Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlight: Catalina Carlos
Catalina Carlos is a long time Arizonan and proud alumni of the University of Arizona. Now the Director of Recruitment and Engagement for the College of Science, Carlos has over 10 years of experience as an advisor on equity, access, and inclusion in admissions at the U of A.
During her time as an undergraduate student, Carlos said she discovered an affinity for community development, service and professional development. She eventually returned to the University of Arizona, taking her first position in minority student recruitment in the Office of Admissions.
“I was focusing mainly at that time on the recruitment in Southern Arizona,” Carlos said. “Schools on the border, like Douglas, Nogales, Yuma. I started working a lot with Latino, Mexican American families, and that inspired me to get my Master's in Mexican American studies.”
Carlos was able to get a grant to help develop college going culture at Arizona schools where the majority of the students were either of low socioeconomic status or were part of an ethnic minority group. The university implemented college advisors to help students fill out applications for both college admissions and financial aid, and to help them through enrollment.
Since then Carlos has been a steadfast figure at the University, working in New Student Services and Student Success and Retention before joining the College of Science.
“I've only been here for a little bit, but it's been an amazing experience,” she said. “We have a great team of supportive individuals who really have the best interests in mind for our students.”
As the Director of Recruitment and Engagement for the College of Science, Carlos said her focus is connecting with the community of Tucson and southern Arizona.
“We are a land grant institution, and it's incredibly important for us to understand that we need to serve the people of Arizona,” Carlos said. “We know that there's a vast majority of ethnic minority people here, specifically the Mexican American population.”
One of the measures that Carlos wants to take towards further inclusivity is providing more language accessible information to families and students by creating a Spanish version of the College’s brochure.
“My goal is to translate it into Spanish and to share that out with more of the community here in southern Arizona, because a lot of our students' parents are only Spanish native speakers,” she said. “I speak from my own experience. My parents did not speak English, so all of the paperwork, all of the things that had to do with university, I had to translate for them, and I had to do it on my own. So I want parents to know that they're going to be involved in the process, and that we have the resources for them to be involved.”
To Catalina, the work of serving students and families is deeply personal.
“For me, it's not just recruiting the students. I don't want them to think ‘oh, they just want me to come in and I'm just a number.' I want them to know that we're recruiting them for a purpose, and that purpose is to continue their education and contribute to the world of science and the world around us,’” Carlos said. “You're going to be part of an entire group of people who absolutely want you here, who have done everything in their power to really make it a college where students feel like they can choose their own adventure and kind of create their experience to their needs, and that they will be supported, and that they will excel.”