Meet the Administrators: Q&A with Director of Admissions Christine Van Gieson

Q. What are your responsibilities at UCSB? What are the main units for which you are responsible? How do your administrative responsibilities affect undergraduates at UCSB?

A. As Director of Admissions, I am responsible for the units that advise prospective students about admission to UCSB and that review applications and notify students about their admission to UCSB. Admission staff provides admissions information sessions and campus tours for visitors to the campus. Staff members also travel to high schools and community colleges around the state where they meet with prospective students and with high school and community college counselors.

The office coordinates a number of activities and events for counselors and prospective and admitted students. These include such things as campus open house for prospective and admitted students, special programs for school groups, conferences and meetings designed to inform counselors about UCSB admissions, and receptions for admitted students throughout the state.

In addition, of course, we receive nearly 50,000 admission applications annually that require review and decisions. A technical team develops and maintains our web site (which most of you should know now that you are UCSB students!), generates reports and data, receives application data, and ultimately must generate 50,000 admission letters – both online and hard copy.

A faculty admission committee sets the criteria for admission when we receive more qualified applicants than we can accommodate (which has been the case for the last 10 years). We employ some 60-70 admission reviewers who, following an intensive training program, read and score applications.

After students decide to attend UCSB, the Admission staff prepares the new student profile, which details the number of AP and college units that are applicable to a student's UCSB degree. Admission staff also award transfer credit when students have taken summer classes at another institution.

We involve current students in many of our activities. Although most of these opportunities are unpaid, we welcome your participation. Students lead campus tours, they help in the office with reception and clerical work, and they participate in many of our events. Let us know if you are interested. It's fun and a great way to get involved.

Q. Can you tell us about your own undergraduate experience? Where were you a student? Were you always committed to being an academic in your discipline or did you have other plans? What or who was influential in your undergraduate career? Did you go straight from undergraduate to graduate school?

A. I attended UCSB and graduated with a major in art history at a time when having a concrete career in mind was not typical for most students. I pursued graduate work in art history at UCLA while working at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, but I ultimately decided that I did not want a career in the art field. I then tried education, getting as far as completing the course work for an elementary teaching credential, when I landed an entry-level job in the Biology Department at UCLA. The position combined my organizational skills with student advising, and I loved it. The faculty and students in biology found me and my art background a novelty; I found the scientists novel as well. We learned a lot from each other. So began my career at the University of California.

After 10 years at UCLA, my husband and I moved to Santa Barbara for his employment. I was fortunate to find a position in Admissions and the rest, as they say, is history. I've worked in various capacities in Admissions at UCSB for 21 years and have been serving as director since 2000.

Q. Do you have some advice for honors undergraduates at UCSB?

A. Choose a major that you love and pursue your interests with vigor!

Q. What do you think is the best thing about UCSB and what is the one thing you would change?

A. I love UCSB, so it's difficult to identify the "best" thing. I guess I would have to say it's the UCSB community: faculty, staff and students.

The thing that I would change is the "look" of the campus (some of the buildings are less than beautiful), but that process has already begun under the direction of an excellent campus planner.

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