CANYON, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — A West Texas A&M University professor of nursing was recently chosen to be a part of the fifth cohort of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ Leadership Academy/La Academia de Liderazgo.

Officials detailed that Dr. Priscella Correa, WT’s Baptist Community Services Professor of Nursing was one of 50 leaders from around the country who was named to the fellowship.

“Our leadership academy fellows have already proven the value of the Association’s efforts to increase diverse representation within the upper echelons of higher education by assuming top positions at colleges and universities across the nation,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “Students benefit from having leaders from a wide range of backgrounds, and this fifth and largest cohort to date, brings a range of professional and life experience that can meet the challenges of our multicultural institutions of higher education.”

Correa, along with previously announced WT first-gen student Juan Castaneda, will attend the “¡Adelante! Leadership Institute” at the 37th annual Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities conference from Oct. 28-30 in Chicago.

“It is a true honor to have been nominated and selected for this prestigious fellowship,” Correa said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to obtain specialized leadership training from influential leaders in higher education. Part of the fellowship will be implementing a project at WT that will allow me to apply the newly gained knowledge to serve WT and our students.”

According to HACU, fellows who attend the conference will take part in several leadership development activities to prepare for their leadership roles in different institutions of higher learning, “with an emphasis on Hispanic-Serving Institutions and emerging HSIs.”

Correa will participate in webinars and three seminars as part of her one-year fellowship program, according to officials.

WT noted that Correa is a registered nurse who joined the WT staff in 2012. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from WT and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 2020. She continues to conduct research in her fields of interest which include health promotion and the effect of chronic illness on the family structure and dynamic. She was also chosen for the 2022 cohort of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education’s Career and Leadership Development Institute.

Officials added that WT had been an official Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, meaning that at least 25% of the overall undergraduate population at the university was Hispanic. Overall enrollment of Hispanic students has grown 17.2% since 2016 and currently makes up 31.2% of WT’s overall student population.