FIRST-GEN - Key Persons
Connie Champagne, PhD is the Educational Enrichment and Outreach Programs Director, housing the Biology Undergraduate Scholars Program (BUSP) and Advancing Diversity in Aging Research (ADAR) among other undergraduate research programs. She coaches underrepresented minorities, disadvantaged, and disabled students, supporting them on their journey to succeed with life sciences degrees.
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Center As an Associate Director
E. Nuñez works for the Undergraduate Research Center as an Associate Director. Read E's story on how they ended up in college and how their background helped them.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Teaching
Joe Lee works in the CA&ES Dean's Office as an academic advisor. He is a graduate of UC Davis and has worked on campus since his graduation.
Jose Ballesteros is a first-generation college graduate from Stockton, CA. During his Graduate studies, he received support from his mentor to continue his Ph.D. As the Director of the McNairs Scholars, Jose now assists and mentor underrepresented students to pursue their Ph.D. degrees and achieve their own dreams.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Academic Advising Enrichment, Shares His First Gen Story.
Kayton Carter, MA recently became Executive Director for Academic Advising Enrichment at UC Davis. He was previously Executive Director of UC Davis' three retention centers and four retention initiatives, which support African diaspora, Asian Pacific Islander, Chicanx and Latinx, and Native American students, and was founding director the Center for African Diaspora Student Success, UC Davis' first Black student retention center.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director for Learning and Teaching Support / Center for Educational Effectiveness
- Associate Director of the Center for Educational Effectiveness
Kem Saichaie is an Associate Director of the Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE) at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). He works with faculty and graduate students across disciplines to investigate evidence-based pedagogical practices and integrate them into face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning spaces. Kem's experience in higher education includes roles in academic technology, admissions, educational development, and as a faculty member. As an educator, Kem has taught courses at University of California, Davis, University of Iowa, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.
Kem is the co-author of the best-selling book: A Guide to Teaching in Active Learning Classrooms: History, Research, and Practice. Kem is the co-author (with Carolyn Thomas) on a forthcoming book about the The First Gen University and Higher Ed (University of California Press). He is the lead editor of special volume from New Directions on Teaching and Learning on graduate student instructor development and preparation. Kem has published in a number of venues including: The Journal of Higher Education; Journal of Excellence in College Teaching; PLOS ONE, International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning; Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions; Medical Teacher; New Directions in Teaching and Learning (Learning Spaces volume); and EDUCAUSE's Seeking Evidence of Impact series.
Kem earned a PhD Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of Iowa. He was named an American Education Research Association (Division J - Postsecondary Education) Emerging Scholar in 2012. Prior to work in education, Kem spent nearly a decade working in mass media.
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Advisor, Languages and Literatures
This is what makes me Lorenzo Zúñiga
I am an immigrant who is the son of immigrants. My mother and father grew up in Ceballos, Durango, Mexico. My parents only had the opportunity to study until the third grade; they were told that they were too old for school and had to work to help out their family.