On behalf of the search committee for the next Director of First-Generation and Limited-Income (FGLI) Services, you are invited to attend upcoming public presentations and Q&A sessions with our candidates. These presentations are a key part of the process and provide an opportunity for the campus community to engage with candidates and share feedback.
Opportunities for public input
Members of the UW–Madison community are invited to attend public candidate presentations and provide feedback in a survey.
Public presentations and Q&As
As part of the on-campus interview process, the search committee is hosting public presentations by each candidate, followed by an open Q&A session to gather feedback from the UW–Madison community.
- Monday, December 8, 2025: 9-10 a.m. | Memorial Union (TITU)
Dr. DeAnna Katey current serves as the Director of Undergraduate Student Programs for the Center for Engineering Excellence and Discovery (CEED) within the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. In her role, she is charged with increasing the diversity of the undergraduate student population and creating spaces for student’s academic, professional, and personal development. This includes a wide range of programs including Galileo and Hypatia Living -Learning Communities and the CEED Peer Mentoring program. Previously, Dr. Katey served as the Assistant Director of Student Success and First-year Experience at Siena Heights University located in Adrian, Michigan, where she played a pivotal role in creating an environment of success for first-year students. Her professional interests and research focus on the retention of underrepresented and underserved students. Dr. Katey graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania (Clarion, PA) where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education (2007) and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction (2010). In 2019, she graduated from Morgan State University’s Higher Education Administration doctoral program (Baltimore, MD)
- Tuesday, December 9, 2025: 9-10 a.m. | Memorial Union (TITU)
MollyJo Bautch is a Promise Program Financial Aid Advisor in the Office of Student Financial Aid, where she leads programming and communications for more than 7,400 Pell-eligible scholars. A proud first-generation college graduate and UW–Madison alumna, she has spent seven years advancing access, belonging, and student success through roles supporting PEOPLE scholars and Promise Program students.
She helped launch UW–Madison’s first campus-wide National First-Generation Celebration Day in 2018 and is committed to building collaborative, campus-wide systems that help FGLI students thrive. MollyJo holds a B.A. in Sociology, certificate in Chican@ and Latin@ Studies and an M.S. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
- Monday, December 15, 2025: 9-10 a.m. | Memorial Union (TITU)
Dr. Desiree D. Alva is a strategic, equity-driven student affairs leader with over 20 years of experience advancing student success at large public research institutions, including UT Austin, UT San Antonio, and UW–Madison. She brings deep expertise in building and scaling programs that foster belonging, persistence, and holistic support for first-generation and limited-income students – work grounded in data-informed decision-making, systems thinking, and inclusive, student-centered design.
Most recently, Dr. Alva served as the Director of Student Programming and Assessment at UT Austin, where she provided executive-level leadership for transition and success initiatives serving more than 10,000 first-generation, limited-income, and underserved students annually. She led a diverse team of full-time staff, graduate assistants, and over 100 student employees, cultivating an inclusive, high-performing culture marked by innovation, cohesion, and shared purpose. Her portfolio included First-Generation Longhorns, Horns Helping Horns, Bevo Buddy, RGV Familia, the First-Gen Living Learning Community, the Off-Campus Initiative, and Longhorn Welcome – each designed to dismantle barriers, elevate student voice, and strengthen community belonging for FGLI students.
A skilled convener and collaborator, Dr. Alva partnered extensively with academic units, financial aid, student life, housing, advising networks, and identity-based resource centers to create cohesive, student-centered pathways from pre-arrival through graduation. She represented her division on high-level committees such as the Academic & Student Affairs Committee, Nontraditional Student Advisory Board, First-Generation Campus Initiatives Committee, and student-holds and assessment working groups – ensuring that the needs of first-generation and limited-income students remained central in institutional planning and policy development.
Her leadership is distinguished by a strong commitment to data-driven continuous improvement. Dr. Alva led departmental assessment efforts for all transition initiatives, implemented robust feedback systems, and partnered with UT’s Student Affairs Division Assessment, Data Analytics & Planning Team to analyze disaggregated data, identify service gaps, and guide program redesign. She oversaw major survey systems (orientation, family orientation, student employee evaluations) and leveraged insights to strengthen cohort models, mentorship programs, the hidden curriculum, and resource access for FGLI learners.
Dr. Alva is also recognized for her ability to secure and steward major resources for students with the highest need. She obtained and implemented a renewable $800,000 state contract to launch UT Austin’s Supervised Independent Living (SIL) program for foster care alumni – providing free housing, meals, and wraparound support, and positioning UT as a statewide leader in basic needs and persistence initiatives. She also played a lead role in donor stewardship, endowment strategy, and annual giving campaigns, ensuring sustainability and visibility for first-generation and limited-income programs.
Dr. Alva’s career is marked by a consistent throughline: building ecosystems of support that honor students’ identities, meet their basic needs, illuminate the hidden curriculum, and ensure that first-generation and limited-income students not only access higher education but truly thrive within it. Widely respected as a relational, compassionate, and data-driven leader, she has a strong commitment to community empowerment, belief in the transformative power of education, and dedication to supporting students from every background as they pursue their aspirations and contribute to the world.
A proud UW-Madison alumna, Dr. Alva holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis, an M.S. in Counseling Psychology, and a B.A. in Legal Studies, Sociology, and Women’s Studies with a certificate in Chican@ Studies. She is a certified IDI facilitator, a long-time member and past Co-President of UT Austin’s Hispanic Faculty/Staff Association, and a trusted institutional leader committed to advancing student support, well-being, and retention. She is also a recipient of UW–Madison’s Outstanding Women of Color Award, reflecting her long-standing contributions to equity, inclusion, and community leadership across campus.