Program Demographics, Student Recruitment and Selection Guidelines as Proposed by Colorado MESA

Program Demographics

The primary target audience for Colorado MESA is historically underrepresented (African American, Native American, Hispanic/Latino and Women) and economically disadvantaged students. The demographics for a school’s MESA program should equal 60% minority or be reflective of the school demographics, whichever is higher.

One of Colorado MESA’s objectives is to ensure that all our schools strive to reach the program demographics with the assistance of the statewide office. Our staff will work with you as an advisor to assist in these efforts.

Student Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment and retention of students is crucial to the success of the MESA program. It is important for MESA advisors to understand that many ethnic minority students respond differently to outreach and recruitment. Simply announcing the MESA meeting time and location is not a sufficient recruitment effort. Successful minority recruitment means that additional forms of outreach must be undertaken.

Recommended Recruitment Steps

Below are a few recommended steps to following when recruiting new students for the MESA program:

Acquire a listing of all prior “veteran” MESA students that are attending your school. Contact these MESA students at the beginning of each school year.
Request that the math and science faculty recommend students from their classes that meet the general MESA guidelines and who are from under represented minority groups as potential MESA students. Written invitations should be sent to the selected students followed by a phone call or a personal invitation. Your “veteran” MESA members can help with this recruitment effort.
Schedule a meeting with the MESA students at the beginning of the fall semester. Preferably within the first few weeks of the new semester.