Centering Student Voices: Expanding on Servingness Indicators at a Fronterizx Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI)

Abstract

This paper contributes to the emerging scholarly conversation of context-specific servingness research that highlights the voices of students. Specifically, this paper focuses on 14 undergraduate and graduate students’ understandings and experiences concerning servingness at their local setting, a fronterizx Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Our findings suggest that location plays a vital role in how undergraduate and graduate students understand and experience servingness. Moreover, indicators of servingness at a fronterizx HSI call for: understanding border commuting and intersectionality as core features of servingness; acknowledging dynamic languaging practices of the fronterizx community; and transforming higher education through greater representation of the border culture.

Introduction

As members of the fastest growing population in the United States, Latinx students are entering higher education—especially Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs)—at increasingly high rates (MC Staff, 2022). Approximately 65% of all Latinx students are enrolled in HSIs. The HSI designation is a federal construct established in 1992 as a response to Latinx advocacy, and denotes not-for-profit, 2- or 4-year degree granting institutions that enroll a minimum 25% Latinx undergraduate students (U.S. Department of Education, 1992; Valdez, 2015). As this threshold is used in varied efforts and initiatives by different HSIs, there are different interpretations about what “serving” entails (Santiago et al., 2016), making it difficult to arrive at a single, comprehensible definition of what “servingness” means. As such, HSIs may simply enroll, rather than truly serve Latinx students (G. A. Garcia, 2017, 2019; G. A. Garcia et al., 2019). Further challenges arise in conceptualizing servingness due to HSIs variation in type, funding, mechanisms, and geography (Núñez et al., 2016).

As a response to such complexities, a growing body of research draws on the multidimensional conceptual framework of servingness (G. A.Garcia et al., 2019) to explore what it means to serve in the context of the HSI. G. A. Garcia et al.’s (2019) framework, which is broadly intended to inform research, policy, and practice, identifies outcomes, experiences, and structures that influence serving. Outcomes refer to academic indicators (e.g., GPA, retention, completion) as well as non-academic indicators (e.g., agency, leadership, community engagement). Experiences represent indicators of validation (e.g., cultural validation on campus, Spanish-speaking staff, students, faculty), and/or indicators of invalidation like racialized experiences, involving systemic forms of oppression. Structures are organizational features of the HSI that support Latinx student success (e.g., mission, HSI funding, engagement with the community, culturally relevant pedagogy). Structures can also be external and include federal, state, and local legislation, as well as White supremacy. White supremacy is included as an external structure as it underpins the broader sociopolitical, historical, and policy environments in which HSIs operate. Even when policies or practices appear “neutral,” they are often rooted in (or constrained by) norms that privilege whiteness. This shapes how institutions access funding, design programs, and measure outcomes.

The primary focus of G. A. Garcia et al.’s (2019) framework is on structures and indicators of servingness that foster robust and meaningful academic and non-academic outcomes among Latinx students. Consequently, the student is frequently the unit of analysis in research around servingness (Cuellar, 2015; G. A.Garcia & Cuellar, 2023; G. A.Garcia et al., 2019). Building on this work, a growing body of literature centers student voices to better understand the significance of servingness from student perspectives and experiences (Cano Matute et al., 2024; Cristobal & Garcia, 2022; G. A. Garcia & Zaragoza, 2020; Hug et al., 2021). Growth in the literature also points to intersectional servingness (Herrera et al., 2022; Hora et al., 2022; R. M. López et al., 2022; Núñez, 2014). Rooted in intersectionality, or interlocking systems of oppression that constitute a complex structure of social inequality (Collins & Bilge, 2020), this body of research aims to attend to intersectional identities situated within broader historical contexts and power relations (G. A. Garcia & Cuellar, 2023). However, to date there is no literature that intentionally explores the place-based significance of the HSI to students’ meaning making and experiences of intersectional servingness.

As we argue elsewhere, context-based explorations of servingness recognize the salience of place to localized understandings and enactments of servingness (Convertino et al., 2025). Building on this work, the purpose of the paper is to explore a heterogeneous group of students’ place-based perspectives and experiences of servingness at an R-1 HSI on the U.S.-Mexico border, what we refer to as a fronterizx HSI (Convertino et al., 2025). In centering the voices of ethnically, racially, linguistically, and gender diverse undergraduate and graduate students from different fields of study at such R-1 fronterizx HSI, we make a unique and important contribution to the broader literature on servingness that brings to the fore student voices and the nuance of place. Specifically, this work extends our understanding of HSIs as situated, context-dependent spaces where students might share some overlap with Hispanic heritage as a whole but where that heritage is complemented by place-specific customs and student experiences. Further, by combining Anzaldúa’s (1987) border culture and O. Garcia’s (2009) dynamic bilingualism, we point to student experiences as concrete in their place-based influence (e.g., authorized border commuting), as well as complex and sometimes less tangible in their hybridity and third-space nature (e.g., the acceptance of ubiquitous yet seamless translanguaging practices of students). It is crucial for more scholarship to inquire further into the localized practices that make servingness unique in different HSI contexts to continue to gain an understanding of best servingness practices applicable to all/most and those applicable to specific contexts.

In the following section, we provide an overview of relevant literature on student voices, languaging, geographical diversity, and cultural representation. We then present our theoretical framework which combines Anzaldúa’s (1987) notion of border culture and O. Garcia’s (2009) understanding of dynamic bilingualism. Following, we discuss our research methods and findings. We conclude with a discussion that includes implications for research and practice.

