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Student Staff Infuse Commons With Energy and Support
2025-2026 Student Staff

By Malaika Rehman

For third-year Global Public Health major Alena Johnson, working as an Operations Assistant for the Contemplative Sciences Center has reshaped what she expects from a student job.

Johnson remembers her interview for the Operations role as the first sign that the CSC treated student staff as valued members of the community. Instead of simply filling open slots, staff asked about her interests and possible paths across departments.

“They made it clear it wasn’t just a job,” Johnson said. “They wanted to make sure I felt welcome in the space and that I was in a role that fit me.”

Operations staff are typically the first to arrive and the last to leave. They set up rooms for classes, keep technology running, reset studios between sessions, and sit at the first and second-floor desks to greet visitors and answer questions. On the second floor, they also help coordinate research participants as they move through studies.

Thanks to a generous gift from the UVA Parents Fund, the Contemplative Sciences Center currently employs 54 student staff members who work across Operations, Programming, Research, and Communications. Together, they support everything from daily logistics to long-term studies and public events. Over the course of this semester alone, student staff helped host 22 student-focused programs that drew more than 800 student participants and assisted with approximately 50 building tours that welcomed over 400 visitors into the Contemplative Commons.

On the research side, student staff are helping explore how contemplative practices show up in students’ daily lives — physically, mentally, and even neurologically.

Fourth-year Psychology major Zach Goadhouse works as a Research Assistant on a nature study that examines how different environments shape meditative experiences. Participants meditate in three different settings: a neutral indoor room, a "biophilic" space with large windows overlooking the Dell, and an outdoor location near the water.  

“It’s a good bridge between what I’m studying and what I might want to do in the future,” Goadhouse said. “Whether it’s therapy, social work, or more academic research, the skills I’ve been learning here are applicable to all these spaces.”

He also works with the Research team on a pilot virtual reality program called “Virtual Reality Dream Yoga,” where participants join a live facilitator in a shared virtual reality environment.  

“It’s about recognizing that we’re on autopilot — when we’re stressed, we check out of our reality,” Goadhouse said. “This VR study is helping participants learn how to come back to lucidity in everyday life.”  

While research staff study contemplative practices, Programming Assistants focus on bringing those practices directly to students. Fourth-Year American Studies major Maude Tetzeli describes programming as a mix of creativity, timing, and empathy.  

“We think about when students might be feeling the most stressed, like midterms and finals, and design events that can be accessible to them during those stressful times,” Tetzeli said.  

This semester, that has meant hosting events such as study cafes, contemplative craft nights, collaborations with student groups, and more. Tetzeli helped organized the recent partnership with TEDxUVA that invited upperclassmen to share what they wish they’d known earlier in their college careers, with a special focus on advice for first-years.

Apart from the work, Tetzeli has enjoyed the sense of community she’s found at the CSC. One recent moment captured that sense of community for her. During her fourth-year 5K, she rounded a corner and heard loud cheering and encouragement from the sidelines.

“It was CSC staff and student workers, handing out water and cheering everyone on,” Tetzeli said. “It was such a good snapshot of what this place is about: to show up for each other in the midst of everything else.”

With over 1,300 participants for weekly led classes across the Contemplative Sciences center, student staff are doing more than turning lights on and checking off boxes. They are helping to shape how the building feels and how students encounter contemplative practices on Grounds.  
In the process, they’re also learning what it means to build community, practice care, and carry contemplative tools into their own lives.

Here's a sample of the activities students have created for fellow UVA students.