Schovanec: New alliance positions TTU to expand pathways of opportunity
Since our founding in 1923, Texas Tech has been committed to providing opportunity and access for the people of West Texas. As our student population has grown and the demographics of our region have evolved, we continue to adapt to best serve the students who become Red Raiders.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics account for 18.5% of our nation’s population and in Texas, 39.7%. However, Hispanics continue to be underrepresented in higher education. They make up less than 5% of the tenured faculty and fewer than 6% of the doctoral students at U.S. universities. These are statistics that Texas Tech is committed to changing.
Last week, I had the opportunity to join with representatives from some of the nation’s top research universities in Washington, D.C. as we announced the formation of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities. The alliance will work to change the face of higher education by improving Hispanic representation on college campuses across the country.
Texas Tech University is one of 20 institutions that has achieved the Carnegie designation of R1: Very High Research Activity, commonly noted as ‘Tier One,’ and classification as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) by the U.S. Department of Education. These two designations reflect Texas Tech’s mission to educate and empower a diverse student body while enhancing our status as a preeminent research university.
Collectively, the alliance has a tremendous impact, with more than 760,000 students enrolled and nearly $6 billion in research activity across the 20 member institutions. As a group, we have set two goals: 1) double the number of Hispanic doctoral students enrolled at alliance universities and 2) increase by 20% the number of Hispanic professors at alliance universities. We believe we can achieve both goals by 2030.
Texas Tech will work closely with other members of the Alliance, partnering on proposals to federal funding agencies and private foundations. We will share data and best practices as we build systems that better support not only Hispanic, but all students on our campuses. As part of our efforts to increase representation of Hispanics in the professoriate, we will provide post-doctoral positions for our graduates at alliance institutions. Our unified voice will be more impactful when working with our congressional delegations.
Texas Tech has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade and the increasing diversity of our student body has been an essential part of this growth. In 2020, we passed the 40,000-student milestone, reflecting an enrollment increase of nearly 9,000 students over the previous decade. Hispanic students accounted for 71% of that increase. The growth of our university has helped fuel the prosperity of Lubbock and the region. Lubbock has become a destination for businesses, for families, and for aspiring young people, in part, because of the emergence of Texas Tech as a national research university.
I have seen firsthand how our designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution has benefited all students at Texas Tech. Being an HSI has made possible funding that supports programs such as study abroad, research partnerships, experiential learning opportunities and community engagement programs. This alliance will only amplify those benefits.
The alliance provides Texas Tech the opportunity to have a much broader impact. Collaborating with our partners, we can be more effective and impactful at a speed and scale that we couldn’t achieve individually. I’m confident our students, the Lubbock community and our state will benefit in tangible ways from the alliance.
Lawrence Schovanec is the president of Texas Tech University.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lawrence Schovanec alliance allows Tech to expand opportunity pathways