Literature Review

To situate our study, we provide an overview of the growing body of research that acknowledges the voices of students, particularly at HSIs. This work includes scholarship on the experiences of Latinx students at HSIs situated in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.

Latinx Student Voices Traversing the Higher Education Pipeline at HSIs

Scholarly work foregrounding the voices of Latinx students at HSIs in the borderlands emphasizes some of the challenges and supports Latinx students face in states like California, New Mexico, and Texas. Challenges include tensions between balancing family responsibilities and educational demands. Supports include sharing common experiences with other Latinx students and professors who demonstrate an ethic of care regardless of their ethnic or racial backgrounds (Dayton et al., 2004).

Servingness scholarship that foregrounds student voices interrogates how institutional practices shape Latinx student experiences. J. V. Lopez and Garcia’s (2025) photovoice study demonstrates that inclusive spaces, supportive relationships, and safe environments are not merely additive features of campus life but central mechanisms through which servingness is enacted. By privileging visual and narrative methods, their work underscores the affective dimensions of belonging, suggesting that institutional support must extend beyond academic scaffolding to encompass holistic well-being.

Similarly, Cano Matute et al. (2024) highlight the concept of entradas—social, academic, and physical entry points—as critical pathways into university life. Their findings complicate traditional notions of access by showing that student success is mediated through ongoing, relational processes rather than discrete institutional interventions. The emphasis on kinship and collective navigation reframes servingness as a dynamic, communal practice rather than a static set of services.

Taken together, these studies advance the discourse by centering Latinx student perspectives, yet they also reveal a notable gap: both analyses privilege institutional initiatives and relational experiences without fully interrogating the role of place. The spatial and geographic dimensions of servingness—how campus location, community context, and regional dynamics shape student belonging—remain underexplored. This omission is significant, as place not only structures access to resources but also mediates the cultural and political forces that define HSIs. Future research must therefore move beyond institutional programming to critically examine how spatiality and context intersect with servingness, thereby offering a more comprehensive account of Latinx student trajectories in higher education.

HSIs in the U.S.-Mexico Border

A small body of literature discusses the voices of Latinx students and their challenges overcoming institutional barriers at two border-based HSIs. R. Lopez et al.’s (2024) mixed-methods study illustrates how students mobilize their voices and identities to confront entrenched discrimination. By framing lived experience as a counter-narrative to racialized practices, the study positions Latinx students not only as recipients of institutional support but as active agents reshaping the meaning of servingness. This emphasis on resistance highlights the political dimensions of belonging, suggesting that servingness must be understood as a contested process rather than a static institutional designation.

Medina and Posadas (2012) similarly foreground student voices, but their focus on campus climate and retention reveals a different dimension of servingness: the relational and cultural infrastructure that sustains persistence. Their findings on the importance of Latinx peers, faculty, and mentors point to the necessity of culturally responsive advising and curricula. Yet, by privileging interpersonal and curricular interventions, the study risks framing servingness as primarily internal to the institution, overlooking how external contexts—such as regional demographics or border politics—shape student experiences.

Both studies advance the literature by situating Latinx students as central to defining and contesting servingness. However, their localized findings remain bounded by institutional frames, leaving the role of place underexplored. The border context, with its unique sociopolitical and cultural dynamics, is not merely a backdrop but a constitutive force in shaping perceptions of climate, belonging, and discrimination. The absence of a spatial analysis limits the explanatory power of these studies, pointing to the need for future research that interrogates how geography and borderland identity intersect with institutional practices of servingness. Notably, one study on languaging at HSIs does address the role of place.

Languaging Within HSIs

Scholarly discussion also addresses how different types of HSIs embrace bilingualism. Alfaro and Barton (2024) depict how a southwestern HSI at the U.S.-Mexico border embraces and enhances bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism. They explicitly focus on how the university implemented its own Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) program in efforts to align with the language and cultural experiences of its students. Moreover, their work sheds light on linguistic and cultural initiatives (e.g., bilingual teacher preparation and international health partnerships in Spanish) that support how Latinx students feel seen, honored, and celebrated through their bilingual and bicultural identities, in addition to deepening Latinx students’ linguistic capital in various Spanish language domains. This study represents a more specifically place-based contribution by showing how the institution sought to mirror the community’s bilingual practices in its own policies and programs.

Cultural Representation and Compositional Diversity at HSIs

Mirroring community practices entails adopting the nuances of the local Hispanic culture. To do this, institutions must seek to understand how the local community (whether within or outside of the institution) enacts a culture through language, heritage, and customs. In the context of the border, this means giving space for the specific kind of Spanish that characterizes the borderlands and bringing it into institutional structures, experiences, and practices as needed. Mirroring can also be visible in efforts toward representation and compositional diversity within institutions, such as working to understand the diversity (ethnic, linguistic, cultural) within the Hispanic umbrella at an institution and to reflect differences within that larger umbrella (e.g., acknowledging the complexity of a heterogeneous group with indigenous, European, and African heritages).

