Award-winning Web site challenges preconceptions about why Latinos don’t attend college11-06-2008
Indianapolis, Indiana
Brainstorm wins Best in Show Award for Camino de la Universidad
For every 100 Latino elementary school students, 48 drop out of high school. Of the 52 who graduate, only 10 go on to earn a bachelor’s degree. Only four of those will earn a graduate degree. College enrollment among Latinos hasn’t increased in 20 years.
Can one Web site help?
Brainstorm earned a Best in Show award in the annual W³ Awards, a global competition judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, for a Web site designed to do just that.
Camino de la Universidad (The Road to College) at luminafoundation.org/latinos organizes decades of research by University of Texas at San Antonio professor Dr. Raymond Padilla into a digestible, searchable, comprehensible and comprehensive Web site.
Dr. Padilla’s research report, “What is Known About Latina/o Student Access and Success in Postsecondary Education,” was sponsored by the Lumina Foundation for Education.
“Dr. Padilla is passionate about the potential for this information to alter the way people view the college experience for Latinos,” said Teresa Detrich of the Lumina Foundation. “Brainstorm has created a culturally relevant, sharable way to interact with the data without diminishing its depth and substance.”
“We wanted users to be able to engage with the data at any level of interest,” said Bart Caylor, principal at Brainstorm. “We think that once they begin exploring the data, the site’s interactivity and ease of use will draw them in more deeply.”
The fast-loading, interactive site guides users through an overview of the report's findings, steps through lively animations and provides a site-wide keyword search via a tag cloud. Researchers can download the entire report as a PDF or explore each of these main sections online with one-click access to the study's major findings, sources and citations:
- The Big Picture (Demographics, Immigration, Community)
- Educational Environment (Parents and Family, Race and Identity, Migrant Status and Resilience, Language and Culture)
- On Campus (Institutions, Access, Regulators)
- The Family (Fitting In and Dropping Out, Transition and Adjustment, Mentoring, Gender, Stress and Coping, Equity, Success)
Once a user learns about the current situation facing Latino students, he or she can turn to the “What Can Be Done” section for next steps. It includes specific policy options that can help Latinos earn college diplomas.
In the same W³ Awards competition, Brainstorm also won a Gold Award for Visual Appeal for the site.
“In a competition that pits Fortune 500 companies and international marketing agencies against small firms and non-profits, we finished in the top 1 percent,” said Bob Blass, Brainstorm president. “But we’re most proud of helping to bring this data to people who can use it to effect change.”
The site is being used in presentations to policy makers and Latino community leaders around the country, Blass said, and initially was introduced to key groups through e-mail.
The W³ is open to organizations and individuals involved in creating, designing, maintaining or promoting Web sites, online marketing or original Web video content. More than 3,000 entries were received this year.
About Brainstorm
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Brainstorm is a strategic concept development, branding, and design firm specializing in fusing brand strategy and proven business solutions with integrated Web, print and interactive solutions. Brainstorm offers its products and services throughout the United States. Its diverse clients include leaders in consumer electronics, higher education, non-profit, manufacturing and medical diagnostics. Founded in 1995, the company is privately held. www.brainstormbrand.com
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