Master’s Student Council Administra4ve Guidelines
AY2024- 2025
Last updated: September 18, 2024
MSC: Master’s Student Council
OGE: Office for Graduate Educa8on
This document is intended to provide informa4on to support the day-to-day ac4vi4es of the MSC council, outline administra4ve support, and general guidelines for the council.
Communica4on
• Internal Communica4on: Use the MSC email to conduct official council business.
• External Communica4on: Develop strategies for communica<ng with the graduate student body, including adding items to the Office for Graduate Educa<on monthly newsleCer, social media, and mee<ngs, that align with the MSC Bylaws.
o The MSC is expected to send any announcements that they would like shared with students to Gaby Calderón (gaby@hms.harvard.edu) at least 24 hours before the send date/<me. Please note, messages will only be approved within business hours (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm). University policy states that neither students nor student groups can email the listserv directly Students and student groups also may not establish their own listserv.
Financial Management
• Budget: Develop an annual budget that includes funding for events, projects, and administra<ve costs.
o OGE strongly encourages the MSC split the budget in half for both semesters. So that you may allocate the funds appropriately.
o Please refer to the Suggested Budget Sheet provided for the budget tracking template.
• Expenses: Set procedures for reviewing and approving expenses, ensuring transparency and accountability. Note that MSC members are strongly discouraged from using personal funds for purchases related to the Council. In the event personal funds are used, please inform OGE immediately to ini8ated the reimbursement process.
• Reimbursements MUST be submiQed within 30 days of purchase, failure to do will result in the inability to reimburse the funds.
Events and Ac4vi4es
• Planning: Plan and execute events and ac<vi<es that align with the council’s mission and goals.
• Evalua4on: Evaluate the success of events and gather feedback to improve future ac<vi<es.
• Collabora4on: Partner with other Harvard University and HMS student organiza<ons, departments, and external en<<es to enhance event offerings.
o MSC is welcome to partner with our office, the MD student council and the Graduate Student Council for events. It is recommended that you provide a wriCen proposal for the event, outline the commitment, communica<on, marke<ng and budget for the event.
• OGE Representa4on: OGE staff should be informed of on-campus events. As such, OGE welcomes invita<ons to events to allow OGE representa<on during the event.
• Catering orders: MSC is welcome to place catering orders through RA catering, OGE will provide the billing code. Should the MSC choose an external vendor, they will need to reach out to Gaby Calderón at least a week prior to the event for OGE to provide a form of payment.
Room Scheduling
• Reserva<ons must be made through Room Scheduling
o Check availability under loca<on, add any addi<onal informa<on to the filter.
§ If the reserva<on is for less than 50 guests, you can go ahead and make the reserva<on if you can.
§ If the reserva<on is for 50+ guests, you will have to reach out to Gaby and OGE will make the reserva<on on MSC’s behalf.
AV Services
• Can be purchased, but it is encouraged to use the rooms available for these types of events as they are all equipped with projectors, mics etc. and don’t require an addi<onal fee.
• For AV, you can either add services to the reserva<on online or contact the IT Service Desk at itservicedesk@hms.harvard.edu or 617-432-2000
Catering
• Orders must be made through the Restaurant Associates webpage. Please be sure to submit your order as soon as possible and at least seven business days prior to the event.
• OGE will provide the appropriate 33 – digit billing code.
Code of Conduct
• Behavior: Approach all maCers with professionalism, respect, and maintain ethical behavior from all members within the council when interac<ng with one another, the student body and other offices within the University.
o Please refer to the Student Conduct and Responsibility sec<on of the Handbook.
o This includes: communica<on towards students, external offices, student organiza<ons, social media and external messaging systems such as Whatsapp. Please refer to sec<on 3.01 Expecta<ons for students in Harvard online communi<es
Review and Amendments
• Review: OGE will regularly review these guidelines to ensure they remain relevant and effec<ve.
• Amendments: Please see Student-Forum-Bylaws for Master’s Student Council.
Student representa4on
• Gradua4on Speaker: the process to iden<fy a student speaker will be shared with ALL students and a commiCee will evaluate and nominate a speaker. Council members are welcome to apply but will not be appointed by default.
• Governance CommiQee Mee4ng: the President of the MSC will be invited to present to the commiCee once a semester (TBD) for 10 minutes and 10 minutes of discussion.