McNaughtan and Lujan (2024), for instance, argued for augmented representation and exemplifying servingness within structures and decision-making bodies. This, they propose, is central to the framing of Latinx student support throughout HSIs, in conjunction with empowerment of marginalized faculty and staff. Augmenting representation may also help in viewing diverse faculty members as role models for their students, more so in under-represented fields such as STEM (Mitchneck et al., 2023). It may also help further understand the culture of an HSI’s students, their families, and their communities (McNaughtan & Lujan, 2024). Moreover, Latinx students express greater mentoring relationships with faculty who share similar cultural and linguistic backgrounds and generally appreciate greater Latinx representation in higher administrative positions (Preuss et al., 2020).

In sum, the literature around Latinx student voices within HSIs discusses the challenges that students face in navigating higher education pathways. Their voces express the myriad trials they encounter and their call for adjustments and supports from their institutions. Greater support translates not only into a more critical mindset, but also into developing a more welcoming environment that intentionally mirrors cultural values and is centered on nurturing personal and professional growth. Additionally, language support and increased representation in faculty and administrative positions may promote greater student empowerment and appreciation of their identities. This literature can be further exploited and enriched through a place-based approach, through continuing to center the voices of students with regards to their experiences and perspectives around servingness at their institutions(s).

Theoretical Framework

To explore the place-based meanings and experiences of servingness among a heterogenous group of students at a fronterizx HSI, we draw on two theoretical lenses: border culture (Anzaldúa, 1987) and dynamic bilingualism (Flores & Schissel, 2014; O. Garcia, 2009, 2014). The intersection of these two lenses offers a unique opportunity to leverage place and linguistic diversity as assets.

Border culture stems from Anzaldúa’s (1987) foundational work, Borderlands/La Frontera in which she wrote and theorized extensively on hybrid identities and cultural mestizaje [hybridization] at the intersection of the physical and imagined borderlands. This work rooted in the lived experiences of borderland dwellers provides an alternative set of assumptions about what constitutes knowledge and reality. Border culture represents meaning-making which transcends dualities as reflected in the liminal third space of the physical borderlands, where two countries merge to form a third country. In this liminal third space, aspects such as Cultural and languaging practices, economies, kinship networks, environmental concerns, and education converge so that social life and social relations in formal and informal settings are not split into an “us” and “them” duality. Rather, the emphasis is on interconnectedness, mutuality, and interdependence. Border culture offered us an asset-based lens through which we understood student participants’ articulation of the borderlands as inextricably linked to what it means to serve at a fronterizx HSI. Moreover, our use of border culture seeks to contribute to the limited literature that draws upon Anzaldúa’s theorizing of borderland to make sense of servingness in the context of a fronterizx HSIs. Villarreal (2022), for instance, used the theory of borderlands (Anzaldúa, 1987) to explore scales of HSI consciousness in decision making related to faculty hiring. In so doing, she points to the significance of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in shaping how servingness was understood and enacted in faculty hiring.

We also drew on dynamic bilingualism as an additional theoretical asset-based lens. This is because languaging practices specific to the borderlands’ context emerged as a critical feature of servingness for student participants. Dynamic bilingualism refers to a model of bilingualism that reflects the linguistic complexity of the 21st century in which the binary categories of first language (L1) and second language (L2) are no longer viewed through the lens of monolingualism as two discrete and separate languages, rather languages are understood as interdependent and their use is mixed (Flores & Schissel, 2014). Translanguing is the achievement of dynamic bilingualism, which, like border culture, transforms opposing dualities to afford alternative language practices and identities (O. García & Wei, 2014). It represents an asset-based lens through which to not only understand how servingness is connected with the languaging practices of borderland dwellers, but also to decolonize language use in higher education (Cervantes-Soon & Carrillo, 2016).

Taken together, border culture and dynamic bilingualism allowed us to understand student place-based experiences of servingness through their cultural and linguistic assets, challenging ideologies of “objectivity, meritocracy, colorblindness, race neutrality, and equal opportunity” (Yosso & Solorzano, 2005, p. 122) embedded in traditional models of higher education. More specifically, these frameworks helped us to identify indicators and structures of servingness that students highlighted as meaningful evidence of what it means to serve at a fronterizx HSI.

Methodology

Context and Participants

This study took place at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), a public Hispanic-serving R1 university situated at the furthest western point in Texas. This region has the lowest median income of approximately $75,000 in Texas, and $55,000 in the region (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board [THECB], 2011), and is characterized by its rich cultural heritage, largely shaped by Mexican-American traditions and a long history of cross-border interactions. Around 5% (1,250) of UTEP students are border commuters. Many students who engage in habitual border crossings are U.S. citizens with Mexican ethnic backgrounds (Falcón Orta & Orta Falcón, 2018) or are authorized border commuters under an eligible student VISA status (i.e., F1 student VISA).

In 1980, UTEP administration sought to transform the public university to reflect the bilingual, bi-cultural, and bi-national borderland population it served (Ullman et al., 2021). In 1992, UTEP was officially designated an HSI, although in terms of enrollment it had reflected one for over a decade. As of 2024, total student enrollment stood at 25,039, including 88% (18,640) Latinx undergraduate students, 66% (2,124) Latinx graduate students, 23% (5,758) Latinx first-generation undergraduate students, and 28% (901) Latinx first-generation graduate students. Approximately 59% (12,497) received economic support through the Pell Grant; thus, highlighting the economic challenges many of them face.

