Our Mission and Core Values

Background image: Our Mission & Core Values

Our Mission

The Student Learning Center supports a global community of learners as they navigate the cultural expectations and academic rigor of UC Berkeley. Through service models that honor their diverse starting points and meet them where they are, we aim to empower all students to realize their full academic potential and aspirations.

Core Values

  • Deliver service with integrity
  • Approach learning as a process, not a product
  • Create innovative pedagogy and practices that optimize student learning
  • Operate from a student-centered framework
  • Respect diverse ways of knowing and learning

Highlights 

  • Has served over 80,000 students since 1973; is today the primary academic support unit for UC Berkeley.
  • Serves close to 10,000 undergraduates annually, approximately 40% of undergraduate student population.
  • Employs 18 professional staff with disciplinary expertise, 300 trained undergraduate tutors, and 20 graduate student instructors.
  • Is one of the few learning centers in the world that is supported almost entirely by undergraduates.
  • Serves as the liaison between Berkeley administration and the DeCal program, a partnership that adds over 300 courses to the university's formal curriculum.
  • Advises and mentors the leadership of the campus honor societies.
  • Manages Berkeley's Summer Bridge Program, a rigorous eight-week academic residential program for entering undergraduates, supporting approximately 400 students every summer in Making the Golden Bear Leap to Success!
  • Operates the SPEAR Middle School Scholar Academy, tailored to the academic and social development of middle school students, SPEAR offers an enriching learning experience and opportunities for scholars to develop self-efficacy, resourcefulness and problem solving strategies.