We recently shared an introduction to your new Graduate Business Council president, Catherine Farrell. To help you continue familiarizing yourself with all of the awesome initiatives Catherine will be working on this year, here she shares a helpful refresher on what the GBC does, is, and stands for.
In a nutshell, what is the GBC’s mandate?
There are two key things at a broad level that the GBC does. The first is to act as a liaison between students and faculty or administrative staff. We help to pass on important messages that students want to share with admin and vice versa. The second is to help engage the Schulich community as much as possible by holding great events- whether social, networking-oriented or academic in nature.
What are some services that the GBC can offer the student community?
The Buddy Program pairs new students with a second year buddy who is equipped to be the beginning of their support system and to help them build a network. Buddies are great for introductions to new friends and events, but also for the basic questions like how to navigate the city and where to buy groceries.
The Just In Time (JIT) Program is a way for students who are having an academic issue, whether with a professor or another student, to quickly detail exactly what happened in an incident anonymously. Students hand the JIT form to the GBC’s Academic VP Julien, and it’s then brought to the Centre for Teaching Excellence. Within 48 hours, it has been reviewed with the Centre and the professor. The student’s identity remains anonymous throughout the entire process.
Additionally, in September there will be elections for First Year Reps –every class will have one Academic Rep in addition to a representative for every other GBC portfolio. Representatives can bring concerns forward to the GBC and also submit JIT forms on behalf of students or an entire class.
What are some favourite GBC events that students can look forward to this year?
Schulympics is an all-time student favourite. This weekend retreat in early autumn gives students a beautiful escape from the city and campus, and a fun way to explore Ontario.
For a closer look at Schlympics, click here.
The next major annual event after that is winter getaway, which is a little like Schulympics but for incoming winter students. It’s a great way to get to know each other and the current students.
MBA Insights is an important event held in November, where all of the industries highlighted in Schulich programs are represented by alumni panelists. Students have the opportunity to attend four of 12 panels, each of which features 4-5 industry members who graduated from Schulich. A moderator will introduce and facilitate the panel, but the floor is open for students to ask anything!
Lastly the end-of-term formal is a really wonderful event where students come together and celebrate the end of year – especially the graduating students.
There are student-voted awards given out too, which allows us to connect with faculty. We’re so lucky at Schulich that we have some of the best professors in the world. We have amazing people here that we have the chance to take classes with, and it’s great to acknowledge those that go the extra mile.
For more information about the GBC, be sure to check out the GBC website at http://gbc.schulich.yorku.ca/.
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