Engineering Student Council
The Engineering Student Council (ESC) represents the interests of undergraduate students in SEAS. Not to be confused with the Engineering Graduate Student Council.
Contents
Composition
The ESC consists of three parts: the executive board, the class councils, and the representatives-at-large.
Executive board
- President: Organizes and runs meetings; chief advocate for SEAS student body
- VP Policy: Pursues policy changes; heads policy subcommittee
- VP Finance (née Intergroup): Treasurer of the council; heads co-sponsorship subcommittee
- VP Student Life: Plans campus-wide events for SEAS; heads subcommittee responsible for event planning
- VP Communications: Responsible for all communication and media relations of entire undergraduate engineering population; heads communication committee
Class Councils
- Senior Class Council: Consists of a president, vice-president, and 2 representatives from the senior class.
- Junior Class Council: Consists of a president, vice-president, and 2 representatives from the junior class.
- Sophomore Class Council: Consists of a president, vice-president, and 2 representatives from the sophomore class.
- First-Year Class Council: Consists of a president, vice-president, and 2 representatives from the freshman class.
Representatives at large
- University Senator (1): Fully elected member of the University Senate, although the SEAS undergraduate senator sits ex officio on the ESC, he/she does not report to the ESC, nor does the ESC exercise any statutory or governance authority over any element whatsoever of the University Senate or its elected members.
- Academic Affairs Rep: Works with VP for Policy to pursue policy changes to academic life.
- Student Services Rep: Works with VP for Policy to pursue policy changes to student services such as housing and dining.
- Alumni and Pre-Professional Affairs Rep: Works with CCE to plan events geared towards career/internships. Also works with Columbia Engineering Alumni Association to plan events related to alumni and student interaction.
- Combined Plan "3-2" Representative: Created in 2013, advocates for the 3-2 population.
- Technology Representative: Previously "Director of Technology"; Created in 2008; handles ESC website, represents student body's desires and concerns related to technology on campus, sits in CUIT Student Advisory Committee
Liaisons
The ESC has three official liaison positions to the other undergraduate student councils, with one liaising to CCSC, GSSC, and SGA. In 2010, the council added the position of Sustainability Liaison to liaise with Green Umbrella.
Co-sponsorships
See Joint Council Co-Sponsorship Committee. The large majority of ESC co-sponsorships are run through the JCCC, though other events may be co-sponsored by ESC or its constituent class councils.
In Fall 2013, ESC introduced ESC Project Grants, which are "grants aimed at promoting engineering spirit through engineering projects". Seven student teams were awarded up to $1000 each to work on their own extracurricular engineering projects.
Elections
Since time immemorial, ESC internally elected executive board members, including the president. This was the subject of much controversy over the years, as the election rules can only be altered during the annual constitutional review. Several council members proposed amendments calling for direct elections, but none were approved. Several years ago, someone accused the ESC of being insular and that it was only electing current council members to E-board positions. The ESC was also widely criticized by campus news sources such as Bwog and Spectator for holding internal elections.
In 2011, ESC voted during its annual constitutional review to approve direct elections of its executive board. It was decided the first-such elections would take place in 2012, as time was needed to draft election rules for these positions. Tim Qin SEAS '13 became the first ESC President to be elected by the undergraduate engineering student body.
In 2013, ESC voted during constitutional review to have its elections run by a centralized elections board. [1]
Current Members
Executive Board
- Interim President: Ben Barton
- Vice President of Policy: Zoha Qamar
- Interim Vice President of Finance: Ria Garg
- Interim Vice President of Student Life: Richa Gode
- Vice President of Communications: Julia Joern
Representatives-at-Large
- Academic Affairs Representative: Danielle Deiseroth
- Professional Development & Alumni Affairs Representative: Mohnish Chakravarti
- Student Services Representative: Saurabh Runwal
- Sustainability Representative: Mary Bourque
- Technology Representative: Andres Aguayo
- Student Groups Representative: Jacob Nye
- Campus Affairs Representative: Nicho Villalobos
- 3-2 Representative: Rizwan Syed
- Racial Diversity and Inclusivity: Ashley Rodriguez
- First Generation and Low Income: Carolina Garcia
University Senator
- University Senator: Izzet Kebudi
Class of 2018
- President: Aakanxit Khullar
- Vice President: Patrick Lin
- Representative: Cristal Abud
- Representative: Saarthak Sarup
Class of 2019
- President: Vacant
- Vice President: Asher Goldfinger
- Representative: Walker Magrath
- Representative: Montana St. Pierre
Class of 2020
- President: Ayesha Chhugani
- Vice President: Marisa Ngbemeneh
- Representative: Joanna Paik
- Representative: Abhishek Chakraborty
Class of 2021
- President: Jaidev Shah
- Vice President: Alina Ying
- Representative: Nicolas Acosta
- Representative: Adheli Gonzalez
Past Members
Executive Board
- President: Sidd Bhatt
- Vice President of Finance: Brian Wu
- Vice President of Policy: Tanya Shah
- Vice President of Student Life: Rushal Rege
- Vice President of Communications: Jillian Ross
Representatives-at-Large
- Academic Affairs Representative: Robert Ying
- Professional Development & Alumni Affairs Representative: Janiel Li
- Student Services Representative: Jerry Sun
- Sustainability Liaison: Malini Nambiar
- CCSC Liaison: Vishnu Kalugotla
- GSSC Liaison: Manali Yavatkar
- SGA Liaison: Jason Kang
- Director of Technology: Sam Aarons
- 3-2 Representative: Seth Hochhauser
University Senator
- University Senator: Akshay Shah
Class of 2014
- President: Daniel O'Leary
- Vice President: Caroline Taylor
- Representative: Linda Sun
- Representative: Andrew Gonzalez
Class of 2015
- President: Joshua Boggs
- Vice President: Shensi Ding
- Representative: Gil Feig
- Representative: Adam Sherman
Class of 2016
- President: Michelle Lee
- Vice President: Caroline Park
- Representative: Chloe Blanchard
- Representative: Abdulrahman "Sam" Khoshaim
Class of 2017
- President: Robert Adelson
- Vice President: Jonathan Barrios
- Representative: Sarah Yang
- Representative: Harry Munroe
Contact
You can email the council at esc@columbia.edu