This paper analyzes data from 14 students (six undergraduate and eight graduate). Self-identified student participants included: five Latinas, six Latinos, one White Indian woman, one White woman, and one White man. Their majors ranged among mathematical sciences, liberal arts, health sciences, music, computer science, geological sciences, engineering, education, social work, physics, chemistry, political science, and marketing.

Research Methods

As part of a larger exploratory mixed-methods study, this paper analyzes data from qualitative interviews to shed light on the under-explored meaning and practices of servingness at a fronterizx HSI. The overarching purpose of the larger study, which included a survey, interviews, and collection of artifacts was to identify concrete indicators of servingness from the perspectives of students and faculty at a fronterizx HSI. The electronically administered survey was emailed to all faculty and students who were 18 years or older at the time of the study and included a link to an approved Human Subjects consent form and a space to indicate interest in participating in an interview. The objective of the interview was for greater depth of understanding around faculty and students’ place-based perceptions and experiences of servingness in the context of the fronterizx HSI. The research questions guiding the analysis in this paper were:

1. How do UTEP students understand and experience “servingness” both personally and with respect to the institution as a designated HSI?

2. How does the location of UTEP on the U.S.-Mexico border intersect with student perceptions and experiences of servingness?

Due to our interest in understanding the context-specific meanings and experiences of servingness among students, semi-structured interview questions asked participants to talk about their lived experiences and personal perceptions of servingness in the context of UTEP as well as in relationship to the surrounding borderland region. Examples of sample interview questions included: In your role at the fronterizx HSI, how are you supported to fulfill servingness? What needs to happen for servingness to be a core feature of the HSI? In what ways is servingness a part of programs, services, curriculum? What role do you think servingness plays in relationship to the borderland community? Interviews, which were conducted via Zoom in both English and Spanish, lasted between 30 and 45 min, were audio recorded, and were manually transcribed for purposes of data analysis. All participants were given a pseudonym to protect their identity. We chose to focus our analysis on the interview data because of the richness and detail of this data source. More specifically, the interview data allowed us to listen to the students at the HSI and to center their voces in our analysis.

Data Analysis

In keeping with our qualitative methodology, data analysis was inductive and comparative (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Thus, we engaged in an iterative process of moving back and forth between data and theory, and description and interpretation to make sense of the data. To do this, the interviews were transcribed verbatim by the first author. Following, the four authors read all interview transcripts. We then divided the transcribed interviews to conduct two rounds of manual coding (Saldaña, 2009). In the first round of coding, we used open coding to identify topic codes. Some of the initial codes were community, border, resources, language, validation, student support, barriers.

Prior to the second round of coding, we met to discuss and compare initial codes. During our discussion, we noted an emphasis on the border, language, and the community. Next, we conducted focused coding to reduce and refine initial codes. We did this by re-reading and re-coding the same set of interview transcripts, paying particular attention to how the location of the HSI at the U.S.-Mexico border shaped student perceptions and experiences around servingness. Following, we met several times to discuss focused codes. We agreed that the patterns in coded student data were around language use, border crossing, lived cultural practices, intersectional identities, support, and resources. During these discussions, we considered how the codes were similar and different from indicators and structures of servingness in the multidimensional conceptual framework.

To further develop our codes into themes, we also discussed frameworks that had theorized complex and dynamic language use as well as salience of the border to the lived experiences of borderland dwellers. Ultimately, we drew on dynamic bilingualism and border culture because those theoretical lenses helped us to re-frame the lived experiences of Latinx students and communities as assets connected to the U.S.-Mexico border, and, in turn, to transform higher education to be culturally and linguistically responsive to borderland students and communities. As these findings are qualitative in nature and are not generalizable, they seek to contribute to the research and practice of servingness at fronterizx HSIs.

Positionality

As faculty and student members of the fronterizx HSI, we are deeply immersed in the institutional and regional context. The first author is of Mexican descent and has engaged in ongoing migration between the United States and Mexico since an early age. The second author is of Irish-settler descent and grew up at the northeastern U.S.-Canada border but has lived in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands for her entire adult life. The third author is also of Mexican descent and grew up in the borderlands. The fourth author is also of Mexican descent and is a first-generation immigrant. This intimate familiarity afforded us with context-specific knowledge to recognize the salience of place to the fronterizx HSI and to place-based instantiations of servingness. Our familiarity, appreciation, respect, and discernment for the region come from our different but shared histories of living at the U.S.-Mexico border. These experiences are essential since we framed our study around an interpretive paradigm (Denzin & Lincoln, 2013). Our positionalities are also informed by an equity-oriented commitment to conduct research that can drive meaningful efforts to transform higher education. In total, we considered both emic (insider) and etic (outsider) perspectives as derived from our experiences to identify omissions and inconsistencies to contribute to the robustness of this study.

Findings

The findings that follow illustrate ways in which UTEP’s location on the U.S.-Mexico border plays a significant role in how student participants understand and experience servingness. These findings build on the existing literature to center student voices to expand our understanding of meaningful indicators and structures of servingness at a fronterizx HSI.

