10
A DECADE OF RAISING STUDENT VOICES CEMS STUDENT BOARD
ANNIVERSARY 2000-2010
FERRIE RINGBURG PATRIK ANDLIN SOBOCKI STEPHAN JAKOBER JUDITH-RAHEL SEITZ LAU HORNSTRUP KRZYSZTOF SZYMCZYK LORRAINE JORQUERA PAUL ROBBE LUCAS SALA ISABEL MORAN JÜRGEN TOEGLHOFER WIETEKE DUPAIN NICOLE BRANDL CHRISTIAN BJØL ZDENEK RIHACEK MAGNE BORGUND PHILLIPPE SHAH AGATA RUNDO ABIR PURI JONATHAN HOSTENS JOERI VAN GEELEN THOMAS RÜDIGER SMITH TOM ZACHARSKI MARCO PROTO FREDRIK AHLBERG GWILYM WILLIAMS JULIE RANTY TORSTEN RÖWEKAMP VERA IVASHCHENKO EDUARDO CAIMBRO KRISTINA KOENIG TANMAYI GUMMARAJU LUDOVIC MANJOT NINA POXLEITNER EDUARDO CAIMBRO MATTHEW ZAJAC ANDRI HINNEN CARLOTA CABRAL CLEO BIRON DAVID HMAIDI EVGENIA POPOVA GUI DENG SAY HANNES KLAEGER JANHAVI PARANJAPE KORNELIA BODNAR MACIEJ SEWERSKI MARCO VAN DE BEEK MELIS ZIPKINKURT MIRIAM SCHARMACH NATALIA VELIKODNAYA NICOLA ROMANO NIENKE VONSÉE MARKUS THOMAS ROBERT GNAUCK TOBIAS RAUSCHER WEI-CHIEH CHUANG YOUSSEF IRAQUI RUUD BRINK ERIK MOSSAKOWSKI YVONNE OVERMAAT ZDENEK RIHACEK JOHANNES HEINRICH ROBERT OLAH KATARZYNA KOWALCZUK ALEKSANDER JOZWIK ANNA KASKELA ABIR PURI TIMEA TURCSÀNYI JONATHAN TOUVINEN GUNHILD TRY TUFTELAND CHARLOTTE POVEL JUDITH LORENZ KATARINA CHODOUNSKA DANIELA PUSCH JENNI VÄHÄTIITTO PEDRO FERREIRA CRUZ MALIN AAKERNES MIGUEL COSTA FREIRE TIM HESS MARI PAAVOLA ALICE REGOUT KATALIN SZABADI ELIAS LIBERICH LAURA DUNCAN MARTINEZ ONDREJ SABATA FILIP GOLDMAN LEA HANZALOVA JIA JUN ZHANG NINA POXLEITNER ELISABETH BAGER VANESSA BLAHA DANIELE CASSANO MARIE CAZALS GREGOIRE DE CLERCQ ARNAUD DE TURCK ALICJA DWOROWSKA ANTTI GRÖNLUND MARIA HAMRIN JULIA HOFMANN MARCEL JAEGGI IDA JOHANSSON N AT H A L I E JULLIEN VESA KOMSSI ROBERT KROON EVE LABAR REGITZE LARSEN MARIA M A A G E R NIALL MACANT SIONNAIGH PAOLO MARIGGIO ALEXANDRE MEIRE SEBASTIEN OEBEL ANDREAS ÖHRNBERG LINN RØSETH HILDE STEINFELD ANGELA TURZO GEORG WAWER JOHANNES HUBER FLORIAN MAYR VIKTORIA BRUNNER RAPHAELA MELINGO CHRISTIAN RAICH LUCAS POLAGNOLI THORSTEN TOPFER GAETAN LECLEF GEORGE HANIN MARTIN STACH DANIEL KSRICKA KAREL ROZKOSNY NIKOLAJ GYDE HAAKON VALSTAD JAN PIERREL MIKKELSEN MIKKO MERILÄINEN KIRSI PEKKARINEN ETIENNE DANCOISNE ISABELLE BJARNASON PAUL DE MONTMORIN SAMMAR AHMAD CHRISTIAN MULLER FABIAN WASMUS BALAZS HORVATH JULIA STARK ZSOLT ABONYISZ ZSOFIA TATRAI AOIFE WALSH SABINO COSTANZA MASSIMO TISCI DANIELLE CASSANO JAN YNGVE JORDET HARALD MOYNER DAGFINN TEIGLAND MICHAL KALISZEWSKI VIOLETA PAREDES KARINE SELMA SANTIAGO CASTELLANOS CAROLINE WOLLSÉN AKSEL LUNDQUIST AMELIE MOSSBERG JOHANNA RASTAD ROINE VESTMAN FELIX BRILL UMBERTO PRANDI ALEXANDRA BACHMANN KATHARINA POTHOFF EHSSAN DARIANI MARCEL JAEGGI ANITA CORONEL ELISABETH BAGER DANIELE CANNANO SØREN OBLING PIERRE SANTOLINI TIINA ALAHUTA RAGNHILD UKVIK MALGORZATA WAWRZYNIAK DANIAL KRSICKA ALESSANDRO CURTI FLORENCE HENRIET ANNA HYYRYNEN JONAS OLSSON CAMILLE FALGUIÈRE PIERRE-ANTOINE CHIARELLI. TRACY ALANA KISTNER DORA BALOGH RAGNHILD ULVIK MARIA VICTORIA HALLBERG DARIUSZ LESKO GOSIA WAWRZYNIAK PATRIK ÅKERMAN KATHARINA POTTHOFF FRANTISEK DURACINSKY COSTANZE BACKHAUS CATHERINE VILLIGER ZSOMBOR SZIRMAI DAMIEN LIEDANA TORRAS NIGYAR GASANOVA ROMAIN HORVILLEUR MATTHIAS PFISTER MAURICE VAKILY ISABELLE LJONG SIGRID HOLMBERG MARIA GIUSTINA MOZZANEGA ORCUN MATER DIANE JENEWEIN FLORIAN HUBEL HELENE FAHRNØE LORENZO CASAUS SCOTT BREITENOTHER KATE SIMPSON ROBERT CHRISTENSEN MARIE KRUSE RUBEN LOGATTO EVA HEGEDÜS CLAUS SAGER NURIA MORAL TORRA ERWAN CORRE HANNA PYOKARI RETO VON DER BECKE RAGNVALD MALLBERG AGATA LUKASZEWSKA JEAN-ERIC BERTRAND MARTIN VURM JOHANNA BORUS EVA HEGEDUS GESSICA PEREGO RAFAEL MONTESINOS LAIA BARCELO FLORENCE GENY IDUN STORMANU HINTSU LARS FISCHER LINDA FRANCK JOSE CRUZ ALVARO LENZA
