From SASAH Director, Manina Jones:
Many will have heard the news that our beloved Program Coordinator, Jen Tramble will be leaving her role to take on a new position as a Faculty of Arts and Humanities academic advisor, starting later this month.
Please drop by her office to wish Jen well in her new role. We’ll be hosting an informal “farewell tea”, with sweets and beverages on Friday, January 16th, from 2-4 pm, in the SASAH Student Room (UC 2306).
Jen will not be going far (down the hall to the Academic Advising offices) and she will continue to be available to assist with questions related to SASAH, graduation requirements, special permissions, and exchange opportunities.
SASAH directors come and go. SASAH students arrive and graduate. SASAH offices move (this past summer Jen moved the office -- for the second time!). Since 2016, the most constant person in SASAH has been Jen Tramble. It’s not an exaggeration to say that wherever Jen is, has been SASAH’s home.
For me, knowing Jen is in the office next-door, with her deep institutional knowledge, optimistic outlook, practical know-how, and unequivocal support has been instrumental to orienting myself to the program and appreciating the unique nature of the SASAH community – a community Jen has been so crucial in fostering. Jen orchestrates the program at the same time as she attends to the needs of individual students (and faculty!) with a characteristic combination of generosity, composure, and grace.
While I’ve known Jen since she was administrative support for the Film program before she came to SASAH, I’ve only had the pleasure of working with her for a few months. Since Jen has interacted in so extensively with the previous SASAH Directors, I asked each of them to offer a brief reflection on Jen’s time with SASAH…
JOEL FAFLAK: My tendency to overdramatize sometimes gets the better of me, but I say on this occasion, with no exaggeration, that SASAH would not have survived to be the success that it is had Jen Tramble not come on board as Program Coordinator three years into my time as inaugural Director of the School. Subsequent Directors and Administrative Staff have shaped and continue to shape the School to become its best self. But any of the success we might claim for the School owes a debt not just to Jen’s formidable administrative experience but to her insight, compassion, and vision. To say that she will be missed is the opposite of overdramatization.
PATRICK MAHON: Jen Tramble keeps it together. She has the miraculous capacity to keep people connected, programs and initiatives united, and positive feelings and attitudes flowing among a group . All the while she herself remains supremely calm: together.
Jen has always shared her amazing strengths with everyone in and around SASAH. She has therefore had a huge influence on shaping the program as a place where interdisciplinarity and integration are real. Her departure will be a loss for SASAH, while I am certain she will stay close, and help to further the important connections between SASAH and the Faculty of A&H.
AARA SUKSI: Jen has tended to the success of SASAH in so many ways, for so many years. Countless students know her as the knowledgeable and kind person who was always there to guide them through the personal and academic challenges in their undergraduate careers. She has been the constant beating heart of the program, working hard to celebrate every milestone and achievement in style. Her impeccable organizational skills supported SASAH’s recruitment work, events of all kinds, course scheduling, budget management, and travel arrangements for speakers. I wish her all the best in her new role, where I know she will excel, but SASAH will miss her enormously.
