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The initiative, which encourages instructors on campus to identify themselves via T-shirts, buttons and other means as the first in their families to graduate from a four-year institution, starts next week during Santa Cruz’s Student Success Week. Fifty-four professors have signed on so far, along with dozens other faculty supporters.
Systemwide, some 800 faculty participants are expected to wear First-Gen Faculty shirts and share their experiences with their students across nine undergraduate campuses during the first week of classes this fall.
Janet Napolitano, system president, said in a statement that by training faculty members to connect with undergraduates “unfamiliar with college culture — and ensuring that these faculty are highly visible on across UC’s campuses — UC aims to connect first-generation students with the tools necessary for academic success, to
foster a sense of belonging and ownership among this critical student population, and to ensure that UC continues to serve as an engine of economic mobility for our diverse population of undergraduates.”