CLA Student Board

The CLA Student Board is the official undergraduate student government for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. Members work vigorously to foster academic excellence, build community, promote artistic expression, and prepare students for post-college aspirations.

CLA Student Board members act as the bridge between CLA students and administration, prepared to coordinate events and initiatives to ensure that CLA's undergraduates are both heard and represented. If you have anything you would like to discuss about your experience in the College of Liberal Arts as an undergraduate student, please feel free to reach out to the CLA Student Board to help positively shape the college for current and future students.

Contact us with any questions, concerns, comments, or ideas you may have! We answer on all social media platforms and our email.

The CLA Student Board meets every Wednesday to plan events for the student body and organize initiatives to promote its pillars:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Holistic Wellness
Sustainability

Apply to the Board

Structure

Members of the CLA Student Board can join Standing Committees based on their interests:

Data & Initiatives: Utilizes data to inform meaningful initiatives for the CLA Student Body.
Internal Affairs Committee: Evaluates and improves CLA Student Board culture, plans professional and team building initiatives/events, and organizes orientation of new members.
The Communications & Marketing Committee: Builds partnerships with college boards, USG, other student groups, and CLA staff/faculty/administration. Plans advertising and marketing strategies.
Events Committee: Plans and executes CLA Student Board events!

Members of the CLA Student Board members can run for several Officer & Director Roles as leadership positions:

President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary (leads Internal Affairs Committee)
Communication Director (leads the Communications & Marketing Committee)
Initiatives Director (leads Data & Initiatives Committee)
Alumni Relations Officer
Undergraduate Student Government Representative (co-leads Data & Initiatives Committee)

Initiatives

What is an initiative?

An initiative is a project or venture intended to assess progress and improve the experiences of the student body within the College of Liberal Arts. Initiatives are flexible, so they are liable to change based on the structure, personnel, interests, and values of the Board. Often, a CLASB initiative will involve both a qualitative component (e.g. outreach and advocacy) and a quantitative component (e.g. survey data on student opinion).

How does the Data & Initiatives Committee support initiatives?

The Data Analytics Committee provides quantitative support for CLASB initiatives by constructing and disseminating surveys to gauge student opinion on CLA-related issues. After analyzing these survey data, the Committee consolidates its findings and presents any significant takeaways or recommendations to the rest of the Board (and in some cases to the CLA community more broadly).

Why does the CLA Student Board pursue initiatives?

The Board is dedicated to serving the needs of CLA students, and to this end, it develops initiatives that aim to raise awareness about these issues and concerns. In other words, it is a priority of the Board to maintain consistent communication with the CLA student body and ensure that student voices are brought to the forefront of conversations on campus. For instance, if students tell us that they would like to hear more about campus safety, then the Board will take steps to formally gather student feedback, increase access to relevant resources, and bring in prominent members of the Twin Cities community to facilitate a discussion about the topic.

Past CLASB initiatives

Mental Health Initiative: Pledge to Prioritize: The Pledge to Prioritize initiative is a campaign to promote safe and healthy practices for mental health and well-being.
CLA Feedback Survey: This survey was designed to identify potential student concerns in areas such as career resources, degree requirements, and diversity and inclusion.
Classroom Inclusion Survey: The objective of this initiative was to gauge student perceptions about mental health accommodations and the atmosphere for diversity and inclusion within CLA.
CLASB-ESO Department of Economics Survey: In conjunction with the Economics Student Organization, this project elicited department-specific feedback from economics majors and minors.
Liberal Education Requirement Survey: This survey was conducted as one component of a Board-wide initiative to address the University’s liberal education degree requirements.

Please contact [email protected] to access the data from or request more information about these initiatives.