Carol Sumner came to Texas Tech in June last year from Arizona State University. She was hired to be the university’s second full-time vice president of Tech’s division of diversity, equity and inclusion. In November, she took on the role as the university’s chief of diversity.
“We have since added the chief of diversity officer because the division really speaks to the programatic areas that are part of that division that are all-student facing. The chief diversity officer speaks more broadly to what we do across the university on behalf of the institution in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion as a goal for the institution. So, they’re distinct, but kind of all the same thing. It’s a big role,” she explains.
A breakdown from fall 2017 shows Tech’s demographics in gender and ethnicity are uneven when it comes to full professors, associate and assistant professors and instructors. There were 970 male faculty members and 671 females. Ethnically, there are nearly 1,200 white-non-Hispanic faculty members, compared with 463 of various ethnicities.
Sumner says Tech isn’t alone.
“It is not unique to Tech, and I think if you were to look at higher education and actually start looking at areas within institutions across higher education, what you would find are more men on the academic side and in the provost area on the business end, more women and people of color in the services and student affairs,” she says. “So, it’s not something that is primarily an issue for this region, or for this institution. It is one of the factors that the institution has looked to increase diversity across. There has been a recognition and acknowledgement that we should be intentional in looking for individuals who will add to the institutions fabric through their experiences, training and background, and demographic factors,” she says.
At ASU, Sumner was the senior associate dean of students. Here, she succeeded the division’s interim vice president Elizabeth Sharp, associate chair and associate professor of Human Development and Family Studies. She stepped in after Juan Munoz, the division’s first VP, became president of the University of Houston-Downtown.
In September 2017, Tech earned the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for the sixth year in a row.
That same month, the university met the enrollment criteria as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education.
Sumner says it’s important to recognize and build on the university’s strengths the university has built.
“When we talk about the great things that are going on, we’re acknowledging the great work that people are doing in the community. So, we need to acknowledge the work that people have been doing. Doing the diversity work, we’re talking about how are we celebrating? That’s a facet. We focus on how to recruit, how are we providing resources. I’m asking, how are we celebrating, how are we allowing individuals to reflect and express. And how are we handling difficult conversations. Those are the things I think that we’re bringing to the table,” Sumner says. Sumner is effusive about the university’s focus on involving more undergraduates in research.
“Those are the critical things that differentiate Tech from other institutions, because more often you’ll find the research is a focus of graduate students. Why does that matter,” she asks. “When you’re talking about low income, first generation, under represented, minority populations that may not be a criteria that they understand that the caring of students, that makes a difference in their educational experience. We have a responsibility to teach those facets as being critical.”
Sumner says she and her husband Samuel, who is assistant director of the university outreach and engagement efforts, are enjoying Lubbock.
“I love being at Tech and being able to be a part of a community that is striving to do great things and help great people learn how to be who they are, fully who they are.”