Kansas State University

Student Success welcomes new staff members

Submitted by Office of Student Success

The Office of Student Success welcomes three new colleagues to its team: Karina Moncayo-Michel, Tyler Vela and Mirit Shamir.

Moncayo-Michel is program director for the McNair Scholars Program. Moncayo-Michel earned a bachelor's degree in communication science and disorders and a master's degree in college student development from Kansas State University. Moncayo-Michel served as a program administrator for the McNair program for six months before joining the Staley School of Leadership where she has served as a program assistant. Her experience coordinating programs, including Hands-On K-State, will serve her well as she leads a talented team dedicated to supporting high-achieving students — who are historically underrepresented in higher education — achieve their goals of pursuing advanced degrees. 

Vela is the new coaching and scholar services manager in the Academic Achievement Center. Vela earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from Mount Marty College and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from K-State. Since 2017, Vela has been an English teacher at Wamego High School, serving as team leader. Vela also serves as an Army reservist civil affairs officer. In his new role, Vela will oversee the academic coaching initiative and provide leadership for the student support services K-State offers scholar cohorts such as KC Scholars, Give Back Scholars, and Koch Scholars.

Shamir is serving as project coordinator for the Kansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, or KS-LSAMP. Shamir holds a master's degree in environmental policy from Michigan Technological University, where she was an IGERT Scholar. Shamir also holds a Master of Laws from Tel Aviv University and Bachelor of Laws and bachelor's degree in business administration from Reichman University. Shamir has served as the Rural Resource Resiliency NSF Research Traineeship Academic Services and program coordinator at K-State since October 2019. In her role, she recruits diverse students; coordinates activities in compliance with the budget, scope and regulations; prepares reports; and manages the budget and the day-to-day activities of the program. Before joining K-State, Shamir directed the STEM Bridge program at Lawrence Technological University in Michigan, where she collaborated with community colleges to build a bridge program to help students transition from a two-year institution to a four-year institution. Shamir is very excited to join the team and help support the important work of KS-LSAMP.