Learn more about Peer Advisor Katy Tseng, who is a graduate of our undergraduate certificate program and future Master of Business Analytics student at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Katy has been with the Department for Technology Management for a year serving as a Peer Advisor, not only acting as an educational resource for other students in the program, but spearheading the transformation of the department’s data organizational structure.
Find Katy at her LinkedIn here!
Q: Could you introduce yourself, as well as provide some background for our readership? How did you find out about the Department of Technology Management?
A: Hi! My name is Katy, and I’m a graduated senior studying Statistics and Data Science. I was very interested in business, and knowing that [UCSB] didn’t have a business major or business program, I was trying to figure out if I could do anything related to that. I’ve always had a passion for the intersection of business and data, so that drove me to explore the Undergraduate Certificate Program, which is interdisciplinary in where you can have it apply to your degree. And, for me, that would come to be business analytics, [which] I look forward to pursuing at a Master’s level this upcoming fall.
Q: Tell us about your role as a Peer Advisor.
A: I started off on the student assistant side of the Technology Management undergraduate program. I went into the role helping the undergraduate division by getting involved with transforming [the department’s] data management system. In the beginning, it was very plain and simple, being done on Google Sheets, but the department was growing and so we had to find a better solution to manage our student database and to manage the growing population in general. That was my first big project, and I’ve been maintaining it since. The peer advisor role came later, where I was learning a lot about the department in general and started taking on answering student questions through emails and online appointments, and helping them with course-related questions.
Q: Could you elaborate more on your transformation of the departmental database? What steps did you take in order to make that happen?
A: I had to first diagnose and see what solutions [the department] needed, as databases can go from very simple to very complex solutions. I decided to implement a no-code solution [through] Airtable, since it is very simple and easy to use. You can visualize data on the interface, which was great–[with] a simple upload of grades, I can create a relational database to see what students are taking, how students are doing in their progress, their status towards their certification, and it’s a great way to manage our students.
Q: What classes or experiences did you enjoy most in the undergraduate certificate program?
A: For me, it was mostly the classes that were really interesting. For me,one thing that really struck me about TM and their classes is how diverse it is in terms of major. I was able to take classes and befriend a lot of people from Communications, Sociology, Economics, etc., that I would have never met throughout my entire college journey. In my Department (The Department of Statistics and Applied Probability–PSTAT), everybody I knew in my classes were also in PSTAT, and so it’s kind of like a little bubble. I was able to “burst” that bubble, and get to collaborate with people in different departments through TM.
Q: What is one piece of advice that you would give to undergraduate students interested in the certificate program?
A: The first thing I would say is, don’t be intimidated or anything. [The certificate] is manageable on top of, I would say, any major across the board and you are so welcome to take just one class and survey your interest in the program and see how you like the class structure. It doesn’t work for everybody–and that’s okay! It’s very participatory, [in that] you have to be very engaged in class and some people are kind of shy from that. Definitely try a class to see if you like it.
Q: What is one thing you wish everyone knew about our Department?
A: I wish everyone knew how intimate the class settings are. When you’re in your upper division lectures, they are all 100+ [students] and people in the sections don’t interact at all with each other–you just go in, do the quiz or review sessions, and there’s not really any interaction with anybody really in the classes. But with TM, every single class is around 50 students, and the professor knows your name and your story. So it’s very intimate, and you feel like you are heard. It’s so valuable in that way and you can form a lot of connections through that.
Q: Could you tell us more about your post-grad plans?
A: I’m planning on pursuing a Master in Business Analytics at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. I’ve been set on that since I took my first class (TMP 120). It’s so nice to be able to combine data and business together. I’m really excited to be in a classroom environment again, and be able to combine PSTAT with Technology Management!
Q: Where do you see yourself in the future?
A: In the future, I definitely hope to work in some sort of tech product company, and I’m leaning towards education tech or health and wellness tech. I see myself digging into user data and understanding their behaviors, and then how those factors contribute to the overall business goal. I think one thing that motivates me on the job is that “human piece” of data. So I hope to be at more of a user-facing side of data and analytics, and see what’s out there.
Q: Promote one thing of your choice to our readership.
A: Throughout my undergraduate journey, the author Brianna Weist has been super great with self-help and self-growth. Her book “101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think” is something I think everyone should read.
Learn more about the Undergraduate Certificate Program here.