Student Body Issues

GBC 2012

Student Body Issues

• Elections & exchange (70% of people want to go on exchange) Manchester Business School

• Formal Handover from 2nd year (SME)• Solution• Proposed By• 1. Not allowed to go abroad• 2. Accountability vs responsibility• 3. Anministative personnel involved in addition to students• 1. Common way most schools have dealt with this. “this

incentivized the correct people to run for office, to serve the student body” – Neil Tenzer (Oxford)

• 2. Max (Tuck)• 3. Philip (Copenhagen)

• 1. Representation to all Study Programs & Organizational Design Copenhagen Business School

• Solution• Proposed By• 1. Separate organization for separate

areas• • 1. Shaurya (Manchester Business

School)

Student Body Issues

• Rotman School of Management• Issues: Bridge Gap Between part time and full time• Solution• Proposed By• 1. Non-alcoholic that you can get both groups of people

to attend• 2. Partnering with affinity clubs, making the events less

solely about drinking and more about different co-sponsored events. This also takes some work off GBC plate

• • 1. Neil (Oxford)• 2. Evan (Darden)

Student Body Issues

• Darden• Issues:• 1. Interest in a number of different things• 2. Time• 3. Rich array of activities• Solution• Proposed By• 1. Multiple activities on the same day, with one

unifying activity (CEO seminar etc)• 2. Co-sponsoring, cross curricular activities• 1. Moderator – Jim Deveau• 2. Evan (Devan)

Student Body Issues• Oxford• Issues: Culture/cohesiveness – entrepreneurial spirit, everyone has

their own solution• Solution• Proposed By• 1. Work on 4 different projects with 6 ppl each all from a different

culture. Has a facilitator to oversee activities• 2. Created SharePoint folders for each of the VP’s. Mandating that

student government has the handover structure in place. Retuirement in constitution - binding people in the future - guarantee continuity

• • 1. Shaurya (MBS)• 2. Evan (Darden)• •  

Student Body Issues• Tuck• Issues: • Shift in Mindset: Time Poor• Teaching people how to get their hands dirty & more often• Communicate throughout the entire student body as an entire student board• Solution• Proposed By• 1. communication - depends on traffic route. has a facebook page for all the major school events.• 2.Graphic highlighting. How to shorten an email to make the most important items known. sending

out calendar invites rather than just the time and date. Frequency.• 3. Limit what is sent out. One weekly digest of what is going on. One monthly update on specific

student government items. activities due by Thursday, goes out on Sunday nights (week ahead and events clubs are holding)

• 4. 1 weekly newsletter that subcommittees participate in - all items in by MOnday night, turnaround by Thursday

• 5. Hybrid email. Career services, GBC, clubs• • 1. Philip (Copenhagen)• 2. Neil (Oxford)• 3. Evan (Darden)• 4. Rotman• 5. Michelle (Case Western)

Student Body Issues• Case Western • Issues: • Physical program• Students dont value interaction without a concrete purpose• Perceived cultural/language barriers• Solution• Proposed By• 1. cultural events/nights. every 1.5 months• 2. think about what are the big events that school X has -

figure out a way to integrate. Darden has Darden cup that gets everyone involved (both soccer and cricket). encourages a little more interaction

• 1. Shaurya (MBS)• 2. Evan (Darden)

Student Body Issues• Rotman• Issues: • Interaction between part time/full time• Solution• Proposed By• 1. plan events further in advance. dinners, etc• 2. Use facebook for the social events. Setup on Intranet for formal

events which auto syncs with Outlook.• 3. SharePoint - Literally can have a calendar for each club/group.

Working with IT to create a new calendar program• 4. Community schedule and personal calendar. Able to see both

calendars. • 1. Neil (oxford)• 2. Shaurya (MBS)• 3. Neil (oxford)• 4. Evan (Darden)

• Darden - SME• Solutions:• Co-sponsor/theme social events• FY/SY buddy program• Career Coach (SY) - class on mentorship and human resource development.

Given 5 first years to mentor going through the track that second year had gone through previously. Intimately involved in the first year internship/job search.

