There are a multitude of leadership opportunities for EWMBA students within the EWMBA program and beyond.
Cohort Reps (First Year)
Function: Key points of contact for the cohort, faculty and EWMBA Program Office around academics and student experience.
Selection Process: Academic and Social 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 late July.
Duration: Fall and Spring semester of the first year
Program Office Contact: Hannah Fischer, Associate Director
How to apply: Application process below.
Why apply? Build or hone your leadership skills, develop negotiation and advocacy capabilities, be the voice of your classmates
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 five 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.
For a student perspective on the role, click here (starts at the 7:15 mark) to listen to Cat Ziac, EW Class of 2022 and former Academic Cohort Rep from the Axe cohort, talk about why the position appealed to her, what was surprising and how it served as a launch pad for other things.
Want to hear from others about their Haas experience? Subscribe to Here@Haas via the Haas Podcasts homepage.
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 2024’s tenure
- Attending a training session
- Attending monthly enrichment events
- 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
Academic Cohort Representatives (ACRs) serve as liaisons between their cohort and faculty and the program office. ACRs steward Haas’s academic culture, facilitate feedback, and provide academic support in their respective cohorts.
Academic Culture: ACRs work to uphold the academic norms, as well as the Haas Defining Principles. They facilitate formal and informal process checks for academic culture norms. When improvements are needed, engage and influence both students and professors.
Feedback: ACRs facilitate feedback from students to faculty, from faculty to students, and from students to the program office and administration, ensuring that the academic experience at Haas is constantly improving and evolving to meet the needs of the Berkeley Leader.
Academic Support: ACRs are a source of expertise and support to their cohort-mates on all issues relating to academics, from class schedules and updating the google calendars to questions about bidding. They share resources, reminders and links with their cohort-mates in order to ensure a smooth academic experience. They communicate as necessary with important information, updates and reminders.
ACRs are selected by the program office and former student leaders. They serve for one academic year (Fall and Spring semesters)
- 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 Monday, July 24 by 11:59 PM.
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 late July.
All selected candidates — ACR and SCR — will be notified via email shortly thereafter.
Thank you for going beyond yourself!
Class of 2024 Cohort Representatives Emeriti
| Blue | Gold | ||
| Dom Williams | Academic | Shyamali Jayashankar | Academic |
| Joselyn Baety | Academic | Rohit Nair | Academic |
| Tanusree Munshi | Academic | Navya Dwarakanath | Academic |
| James Chang | Social | Christopher Dekmezian | Social |
| Mackellar Violich | Social | Katie Ginsburg | Social |
| Sam Wear | Social | ||
| Axe | Oski | ||
| Steve Reilly | Academic | Khoa Dao | Academic |
| Mrudula Vemuri | Academic | Naran Narayana Babu | Academic |
| Marissa Maliwanag | Social | Gurnek Singh | Social |
| Pavan Kunchala | Social | Natasha Sihota | Social |
| Thomas Schwei | Social | ||
Class of 2023 Cohort Representatives Emeriti
| Blue | Gold | ||
| Charlotte Jarman | Academic | Ghita Soulimani | Academic |
| Kyle McKenzie | Academic | Amielia Adams | Academic |
| Lauren “Q” Kuemmeler | Social | Lynn Chen | Social |
| Alex Holden | Social | Supriya Golas | Social |
| Adam Ward | Social | ||
| Axe | Oski | ||
| Lizi Feng | Academic | Pei-Hsin Wang | Academic |
| Dineshbabu Vellore Dinakarababu | Academic | Meera Patel | Academic |
| Farzad Yousefi | Social | Tiffany Chin | Social |
| Chloe Kauffman | Social | Supraja Seshadri | Social |
| Kunjay Shah | Social | ||
| Na Wang | Social | ||
Class of 2022 Cohort Representatives Emeriti
| Blue | Gold | ||
| Jacqueline Schindler | Academic | Lenka Huang | Academic |
| Nana Lei | Academic | Harsheel Saraiya | Academic |
| Connie Wang | Social | Aashna Khemka | Social |
| Snegha Ramnarayanan | Social | David Diaz | Social |
| Axe | Oski | ||
| Cat Ziac | Academic | Chris Bennett | Academic |
| Lauren McElhatton | Academic | Eleanor Boli | Academic |
| Anthony Rivadeneira | Social | Bert Haro | Social |
| Raymond Guan | Social | Paulina Lee | Social |
Class of 2021 Cohort Representatives Emeriti
| Blue Joshua Pollack (academic) Akshay Thakur (academic) Josh Sheil (social) |
Gold Shailee Thaker (academic) Apurva Padhye (academic) Ramya Gogineni (social) George Pradhan (social) |
| Axe Kyle Cook (academic) Anna Lee (academic) Allie Oosta (social) Vahid Amani (social) |
Oski Jon Utz (academic) Varun Bhardwaj (academic) Ilya Klimanov (social) Adam Boostrom (social) |
Class of 2020 Cohort Representatives Emeriti
| Blue Monica Armand (academic) Ryan Colligan (academic) Rahul Peravali (academic) Kabilan Mahendran (social) |
Gold Elena Cryst (academic) Venketesh Iyer (academic) Kersta Gustafson (academic) Shannon Elliott (social) |
| Axe Debraj Sinha (academic) Tao Yang (academic) Prerit Uppal (academic) Enrique Seara (social) |
Oski Kristy Kim (academic) Andrew Price (academic) Neha Ruikar (academic) Andrea Schiller (social) |
Academic
Harsheel Saraiya
Academic
Connie Wang
Social
Aashna Khemka
Social
Snegha Ramnarayanan
Social
David Diaz
Social
AxeOskiCat Ziac
Academic
Chris Bennett
Academic
Lauren McElhatton
Academic
Eleanor Boli
Academic
Anthony Rivadeneira
Social
Bert Haro
Social
Raymond Guan
Social
Paulina Lee
Social
Class of 2021 Cohort Representatives Emeriti
| Blue Joshua Pollack (academic) Akshay Thakur (academic) Josh Sheil (social) |
Gold Shailee Thaker (academic) Apurva Padhye (academic) Ramya Gogineni (social) George Pradhan (social) |
| Axe Kyle Cook (academic) Anna Lee (academic) Allie Oosta (social) Vahid Amani (social) |
Oski Jon Utz (academic) Varun Bhardwaj (academic) Ilya Klimanov (social) Adam Boostrom (social) |
Class of 2020 Cohort Representatives Emeriti
| Blue Monica Armand (academic) Ryan Colligan (academic) Rahul Peravali (academic) Kabilan Mahendran (social) |
Gold Elena Cryst (academic) Venketesh Iyer (academic) Kersta Gustafson (academic) Shannon Elliott (social) |
| Axe Debraj Sinha (academic) Tao Yang (academic) Prerit Uppal (academic) Enrique Seara (social) |
Oski Kristy Kim (academic) Andrew Price (academic) Neha Ruikar (academic) Andrea Schiller (social) |
Class Reps (Second Year)
Function: Liaison between the class, professors, and the Program Office via the EWMBAA VPs of Academics.
