Welcome, everyone!
My name is Emma Cristofani-Tran, and I am the Interim Director of CLAS.
Unsurprisingly, I spend a lot of my time talking about what CLAS is and what CLAS does. I think the first line of our mission statement, “Learning is our middle name,” sums it all up pretty nicely. It’s not just clever word play (see what we did there?); it is both the definition of why we are here and how we do what we do.
Our purpose is to provide supplemental academic support to UCSB students by building both their skills in their coursework and their confidence in themselves. To do this well, we have to learn from our students just as much as they learn from us. We as a department are always being reshaped in little and big ways by incoming students, by our cohorts of peer tutors, and by the means of the moment.
Since we are supported by student fees, we are also stewards with a responsibility to give back directly to this community. We strive to be available to and inclusive of all students, and we aim to meet them where they are and when they need us.
During my time working at CLAS our mission and responsibility have guided our growth and development, and–as most people do these days–I have a “pandemic example” of this. In March of 2020 we (frantically) introduced online and asynchronous tutoring resources during remote instruction, and as we have returned to campus in the following years we have gotten got positive feedback from students who can’t be here in person every day, or who have a preference for more solitary learning, or who tend to realize they need a little more help at 1 A.M. We decided to keep those resources available and have continued to adjust the balance between online and in-person services as student excitement about the on-campus experience has resurged. We saw how eager students were to find study areas on campus, too, so we replaced our reception area with a Study Lounge and introduced reservable classrooms to our menu of offerings.
Looking ahead, we are keeping our finger on the pulse of student needs. We are developing better data methods for more precise insight into student trends. We are exploring new ideas for how we can provide services for a wider variety of classes. We are adding resources to our website to make it easier for faculty and staff to connect with us. In my thirteen years here there has never been a shortage of opportunities for us to adapt and evolve in step with our campus community, and I don’t imagine that will change any time soon.
Almost the entirety of my career has been built within this department. I have worked for CLAS in five different staff positions, from student tutor to Interim Director, and I’ve dabbled in a few extra roles here and there. I have been here through thick and thin, fires and a pandemic, budget booms and budget scarcity, and it has been (and continues to be) a ride I wouldn’t trade for anything.
I look forward to our continued work together.
All the best,
Emma
Students lined up to sign up for CLAS circa 1990.