This month’s Higher Ed Careers interview is the first installment in a two-part series. In Part 1, Lauren Lane, editorial associate at HigherEdJobs, speaks with Christina Mortellaro, director of the TRIO Adult Educational Opportunity Center at SUNY Genesee Community College. Following the National First-Generation College Celebration on Nov. 8 — and the week of programming many campuses hosted –Mortellaro offers a look at how a community college supports first-generation learners through outreach, strong community partnerships, and wraparound services designed for adult and nontraditional students.
Part 2 will explore how one four-year university approaches First-Gen Week and year-round support.
Lauren Lane, HigherEdJobs: You’ve dedicated much of your career to creating pathways for first-generation students to thrive. What initially drew you to this work, and why does it remain personally meaningful to you today?
Christina Mortellaro, SUNY Genesee Community College: I’ve been told that my career has had an interesting path. My roots in higher education come from my time serving with Rochester Youth Year AmeriCorps VISTA, working on expanding educational access. After I finished VISTA, my friend told me about an advisor opening for TRIO Upward Bound at SUNY Genesee Community College. I didn’t realize in college that I was a first-generation student until I applied, but I had transferable skills related to anti-poverty work and a drive to give back to my community. TRIO programs, like VISTA, have roots in President Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” TRIO has amazing outcomes in social and economic mobility for first-generation students, and I was humbled to be part of that history.
In my current role, we work primarily with adult learners (25+ years old), and my team receives so much gratitude for being a safe place to ask questions about college terminology, processes, and resources. Beyond budgeting and compliance, my role is to empower my staff, build bridges into the community, and advocate for systemic change within higher education. The work is never done, but it’s needed — that’s why I feel so passionate about it.
Lane: SUNY Genesee Community College recently received a national grant from the Council for Opportunity in Education and FirstGen Forward to expand support for first-generation learners. What practices or initiatives on your campus have been most impactful in earning this distinction and advancing student success?
Mortellaro: We were ecstatic to find out that SUNY GCC was selected for the FirstGen Forward grant. Our team has hosted modest First-Generation College Celebrations in years past due to budgets, but this year we decided to “dream big” and think about what our students need. What are some of their barriers to persistence, and what could promote social belonging? Our program’s assistant director suggested the idea of a resource carnival with our internal and external partners. Beyond having candy for prizes, our external partners brought in groceries and professional clothing to give out. We used the FirstGen Forward grant funds to help with decorations and prizes that celebrate being a first-generation student. We picked a time of day that coincides with when our adult learners pick up their children at the college’s child care center so students and their families could participate together.
Our team works hard to develop strong relationships with community partners for warm handoffs to resources (housing supports, free legal help, disability services, etc.), which helps with student success.
Lane: Your office provides holistic support that spans academic advising, mentoring, leadership, and career development. How do you and your team ensure that first-generation students feel a sense of belonging and confidence from day one?
Mortellaro: Developing your staff is critical to the success of your students, especially when you’re covering so many support areas. I try to have my TRIO Adult Educational Opportunity Center (TRIO AEOC) staff attend, watch, or participate in professional development experiences (courses, webinars, conferences, etc.) that expand these areas so when they go into an appointment with a student, they feel calm and confident.
The staff try to help students prepare ahead of time before day one of class by thinking about potential barriers, managing competing responsibilities, and having a game plan set before they enter the classroom. Sometimes this means that the student doesn’t start until a semester later, but they go in more prepared and well-versed, which strengthens their college competency and thus confidence — which often leads to strengthened retention.
Lane: Many first-generation students navigate unique challenges such as financial stress, family expectations, or uncertainty about college culture. What advice would you offer faculty and staff who want to better understand and support these experiences?
Mortellaro: The simple advice is to listen to your students. What’s hard is that sometimes, when you’re listening to your students, you also have to make sure that you’re staying on task because time is a precious resource for you and your students.
You can also listen to your colleagues who were first-generation students too. Their experiences might be similar to some of your students, or they may have unique perspectives that might help you solve a challenge.
While you’re listening to your colleagues and students, remember that being “first generation” isn’t a monolith and there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution or system that will work for everyone. As culture changes, research expands, and you evolve as a higher ed professional, look for opportunities to deepen your understanding of this population.