Border Commuting and Intersectionality: Servingness at this Fronterizx HSI

Authorized border commuting is a routine quotidian practice that is a significant part of border culture. Border commuting refers to authorized border crossing, which occurs for a variety of reasons (e.g., education, employment, shopping, visiting family, etc.). The significance of border commuting to servingness is specific to fronterizx HSIs where a percentage of the total student body includes transfronterizx students. To illustrate, Carolina, a Latinx female, graduate student in the college of liberal arts, reflected on the location of UTEP and its accessibility for transfronterizx students. She expressed:

[B]ecause of its accessibility, I can continue living in Mexico and come to study here, and not spend on rent in dollars, (. . .) that itself is of great help. [I]t’s [UTEP] not only on the border, but also very close to the bridge. You can arrive with one bus ride, you don’t need to have a car, you don’t need to pay Uber, it’s very easy to get there. [I] think that is very important because many of us Juarenses come here for school.

Carolina’s response highlights how place-based structures of servingness (i.e., the accessible location of the university) are inscribed in the hybridity and fluidity of the back-and-forth movement of students to access higher education. This points to the location of UTEP as strategic, what we would qualify as an internal structure of servingness. Ezequiel, a Latinx graduate male student in mathematical sciences, shared a similar perspective, and mentioned:

The location is very strategic, because they’re [international students from Ciudad Juarez] given that opportunity to live there [Ciudad Juarez] and come to school here [UTEP], and reduce costs of living while doing that. (. . .) [T]he good thing about UTEP is the effort that they put into reducing the tuition costs compared to other universities, (. . .) the opportunities to get a fellowship or a scholarship are there, even for international students, (. . .) also helping them to get to the end, with all the help that we can get as students, even coming from the other side of the border. [I]t’s very motivational to see that (. . .) they give us a lot of options to get an education.

Both Ezequiel and Carolina’s perspectives view the location of UTEP as assisting transfronterizx students with lowered expenses, in addition to assistantships and reduced costs for tuition. Ezequiel further emphasized how crucial it is for UTEP to understand the assets of its students as well as the historical background of the borderland region to construct relevant asset-based responses to the challenges that traditional models of higher education pose to the changing demographic of post-traditional college students. He mentioned:

[I] think it’s more about understanding the background of each student, (. . .) a lot of undergrad students, they’re first generation going through college, so it’s a lot of uncertainty in their journey, (. . .) they don’t have the coaching, the advising from their parents because they never experienced that before, they have to rely on you, on me, on those faculty and staff on campus. (. . .) I think we can do our best in helping them, understanding where they’re coming from, and offer all the tools that they need as much as we can, (. . .) to listen to them.

As Ezequiel expressed, many students face a number of complexities due to the vast responsibilities beyond those related merely to education. Similarly, Laura, a Latinx female, graduate student in the college of liberal arts, expressed that servingness ought to respond to the place-based, intersectional realities of post-traditional student lives that are inseparable from the borderland context.

[T]here’s other factors besides academic ones that impact our community, and that include financial wellbeing, transportation, having access to childcare, or if you’re responsible for a parent. There’s students that have to cross the border and make this huge commute every day to school, and that’s time-consuming and difficult. (. . .) There’s so many more factors, (. . .) mental and physical health, food security, mentorship is huge too. Our population requires this relationship in helping those students through.

For Laura, servingness in the context of the fronterizx HSI should respond to the intersectional needs of its diverse student population, as their lived realities and responsibilities may be different from post-traditional students. As such, an intersectional approach to servingness would entail a greater understanding and appreciation of the complex lives of students at a fronterizx HSI, and would include multiple, complementary structures and indicators of servingness that provide access, affordability, mobility, and recognition of students’ myriad of cross-border challenges.

Lastly, Joaquin, a Latinx male, graduate student in political science, recalled an experience in which the border “closed,” impacting transfronterizx students. He recalled:

[I] remember during my undergrad, when the U.S. administration was trying to close off borders, (. . .) a lot of students that live in Juarez weren’t able to come, because the wait times were just insane. (. . .) [T]hey sent out a message to the professors, these students weren’t able to make it today, you can’t hold it against them, and they provided a place for students who couldn’t return because they were afraid of the wait times, to stay.

Delays at various ports of entry are an ongoing reality for transfronterizx students, with some students spending up to 3 or 4 hr in line to cross. The hardship that is involved in daily border crossing cannot be overstated. For this reason, student participants consistently highlighted that acknowledgement and accommodations to course policies for delays because of border commuting represented a critical indicator of servingness on the part of administration and faculty at a fronterzix HSI.

Dynamic Languaging: Expanding Conceptualizations of Servingness

Students also described indicators and structures of servingness that reflected dynamic languaging, stemming from the habitual languaging practices that occur within the borderland community, what we refer to as borderland languaging (Author). For instance, Yesenia, a Latinx female, graduate student in geological sciences, highlighted how UTEP acknowledges the linguistic practices of the community. About this, she shared:

[I] think that it would be good for parents and students to know that there’s an institution that does its best, and they care particularly for the student. We have professors that not only talk to you in English, they can talk to you in Spanish, listen to you in Spanish. We have a lot of professors that speak Spanish, and that is such a blessing to have, (. . .) and I think we can always share that with the community outside the campus, that we do have resources in English or Spanish to help our community.

