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Student and Instructional Services

The Student and Instructional Services Office provides advising services to students as well as instruction-based support services to faculty.

Undergraduate Contact

Phone: (858) 534-0557
Non-UCSD students: biousis@ucsd.edu
Current UCSD students: Virtual Advising Center
Instructional Assistants: biota@ucsd.edu

Graduate Contact

PhD Program: biogradprog@ucsd.edu
PhD Admissions: biophdadmissions@ucsd.edu
Prospective & Current MS students: Virtual Advising Center
Instructional Assistants: biota@ucsd.edu

Hours

SIS South door is open for Core hours 10 a.m.  – 12 p.m. and 1 –3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. All staff work remotely on Friday.

Location

Pacific Hall, First Floor

Mailing Address

University of California, San Diego
Division of Biological Sciences
9500 Gilman Drive #0348
La Jolla, CA 92093-0348

Staff

Natalie Noles
Director, Student and Instructional Services
nnoles@ucsd.edu
Oversight of the Student and Instructional Services (SIS) unit of the Biological Sciences Administrative Core: including both undergraduate and graduate advising services, instructional services, admission and recruitment, and the instructional assistant program.

Graduate Program (Ph.D. & M.S.)

Melody Bazyar
Manager, Graduate Student and Instructional Services
Daily operation, administration, and management of graduate student and instructional services.
Valeria Spall
Ph.D. Program Coordinator
mbazyar@ucsd.edu
Ph.D. student advising, Ph.D. thesis committees/defense, evaluations, first year rotations, graduate curriculum, student progress tracking.
TBD
Ph.D. Program Coordinator
vspall@ucsd.edu
Ph.D. student advising, Ph.D. thesis committees/defense, evaluations, first year rotations, graduate curriculum, student progress tracking.
Philip Durkee
B.S./M.S. Coordinator
pjdurkee@ucsd.edu
B.S./M.S. program advising, M.S. admissions, evaluation and progress tracking, M.S. student event organization.
Jeannette Fox
B.S./M.S. Coordinator
j4fox@ucsd.edu
B.S./M.S. program advising, M.S. admissions, evaluation and progress tracking, M.S. student event organization.
Trevor Guidinger
Ph.D. Recruitment and Admissions Coordinator
tguidinger@ucsd.edu
Ph.D. recruitment and admissions, application inquiries and tracking, admissions analysis, participant in external outreach and recruitment events.

Graduate Financial Support

Lien Ngo
Financial Analyst
lnngo@ucsd.edu
Graduate student support planning and analysis, student and faculty financial advising, training grant coordination.
TBD
Financial Assistant
Graduate student support processing, student financial advising, graduate student travel, verification letters/forms.

Instructional Assistant Program

Jasmin Jefferson
IA Program & Staffing Coordinator
jmjefferson@ucsd.edu
Administrative coordination of the Instructional Assistant program: GIA, TA, Tutor, UGIA, Reader.
Megan Varela
IA Program & Staffing Coordinator
mvarela@ucsd.edu
Administrative coordination of the Instructional Assistant program: GIA, TA, Tutor, UGIA, Reader.

Undergraduate Advising Services

Laura Majoch
Manager, Undergraduate Advising
lmajoch@ucsd.edu
Daily operation, administration, and management of the advising unit.
Brian Hamlett
Advisor
bhamlett@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate advising. Special area of oversight: TBD
Katie Liakos
Advisor
kliakos@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate advising. Special area of oversight: Major/Minor Tool Administration.
Rachel Mori
Advisor
rmori@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate advising. Special area of oversight: TBD
Bianca Poveda
Advisor
bapoveda@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate advising. Special area of oversight: TBD
Camille Sta Elena
Advisor
cstaelena@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate advising. Special area of oversight: Honors Thesis Program (BISP 196).
Haille Thomas
Advisor
hmthomas@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate advising. Special area of oversight: TBD
Julie Vitale
Advisor
jbvitale@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate advising. Special area of oversight: Capped Major Application administration.

Instructional Services

Matthew Haack
Manager, Instructional Services
mhaack@ucsd.edu
Daily operation, administration, and management of the instructional unit.
Adrian Aini
Instructional Scheduling Coordinator
aaini@ucsd.edu
Responsible for undergraduate and graduate course scheduling and related processes.
Lindsay Ward
Student Accommodations Coordinator
l1ward@ucsd.edu
Responsible for coordination of accommodation for students with disabilities as documented with OSD.
Isabela Ibarra
Student Services Advisor
imibarra@ucsd.edu
Front desk/intake advising. Provide general administrative support to the Student Services unit. Specialized advising duties.