UTD People, Resources Help First-Gen Students Succeed

UT Dallas hosts First-Generation Celebration Week Nov. 7-11, offering events that recognize the special journey taken by students who are the first in their families to earn a four-year college degree. The week also recognizes the work of University faculty, staff and administrators who assist with the particular needs of first-gen students and who established the First-Generation Student Programs through the Office of Undergraduate Education.

Courtney Brecheen MPA’09, PhD’17, senior associate dean of undergraduate education at UTD, was instrumental in starting the program and launched the effort with a first-generation student needs assessment survey in 2019. Brecheen, who is a first-generation student herself, answered questions about the program’s development and how others, including University alumni, can help.

Why is it important for the University to support first-generation students?

“Because of the caliber of university that we are and the return on investment our students get in their education, it becomes incumbent upon us to ensure that those students receive the best possible experience from an equity lens and are maximizing all the resources available to them and that they know how to maximize them to the fullest.”

How did the first-generation student needs assessment survey come about?

“We have minority and student success programs and programs like Academic Bridge, the Diversity Scholars Program and the Living Learning Communities, so we brainstormed, and we thought, hey, we all serve these significant percentages of first-generation students. What do they really need or want from UT Dallas? That’s what led to our first iteration of the student needs assessment survey.”

What resulted from needs assessment?

“From the survey the experiences of first-generation students at the University were, for me, very compelling. I was able to use these stories, from students who were willing to share their experiences, to lobby for resources for us to create the First-Generation Student Programs.”

What do first-generation students need at UTD?

“I would say it’s about filling in those cultural capital gaps. You don’t know what you don’t know. So, it’s not just that we tell them about the Student Success Center, but provide a compelling why to use it and then also the how to use it. But there is also self-efficacy. It’s really easy in a competitive academic environment to get caught up in constantly comparing yourself to others. So, we tell them that being a first-generation student is an asset and the lens you bring to the classroom is an absolute asset and a strength. We’re being extremely asset based and affirming.”

How can UT Dallas alumni help?

“I think external advocacy goes a long way by owning and sharing the first-generation student identity. We encounter students who don’t want people to know they’re first generation and believe people will think less of them. Alumni can help by owning their own first-generation identity and bringing the positivity to it and destigmatize it. They can also play a critical role in cultivating social capital when students are pursuing internships, job opportunities post-graduation, determining which graduate schools to attend. There’s a critical opportunity for alumni to be engaged and stay informed about what we’re doing to support and advocate for students.”

Learn more about how to support first-generation students.