As Yesenia noted, an asset-based approach to dynamic bilingualism represents servingness because it mirrors community-based languaging practices. Similarly, Ivan, a Latinx male, undergraduate student in engineering, described servingness in terms of place-based internal structures and validating experiences that are culturally and linguistically responsive to border culture. He explained:

[I] think it’s doing a good job, UTEP itself is trying to advocate towards the Hispanic community, and it’s doing it not only in English, but also in Spanish, the predominant language that Hispanic people use, especially people across the border. It’s very good that the university is able to communicate information in both languages. (. . .) I really enjoy looking at information and reading it in Spanish. (. . .) I feel like a lot of students would enjoy that comfort or feel more encouraged towards looking at information in their language, as well as to see that their heritage, their ethnicity, their background, it’s welcome among the university.

Ivan’s comments help exemplify the fronterizx HSI as a third space wherein indicators and structures of servingness reflect the cultural and linguistic practices of the borderland community to connect the fronterizx HSI with students and communities on both sides of the border, and to encourage students’ academic outcomes while fostering social responsibility on the part of the institution to the surrounding community. Alejandra, a Latinx female, undergraduate student in education, echoed Ivan, reinforcing the significance of dynamic languaging to student learning. She expressed:

[I] have two or three classes, we speak Spanish, or we can do English. (. . .) My first language is Spanish. We’re working in English and Spanish, so I think it’s good. They give you the privilege or the freedom to either/or, or to turn in your assignments in English or Spanish. I have maybe three or four classes with professors that are bilingual.

As Alejandra noted, her dynamic languaging practices are validated in her courses. Viridiana, a Latinx female, graduate student in education, offered an additional perspective regarding the place-based significance of dynamic languaging to servingness at a fronterizx HSI. She suggested:

I think a lot of professors that come here are imported from other parts of the world, from other parts of the nation, (. . .) I feel like they could get more out of the city if there was an incentive to learn Spanish. I know a lot of my professors have taken time out of their roles to learn the language, the border language. They try, I feel like because they want to experience the fullness of this region and not just teach and be done. I feel it would be of great service if UTEP offered some kind of way to get people together and exchange cultural experiences, they can exchange the language. I think that would help new professors integrate a lot faster.

As Viridiana suggests, viewing languaging from a dynamic stance is an integral part of border culture, and in turn, dynamic languaging and border culture are integral parts of what it means to serve at a fronterizx HSI.

As these data demonstrate, students connected dynamic languaging with indicators and structures of servingness at a fronterizx HSI. In this sense, an asset-based, dynamic approach to languaging rooted in an understanding of its significance to border culture represents an important expansion of how servingness is conceptualized and enacted at a fronterizx HSI.

Border Culture and Representation: Transforming Higher Education

Understanding and experiencing servingness at the intersection of the HSI and border culture encourages students to imagine future representations of themselves. For example, Adriana, a Latinx female graduate student in science, described how she viewed her ethnic and linguistic identity reflected in leadership throughout UTEP. She mentioned:

[I] see leadership that reflects my identity, (. . .) I see people that reflect my identity as well, making it through the educational pipeline, not just positions of power, but positions of opportunity as well.

For Adriana, seeing her ethnic identity represented in leadership inspired hope to successfully traverse the pipeline. She further expressed that representation at the leadership levels would increase community support and added: “we need to have our community support each other, (. . .) growing up looking at these leadership positions and our institutions, I can see if I am reflected in that. [I] think it’s a big part of that identity.” Hence, Adriana argued that having people that reflect her culture —border culture—in higher positions encourages a type of mutual or dialogic support.

Diego, a Latinx undergraduate, male student in mathematical sciences, echoed Adriana’s sentiments arguing that ethnic and linguistic representation is key to helping Latinx students enter and progress through the educational pipeline. He stated:

[H]aving a presence, for not just graduating seniors or juniors, but having that presence that shows students or even older learners, non-traditional learners, being more seen in the region, so that people know this is accessible. This is part of my community, and I want to be part of that smaller sub-community because I see how much they’re doing for this whole region. I’ve seen it in a lot of ways, especially within my department, where they’re trying to serve the community more in very specific ways.

Both Adriana and Diego connected representation with the borderland region, and highlighted the significance of border culture and identities to what it means to serve in the context of a fronterizx HSI as well as the importance of Latinx student representation to the post-secondary aspirations of community members.

Laura, a Latinx female, graduate student in the college of liberal arts, highlighted how the institution advocates for the Hispanic student population. She commented:

[M]y experiences at UTEP, (. . .) I’ve seen a lot being put out. I see flyers out and about, helping to understand and also cross over the language barrier. I’ve also seen that they have Hispanic groups throughout campus, (. . .) they’re trying to get to, or bring out that Latinx generation, that inclusivity. (. . .) [I]t would be a lot of resources for help. If you need help or need someone to talk to, there’s other things out there for you.

Her perspective led her to imagine a greater linguistic landscape in which people like her feel welcome. Laura imagined not only representations of Hispanics, but also of their language. She acknowledged the linguistic resources available to help counter linguistic barriers towards the English language, which have thus far promoted an inclusive atmosphere that seeks to better incorporate the Latinx student population. Viridiana, a Latinx female, graduate student in education shared a similar perspective with Laura, suggesting that a few changes to the linguistic landscape would promote greater integration of Hispanic students. She mentioned:

[S]ignage in Spanish and English would be wonderful. I can imagine these kids going to a hall, nobody to talk to, and be reminded of the language, signs of it. (. . .) Professors, it would be great to see Hispanics teaching in Spanish, cause they have something to aspire to. It’s not this person from a different society or background telling them, teaching them, it’s maybe someone who understands a little bit more what they’ve gone through.

