First-Generation Students at UNO

First Generation Student Organization

First Forward

Former UNO Student Body President and Student Body Vice-President Celebrate Being First-Generation

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Are you the first in your family to go to college?

At the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), you are a first-generation student if neither parent has graduated from a four-year college, and we proudly welcome you as part of the FirstGenMavs community, where 40% of Maverick students are first-generation.

First-Gen Mavs Calendar

This website is being built as a source of information and resources for students, faculty, and staff in support of first-generation students on campus. Please check back in the coming months as additional information is added.

UNO's Commitment to Everyone Seeking a Higher Education

UNO has a long history of commitment to providing access to higher education to first-generation college students. UNO has strengthened its dedication to increasing first-generation student success through support programs that allow for timely graduation.

The First Generation Guild, begun in the spring of 2018, consists of a dedicated group of administrators, faculty, and staff from across the campus. The objective of this committee is to make clear and achievable the goal of improving both access and success (timely graduation) for all first-generation students.

While the guild is still nascent, it has already helped UNO achieve an important designation as a NASPA First Forward Institution. This national designation, achieved by only 80 institutions across the country, is a recognition of UNO’s commitment to supporting first-generation students.

Among the other important achievements that have been realized to date are, a campus campaign to celebrate being #FirstGenProud, an annual symposium focused on first-generation issues, and a new graduation ceremony medallion for those first-generation students who have completed their degree.

First Generation Guild

Shannon Teamer, senior director of Inclusion Programs and Services, joins former Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. to discuss the First Generation Guild, a collaborative effort to support students who are first in their families to pursue higher education.

The First Generation Guild is a collaborative effort to support students who are first in their families to pursue higher education—37% of UNO students are first generation students.
The group provides first generation students on campus a sense of community and welcome, academic support, support outside of the classroom (wellness, etc.) and celebrating their successes as a student.
The First Generation Guild partners with the Service Learning Academy and the Office of Civic and Social Responsibility to get those students out into the community to teach them that they can learn not only in the classroom but out within their own communities as well.