Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS) executive director Yubelkys Montalvo visited the Cal State San Bernardino campus on Oct. 9, where she met with President Tomás D. Morales, faculty and staff, and interviewed with Coyote Radio.
 
Montalvo, who’s most recent visit marked her third time on campus, described her time here as a “wonderful experience.”
 
“We are very proud to have Tomás Morales as part of our board,” she said. “He has been very active and very committed to help us grow in California. Thanks to him, we have new members and hope to have community colleges as well.”
 
HETS was established in 1993, and is the first bilingual consortium constituted by more than 40 higher education institutions in Puerto Rico, United Sates and Latin America. The organization’s mission is to expand the educational opportunities and the access to post-secondary education to the Hispanic community to support the capacities of its member institutions.
 
The HETS Board of Directors appointed Montalvo as executive director in January 2006. After she assumed her role, she guided the organization toward a self-sustainability model and continued the implementation of targeted services and programs for all members and the overall educational community.
 
Montalvo focuses on bringing growth to the consortium, diversifying member benefits, expanding its membership, creating new services, and proposing new educational technology options for its constituencies. Strategies to be implemented will also open new doors toward the enhancement of the organization’s image and strengthen its mission.
 
She has coordinated several international trainings in Colombia and México as part of the partnership with Blackboard, and had participated on several conferences and forums, both national and international, and served as speaker on the VI International Congress CITICED CREAD Caribe 2009 and the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) Annual National Conference in 2008, Virtual Educa International Conferences, among others.
 
Montalvo’s achievements include the creation and coordination of the HETS main conference Best Practices Showcase with an Academic Fair, the annual event Student Leadership Showcase, the publishing of the peer-reviewed HETS Online Journal, which is part of the Cengage and EBSCO databases, the redesign of the Virtual Plaza portal and the development of new services, trainings in Spanish and English, and strategic alliances with organizations to benefit HETS constituencies.
 
Montalvo received a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, and a master’s degree in public relations from the Sacred Heart University in Puerto Rico. Currently, Montalvo is pursuing a doctoral degree in leadership in education at the Inter American University in Puerto Rico, Ponce Campus.
 
The CSUSB HETS Virtual Plaza offers CSUSB students free access to over 300 online practice exams. In addition, CSUSB students can explore careers, scholarships, internships and financial aid opportunities. HETS also provides the Faculty Placita, designed for faculty and administrators that includes professional development workshops, Hispanic educational research, fellowship information and more.
 
Visit the CSUSB Hispanic Educational Technology Resources (HETS) Virtual Plaza website for more information about the on-campus program.
  
Visit the Hispanic Educational Technology Resources website for more information about the organization.