Student Experience

Silver Slug Scholarship supports UCSC staff member through Ph.D. completion 

Roxy Davis, a data and evaluation specialist at UC Santa Cruz’s Teaching and Learning Center, is pursuing a Ph.D. in social psychology at the university with the support of the Silver Slug Scholarship.

October 27, 2026

Tara Fatemi Walker

Roxy Davis’s area of study has changed over time, but her focus on promoting equity has remained constant—whether as the subject of her social psychology Ph.D. or in her professional journey. She is a data and evaluation specialist at UC Santa Cruz’s Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), the university’s center for supporting the teaching community through research and equity-minded practices to promote student success.  

Davis (Ph.D. ’27, social psychology), who was recently awarded a Silver Slug Scholarship, is earning her degree while working full-time at UC Santa Cruz. 

“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 Silver Slug Scholarship is awarded annually to current university students. To be eligible, an applicant must be a UC Santa Cruz student and either a university career staff member or their dependent. The idea for the Silver Slug Scholarship came about when Retirees Association members Mary Wells and Sharon Dirnberger were discussing their estate plans. As Admissions Office employees, they had both seen the challenges fellow staff faced with education expenses. With help from the Retirees Association board, the group raised funds to establish the scholarship. Since then, 25 Silver Slug Scholarships have been awarded. 

As a Ph.D. candidate, Davis has utilized several resources. Slug Support helped when she needed financial assistance, and the Career Staff Reduced Fee Program made continuing her degree and working full-time possible. Also, participating in the TLC’s Course Design and Delivery Certificate program before teaching her own summer course was a big help. “I know my course was much better because of what I learned there.” She received support throughout the summer from TLC facilitator Kendra Dority and her certificate program’s peer mentoring group.

Davis is grateful to Psychology Graduate Program Coordinator Kathy Montano who helped Davis create a plan to finish her degree. Montano also alerted Davis to both the Silver Slug Scholarship and the Career Staff Reduced Fee Program. 

Davis also notes the support of her Ph.D. advisor Saskias Casanova, associate professor of psychology, and her colleagues at the TLC. “They have been cheering me on since I first joined the TLC team.”

After transferring to UC Santa Cruz from Sacramento City College, Davis graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s in psychology. A few years later, she earned her M.A. in clinical psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, but realized the field wasn’t a good fit. She became a lead instructor at a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated individuals.

“I saw the kinds of structural barriers they were up against, including the criminal legal system itself,” she said. Inspired to address these barriers, Davis read an article featuring UCSC Professor Craig Haney’s work that greatly resonated with her. 

A few years after getting her masters, Davis successfully applied to work with Professor Haney for a Ph.D. in social psychology. She began studying the legal system, doing research on topics like criminalization of poverty and homelessness, the effects of incarceration on physical and mental health, and inequities in criminal procedure and use of pretrial detention. She intended to pursue nonprofit work related to the criminal legal system, but her plans shifted after she started working at the TLC. 

She started as a graduate student researcher at the Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning (CITL) in 2022, before CITL merged with Online Education to become the TLC. She’d been in that role for about a year and a half when a staff position focused on program evaluation at the TLC was posted.

“I loved working at the TLC. From early on in my time there, I thought about how it was the kind of work environment I hoped to find in my career,” she shared. “I was struck by how thoughtful and kind my colleagues were and how they clearly cared so deeply about their work. Also, I loved being involved in supporting teaching on our campus.”  

When the position became available, Davis was about to propose a dissertation that would have required her to perform field research during normal business hours—incompatible with working a full-time job. She was at a crossroads, “either complete my degree with my existing program of research and pursue my original career plans or pursue a career in educational development at the TLC,” she explained. That would require switching dissertation plans. Despite years of research, it felt like the right move. “I really enjoyed working at the TLC and cared so much about the work we were doing.” She applied, and got the TLC staff role.

In the three years since, Davis ultimately selected queer identity development as the focus of her dissertation. 

Davis’ Silver Slug Scholarship funds are being used toward tuition; in fact, the funds cover most of her tuition for the coming year. Normally, Ph.D. students have their tuition waived as part of their TAship or GSRship, but since she works full-time, she can’t take one of those positions. 

In 2024, Davis moved into her current role which combines program evaluation for the TLC and equity data work, which involves analyzing disaggregated data on student outcomes, and providing consultations and workshops for faculty on using data to promote equity in the classroom.

Post-graduation, she plans to stay at the TLC and hopes to spend the rest of her career at UCSC. 

“I believe strongly in the TLC’s mission and really enjoy working with my colleagues,” Davis said. “I get to dedicate time to varied projects, which keeps the work interesting and challenging, and I care deeply about equity and supporting our campus community. It feels very meaningful to contribute.” 

She greatly appreciates the Silver Slug Scholarship and everything that has accompanied receiving it. 

“I was so touched by all the encouragement I received from everyone at the Silver Slug Scholarship event last spring. Their belief in me means a lot.”