booklet
overview
3: The Past, The Present & The Future 5: How We Work & Our Structure 6: Student Board Mission Statement 7: Content & The MIM 9: Awareness & Branding 11: Networking & CEMS Clubs 13: CEMS Social Responsibility 15: Representing the Students & The Global Alliance 17: Timeline STUDENT BOARD LEADERSHIP
contacts: studentboard@cemsmail.org
editing: Thomas Rüdiger Smith, Student Board President, 2010 Wieteke Dupain, Student Board President, 2005 Triona Campbell, CEMS Head Office
2000 - 2001: Ferrie Ringburg Patrick Andlin Sobocki 2001 - 2002: Judith-Rahel Seitz Lau Hornstrup 2002 - 2003: Lorraine Jorquera Paul Robbe 2003 - 2004: Isabel Moran Jurgen Toeglhofer 2004 - 2005: Wieteke Dupain Nicole Brandl 2005 - 2006: Christian Bjøl Zdenek Rihacek 2006 - 2007: Magne Borgund Philippe Shah 2007 - 2008: Agata Rundo Abir Puri 2008 - 2009: Jonathan Hostens Joeri Van Geelen 2009 - 2010: Thomas Rüdiger Smith Tom Zacharski
THE FOUNDING, THE PAST, Student Board Logo anno 2000-2008
C
EMS was a dream and an ambition when it was founded in 1988. The four founding schools, Bocconi, ESADE, HEC & University of Cologne signed the historic agreement that officially sealed the creation of CEMS. 20 years on we are proud to look back at many memorable achievements. In late 1999, the Executive Board decided to place CEMS students and their needs centrally in the growing network. The importance of understanding the student profile, their motivations and their interests sparked a need for an official link with the CEMS student body. The first steps were taken when the CEMS Head Office in collaboration with the CEMS Coordinators brought together a group of highly motivated students willing to make a change in May 2000, in Paris. Here the Student Board became a reality. Thus began the journey Student Board members have year after year been active in laying the groundwork for future development, working closely with all stakeholder groups striving to make CEMS a better place for generations to come. From early on, it was clear that the Student Board would become a driving force, supporting the continual growth of the CEMS alliance over the years to make it into the unique alliance that it is today. CEMS students identify themselves with ‘The CEMS spirit’ - a mix of curiosity, passion for international experiences, tolerance for cross-cultural differences as well as faith in their values. Those students elected to represent their peers on the Student Board are inspiring individuals who uphold their beliefs and values and act on them. Over the next pages you will read about some of the exploits, activities and achievements of the Student Board over the years as we look back at the decade that has passed. CEMS Student Board members – you do us proud!
