The University of California defines a first-generation college student as “a student where neither parent nor guardian have earned a four-year college degree.” At UC Irvine, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning updated its student head count data on Oct. 24 to include fall of 2025, and according to the enrollment dashboard, 11,104 out of 30,260 (36.7 percent) undergraduates have first-generation status. The latest four-year graduation rate for first-gen students at UC Irvine is 72.8 percent, and the six-year graduation rate is 83.8 percent.
We’re shining the spotlight on first-gen students in this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast. Our guest is Scott Lerner, a lecturer in the School of Humanities’ composition program. Once a first-gen student himself, he commits extensive time and energy to that population on campus, teaching classes with their experiences as the primary theme and helping lead initiatives to increase first-gen visibility. These efforts include a freshman seminar exploring the hidden curriculum and a website of resources and contacts. Lerner shares stories of tribulation and triumph from his first-gen journey, explains how he structures courses to help students tell their own tales, and muses about changes that could further enhance everyone’s capabilities to succeed.
“Brave,” the music for this episode, was provided by Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, Angeline Saris and Jeremy Hoenig, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.
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The University of California defines a first-generation college student as “a student where neither parent nor guardian have earned a four-year college degree.” At UC Irvine, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning updated its student head count data on Oct. 24 to include fall of 2025, and according to the enrollment dashboard, 11,104 out of 30,260 (36.7 percent) undergraduates have first-generation status. The latest four-year graduation rate for first-gen students at UC Irvine is 72.8 percent, and the six-year graduation rate is 83.8 percent.
We’re shining the spotlight on first-gen students in this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast. Our guest is Scott Lerner, a lecturer in the School of Humanities’ composition program. Once a first-gen student himself, he commits extensive time and energy to that population on campus, teaching classes with their experiences as the primary theme and helping lead initiatives to increase first-gen visibility. These efforts include a freshman seminar exploring the hidden curriculum and a website of resources and contacts. Lerner shares stories of tribulation and triumph from his first-gen journey, explains how he structures courses to help students tell their own tales, and muses about changes that could further enhance everyone’s capabilities to succeed.
“Brave,” the music for this episode, was provided by Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, Angeline Saris and Jeremy Hoenig, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.
UCI Podcast: How Latinos are shaping the future together
The UC Irvine Podcast
22 minutes 58 seconds
1 year ago
UCI Podcast: How Latinos are shaping the future together
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the U.S. from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year. The theme for 2024 is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.”
Belinda Campos relishes that idea. Between her work as chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Chicano/Latino Studies and a faculty member with the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community in the School of Medicine, Campos takes the future of the Latino population very seriously. She helps lead a network of colleagues who endeavor to foster in students an understanding of Latino history – and how to apply that knowledge in building a brighter future.
Campos’ research examines how people develop the high-quality relationships associated with better health and longer life. Her team’s work has revealed that some classic Latino cultural components, such as an emphasis on positivity and tight-knit families, create a connectivity that can help individuals endure difficult, stressful times. Some of their findings are shared in a recent article in "Greater Good" magazine titled “How to Fully Appreciate Your Loving Relationships,” a collaboration with Jessica Borelli, UC Irvine professor of psychological science.
This multifaceted episode of The UCI Podcast includes detailed descriptions of Campos’ research and other undertakings in the Department of Chicano/Latino Studies and discussions on the history and future of PRIME-LC and its new offshoot, UC PRIME Pre-Health Pathways; how culture can influence our interpretation of social support in times of stress; and why connecting to our families and communities is good for one’s health.
“Pioneers,” the music for this episode, was provided by Audionautix via the audio library in YouTube Studio. “Pioneers” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
The UC Irvine Podcast
The University of California defines a first-generation college student as “a student where neither parent nor guardian have earned a four-year college degree.” At UC Irvine, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning updated its student head count data on Oct. 24 to include fall of 2025, and according to the enrollment dashboard, 11,104 out of 30,260 (36.7 percent) undergraduates have first-generation status. The latest four-year graduation rate for first-gen students at UC Irvine is 72.8 percent, and the six-year graduation rate is 83.8 percent.
We’re shining the spotlight on first-gen students in this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast. Our guest is Scott Lerner, a lecturer in the School of Humanities’ composition program. Once a first-gen student himself, he commits extensive time and energy to that population on campus, teaching classes with their experiences as the primary theme and helping lead initiatives to increase first-gen visibility. These efforts include a freshman seminar exploring the hidden curriculum and a website of resources and contacts. Lerner shares stories of tribulation and triumph from his first-gen journey, explains how he structures courses to help students tell their own tales, and muses about changes that could further enhance everyone’s capabilities to succeed.
“Brave,” the music for this episode, was provided by Mark Karan, Scott Guberman, Angeline Saris and Jeremy Hoenig, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.
