The 2018 National Hispanic Education Summit will be held on the Ashland University campus on Wednesday, Oct. 24. The summit, which is presented by the Faith and Education Coalition of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, will feature keynote speaker Sarah Ancel, who serves as senior vice president for Complete College America (CCA).

The free conference will focus on “Reshaping the Funnel Using Proven College Completion Strategies for Hispanic Students,” and will address the troubling reality that while many Hispanics are enrolling in college, far fewer leave with a degree.  

“We are excited to host this National Hispanic Education Summit on the AU campus. This will provide an opportunity for those on campus and in the area to network with distinguished educational and faith-based leaders from across the country, while learning proven strategies that will help students of all ethnicities thrive and complete their college education,” said AU President Dr. Carlos Campo, who  serves as this year’s chair of the Alliance for Hispanic Education.

Summit registration and attendance is free of charge and can be completed by contacting Girien Salazar at giriensalazar@nhclc.org.

Ancel, who works with state and system leaders to advance policies proven to increase college completion and close achievement gaps, is considered a national expert on the topic of “Completion Strategies.” She is responsible for the CCA Alliance, coordinating its 45 Complete College Alliance Teams from across the country and the network of CCA Fellows. Her work propels state and system leaders to advance their attainment and equity goals through concrete plans, aligned policy and CCA support. She also spearheaded and oversees CCA’s newest Game Changer, a Better Deal for Returning Adults. Ancel is CCA’s primary policy expert and has worked with governors, legislators and SHEEOs to craft policies that support college completion and close equity gaps.

Before joining CCA, Ancel served as associate commissioner for Strategic Planning and Policy for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Throughout her career, Ancel has been a champion for change. She led an effort to revamp Indiana’s approach to serving adult learners, particularly those who started college but never finished. Ancel was the architect of financial aid reforms that aligned Indiana’s aid dollars to on-time completion goals. As a fiscal leader, she led a modernization effort that converted 2,600 local governments from paper-based financial reporting to a web-based process with a public-facing transparency website for voters and taxpayers.

Ancel holds an M.A. in Economics from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Indiana University Bloomington. She served her alma mater as an adjunct economics professor for three years and in 2016 was awarded a Career Achievement Award from the IU School of Liberal Arts.

Ashland University, ranked in the top tier of colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report’s National Universities category for 2018, is a mid-sized, comprehensive private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Religiously affiliated with the Brethren Church, Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) deeply values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.