AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: The video focuses on UT Austin's 10-year strategic plan.
The University of Texas at Austin joined the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities alongside 19 other elite research universities, the school announced Thursday.
By 2030, the HSRU Alliance hopes to "double the number of Hispanic doctoral students enrolled at Alliance universities" and "increase by 20% the Hispanic professoriate in Alliance universities," a UT press release said.
Several of UT's other campuses – UT Arlington, UT El Paso and UT San Antonio – are also a part of the alliance.
“Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and are now 17% of the workforce, yet they continue to be underrepresented in higher education," said Heather Wilson, the University of Texas at El Paso president and HSRU Alliance chair. "No group is better positioned than we are to expand the pathway to opportunity. We believe we are stronger together than as individual institutions acting alone.”
Other members include the University of Central Florida, Texas Tech University, Arizona State University, University of North Texas and University of California, Santa Barbara.
All of these universities have a distinction of R1, meaning very high research activity, from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. They also all received the classification of Hispanic Serving Institution from the U.S. Department of Education.
Even before the HSRU Alliance's official announcement, its universities started to work on aiding more doctoral students pursuing Latino humanities studies and increasing computer science opportunities for Hispanic students.
“We’re thrilled to partner with leading research universities to expand and empower the next generation of Hispanic doctoral students and professors,” UT Austin President Jay Hartzell said. “As UT Austin strives to increase its global impact, groundbreaking initiatives like the HSRU serve as a national model in forging pathways to bolster opportunity and excellence in higher education for years to come.”
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