TTU Focusing On Recruiting More Local Hispanic Students

The growing diversity of the Upper Cumberland will naturally increase Tennessee Tech’s Hispanic enrollment.

Recruitment was a point of discussion at the most recent Board of Trustees meeting. Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Rob Owens said Putnam County’s Hispanic population has consistently grown, so just focusing recruiting efforts at home is the strategy.

“We need to win in Putnam County,” Owens said. “We need to increase the percentage of Hispanic students coming out of Cookeville High School, Upperman High School, Monterey High School that maybe wouldn’t go to college. We want to get those students to Tennessee tech University, so I think that is where we start.”

Owens said efforts at this point are preliminary, but adding more Spanish speaking faculty could help. Owens said having that support would make those students feel welcomed.

“Obviously if it is important to the Trustees, it will be important to the university,” Owens said. “We already have sort of a diversity recruitment program in place that definitely includes that particular group of students.  It’s called race to Tech. It’s open to anyone, but the emphasis is on students of color. We’ve done that program now since Fall of 2020. We’ll be doing that program, but also taking a closer look at other things moving forward.”

Owens said another reason to target Putnam County is the family aspect for students. Owens said often times, the population wants to stay near their home, so targeting local high schools with large Hispanic populations such as Monterey could help improve numbers.

Owens said there is not a particular number or percentage that the university is aiming for at this time.