Triona Campbell CEMS Head Office and Co-Founder of the Student Board
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF THE STUDENT BOARD Student Board Logo anno 2008-Present
A
decade has passed and a lot has been achieved within the CEMS Student Board. We have continually sought to raise the student voice within the community, and let this booklet be a testament to our success. The concrete projects and deliverables are numerous, but one thing is certain, the impact of the Student Board has been far and wide, from improving the MIM, building awareness of CEMS, supporting local activities and fostering social responsibility among CEMS students, our voice has been heard and we have been part of making the decisions that have shaped CEMS to what it is, and will be in the future. It all started 10 years ago and through the work of many, the CEMS Student Board has come a long way. Every year, every person and every project have added something to the Student Board and to the CEMS Community, and so it will continue. Although we embark on a new decade of raising student voices, it is fundamental to remember how we got here. This booklet will not do justice to all the work that has been done, but will hopefully serve as a reminder of some of the key achievements and projects as well as a sign of those to come as the Student Board carries on raising the voice of the students within the alliance. The work of the CEMS Student Board is far from over, and we will continually try to improve the CEMS Alliance as it develops. I have little doubt that we in the coming decade and the decades after that will achieve equal success, as a constant supply of committed and enthusiastic students stand ready to take over and continue to gather and advance the student opinion across the alliance. What binds us together and will continue to do so in the years to come, and the reason for the impact that the Student Board has had over the last 10 years, is the interest in our education and our passion for CEMS. The CEMS Student Board is a representation of what CEMS and the “CEMS Spirit” is all about – as it transcends cultural and institutional obstacles and draws from the value of the diversity existing within the alliance in uniting around a common goal – the continual improvement of CEMS. Enjoy… Thomas Rüdiger Smith CEMS Student Board President, 2010
THANK YOU...
M
any people have helped the CEMS Student Board get to where it is today. The support that you have given to us is not forgotten. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank all the Corporate Partners that over the years have contributed time, sponsorship and willingness to engage with us. A special thanks to our Coordinators for their support and especially to those schools who have shared their facilities and provided for us during our meetings. A heartfelt thank you to the CEMS Head Office for their belief in us and their support every step of the way.
HOW WE WORK &
oUR STRUCTURE
Projects at the centre of what we do. lthough the structure of the Student Board has changed over time, the way A we work has always been focused on projects, with the vast majority carried out within the structural groups.. The structure of the Student Board has always had a stakeholder perspective, as we believe that the strength of CEMS lies in the community. orn on a Friday afternoon in Prague, 2002, during a B café visit, the Student Board laid the foundation for a new strategy that would define the governing structure until September 2009. The structure was based on a strategy focusing the Student Board activities on 3 main pillars: Content (knowledge), Awareness and Network. The structure became known as the CAN structure and was an important step in focusing our efforts, both internally and externally.
INTERESTING FACT: The Articles of Association were written in 2003 by Jürgen Töglhofer. CEMS Student Board is legally registered in St. Gallen, Switzerland and not France like CEMS.
