The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has announced the second cohort of the Visioning, Organizing, Leading and Advancing the Research Enterprise (VOLARÉ) Institute, which supports capacity-building for innovative research at Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). 25 institutions have been selected to begin the yearlong VOLARÉ Institute this fall.

The Institute will broaden participation in STEM and cultivate a new research workforce at IHEs, leveraging the Association’s network to provide accessible tools and information for a robust and inclusive national research system. The VOLARÉ Institute focuses on the pre-award period with the goal of catalyzing research enterprise, bringing together faculty and staff from the selected institutions to engage in a series of research capacity-building activities to enhance skills and each institution’s ability to compete for funding.

The selected institutions for the second cohort of the VOLARÉ Institute are:

Ana G. Mendez University
Caldwell University
California State University, Bakersfield
California State University, San Bernardino
Central New Mexico Community College
Dominican University
Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, CUNY
Felician University
Lewis University
Marymount University
Mercy University
North Central College
Northeastern Illinois University
Northwest Vista College
Saint Peter’s University
San Antonio College
Seminole State College of Florida
Southern Oregon University
St. Thomas University
The University of Northern Colorado
University of New Mexico, Taos
University of Southern Indiana
University of the Incarnate Word
Valparaiso University
Yavapai College

The VOLARÉ Institute project, led by Oralia De los Reyes, Ph.D., assistant vice president of programs and services at HACU, aims to establish VOLARÉ Institutes, a series of research capacity building institutes for IHEs, encompassing three cohorts of institutions over three years. Each Institute will span a yearlong program of activities. The VOLARÉ Institutes will train a new research workforce at IHEs in a deliberate and systematic way by offering accessible and actionable information and tools to build a strong and inclusive national research system.

The VOLARÉ Institute is made possible by a grant funded by the National Science Foundation Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity initiative.