•  • Issues:• FY/SY scheduling. Very different. Not a lot of overlap.• Pacing and rigor as well as job recruiting cycles.• Self-segregation exemplified within a small town (Charlottesville). • Solution• Proposed By• 1. Push to make school events bigger to mitigate small town issues. Found ways

to turn into a positive, but it is very difficult.• 1. Maximilian (Tuck)

• Issues: 1st/2nd year gap•  • Solution• Proposed By• 1. Social matching - creating link between first and second years when first

admitted (Facebook group)• 2. Facebook pages for each club where people can start asking questions

about how club works. Alumni remains an active part of the club, helping transition.

• 3. Increase 2nd year involvement in orientation. Need to find one person to rally people.

• 4. Shadow/alum program.•  • 1. Varun (Tepper)• 2. Prashant (Indian School of Business)• 3. Angela (Georgia Tech)• 4. Prashant (ISB)

• Issues:• Different Programs within the School - Other Graduate

Programs•  • Solution• Proposed By• 1. Partner with exec MBA program to run networking

sessions. Run through the admin from program. Happy hour. Good Alumni database that students can access for job search and networking.

• 2. Program offices• 1. Chris (Mendoza)• 2. Sarah (Foster)

• Issues:• Networking• Solution• Proposed By• 1. General 1/month networking with alum/current students. One event/semester with a legacy attached to it.• 2. Running an event where alumni already come back for because alums are already on campus.• Alumni usually more than willing to talk to clubs.• 3. Thoughts of alumni reunion• 4. events with sharing current knowledge, day for pass on information• 1. Angela (GT)• 2. Chris (Medoza)• 3. Angela (GT)• 4. IBS•  •  • Issues:• Diversity• Solution• Proposed By• 1. School looks to keep all diverse students (alumni) involved. Alumni constantly informed of events. Utilize alum.• 2. Annual internal event. Creates atmosphere to mingle everyone in a casual way. Set up groups where people have to perform.• 3. International students host dinner/lunch. People get to learn about food/cultural. International students started doing a workshop weekly about

their culture, language etc. International clubs hosted events before people go abroad.• 4. International potluck - everyone brought something from their culture. Biggest hit. Dont at the beginning of school when people were looking

to meet people. • 5. VP international affairs that is meant to ease transition for international students. Institutionalize information that can get past down from year

to year.• 1. Prashant (IBS)• 2.• 3. Chris (Mendoza)• 4. Angela (GT)• 5. Bestin (Foster)

• Issues:• Communication• Solution• Proposed By• 1. Admitted students are put into a portal directly.• 2. Combined calendar from student body. Summary of whats coming

up. Electronic poster, marketing for major events. Word of mouth.• 3. Campus Groups: Calendar system - to limit club event conflicts.

Encourages proper planning of the events. Paypal, email, total group. $10,000-15,000. Learning curve

• 4. Trying to get student services/career services involved• 1. Prasant (ISB)• 2.• 3. Varun (Tepper)• 4. Chris (Mendoze)

• Issues:• Advisory Board• Solution• Proposed By• 1. only interact with dean - no interaction with Board of Trustees• 2. interaction with advisory board allows most high level strategy of what is

going on with the school• 3. Town Hall Meeting with advisory board to talk about strategy and

minimizes the gap. Also allows students to ask any questions or bring to light any major issues.

• 4. 4 times/year dean has a town hall. very receptive by students. dean gives an update, then students ask questions.

•  • 1. Alexander (Wash U St. Louis)• 2. Angela (GT)• 3. Prasant (ISB)• 4. Varun (Tepper)

• Issues: Succession Program•  • Solution• Proposed By• 1. 1 week of orientation to talk about social/professional

clubs. Presentations started about 2 months in advance. FAQ documents for each club and student body reps

• 2. Administration in the school also needs to know what is going on who monitors what is going on and is able to oversee.

• 1. Prasant (ISB)• 2. Sarah (Foster)

• Issues: Classroom Ettiquette•  • Solution• Proposed By• 1. “nudging a classmate”: anonymous email that gets

sent to director of program. Particularly excessive usage.• Name• Context• Inset Comment• 2. Lead by example as student leaders• 1. Alexander (Wash U)• 2. Sarah (Foster)

• Too many options• Information overload -> "Campus Groups"

(Software/Platform), success tied to funding and new academic years, CAMPUS GROUPS is workin on an app

• How do you get people engaged/passionate: involve many people -> more people will take ownership if involved in planning, etc.