THE CAN STRUCTURE: 2002 - 2009
L
astly, to all the students and alumni that have taken an interest in the Student Board through answering surveys and through raising your ideas and comments with us, thank you. You are the reason why we exist and the reason why our word has influence. Without all of your interest and support the CEMS Student Board would never have gotten to where it is today, so thank you…
Time for change: the Student Board updates its mission and structure 2009 became the year where the Student Board added social responsibility to the working groups. Over the course of 2009, it became clear that the current Student Board structure and mission statement needed to be updated as CEMS had gone global and with it came more students, more CEMS Clubs, and throughout the alliance a larger degree of specialisation was found. These changes within the community meant that the CAN structure was no longer perceived to be adequate in addressing the current issues. During the Student Board meeting in April 2009, hosted by the London School of Economics, a taskforce was set-up to revise our mission statement, structure and statutes. The deliverables were consequently presented and imple-
mented at the September 2009 meeting and allow easy visibility of projects in Lisbon. both internally and externally. Additionally the new structure would take into account the growing importance of social responsibility, since it had gained a foothold not only in business education and society but also in projects that the Student Board and CEMS Clubs carried out. The result became a structure of four pillars (MIM Affairs, Student Although the CAN structure be- Relations, CEMS Club Support and came replaced with a new structure the CEMS Social Responsibility) repunderlying principles upon, which the resenting the four main elements of CAN structure was based, still stood. the accompanying mission statement Apart from a well-balanced structure with each pillar targeting a different that was linked to the mission state- audience. ment, the new structure was designed to leverage synergies between the groups
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Student Board Mission Statement
T
he CEMS Student Board mission statement has been revised, updated and rewritten a couple of times during the 10-year existence of the
board. The last revision was made in September 2009, and it is this mission statement that now guides the work and structure of the board.
AS OF SEPTEMBER 2009:
Part of the functioning of the CEMS Student Board is its meetings. The board has met in many different locations throughout the last 10 years, from Lisbon to Istanbul, and from Warsaw to London. The meetings represent a valuable part of our work as it is here that the vast majority of new projects are defined and started. It is also here that discussions and decisions on important issues are taken. When casting a glance over the numerous agendas that have been produced throughout the years, it is clear that that they are packed from morning to evening with presentations of results, group work, updates from CEMS stakeholders and multiple other issues that may be of concern to students. However, the organisation and the actualisation of our meetings could never have happened without the continual interest from Corporate and Academic Partners, who have willingly hosted us at their premises, and we continue to be grateful for their interest.
“The Student Board has been created to enhance the CEMS experience for the students by • gathering students’ opinions about CEMS and the CEMS MIM and bringing recommendations to improve the CEMS MIM and the CEMS community life • implementing and managing global projects which have a positive impact on all CEMS students, including projects aimed at fostering and developing social awareness and ethical conscience • providing support and a platform for communication to the CEMS Clubs to help them achieve their goals
In carrying out the above, in an ethical and socially responsible way, the Student Board acts as the official voice of CEMS students, representing their interests before the Academic, Alumni, Corporate and Administrative stakeholders of the CEMS alliance.”
Year
Time
Where
20002001
may (2000) OCTOBER (2000) December (2000) MARCH (2001) DECEMBER (2001)
PARIS VIENNA LONDON GENEVA BERGEN
20012002
mAY SEPTEMBER dECEMBER
PRAGUE BRUXELLES BUDAPEST
20022003
MARCH OCTOBER DECEMBER
BARCELONA PARIS PRAGUE
20032004
APRIL SEPTEMBER DECEMBER
DUBLIN ROTTERDAM STOCKHOLM
20042005
MARCH SEPTEMBER DECEMBER
BARCELONA BUDAPEST WARSAW
20052006
APRIL SEPTEMBER decemBER
MILAN PRAGUE DUBLIN
20062007
aPRIL SEPTEMBER DECEMBER
COLOGNE ST. PETERSBURG MILAN
20072008
April SEPTEMBER DECEMBER
BUDAPEST VALENCIA PARIS
20082009
APRIL SEPTEMBER DECEMBER
LONDON LISBON COLOGNE
20092010
APRIL SEPTEMBER DECEMBER
WARSAW ISTANBUL ROTTERDAM
ATTENTION TO THE SKILL SEMINARS
CONTENT
hen the Block Seminars W were introduced together with the new MIM struc-
ture back in 2002, the Student Board took an active role in the organisation and evaluation of the blocked seminars. The seminars were evaluated
again in 2006 and the findings were reported to the Academic Committee, who subsequently took action. Today the Block Seminars constitute one of the most appreciated aspects of the MIM.
Improved learning from practical experience
After complaints had been received from CEMS students on the quality differences between countries regarding the CEMS Business Projects, the Student Board decided in 2004 to undertake the first large-scale investigation of the Business Projects in conjunction with the CEMS Head Office evaluation process. Our ideas were presented at the Academic Coordinators Meeting. We presented cross-country comparisons, evaluations of best practices and recommendations in general and to particular schools regarding company involvement, academic coaching, the size of the group, the timeline of the Business Project etc. The Business Projects would become subject for further investigation in 2008 and 2009, where individual feedback reports for each school were sent out.
