Hispanic enrollment continues to rise – Hispanic enrollment at four-year institutions increased by 287% between 2000 and 2020. With that high level of demographic growth also comes rapid growth in Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). One CampusESP partner, Northern Arizona University (NAU), recently became an HSI in 2021. Currently, 26% of NAU’s undergraduate student population is Hispanic/Latino and 42% is first-generation. 

NAU prioritizes access and inclusion for all families, so providing content in Spanish in their family portal was imperative. NAU’s thoughtful and creative efforts to reach Spanish-speaking families are truly inspiring. We’re excited to showcase their top 3 tips to engage Spanish-speaking families with intention and honor NAU as our Q2 2023 ESP MVP!

Here are some key steps that NAU has taken to support Spanish-speaking families that can apply for any campus looking to expand their own strategy:

Tip #1: Welcome Spanish-speaking families to the campus community from the very start

Through CampusESP, new families receive a welcome email that invites them to join NAU’s family portal, also known as The Lumberjack Family Hub. NAU added two videos to their welcome email template – one video in English and the other in Spanish – that explain the essential role that families have and the benefits they can expect from the family portal. Even better? NAU’s President José Luis Cruz Rivera delivered the message!

“We wanted families to get a really warm welcome when they signed up and to know right away that it was a very inclusive space,” said Maggie Thom, NAU’s Program Director for FACTS (Family Access, Communication, Transition, and Support). “The best way to do that is to engage people in the language that they’re most comfortable with.”

NAU also promotes The Lumberjack Family Hub to families at events, such as campus visits and orientation. The team passes out flyers in both English and Spanish that include a QR code to register.

Tip #2: Make it easy for families to find resources in Spanish

NAU parents receive regular email newsletters that share information about important events, deadlines, and reminders to help their students stay on track. NAU added a unique campaign to their newsletter that directs Spanish-speaking families to specific communities in the family portal with content translated into Spanish. One community includes content relevant for prospective families, while the other one includes content for enrolled families. 

“Our main goal with these campaigns is to drive awareness of those communities available to families,” said Micheleen Pennington, Senior Community Program Coordinator at NAU. “By having those communities and content available, we are being more inclusive and creating a sense of belonging for families.”

Within 8 months, NAU has already published more than 50 posts in Spanish for enrolled families and more than 70 posts in Spanish for prospective families! Their Spanish-speaking families are also very engaged, with an average email open rate of 63% (10% higher than the overall average) and average click rate of 18% (14% higher than the overall average)! 

Additionally, NAU sends email announcements in Spanish to those who identify as a member of a Spanish-speaking family. Announcements help communicate important, timely messages to families such as FAFSA deadlines and orientation information. Similar to their email newsletters, NAU’s announcements consistently yield high engagement.

Tip #3: Collaborate with campus partners that are passionate about inclusivity and access

NAU’s goal is to have all content in the family portal translated into Spanish within the next year. The team devotes resources for a Spanish translator to help them achieve this goal. They also collaborate on content with other NAU staff members that speak Spanish from different departments, all the way up to NAU’s President. Letting campus partners know that they can share content in Spanish in The Lumberjack Family Hub has opened up a lot of new partnerships on campus.

“The engagement and responses that we’re getting from families – that gets people excited,” said Pennington. “We’re building a bigger team of advocates that care.” 

Clearly, NAU has already made a significant impact on their Spanish-speaking families. Fostering a culture of inclusion on campus and starting small can lead to big results.

“Five years ago, we only had one printed piece that was bilingual.” said Anika Olsen, VP of Enrollment Management at NAU. “My advice to institutions that are just getting started with engaging Spanish-speaking families would be to start small. If you socialize around campus and communicate that something is a priority, people will step up to help.”

Congratulations (y felicidades) to the NAU team!