UC Santa Cruz Staff Member Earns Ph.D. With Scholarship Help

Working full-time while earning a Ph.D. sounds impossible, but Roxy Davis is proving it can be done with the right support system.

Davis works as a data and evaluation specialist at UC Santa Cruz's Teaching and Learning Center, where she helps improve teaching practices across campus. At the same time, she's pursuing her doctorate in social psychology, expected to finish in 2027.

The balancing act just got easier. Davis recently received the Silver Slug Scholarship, created specifically for UC Santa Cruz staff members and their families who are continuing their education.

"Continuing to pursue my Ph.D. while working full-time has been really hard, but receiving the Silver Slug Scholarship has been a huge morale boost," Davis said. "It feels like the UCSC community is rallying behind me in support of completing my degree."

The scholarship covers most of her tuition for the coming year. That's a big deal because full-time staff can't take teaching assistant positions that normally waive tuition for Ph.D. students.

Two retired admissions office employees, Mary Wells and Sharon Dirnberger, created the scholarship after discussing their estate plans. They'd watched colleagues struggle with education expenses and wanted to help.

With support from the Retirees Association, they established the fund. Since then, 25 students have received Silver Slug Scholarships.

Davis's path to this moment wasn't straight. She earned her bachelor's in psychology from UC Santa Cruz in 2010, then got a master's in clinical psychology. But clinical work didn't feel right.

She became a lead instructor at a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated people. There, she saw firsthand how structural barriers trap people in cycles of poverty and imprisonment.

That experience brought her back to UC Santa Cruz for doctoral work focused on the criminal legal system. She studied topics like homelessness criminalization and the health effects of incarceration.

Then something unexpected happened. Davis started working at the Teaching and Learning Center and fell in love with the work. When a full-time position opened, she faced a tough choice: continue her original research path or switch dissertation topics to keep the job she loved.

She chose the job and changed her research focus to queer identity development. Three years later, she's thriving in both roles.

The Ripple Effect

Davis's story reflects a growing recognition that higher education institutions should support their own employees' educational goals. The Career Staff Reduced Fee Program, combined with the Silver Slug Scholarship, makes it financially possible for staff to advance their education.

Psychology Graduate Program Coordinator Kathy Montano connected Davis with both programs. Her advisor, Associate Professor Saskias Casanova, and her Teaching and Learning Center colleagues have cheered her on throughout the journey.

"I loved being involved in supporting teaching on our campus," Davis shared. "From early on, I thought about how it was the kind of work environment I hoped to find in my career."

Davis's dissertation on queer identity development now combines her passion for equity with her educational development work, bringing her career and academic interests full circle.