• Channel ideas through "GBC", to ensure that there isn't too much redundancy, hone the options, cull things to avoid crowding out, i.e. you don't need to start a new club to do this

• Plan well in advance and communicate between clubs to avoid too much overlap (Kelly has club prez & exec team meet to coordinate)

• Issues with scale - too many clubs for the size of school? -> ESADE has a "common pool" that pulls money from all of the clubs and then redistributes for major events

• Doesn't apply to me/my career• Second years have different interests than second

years (faculty interaction, career, clubs, first year versus "hanging out" second year)

• Involvement tied to recruiting cycle - people drop out when they're "done"

• Ensure that there are academic and options and be okay that not everyone will come to everything

• Liberal funding policy for events -> allowed event planning to be decentralized and provide infrastructure rather than ideas/planning

• Have recurring events -> institutionalized events tend to be more successful

• Keep leadership strong• related to knowledge transfer• Strategic plans, sucession plans, etc. is an outcome of the retreat • ESADE did a retreat for incoming leadership of execs and club prez• Utilize a checklist to make sure people know what they're getting into and so

they know where the resources are available• Don't use a checklist so people feel like they have ownership, work on

principles instead• Maybe use an annual report to summarize what happened during the year,

share it with career services, admissions, etc. people can see what has worked without feeling compelled to do something

• Documentation is especially helpful for "legacy/showpiece" events• Have a transition period rather than just handing off the baton; some

different structures in place for longer-term consistency• First years are involved in executive board to at least give some consistency• Formalize the process for doing projects/events; utilize documentation on a

forward basis; could utilize budgeting process to ensure compliance

• Funding troubles?• Mkt club at Notre Dame sells all Notre Dame

MBA branded stuff to generate cash• Get corporate sponsorships of some clubs or

even specific events -> "GBC" level treasurer works for that at ESADE, focus on people who would want to sell to students i.e. rental agencies, etc.

• Optional fee -> forces accountability because people want to know what you're doing with their money

• Involving other Grad students?• Social events have been the "low-hanging" fruit• Weekly social event• A number of schools do Thursday or Friday weekly social

events for the whole school, food alcohol, etc.• Consistency in location, time, etc. seems to encourage

involvement• Dinner or lunches with the Dean on a regular basis

(include faculty)• Include alumni in social events• "Townhall"• Open forum for students to ask questions, bring up ideas

• Student Segmentation• Some Problems:• Communication• Diverse Social Activities- problems with too much alcohol as well as complaining about not as much, happy hours

every Thursday with kegs, alcohol free event (no one comes), make it more family oriented cookouts with alcohol etc., get feedback from the nonalcoholic students and integrate it into the program

• Sponsor events with employers with alcohol• Historical feedbacks of what has already happened so there is no overlapping- Deans remember what has

happened, drop documents in a folder, has minutes, budgets from previous predecessors, rollovers per year keeps accumulating help create a long term plan that is handed down

• Soliciting Feedback- section reps, survey for administration given midyear and endyear, how do you get the quiet ones to give feedback?

• Diversity- every culture has night where they showcase a skit during orientation, Bollywood dance, not very etiquette based, make a packet of bars, restaurants, what they need to get by here, take them around, and learn about sports and the atmosphere around the school,

• Solutions: International Potluck, put on by internationals, social aspect with dancing and drinking• VP International Affairs, have different nights for different cultures (china night, indian night, latin night), held a

forum to talk between domestics and internationals (had to pacify differences between internationals and domestics)

• Interschool relationships (law, med ,mph, college)- has a graduate council for all graduate students and has interschool happy hours sponsored from graduate professional council, gsta another graduate council funding from all graduate schools and undergraduate schools,

• 1st year/2nd year integration- how to structure and meet more 2nd years as 1st years• Cross sectional Integration- family feud, gets to know each other, how well you know your section, themed

events, get points for dressing up, retreat for the incoming club presidents to get to know each other between sections, as well as from different schools, Darden cup each section plays intramural sports against each other,