WSU launches Spanish financial aid information

ANGELICA RELENTE, Evergreen editor-in-chief

WSU’s student financial services (SFS) launched a Spanish version of its website early in January to provide accessible information for non-English speakers.
Ramiro Mora, communications advisor for SFS, said the Spanish-translated website sprouted from situations where staff members found themselves put on the spot. He said parents and students would often contact the call center and ask questions in Spanish about the admission process.

In addition, the Hispanic population at WSU is gradually increasing, Mora said. Considering this, a group of WSU employees and students came together to create a translated website that would serve as a resource for parents and students whose first language is not English.

Mora, along with Brian Dixon, assistant vice president of SFS, worked with graduate student Carmen Kroschel and undergraduate students Jose Alejandro Garcia and Alejandro Brito to create the website. One of the difficulties Mora pointed out during the process of translating the website was the fact that there was no literal translation from English to Spanish.

In early 2017, Mora said the FAQ section was the only page that was translated in Spanish. In April 2017, 15 of the pages were translated; the majority of the pages were translated by November of last year.

SFS is the only WSU department that has translated its webpage to a different language. Mora hopes the other departments will also consider translating to assist more non-English speaking families.

“I would love to see other departments and other colleges to start translating their stuff into Spanish so that information is way more readily accessible for people that speak other languages,” Mora said.