Five Questions With: Nick Figueroa

NICK FIGUEROA is the executive director of College Visions and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Roger Williams University. / COURTESY NICK FIGUEROA/JOSE RAMIREZ
NICK FIGUEROA is the executive director of College Visions and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Roger Williams University. / COURTESY NICK FIGUEROA/JOSE RAMIREZ

Nick Figueroa serves as the executive director of College Visions, a nonprofit that promotes college enrollment, persistence and graduation for students in underserved communities. Continuing his work in higher education, he serves as an adjunct faculty member at Roger Williams University.

Before his arrival at College Visions, he served as the Northeast regional admissions director for the national nonprofit City Year. Other professional responsibilities in higher education include dean of undergraduate admissions at Framingham State University, assistant dean of enrollment services at the Community College of Rhode Island and director of multicultural recruitment at Roger Williams University.

Figueroa was named Counselor of the Year by the New England Association for College Admission Counseling in both 2003 and 2008, and was recently recognized by the Women’s Resource Center in Newport with their 2017 Men Who Make a Difference award. He holds a Master of Arts in adult education from the University of Rhode Island. He completed his undergraduate work in public administration at Roger Williams University.

PBN: What intrigued you about heading College Visions, a Providence-based nonprofit organization with a mission that “empowers low-income, first-generation students to enroll, persist in and graduate from college?”

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FIGUEROA: To me, heading to College Visions was more than an opportunity. I saw it as a way to help first-generation, low-income students avoid some of the pitfalls I encountered during my college journey. You see, I too was a first-generation, low-income student and I remember the challenges I faced from going through the process of applying for financial aid to finding the proper courses in which to enroll. I can’t help but think about how having a guiding hand would have created a better college experience for me and many of my friends who fell into the same categories.

PBN: What are your goals in this position?

FIGUEROA: My goal is to continue the great work started by Simon Moore, the founding executive director, and increase the number of students who participate in our programs. Given the expense of attending college, our work has become even more important. Expanding our services and building on our relationships with our school partners will be crucial to our success.

Another goal would be to look at ways in which we can better help our students become work-ready by developing soft skills via training and internship opportunities.

PBN: What is the greatest challenge facing the organization and the students you represent?

FIGUEROA: I would have to say that the greatest challenge would be the political climate that impacts opportunities for our students. With the recent change to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects undocumented students from deportation, we have to be even more diligent in how we support these students.

The other challenge has to do with the recent announcement that the Department of Justice would consider challenging the nationwide affirmative-action college admissions process. Affirmative-action admissions policies are a crucial, holistic tool, which provides colleges and universities an opportunity to enroll first-generation and low-income students. These are very real challenges that impact our work and we are keeping a close eye on how things will play out moving forward.

PBN: You previously served as regional admissions director for the Northeast at City Year in Boston, what experiences did you have there that can be transferred to your work in Providence?

FIGUEROA: In my work at City Year, I was introduced to how nonprofit programs (in this case, AmeriCorps) worked. The approach there was different than the traditional college admissions process, but I still learned quite a bit. I got the opportunity to work with some extraordinary young professionals. In higher education, I was typically the youngest person in the room; at City Year, I was the oldest in most cases. This experience taught me how to better manage a young team. My teammates at College Visions are also young millennials and they are just as fantastic and driven in their work. Some of the managing principals learned at City Year will guide me as I manage my team through a period of growth.

PBN: How do you think local schools are changing to address the needs of the demographic you serve? For example, Brown University recently built a first-generation and low-income student center.

FIGUEROA: Well, I think this is a reality that many institutions have seen coming for some time. The demographic changes taking place have forced many schools to rethink how they recruit and how they support first-generation and low-income students’ finances, campus life and academics. I applaud schools who recognize this trend and hope that others come around to the same conclusion. As we all know, an educated society creates a strong and well-balanced democracy. It is important all students, regardless of background, have the opportunity to achieve their dream of a college degree.

Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.

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