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K-State Today

June 4, 2018

K-State launches new Office of First-Generation Students

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Under the umbrella of the Division of Student Life and a critical partner in the University Success Center, Kansas State University has opened the Office of First-Generation Students to work on behalf of students who are the first in their families to attend college.

First-generation students make up over 25 percent of the undergraduate population at K-State.

Funded through a generous donation from the Suder Foundation, the office will offer support to first-generation students and the university community by coordinating efforts across campus to close the achievement gap to degree completion at K-State. The office will serve as a model for universities across the country — informed and inspired through a unique partnership with the NASPA Center for First Generation Student Success, another key program funded by the Suder Foundation.

The Office of First-Generation Students is in the Academic Achievement Center, 101 Holton Hall. Rebeca Paz is serving as the inaugural assistant director and will report to Stephanie Bannister, assistant vice president for student life. Paz will provide critical project management support, working closely with the Higher Learning Commission Quality Initiative team to increase the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of first-generation students.

A website is under construction to offer more detailed resources and program offerings. If you are a first-generation faculty or staff and would like to be involved with future efforts to help first-generation students, please email Paz at rpaz@k-state.edu.

Find out more about K-State’s land-grant mission to offer first generation students a pathway to success: youtu.be/ydA80X5GMbk.

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