Viridiana believed that not only would a linguistic landscape help integrate Latinx students, but also having other Hispanic professors implementing the local languaging practices as well. She further suggested that other faculty may also benefit from such practices, and added:

[H]aving faculty learning from that, having them talk to other faculty members, and then kind of get to that communication line of things, (. . .) if you have 25% Hispanics, you should have 25% [Hispanic] faculty teaching. It makes sense. Otherwise it’s unbalanced, like a minority.

Viridiana further acknowledged the threshold for the HSI designation and advocated for greater Hispanic professor representation to resemble that of the students. Hence, students connected ethnic and linguistic representation in higher education with place-based aspects of the surrounding borderland region to signal indicators and structures to expand servingness and to transform higher education. Related, students continuously pointed to the significance of language to the educational advancement of the community.

Discussion

While HSIs are primed to enhance educational opportunities for Latinx and other minoritized populations, they are still learning how to best serve students who have been (and may continue to be) underserved in higher education (G. A.Garcia & Cuellar, 2023). By centering the voces of students, the findings from this paper extend the conversation on servingness and place-based features of servingness in the context of a fronterizx HSI (Author; Barraza, 2024; Villarreal, 2022). Interviews with 14 undergraduate and graduate students at a fronterizx HSI identified three themes regarding student perceptions of servingness: border commuting and intersectionality: servingness at the fronterizx HSI; dynamic languaging: expanding conceptualizations of servingness; and border culture and representation: transforming higher education. At the core of the experiences and perspectives voiced by the participants was the place-based nature of the HSI and its physical and geographic location at the border, as well as the institution’s commitment to serving the broader community and region. These indicators were both existing (i.e., border commuting and intersectionality, dynamic languaging) and aspirational (i.e., border culture and representation). Specifically, student perspectives and experiences of servingness not only reflected responsive practices that considered their setting, their culture, and their languaging practices, but also elevated their voices as a call for action and supports to promote richer learning environments and a smoother navigation of the higher education pipeline.

In our first finding, the built environment of the border, bridges, crossing, and transportation, intersected with what servingness means in the domain of the physical U.S.-Mexico borderland. Authorized border crossing is a habitual practice which greatly impacts servingness at fronterizx HSIs. Hence, place-based, internal structures of servingness closely tie to servingness practices targeted towards regular border-commuter students. Students reflected on the proximity of the HSI to a port of entry, and how such accessibility fosters aspects such as mobility and affordability through a recognition of practices that transfronterizx students engage in (Author). An additional internal structure acknowledged by the students was the affordability of tuition costs, which allow routine border commuters to pay in-state tuition, despite living “on the other side” of the border. Closely related, the participants appreciated the acknowledgement of their post-traditional lives and responsibilities from their professors and other stakeholders. Moreover, a shared consciousness of the reality of transfronterizx students promoted a smoother navigation of their lives continuously traversing the border (Cristobal & Garcia, 2022) through challenging minoritizing practices at fronterizx HSI (R. Lopez et al., 2024). The participants also raised their voices as a call for their institution to respond to their intersectional needs, realities, and responsibilities, which when considered, may translate into greater overall well-being for Latinx students traversing higher education (J. V. Lopez & Garcia, 2025).

Students also pointed to existing and aspirational indicators and structures of servingness that responded to their languaging practices and those of the broader region. Students expressed the acknowledgment of their linguistic capital and practices by their professors and scholar community. This was done so from an asset-based perspective, which informed a responsive stance that encouraged students to engage in languaging practices within the scholar domain as mirrored by those that occur among their families and broader communities. This translated into a greater appreciation towards honoring their languaging practices (Alfaro & Barton, 2024). Moreover, students also acknowledged and appreciated the investment of their professors and other stakeholders towards the “language of the border”, or what we refer to as borderland languaging (Author). As such, dynamic languaging connects with place- and asset-based approaches to language practices nested in an appreciation of its relevance to the border culture.

Lastly, student participants reflected on the representation of the border culture in faculty and stakeholder positions. As such, one last contribution of this study hints to a transformation in higher education with regards to acknowledging servingness at the intersection of the HSI, place, and border culture. Such intersectedness not only fosters greater academic relationships but also allows students to envision future representations of themselves in both faculty and administrative positions. Although this indicator was mainly aspirational, representation of similar ethnic and linguistic identities encouraged hope and perseverance in not only entering but also navigating the higher education pipeline in a more positive manner (McNaughtan & Lujan, 2024). Simultaneously, these representations allow for an envisioned future in which cultural and linguistic traits are acknowledged, appreciated, and promoted within the institution, resulting in a more inclusive atmosphere for the Latinx student population.

