Coming from a family of migrant farm workers, Zachary Suarez had no reference for college.
But the first-generation college student has risen — so far — to the rank of associate vice president for academic affairs at University of Texas Permian Basin.
Suarez arrived at the university in October 2020.
“Zach has been a fantastic addition to our leadership team,” UTPB President Sandra Woodley said. “He is smart and thoughtful and completely dedicated to serving our students. He is passionate about expanding opportunities, particularly for the underserved populations, and his contribution to our strategic plan is going to have a generational impact on families in West Texas and beyond.”
A native of Weslaco, he started off with an associate of arts degree in business administration from South Texas College in McAllen.
Transferring to the University of Texas Pan American, now UT Rio Grande Valley, he earned a bachelor’s in business management.
He received a master’s in public administration from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and a doctorate in public administration from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He completed both online while working full time.
“I think my route into higher education and this field specifically was just really understanding the challenges that students have and navigating the process of obtaining a degree,” Suarez said.
From his personal experience as someone raised in a migrant farm working household, he didn’t have anyone to guide him through the process of applying for college and financial aid, ordering textbooks or making his way through a syllabus.
“So when I actually graduated with my bachelor’s degree, I applied for a job in human resources at South Texas College where I had graduated from.”
“I started there through a temp agency, through part time work. After … about six months of working there on a part-time basis and interacting with staff and students, I really understood that I had to come back and that this was my calling — working with students (and) helping them navigate those processes,” he said.
All the jobs Suarez has had in higher education have been at Hispanic-serving institutions. South Texas College and Coastal Bend College, where he was dean of enrollment management, are both Hispanic-serving institutions.
“It really is important to me to be able to have an impact on students … but also being able to serve students that are perhaps disadvantaged because they have certain barriers in pursuing their education whether it may be … just lack of knowledge on how to facilitate the process, or maybe financial barriers that they may have challenges with …,” he said.
He added that he has typically worked in student services roles with financial aid or helping students with information on enrollment and enrollment services.
“But my decision to come to UTPB was really … the vision and the mission that the institution has and the energy of both the faculty and staff in … seeing that vision out in the work that we do every day.”
One of his goals for UTPB is to bring in more transfer and articulation agreements.
Recently, the university formed agreements with Tarrant County College and Coastal Bend. He would also like to bring South Texas College on board.
Suarez said it makes things easier to have ties to those institutions. He added that joining with UTPB would be an “extraordinary fit” for students pursuing bachelor’s degrees.
“Most two-year colleges only offer coursework at the associate’s degree level. So that is basically a two-year degree. There is some, some colleges that do offer baccalaureate degrees, but not as extensive as the universities that have those opportunities. So really in building those bridges for students and those paths allow students to have those opportunities to expand their learning and also expand the opportunities that they may have both personally and professionally by having an advanced degree.”
Suarez has two brothers and one sister. He said his educational path has impacted his whole family and the goals they’ve set for themselves.
After he completed his bachelor’s degree, his niece earned a degree in accounting from UTRGV and is now pursuing a master’s.
From a personal standpoint, Suarez said his education and career have allowed him to experience “a lot more than I would have if I hadn’t … pursued a degree.”
He also hopes his background and experience will encourage others to pursue their dreams.
“… We all have different challenges, but I would say every student that is pursuing a degree has their own challenges that they have to deal with. And so I just think that I’m very, very lucky and fortunate to be able to work in a profession that allows me to have an impact on people’s lives on a day-to-day basis.”