& THE MIM
Newsletters: A regular update on the Student Board and the CEMS Alliance. The Student Board has also partaken in the development of both the old and new CEMS.org. In 2005, the Student Board gathered extensive feedback and played an important part in the creation of the final design of the Student Private Zone - the final result was awarded for its being highly innovative. In addition, several other pages and databases were created or improved: the career and internship page and the networking database were improved and the update also allowed CEMS Clubs the possibility to post events and CEMS Club information. In 2006, we set up a Front Page Committee, whose aim was to provide articles about CEMS and CEMS activities both to internal publications and to the press. In 2009, we once again gathered and provided feedback for the latest redesign of cems. org. Besides cems.org, the Student Board is both on LinkedIn and Facebook...
The Student Board has since its inception in 2000 regularly updated the CEMS Community on news within the CEMS Alliance as well as current Student Board projects through its newsletter. Numerous newsletters have been produced over the years, and they have been distributed widely throughout the CEMS Community. The design of the newsletter has continually been updated and during 2010, the readership of the newsletter was consistently well over 1000 readers. The newsletter is distributed three times a year following each Student Board meeting.
Movies... The Student Board has been active in creating more than just print media. In 2006, we launched the CEMS Movie project with the goal of making a video introducing CEMS and reaching out to a maximum number of potential new members of the community – students as well as corporate partners. The movie showed interviews with faculty staff, students, corporate partners and alumni in order to give a 360 degrees description of CEMS and the MIM. In 2008, we organised the CEMS Movie Competition with the aim to motivate CEMS students to prepare a promotional film about their CEMS time. The collected movies later became part of the online promotion of CEMS.
AWARENESS
Marketing and promoting CEMS has always been a focus area of the Student Board. In 2001, we began the production of CEMS merchandising as well as other promotional material, and we have distributed this throughout the alliance. From 2002 merchandising production became an important part of our awareness work, as we started selling merchandising to students. A large variety of products have been produced during the last decade, including business cards, luggage tags, post-it notes, pens, pins, sweatshirts, t-shirts and chocolates. In 2005 the first CEMS Student Cards were produced in collaboration with ISIC and all students are now supplied with these from the start of their CEMS MIM year. In 2006, the systematic production of business cards was started and it is still in effect today. In 2007, we launched the first webshop for the sale of merchandising. The new service to the CEMS community offered CEMS Clubs and CEMSies the opportunity to design and order clothes and gadgets online. In 2010 the sales of CEMS merchandising reached more than â‚Ź8000 and we produced a special edition t-shirt for Schools for Africa, the proceeds from which went to the project.
SECURING OUR KNOWLEDGE
Although much of our time is dedicated to external communication, we have also focused on internal communication within the Student Board, through ensuring that the internally created knowledge is managed and distributed appropriately. In 2005-2006, we extended the functionalities of cems.org, with focus on providing CEMS Students and the Student Board with a central platform for communication, knowledge storage and dissemination. In 2008 and 2009, the database on cems.org was transferred to a new and more interactive forum, CEMSShare, which was better suited to addressing the growing need for knowledge management and virtual team work. The platform is continually updated and today it serves a crucial part of the way we work. The platform was later opened up to CEMS Clubs as well, in order to strengthen the connection between the Student Board and the Clubs as well as offering a forum where the clubs could discuss and share best practices.
BRINGING YOU THE STUDENT BOOK SINCE 2002
The concept for the CEMS Student book was created by the Student Board for the first time in 2001, and the first edition was distributed on 22nd October 2002 (750 copies), the same day the CEMS Master’s in International Management was launched. The book was created for students’ abroad term and contained information about who-was-where and other important information about CEMS and the student CEMS year. The project has been continued since then with regular updates to the content and the 2010/2011 version was recently produced by the Student Board. The book not only represents a great tool in learning more about CEMS and your fellow students, but also helps foster community experience and a sense of belonging.
& BRANDING The CEMS Magazine has been an additional area within promotion and awareness building that we have taken part in. The magazine was originally launched by the Alumni Association and the Student Board became a part of this at a later stage. The magazine became the official magazine for the CEMS Alumni & Students. Throughout the years we have together with the CAA been active contributors and members of the editorial committee and we continue to be so. The magazine was redesigned in 2005 and again in 2009, where the current topic specific format was launched. Recently the magazine was rebranded as the “Official magazine of the CEMS Community” as the content of the magazine no longer solely represents student and alumni views, but also Corporate Partners and Academic Members. The magazine is now a collaborative effort together with the CEMS Head office, and it is published twice a year.
