In community: COE faculty named AAHHE Faculty Fellows
Two San Diego State College of Education faculty members have been named Faculty Fellows of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) for the 2025-26 school year.
Assistant Professors Mónica Baldonado-Ruiz and Melina Melgarejo are among the 14 fellows who will go through a yearlong program preparing Latiné faculty for successful careers in academia through professional development and networking opportunities.
“I'm really excited that there's this space — this organization — that is specifically for Latiné faculty, to provide mentorship, support and community,” said Melgarejo, who holds a joint appointment between SDSU’s Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education (DLE) and Department of Special Education.
“Eventually, the idea is not just to advance in academia, but advance into leadership positions in academia."
Baldonado-Ruiz, an expert in literacy and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, added she is excited to take part in a fellowship with a strong connection to her culture and community.
“It's very community-centered,” she explained. “In academia and in our fellowship or mentoring spaces, oftentimes there's not attention paid to what you need as a Latina, or someone who comes from a historically marginalized community. I felt like this particular fellowship really speaks to what I seek out in my work.”
AAHHE, which for the past two decades has worked to address issues and concerns affecting Latinx communities in academia nationwide, operates its fellows program against a national backdrop in which only 6% of higher education faculty identify as Latiné.
"I think for Latiné faculty — especially women — we have all these different types of systemic barriers when it comes to advancing in academia,” Melgarejo said. “It's everything from being underrepresented to things like the disproportionalities in service loads, feeling imposter syndrome or lacking access to mentorship.”
Both Baldonado-Ruiz and Melgarejo expressed excitement for the community-building aspects of the fellowship, such as connecting with faculty from across the country. Baldonado-Ruiz added she is looking at the experience as an opportunity to identify new collaboration partners on writing projects.
Neither had been involved with AAHHE previously, but they were inspired to apply by some strong COE connections. The organization’s current chair is Marissa Vasquez, associate professor and chair in the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education, and the fellows program is co-chaired by Melissa A. Navarro Martell, associate professor in DLE.
SDSU will host AAHHE’s annual conference from March 27-29, 2026 and the fellows will be involved in the implementation.
"There's so much connection within SDSU that it makes AAHHE feel more accessible to me,” Baldonado-Ruiz said. “And it makes SDSU feel even more like home to be connected in this way."
