Serving the Hispanic and Latine Communities
As a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution in Colorado, UNC approaches all our Spanish-language communications with intentional, sound strategies based on best practices. This ensures we provide a consistent and quality experience for our Spanish-language audiences.
To better serve our Hispanic and Latine communities, the university has created the Bilingual Communication Strategist position to coordinate its translation efforts and projects.
Coordinated Efforts
Requests for translation require a broad understanding of many factors, including where the information is housed, how people access it, appropriate audience and cultural context, the university’s Bilingual Communications Strategist, as part of the Marketing and Communications Department, shall serve as the primary point of contact for all non-academic Spanish-translated content.
The Bilingual Communications Strategist is responsible for vetting all translation requests, coordinating translation with internal and/or external vendors and reviewing translated content to ensure it aligns with UNC’s Spanish Editorial Style Guide prior to publication or distribution.
Carlos José Pérez Sámano
Bilingual Communications Strategist
Language
UNC recognizes the importance and relevance of multilingualism and linguistic diversity. However, due to the demand of the fast-growing Spanish-speaking audience, currently the focus is on translating content into Spanish.
Translation policy and guidelines
The Translation Policy and Guidelines provide the university community with best practices regarding translating and creating non-academic, Spanish-language content for internal and external audiences. This includes, but is not limited to: content published on UNC-owned platforms such as our website and social media channels, content that is shared with our university community via emails, newsletters and print publications, and content that is created for external audiences in digital marketing campaigns, emails, newsletters, print publications or other outreach efforts.
Factors for Evaluating Translation Requests
To ensure we are mindful of available resources and are strategic in our efforts to engage with Spanish-language audiences, all requests for translated content will be vetted by the Bilingual Communications Strategist with the following considerations in mind:
Intended Audience:
Priority will be given to projects that are intended for a monolingual Spanish-speaking audience rather than a bilingual audience.
Example: Translated admissions information for Spanish-speaking parents, such as a financial aid brochure, will be prioritized over translated information for the student body who are presumably bilingual.
Distribution and Access:
The method of distribution for translated content and how Spanish language users will access that content is a key consideration when reviewing translation requests. Placing translated content on a channel that is predominantly English (such as the website, newsletters and main social media channels) is not a best practice unless there is an identified strategy for how to direct Spanish-language users to that content.
Examples:
- It's not helpful to provide Spanish language content on a webpage that requires monolingual Spanish language users to navigate through pages of English language to access the block of Spanish text.
- A post in Spanish on a social media channel that has a Spanish language audience, such as the César Chávez Cultural Center, can ensure to reach that audience.
Hierarchy:
The content to be translated will be prioritized based on the relevance to the audience, consistency across a common platform (such as UNC's website) and hierarchy of information.
Examples:
- If a request to translate material is specific to one program or college, then it will be considered if the same content applicable to similar programs or colleges is also translated into Spanish. Mission statements are a good example. If the mission statement of one college is translated, but other colleges or the university's mission statements are not translated, then it provides an inconsistent experience for Spanish language users.
- A financial aid brochure or admissions piece intended for a large audience will be prioritized for translation over event information intended for a smaller audience.
Language Disputes
When a question about language preferences on translated materials arises, UNC’s Spanish Editorial Style Guide should be used as a primary reference. Disputes should be coordinated and resolved with the Bilingual Communications Strategist.
Submitting a Translation Request
All translation requests must be submitted to the Marketing and Communications Department using the Translation Request form. The Bilingual Communication Strategist will review all requests prior to proceeding with the project.
UNC’s Bilingual Communications Strategist will contact the submitter within 24-48 hours to gather more information and discuss next steps.
Turnaround time for completed projects is about two weeks after the project is reviewed and approved by Marketing and Communications. The turnaround time will depend on multiple factors such as the length and type of content. Any costs associated with translation projects must be paid for by the unit/department requesting the translation.