TRAVEL REPORTS: YOUR PERSONAL CEMS GUIDE In 2010 we launched a new project aimed at gathering, distributing information and creating awareness about the possibilities within CEMS. As such, we have started collecting travel reports from students about their terms spent abroad. The project is aimed at providing information from CEMS student to CEMS student about the school, courses, housing and social life. The information will subsequently be published on the internal section of cems.org.
“There are no limits to what can be achieved and learned through the CEMS Club. I believe it is an indispensable part of being a CEMS student. It adds to the already unique CEMS spirit” Lau Hornstrup CBS CEMS Club President SB Member, 2001
NETWORKING
CEMS CLUB AWARD
To show merited appeciation of the CEMS clubs, the CEMS community decided to set up the CEMS Club Award, where the CEMS student body selects votes for their favorite. The best club is rewarded for performance and effort.
& CEMS CLUBS International Event Sponsorship Fund
I
n 2005, we initiated a CEMS Club fund with the goal of promoting local CEMS Club events with an impact on the entire CEMS Community. Guidelines with criteria were set and CEMS Clubs could pitch a proposal and budget to receive sponsoring by the Student Board. In 2010, we decided to earmark the money of that year on supporting new regional events such as the LOUROPA and Nordic Forum. The result has been that CEMS students can now look forward to two additional regional events in 2011, as the first Mare nostrum Forum will be held in Lisbon and the first V4 Forum takes place in Warsaw.
uring the Executive Board Meeting in CoD logne in 2009, the Student Board proposed the idea of creating a Graduation statement for
CEMS. The CEMS Global Values Statement (GVS) project began during our meeting in Lisbon 2009, and is one of the pillars of the Global Values Initiative which also includes the PRME (see below). The original idea behind it was to make students conscious of the fundamental values behind the CEMS alliance, increase the community spirit of CEMS, and to foster the development of responsible leaders. To achieve this, it was decided to give the CEMS MIM Graduates the opportunity to make a formal commitment to the CEMS principles on the day of their graduation. Throughout 2010 the Student Board has worked hard on its realisation and the Global Values Statement (see GVS box on next page)
CEMS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
In term 1 2009/2010, the recently formed CEMS Social Responsibility group carried out a study to investigate the interest of CEMS Students in social responsibility. Amongst a number of things, the project focused on how to integrate social responsibility within the CEMS MIM Curriculum, and the Student Board provided this information to the Academic Committee,
Giving back to society through charity
he CEMS community T has over the last number of years been active in
which has over the last year placed more importance on the subject as evident from increasing integration of CSR into the CEMS MIM. The Student Board has additionally over the course of 2010 been active in the discussion and selection of Social Partners, and potential areas for collaboration have already been identified. We believe that the inclusion of Social Partners will be a great contribution to the CEMS Alliance through placing an increased focus on social responsibility.
supporting good causes and charity events. It all started back in 2006 where charity was for the first time put on the agenda of the Student Board. This was a new idea which went along well with the increasing focus on CSR. In 2007, we initiated the CEMS Walk the World - Fight Hunger, in partnership with the WFP, setting up activities and events throughout Europe. Over â‚Ź35000 were raised. Following this, a three year agreement with UNICEF to support schools in subSaharan Africa was created. The Schools for Africa project began in 2008. It led to the creation of Humanitarian Officers in many CEMS Clubs, signaling the strong
motivation at our member schools for giving back to society. The Student Board has throughout the three years been proactive in creating motivation and promotional material for the clubs, as well as engaging in fundraising ourselves. As the Schools for Africa project will come to an end at the Rotterdam Annual Events the Student Board is currently hard at work on coming up with a new global project.
