Academic Feedback & Support

Student involvement, especially around providing feedback on our academic learning culture, is critical to making Haas a great place to learn.

We’ve created the ACR and SCR positions (two of each role for each of the four cohorts) to lead this effort. The cohort reps will be the key points of contact for the cohort, faculty and EWMBA Program Office around academics and student experience.

We are seeking individuals who are willing to go beyond themselves to serve as cohort reps. Specific responsibilities and commitments include:

• Serving in the role for the first two semesters of the Class of 2023’s tenure
• Attending a training session on August 30 as well as ongoing monthly enrichment events (the last Sunday morning of each month)
• Being timely and responsive to academic issues raised by professors, classmates and the Program Office
• Administering the mid-semester review and final course evaluation (ACRs)
• Acting as the liaison between your cohort classmates and your professors
• Dedication to continuously improve the Haas experience for your classmates and follow on classes

• Enthusiasm
• Commitment to helping others
• Willingness to be visible to your classmates
• Ability to present problems in a clear and non-judgmental way
• Follow through

Given the visibility and leadership of this role, we’d like for you to fill out a brief application. Applications are due on Sunday, August 2 by 11:59 PM.

Academic cohort representatives will be chosen by the EW Program Office with input from the student VPs of Academics and former cohort reps. Interviews will take place in early August.

Social cohort representatives will be voted on by the cohort in early August.

All selected candidates — ACR and SCR — will be notified via email shortly thereafter.

Thank you for going beyond yourself!

Class representatives are the foundation of student representation. They serve as an important conduit of student opinion between the classroom and the professor as well as the classroom and the program office (via the VPs of Academics). This can be positive feedback on aspects that work well and might be shared as best practices. This can also be concerns about issues that negatively affect the student academic experience.

They function as a “first line of defense” for student issues. Class reps ensure that faculty and staff are continually listening to and engaging with students to improve the student experience

Core courses typically have two class reps while smaller elective courses have one.

They are chosen any number of ways including:

• • student volunteers
  • class holds a vote
  • professor choice

We recommend that this is done on the first day of class.

1. Administer Mid-Semester Review: This is done around the course’s halfway point. 15 minutes at the beginning or end of class is allocated to this important task. The professor will step out of the room and the class rep conducts an “audit” via a short survey of 3 open-ended questions. They then schedule a meeting with the professor to provide feedback.
2. Administer Final Evaluation: Sometime before the final week, discuss with the professor the best day to administer the final course evaluation. The evaluation is electronic and instructions will be sent to the professor.
3. Act as Liaison Between Students and Professor: The class rep’s role as a liaison to the professor is typically announced in class. Making contact with the professor early in the class seems to facilitate smooth resolutions of student concerns. The class rep’s primary role is to voice student concerns with the professor–with promises of confidentiality, if necessary. Throughout this process, class reps will be in touch with the EWMBAA VPs of Academics, who may provide further guidance and also escalate concerns through other channels.

• Enthusiasm
• Commitment to helping others
• Willingness to be visible to your classmates
• Ability to present problems in a clear and non-judgmental way
• Follow through

• Course content — Are the lectures interesting and instructive?
• Professor — Does he/she move too fast? Too slow? Are students engaged and keeping up?
• Assessment and grading — Are there too many assignments? Too few? Too close to exams? Clarity of feedback?
• Course structure — Does the course structure reflect the course description? Is time being spent effectively?

Step 1: Discuss and clarify specific details with the student. Listen to their story and consider whether the issue is isolated or whether it affects other students. This determines whether or not the concern should be escalated and, if so, where to direct the feedback — professor, VPs of Academics, classmates, program office, etc.

Step 2: If the issue is personal to the student, encourage them to speak to their academic advisor. If it affects other students in the class, then ask for feedback from the whole cohort. Arrange to speak to the professor about it.

If it’s a global issue that affects the entire class across all four cohorts, bring it to the VPs of Academics and/or other class reps. You can utilize the Class Representative bCourses site.

Step 3: Meet with the appropriate stakeholder(s). Outline the issue and the students’ views. Seek joint solutions and, if possible, agree on a course of action. Report back to your fellow students.