Planning Students Association

The Planning Students Association (PSA) works with graduate students, faculty, and staff in the Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP) to support career advancement; organize social events; and represent graduate interests within the department. Who are my Planning Students Association (PSA) Leaders? Organizational Positions - January 2023 to December 2023 President - Nervana Fadle, nervanafadle@berkeley.edu This person organizes the PSA meetings and makes sure that other officers and event organizers have what they need to get their jobs done. The president also meets regularly with the Department Chair and acts as a primary contact between the students and the Department on all issues including, but not limited to, course offerings, departmental operations and the PDST (also/formerly known as the PDF). Vice President/Treasurer - Daniel AdrianAguinaldo, danieladrian@berkeley.edu This person works closely with the President to keep the PSA humming through joint agenda-writing and acting as a sounding board. The officeholder also tracks the finances of the PSA, helps other officers and event organizers submit funding and reimbursement requests, and prepares funding applications to the Graduate Assembly. Social Chairs -Andre Soucy and Sean Goss andre_soucy@berkeley.edu, ssgoss@berkeley.edu This person is responsible for planning student involvement in the Holiday Party in the fall and the Planner Prom in the spring. The Social Chair helps out organizers of other events to manage logistics and get volunteers. The Social Chair also organizes and facilitates small, informal lunch discussions and happy hours with students and faculty members. GTKY get-togethers provide an opportunity for students and faculty to meet to discuss topics such as: planning as a career, advice for budding planners, personal experiences in the planning field, etc. Major responsibilities include: contacting professors to set up times/dates and sending out lunch announcements to the MCP current students email list. Alumni Liaison - Sidrah Marotti and Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeno sidrahmarotti@berkeley.edu, keyanna_ortizcedeno@berkeley.edu This person works with departmental faculty, staff and students to plan for the development of a robust alumni network. This will include facilitation of creating an alumni database and drafting of an overall plan for alumni engagement. The liaison will be the student point of contact for a large alumni event, a facilitator of smaller events, and responsible for continued upkeep of the network. Communications Chair -Laurel Denyer, lrdenyer@berkeley.edu This position oversees the Google group for incoming students, the MCP current students email list and the Planning-Announce email list. Recruitment Chair - Kat Cuiffo and Nikesha Medard kcuiffo@berkeley.edu, nikesha@berkeley.edu This position helps the Department plan and recruit student volunteers for events targeted at prospective and incoming students, serving as a critical point of contact during this annual process. The team will work with the admissions team, keep current students informed of developments, and get to know the Department and College staff. American Planning Association (APA) Rep - Angie Chen, angiechen@berkeley.edu This position sits on the board of the Northern California APA section, makes sure the PSA is meeting its requirements as an official student organization, and keeps the students informed of APA events. CED Interdepartmental Group (CEDIG) Rep - Samuel Rodriguez and Lekshmy Hirandas samuelrodriguez@berkeley.edu, lekshmy.hirandas@berkeley.edu This position for DCRP stands as part of a college-wide effort to bring the four different departments within the CED out of their silos. In cooperation with the CED Graduate Student Council, the CEDIG representative advocates for and facilitates interdepartmental collaboration through workshops, seminars, peer reviews, social events, etc. These events, whether academic or social, create spaces where CED students can come together to form a stronger sense of community. MCP Student-Faculty Co-Chairs - Divya Jain and Sophie Gabel-Scheinbaum divyajain@berkeley.edu, sgabelscheinbaum@berkeley.edu Along with the President, this position is a primary contact between the students and the Department. The job entails attending faculty meetings and curriculum-related meetings where they represent student views and takes minutes to keep students informed. The representative should solicit broad student feedback on items needing student input. This representative is informed of all faculty meetings, regular and ad hoc, and should attend all possible. Graduate Assembly (GA) Reps - Aneesh Mugulur and Mallika Gupta aneeshmugulur@berkeley.edu, mallikagupta89@berkeley.edu The GA Rep is required to attend at one GA-wide meeting per month (Thursdays at 6pm, usually 3-4 hours) as well as participate in one committee, which typically meet 1-2 times per month. Committees include external affairs (UC lobbying, etc), environmental, etc. The GA is responsible for funding for graduate organizations (like the PSA) and is the representative for graduate student interests within and outside of the University. UAW – Union Liaison - Rio Morales riomorales@berkeley.edu By attending monthly UAW membership meetings, the PSA Union Liaison acts as a representative of DCRP to UAW meetings and will report back on important information pertinent to DCRP graduate students. This will provide for open communication between DCRP students and the Union, ensuring PSA members are informed about labor and equity issues on campus. Mutual Aid Chair - Sandra Romero sandra_romero@berkeley.edu This person works closely with CEDSOC and other CED student organizations to build and maintain a new program: a CED-wide lending library and mutual aid system. This program, launching in Spring 2022, will offer direct support to students with financial need, a library of reusable materials and shared space for community building activities. Lounge Ambassador - N/A contact: nervanafadle@berkeley.edu This position is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the MCP student lounge, which includes orienting new students to the space, arranging locker distribution, organizing the cleaning schedule, and advocating for the lounge when necessary. Swag Chair(s) Katie Heuser and Hillary Nguyen Pham kheuser@berkeley.edu, hnguyenpham@berkeley.edu This position is responsible for designing, selling and delivering DCRP swag (clothing, mugs, tote bags, etc.) to DCRP students. Funds raised from sales go back to the PSA general budget to support events.