STUDENT BOARD REPRESENTATION
THE STUDENT BOARD REACHES A NEW MILESTONE
The Student Board secures a place on numerous committees
A
t the end of 2004, in Stockholm, an important decision was made by the CEMS Executive Board that would solidify our influence and would ensure that we would continue to be heard. During the CEMS Annual Events 2004 the CEMS Executive Board decided that the SB had professionalised in such a way that from December 2004 on, we would be formally invited and involved in all relevant CEMS meetings including Task Force meetings, Coordinators’ meetings, Academic Committee meetings and Executive
Board meetings. Although we had previously taken part in these meetings it had yet to become a formal involvement. The decision meant that the student voice was certain to be present at all preparational meetings leading to final decision-making. This meant that the Student voice would now be heard earlier in the process, and many of our projects have since the profited from the decision that was made that day in December.
CEMS EXECUTIVE BOARD CEMS ACADEMIC COMMITTEE CEMS COORDINATORS MEETINGS LANGUAGE SUB-COMMITTEE TASKFORCES: GLOBALISATION CAREER SERVICES LANGUAGES SELECTION PROCESS BRANDING & COMMUNICATION CORE COURSES ...and many more
CEMS The Global Alliance: The role of the Student Board and the CAA in making the step to go global.
O
ver the years, we have been engaged with the expansion of the CEMS network. Before the decision to go global was taken in 2007, the CEMS Community including the Student Board had already discussed and analysed the potential expansion of CEMS globally with the goal of building a global M.Sc. standard for a few years. Initially, it was decided that at this stage the CEMS MIM should remain a European programme, delivered only by the CEMS schools and that CEMS should remain a European network as far as member schools were concerned. This did however not exclude the possibility of developing connections with Associate Academic Members outside of Europe. In 2007, an important decision would change that and forever make its mark on CEMS.
The Student Board Executive Team of 2007 in cooperation with Elke Thamm, Alumni Association President (2006-2008) put a lot of effort into understanding the actual impact of opening up CEMS to full member universities from outside of Europe. We were all coloured by the existing resista nce, also among students, but whe n t hor oug h ly analysing the consequences and reasons for a Global CEMS, we changed our view and became fully dedicated supporters of a Global CEMS. The reasons were clear. The quite recent globalisation of general exchange programmes had opened up opportunities for well-qualified students to expand their horisons even further than the borders of Europe.
Many universities had already incorporated successful elements of CEMS in their regular curriculum and our Corporate Partners wanted graduates with a mix of backgrounds, both European and of more a global character. Ultimately CEMS had to keep up w ith general developments in order to stay attractive and competitive. We could not let the great work of the past and the previous brave decisions like including schools from the former Eastern European socialist states be let down by unwillingness to actively shape and prepare CEMS for the increased competition of global educational programmes. The Student Board discussed this intensively, but ultimately the global
step was supported. However internal agreement was not enough and the Student Board together with the Alumni Association engaged in repeated discussions with Deans, Rectors and Academic Staff from Europe’s leading business schools at the CEMS Executive Board and in various other forums in order to convince them of the importance of this move. Eventually, the sentiment shifted in favour of a CEMS with Global Full Academic Members, and today we can pride ourselves of a growing Global Alliance present on 4 continents, with an increasingly diverse student body. We decided to stand up against resistance and we are proud to have contributed to bringing CEMS into a new era, a global era.
MAY, PARIS FOUNDING The Student Board is founded after the Executive Board request a formal link with the Student Body. The starting year is spent mainly on developing the mission statement, the structure and understading our role and our focus areas. ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION The Articles of Association are created in 2003. CEMS Student Board is officially located in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
2000 - 2010 KEY EVENTS MAY, PRAGUE CAN STRUCTURE
DECEMBER, STOCKHOLM REPRESENTATION
The Content Awareness – Networking structure is introduced on the Student Board during the meeting in Prague. The structure addresses academic content, brand awareness and the CEMS network. The structure would come to govern the way we work for more than 7 years.
December, Annual Events: The Student Board becomes an official invitee of the Academic Committee, CEMS Coordinators meetings, language sub-committee meetings and Task Forces. The growing presence of the Student Board throughout the CEMS Governance structure increased our influence.
CEMS GOES GLOBAL The Student Board plays a key role in the decision to go global. Through thorough analyses of the benefits and drawbacks, the Student Board presents a convincing case for going global. By 2010, the CEMS Alliance reaches 25 full Academic Members, with presence on 4 continents.
& MILESTONES SEPTEMBER, LISBON NEW MISSION & STRUCTURE The Student Board introduces a new structure and mission statement in order to accommodate the global move by CEMS. The CAN structure becomes replaced with a structure that for the first time introduces CSR as a separate target area within the Student Board.
studentboard@cemsmail.org www.cems.org