How to Become a Member School

HTI Member Schools are graduating Latine PhD students at a graduation rate of 94% and time to degree of 5.5 years, compared to 69% nationwide graduation rate, and national average time to degree of 9.3 years.

-Council of Graduate Schools Ph.D. Completion Project

Welcome! The HTI Consortium is comprised of 23 PhD-granting institutions engaged in a collaborative enterprise to advance the contributions of Latine faculty in theological and religious studies and expanding the representation of Latine students. It does this through the HTI En Conjunto model, a best practice, award-winning, comprehensive and holistic mentoring approach for supporting Latine PhD scholars in religion and theological studies. HTI member schools work together at exchanging information, ideas, and best practices to address the needs of Latine faculty and students.

The HTI consortium Member Council welcomes partnering institutions offering PhDs, ThDs, and EdDs in theological and religious studies. Institutions interested in becoming members are to send a letter detailing their long-term commitment to the mission of HTI. This letter is addressed to the Executive Director, Rev. Joanne Rodríguez, which is then shared with the Member Council for consideration.

As of July 1, 2023, the commitment structure of the member institutions consists of the following three levels:

  1. Plantador/Planter Ecology investment. Pay an annual sustaining membership contribution of $100,000 per year, which includes enrollment of up to five students. This payment is due each year on July 1st.
  2. Cultivador/Cultivator Ecology investment. Pay an annual sustaining membership contribution of $30,000, which includes enrollment of up to three students at no extra cost. This level is given priority enrollment of a fourth student at the additional fee of $8,000, if space is available.
  3. Animador/Animator Ecology investment. Pay an annual sustaining membership contribution of $8,000, which includes enrollment for one student. This level guarantees the enrollment of a second student for an additional fee of $8,000. Contingent upon availability, additional students may be enrolled for an additional fee of $8,000 per student.

These three investment levels require an initial commitment of three years.

This fee is used to support the HTI En Conjunto model for the enrolled student(s) from the member institution, as well as the workings of the HTI consortium.

 

Benefits and Opportunities Afforded to
HTI Scholars and Member Schools

HTI Scholars from member schools in their first, second, and/or comprehensive exam year:

  • HTI Scholars and their member schools are prominently promoted in the HTI annual brochure
  • Assignment of a senior scholar as a mentor (for a period of up to three years) to aid the scholar in navigating the doctoral program, helping to expand the student’s networking capacity, and collaborating with the student’s advisor and faculty at his/her institution
  • Participation in the annual Summer Workshop, which offers hands-on seminars led by highly-experienced leaders focused on specific levels of study including writing, pedagogy seminars, and career orientation sessions, among others
  • Networking funds to gain access to other Latine scholarly resources, allowing for opportunities to meet and work with future colleagues at national meetings, as well as providing support for the eventual publication of the scholar’s work

HTI Scholar that are All But Dissertation (ABD):

  • Assignment of an editor to provide dissertation editorial assistance while writing their dissertation
  • Participation in Summer Writer’s Weekend and Winter Writer’s Week to aid the scholar in writing their dissertation
  • Participation in Wabash/HTI pedagogy Weekend Workshop which offers seminars led by highly-experienced leaders focused on specific pedagogical issues
  • Compete for the $22,500 HTI/Lilly Dissertation Fellowship

Concurrently, HTI consortium schools are prominently promoted via the following venues:

  • HTI brochure (distributed to over 1,000 institutions and individuals across the United States)
  • Journeys, HTI’s online newsletter published quarterly and distributed to over 1,800 individuals, posted on HTI’s website, and Facebook page
  • Profile page on the HTI website promoting its academic resources to potential masters and PhD students
  • Yearly promotion at the HTI reception during the AAR/SBL annual meetings
  • Promotion at all events and activities that the HTI Executive Director and/or Assistant Director attend throughout the year
  • Promotion at the pre-doctoral conference held yearly at the Hispanic Summer Program

 

The HTI consortium provides our member schools with a unique collaborative enterprise that is economical, efficient, and effective at increasing the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of Latine PhD students. Therefore the HTI consortium supports and sustains the presence of Latine faculty and leaders at their institution as well as the larger landscape of education.