From AAP student to director, Jonli Tunstall leads the program that shaped her

Jonli Tunstall already has plenty on her plate. Her newest leadership appointment, a dual role on top of her faculty position, doesn't leave much time to take on new weekly practices. But she has one in mind anyway: carving out time to connect with the mentors and educators whose words helped shape her life.

The idea took shape after a student told Tunstall that they held onto something she once said in a lecture about showing oneself grace. It was a reminder that small moments can leave a lasting mark, and that hearing how they matter can mean everything.

Now, as director of UCLA's Academic Advancement Program, or AAP, and associate vice provost of student diversity, Tunstall is returning to the place that helped shape her own educational and professional journey. She is also making history as the first woman to lead the program since its founding more than five decades ago.

"AAP showed me how important it is for students to feel seen here - to feel like there's community and that someone understands what they bring from their homes and backgrounds," Tunstall said, sitting in her office in Campbell Hall, where student-made cards and posters accent the wall. Those notes, which have piled up over the years, are filled with sentiments like: "Thank you for the power of knowledge," and "Thank you for giving us higher education," in swirly felt-tip letters, bordered by star stickers and washi tape.

That sense of encouragement and community, visible in those handmade messages, reflects the environment AAP has cultivated for generations of students.

Where students find belonging

Founded in 1971, AAP is the nation's largest university-based student diversity program, serving thousands of Bruins each year with coordinated academic support and community-building initiatives. It focuses on helping first-generation and historically underserved students not only gain admission to UCLA, but also thrive once they get here, with strong retention and completion outcomes reflecting that support.

For Tunstall, that mission isn't abstract. It's personal.

The Los Angeles-native became familiar with the Westwood campus in high school through a career-based opportunity in the UCLA Early Academic Outreach Program, which, for decades, has introduced students from under-resourced schools to rigorous academic enrichment on college campuses during weekends and summer sessions. It's also and helped prepare them to become competitive applicants for college admission.

Having spent much time at UCLA during those years, Tunstall initially planned to pursue her undergraduate studies elsewhere. But after attending open houses at other colleges where she had been accepted, she found herself drawn back to UCLA.

"I didn't feel like my community was reflected, or my identity affirmed in any of the places I visited, particularly on days where I thought, 'At least they'd pretend, right?'" she said.

It was during an AAP Scholars Day event at UCLA where Tunstall recognized the clear effort to show prospective students that community and representation would be waiting for them on campus. She decided on the spot to attend UCLA.

During her undergraduate years, Tunstall participated in AAP's freshman summer program and later worked in the office as a student employee. She said she found many mentors and peers who helped her navigate moments of uncertainty as she adjusted to the academic rigor of UCLA.

"Being in a space where I felt like it was OK to not be OK, or to not have it all figured out, was really integral to me at the time," she said.

Reflecting back, looking forward

In the years since graduating from UCLA, where she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and later completed her Ph.D. at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, Tunstall has built a career focused on expanding opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

The work has included leading AAP's pre-college and summer initiatives, including the Vice Provost's Initiative for Pre-College Scholars, or VIP Scholars, and the freshman and transfer Summer Programs, which help incoming students transition to the academic demands of UCLA. She also co-founded the Sister to Sister Institute, which supports Black women through education, advocacy and cultural engagement; and has taught courses in the school of education, department of African American studies and department of ethnomusicology.

As AAP director, Tunstall said her focus is on sustaining and strengthening a program that has changed the trajectory of thousands of students. That responsibility comes at a challenging moment for AAP, which, like so many student support programs nationwide, faces funding uncertainties and difficult decisions about staffing and programming. Tunstall said protecting the program's core mission is one of her top priorities.

"One thing that's important is sustaining the life-giving work that AAP does, and that means not only caring for our students, but also caring for the staff who do the heavy lifting of this work," she said, noting that much of that care happens in the day-to-day moments when staff are helping students navigate academic challenges, but also the political environment during this time.

"We're living through important markers in history right now, and our students are navigating that."

Looking ahead, Tunstall hopes to strengthen partnerships across the campus and deepen connections with AAP's alumni network, many of whom credit the program with helping them find their footing at UCLA. Those relationships, she said, are key to ensuring the program continues to support future generations of Bruins.

A 'community win'

Tunstall often thinks about the people who helped guide her along the way and the students who will one day return with stories of their own. For her, AAP has always been about the ripple effects created when one student's success inspires another.

In her office, Tunstall proudly shows off a postcard on her desk about a film screening, given to her during a recent surprise visit from a former AAP student and alumna of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, who wanted to share news about her latest project's release and invite Tunstall to its screening. Tunstall said moments like those have played out repeatedly over the years, as former AAP students have gone on to be educators, researchers, artists and community leaders. Many of them, she said, return to campus to mentor the next generation of Bruins through the program.

Tunstall got a full-circle moment of her own at a welcome reception held March 17 on campus, fittingly during Women's History Month. Students, colleagues and alumni gathered to celebrate her appointment, many sharing their own memories of AAP and the role it played in shaping their time at UCLA.

Tunstall said the response to her appointment has been overwhelming in the best way, with messages pouring in to celebrate her milestone, reminding her that her path has always been a collective effort.

"It felt like a community win," she said. "The whole block - the whole neighborhood - did that."

For Tunstall, the moment reflects the same spirit that has long defined AAP: a community working together to ensure students not only arrive at UCLA but thrive once they are here and after they leave.