Lane: The First-Generation College Celebration has become a powerful way to highlight student voices and visibility. How has your campus used this celebration to build momentum for first-generation initiatives and community engagement?
Mortellaro: Last year we hosted a panel of first-generation professionals — some from our college and some from community partners. Before the panel, GCC’s new college president, Dr. Craig Lamb, spoke about being a first-generation and Pell-eligible student. He shared about his work-study supervisor, faculty mentors, and how the strengths and challenges of his college experience impact his approach to leading a community college.
One of our students told the panel during the Q&A that she had been considering dropping out of her degree program, but she decided to not give up and stay because she was inspired by the panelists’ stories. This student is also a parent to young children, and this one event will have a ripple effect on her family because her kids are going to see her persist and graduate. When internal and external partners hear that type of positive feedback — even from a single student — they’re more likely to participate annually, and the momentum grows organically.
Lane: You’ve managed budgets, grants, and partnerships to sustain first-generation programming. What lessons have you learned about maintaining these efforts long term, and can you share an event or initiative that’s had a measurable impact on student engagement or institutional culture?
Mortellaro: To become a participant in TRIO AEOC, students have to fill out an intake form first, and when we review the application, we determine their eligibility for the program. But we also have questions where students check boxes for resources that they’re seeking and boxes for barriers that they’re experiencing before we even meet them. Although sometimes we have heard critiques about the form, this assessment tool allows us to personalize services, ask appropriate questions, and connect them to resources in the first appointment.
Within GCC, we also partner with departments like financial aid, residence life, admissions, and our college advisors to do targeted interventions with students prior to the semester starting and shortly after the semester begins. Ultimately, this leads to students feeling like GCC has an institutional culture of care and support. Students recommend family and friends from even out of state to come here because they know the faculty and staff genuinely care.
Lane: Community partnerships are often essential to advancing first-generation success, particularly in expanding access and awareness beyond campus. How have collaborations within your region or state supported your work and extended your reach?
Mortellaro: TRIO AEOC covers six counties in Western New York, which is almost twice the size of Delaware. We are a small team and we can’t be everything for everyone, so our regional and state partnerships are vital to our students’ success. There is always room for growth, too.
TRIO AEOC participates in different local “interagencies” composed of nonprofits and government organizations where we share information about resources and programming. Some of the agencies host us for workshops, give us space to meet with participants, or promote our events to their clients. Likewise, we put up their posters, share their flyers, and refer our participants to their services. We have close ties to local GED classes, libraries, career centers, disability services, and more. We’re always excited when one of our partners invites us to visit because that usually means they have clients who might become potential college students.
Lane: November 8th marked National First-Generation College Celebration Day. How does your campus celebrate and amplify the voices of first-generation students during this time, and what does the day mean to you personally?
Mortellaro: I’ve discovered that GCC has many faculty and staff who were first-generation college students. I encourage them to share that with their students with pride, which helps students identify as first-gen themselves and see possibilities for their own educational paths.
Normally, we have not been able to celebrate National First-Generation College Celebration exactly on Nov. 8, so we aim to get as close to it as possible. To me, the celebration is about honoring our achievements, our persistence, our grit, and our connection to each other.
While I was in undergrad, I sometimes felt confused or out of place — and I didn’t know the exact reason why — but I was afraid to look foolish. In my honors program, my classmates came from multigenerational families of doctors, lawyers, professors, and corporate business leaders. I am grateful that I was surrounded by those different experiences because I learned from them too. But I would have loved an event like this back then to say, “I see you and I celebrate you,” and know that my questions weren’t silly or stupid.
Lane: Looking ahead, what gives you hope about the future of first-generation initiatives in higher education, and how can campuses continue evolving beyond access toward inclusion and belonging?
Mortellaro: As part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system of colleges and universities, I am grateful that SUNY has been devoting a team to first-generation initiatives so they can help us better respond to and support these students. I feel confident about the future when my college’s president talks about first-generation students in his inauguration address. I appreciate when top-down leadership talks about first-generation initiatives, but the best way to implement them is to still ensure a “bottom up” or grassroots approach. Policies that help our students are rooted in reality, informed by research, and guided by the practitioners who do the everyday work.
Stay tuned for part two, featuring Jaclyn Rodriguez as she shares a four-year institutional perspective on first-generation student success.