Our findings reconsider G. A. Garcia et al.’s (2019) framework as we acknowledge the particularized conceptualizations of servingness with regard to transformed HSI designations (i.e., Chicana HSI, Afro HSI, Indigenous HSI, Boricua HSI, Fronterizo HSI, etc.; G. A. Garcia, 2023) to emphasize the cruciality of place at our particular fronterizx HSI. As such, our findings offer a contextual, place-based understanding of servingness that centers students’ voces and the significance of the frontera to build on existing conceptualizations of servingness. Servingness was strongly connected to place (Barraza, 2024; Villarreal, 2022), and entailed acknowledging how students are truly being served, as well as suggestions for expanding structures of servingness. In this sense, our findings extend servingness through the voices of students and their recognition of internal structures and validating experiences within the available structures of servingness at an HSI in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, and through ways in which servingness can be leveraged through acknowledging the assets of place and the surrounding community. This was illustrated through acknowledging the intersectionality of place and border commuting of transfronterizx students, promoting dynamic languaging to mirror languaging practices like those of the broader community, and representing the border culture within the educational pipeline. Altogether, our findings suggest appreciating the assets of place, the local culture, and the languaging practices that habitually occur among the community to develop greater institutional capacity to promote a greater sense of belonging and truly serve its Latinx student population within and beyond the educational pipeline.

Implications for Research

Our study was limited to one HSI along the U.S.-Mexico border, thereby limiting the scope of findings. Future research should continue to investigate servingness-related practices at HSIs from a deeply contextualized perspective, recognizing that servingness cannot be disentangled from the social, historical, and political environments in which these institutions are situated. Servingness-related practices at fronterizx HSIs, for example, are shaped by communities, cross-border migration, transnational families, and unique economic and labor conditions. These contexts influence student experiences, institutional practices, and educational outcomes in ways that differ from HSIs elsewhere in the United States. Future research should continue to investigate these place-based dynamics. Accordingly, we encourage HSIs to consider the social and historical foundations of their institutions—not only in terms of institutional development and designation as HSIs, but also in relation to the communities they were established to serve. Borderland HSIs (e.g., in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California) enroll large numbers of first-generation, bilingual and bicultural, low-income, and cross-border or mixed-status families. Understanding how to better support these students has national implications, not just regional ones.

Further studies should continue to explore how HSIs can actively challenge external structures of inequality—such as funding mechanisms, accountability policies, and “race-neutral” metrics—that shape institutional practices, student experiences, and educational outcomes (G. A.Garcia et al., 2019). By doing so, research can highlight how institutions may resist White supremacist logics embedded in higher education systems while simultaneously honoring the cultural, linguistic, and historical assets of the local communities they serve. This is particularly critical for HSIs at the frontera, where student populations often bring rich forms of community cultural wealth that are under-acknowledged in research. For this reason, future servingness-related research should continue to juxtapose place with the full range of institutional and community members involved (i.e., faculty, students, administrators, staff, families, and the broader community; Author).

Additionally, contextualized research must consider how urban, suburban, or rural place-based structures and conditions intersect with institutional missions. This may include examining the role of ecological contexts in shaping students’ opportunities and barriers to access and success. Although HSIs enroll millions of students, they are not built with Hispanic students in mind. Fronterizx HSIs provide rich contexts for examining how institutions actually become “serving” rather than simply “enrolling.” Research that situates HSIs within ecological contexts will not only help deepen our understanding of servingness but also foreground the ways environments themselves become part of the educational experience.

In this sense, future scholarship should aim to identify measurable signs, benchmarks, or indicators of servingness that are rooted in place-based realities. These indicators might extend beyond traditional metrics of retention and graduation to include measures of cultural affirmation, linguistic support, community engagement, and student well-being. By developing and applying such benchmarks, institutions will be better equipped to assess how effectively they are supporting borderland student populations, ensuring that students are positioned to thrive both academically and personally.

Implications for Practice

Findings from this study underscore the importance of centering place in how HSIs understand and enact servingness. For practitioners, this means recognizing that servingness cannot be separated from the historical, cultural, and sociopolitical realities of the local community. Institutions located in the borderlands, rural areas, or urban centers must account for how their unique contexts shape student experiences, and ensure that programs, policies, and services reflect those realities.

Enacting servingness requires practitioners to continually redesign practices, question assumptions, disrupt inequities, and build systems where students feel seen, valued, and supported (G. A.Garcia et al., 2019). Hence, HSIs need to elevate student voices in decision-making processes. Servingness becomes real through human relationships and students can provide critical insights into how institutional practices are experienced on the ground. HSIs can integrate student perspectives through mechanisms such as listening sessions, focus groups, and advisory boards, as a form of institutional accountability to communities that have historically been under-served. Doing so can not only inform institutional practice but also signal to students that their lived experiences are valued and central to the institution’s mission. Without student input, HSIs risk becoming HSIs in designation only.

Similarly, HSIs need to identify and communicate servingness structures (G. A. Garcia, 2019) that explicitly support local communities. Institutions should assess the extent to which their policies, programs, and indicators reflect the needs of their student populations—particularly those related to linguistic support, culturally relevant pedagogy, financial resources, and community engagement. By making these commitments visible, institutions can better articulate how servingness is operationalized in practice, moving beyond enrollment numbers toward intentional strategies that affirm student identities and strengths.

Finally, HSIs should seek to develop place-based benchmarks of success that go beyond traditional measures of retention and graduation. This may involve tracking indicators such as students’ sense of belonging, use of culturally relevant support services, engagement with local communities, or access to resources shaped by ecological contexts. Creating and using these localized indicators allows institutions to more effectively evaluate whether they are meeting the needs of their student populations and to make improvements aligned with their mission as HSIs. HSIs are still developing a shared understanding of what practices are most effective, how to operationalize servingness, how to link servingness to student outcomes, and how to sustain servingness amid resource constraints. Practitioners’ localized experimentation, reflection, and innovation can further shape this learning.