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A Knowledge Center that Turns Research into Action

Everything we do at the Institute is centered on serving as a Knowledge Center for postsecondary education. Our work is grounded in research and focuses on identifying, supporting, and implementing the most promising evidence-based approaches to expand student access and educational excellence. We are committed to shaping the future of higher education to better serve more people.

Our Strategic Goals

  • Advance opportunity-centered postsecondary transformation
  • Strengthen leadership talent and knowledge networks
  • Design and guide strategic partnerships
  • Connect institutional integrity to national impact
  • Model reflective, relational, and impact-driven leadership

Multiple Paths for Driving Change

From building evidence for policies and practices to fostering collaboration among institutions, individuals, and other organizations, we are exploring a variety of ways to expand student success. The efforts of the Institute are focused in four key areas to ensure that evidence-based approaches are accessible across higher education nationwide.

Research and Knowledge Creation 

We actively pursue research and knowledge creation around the evidence-based practices Hispanic-Serving Institutions have used to expand opportunity and improve student success and social mobility.

Practical Application

We build on UTEP's long-standing success in integrating access and excellence and our ongoing research into efforts at other institutions to provide customizable capacity-building workshops and modular training to enhance student readiness and serving focus.

Community Building

We bring together researchers, educators, and leaders to share ideas, build connections, advance research, and apply their learnings about advancing student success. From our Shiloff Lecture series to regular scholarly convenings, our goal is to foster synergies, collaboration, and new research opportunities.

Systems Transformation

We leverage our research and shared expertise to build ecosystems, develop partnerships and advance policy-making on the local, state, and national levels to drive systems of change. Our work connects faculty and community partners with research and evidence-based approaches to facilitate deeper efforts to advance student success.

Join Us to Support Student Success

The Diana Natalicio Institute is leading the charge to integrate access and excellence throughout higher education. By strengthening educational institutions, developing leaders, and advancing research that produces actionable knowledge, we make it easier to become a student-serving campus.