline for applications is May, 28, 2021. Please direct questions to CLAVEfellowship@nl.edu.
In Their Own Words: Testimonials from two CLAVE Doctoral Fellows on the significance of the CLAVE Doctoral Fellowship
Toni Carmichael, Teaching & Learning (Curriculum, Advocacy, & Policy)
It’s an honor to receive the inaugural CLAVE Doctoral Fellowship at National Louis University. National Louis University has an excellent reputation for providing opportunities for Latino students, which I am grateful for because I earned my Master’s Degree in Education at NLU in 2004. The CLAVE Doctoral Fellowship has supportive mentors with Dr. Quiroa, Dr. Viola, and Dr. Sahagún-Behena to direct the fellows in our quest to complete our doctoral dissertations and plan for the future as Latino/a/x educators and professionals. The CLAVE Doctoral Fellowship at National Louis University is aimed to provide a voice in the areas of study for Latino students. This opportunity to become a fellow at National Louis University will develop our Latino/a/x and diverse doctoral students like myself to demonstrate our potential to serve our fellow students by giving them a voice. This voice will give assistance to our future educators, leaders in the community, and develop our scholars at the local, state, and national levels. The Latino/a/x voices we empower in our students will be the springboard to fostering an environment where real changes can take place.
Azalia Torres - Clinical Psychology
Being a CLAVE Doctoral fellow has been an incredible opportunity. The mentoring support is truly a unique experience, and I am grateful for the support I have received from different National Louis CLAVE mentors. For example, we developed a personal logic model, which helped me understand how important it is to have a detailed plan for future goals. I was not aware of personal logic models, but this simple guide helped me become more aware of developing realistic goals, creating concrete plans, and putting those plans into action. Also, having a resource like writing support is an incredible tool to have as a graduate student. The workshops, seminars, and symposiums that were offered were great learning experiences. It is motivating to hear from Latinx professionals, their experiences, their fields of professions, and their knowledge. I want to emphasize the motivating factor because CLAVE has helped me visualize my goals as a professional, especially by meeting so many great Latinx professionals.