Selection Process: Volunteer, selected by the professor
Duration: One Semester (Fall, Spring, or Summer)
Program Office Contact: Justine Roades & Leah Rozeboom, Associate Directors
How to apply: Professors will ask for volunteers at the start of the semester.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Leadership opportunities for students who have little or no experience or are looking to enhance prior management experience.
- Can be a stepping stone for future roles within the EWMBA Association (VP of Academics or cabinet-level).
- Resume booster for those looking to showcase transferrable skills in the areas of leadership, communications, dispute resolution and negotiation.
- The chance to be an advocate and voice of your fellow students.
- Make a positive contribution to the EW program. Your input contributes to ongoing development and program improvement that benefits future students.
- 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.
Use this form to submit your details. You will then receive an email from Amanda Gill, liaison to class reps, with additional information on your role and responsibilities.
EWMBA Association
The EWMBAA Executive Board serves as student leadership for all EWMBA students. Learn more about the EWMBAA here.
Selection Process: Elections in late Fall semester
Duration: One Calendar Year (January to December)
How to apply: Mid fall semester, you will receive information via the Bear Necessities to nominate yourself for a specific position (Co-President, Executive Vice President, EVP of Finance, EVP of Marketing and Communications). Once nominations are collected, the student body will have the opportunity to vote for their executive board.
Why apply?: Become a trusted leader amongst your classmates and have an opportunity to shape the experience during the program.
Function: EWMBAA VPs oversee various initiatives and realms related to the overall student experience at Haas. The number and type of positions may change based on the needs of the student population. A few of the current positions include VPs of Academics, Social, Diversity and Inclusion, Health & Wellness, New Student Experience, and more.
Selection Process: By application and selected by the EWMBA Association Executive Board in early Spring
Duration: One Calendar Year (January to December)
Program Office Contact: Avni Kansara, Director of Student Experience
How to apply: The EWMBA Association will send out communication via the Bear Necessities and slack with the link to apply in late January, with interviews and selection occurring in February.
Why apply?: Become a trusted leader amongst your classmates and have an opportunity to shape the experience during the program.
Learn more about the current 2022 VPs here.
Function: In 2021, the VPs of DEI & Outreach launched a new peer education program, called Bear PALs (or BearPals) for current and incoming EWMBA students. PALs, which stands for Peer Allyship Liaisons, are volunteers from the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025 who are committed to supporting their fellow students. The mission of Bear PALs is to provide a community of resources to fellow EW Haas Students who are navigating the challenges of starting and continuing their MBA experience, specifically around wellness and DEI.
The VPs of BearPALs now manage the program and recruit and provide training workshops for the BearPALs.
How can PALs help?: Through a variety of ways, including:
- 1:1 peer chats on resources available at Haas and UC Berkeley around:
- Mental Health
- Wellness
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Offer small group chats
- Host and share community events
- Float up student concerns to VPs of DEI to address with Program Office
- Alongside VPs of DEIBJ and BearPALs, support student-led initiatives related to DEI and Mental Health
Note: BearPals are NOT substitutes for trained-professional medical providers. -
Duration: Training is over the summer
Program office contact: Jessica De Anda, Program Manager
How to apply: Fill out the google form here and the VPs of BearPALs will reach out to you.
Haas Institutes and Centers
Berkeley Haas Institutes and Centers offer various conferences, competitions, and other events throughout the year that call for volunteers or student liaisons for their respective programs.
Examples include:
- Berkeley Board Fellows (Center for Social Sector Leadership)
- Student Engagement and Advisory Board (Center for Responsible Business)
- Sustainability at Haas Opportunities
Learn more about Haas Centers and Institutes here.
Selection Process: Varies
Duration: Varies
Student Group and Club Leadership
All student groups are hosted on Campus Groups. Leadership openings for Student Groups and Clubs are generally posted to club members via announcements. For career related clubs, there is generally a VP of EWMBA. Learn more about Student Groups and Clubs at Haas here.
Selection Process: Varies
Duration: Varies
How to apply: Varies