Our Crowdfunding Groups
We are the Haas Business School Association (HBSA), which is the undergraduate student government for the Haas School of Business! We are dedicated to enhancing the undergraduate student experience and advocating for the needs of the student body. One need we have identified is the gap in resources students need to equitably access, participate, and thrive in the Berkeley Haas and business communities at Cal. Thus, we have started the HBSA Student Resource Fund to help cover these costs for students with financial and socioeconomic barriers.
Background
We recognize that attaining access to a world-class business education and being involved in the business communities at UC Berkeley can be notoriously competitive and difficult, and this inequitable access is only heightened in this pandemic. For students who not only want to access, but participate and thrive, in the Berkeley Haas and Berkeley business communities, many students, especially lower-income and more marginalized students, are faced with prospects of going without the materials required to complete, or even participate, in their business coursework, and are also often excluded from the generous resources business student organizations offer due to financial and socioeconomic barriers.
While the HBSA Student Resource Fund officially launched in Spring 2021 utilizing funds from HBSA and the Haas School of Business, more funds are needed to completely and effectively execute on our mission of empowering every student in the Berkeley Haas and Berkeley business communities to thrive and grow. Given the high demand for resources and support from this fund, exacerbated by the impacts of COVID-19, your donated dollars will go towards improving the experience of today’s business students—tomorrow’s business leaders. Priority access to this fund will go towards students experiencing financial hardship and students with socioeconomic and financial barriers.
The Project
The HBSA Student Resource Fund aims to alleviate this inequity for students in need by providing supplemental need-based aid to help cover three areas of costs: academic, professional development, and graduation.
Academic costs include but are not limited to UGBA textbooks/readers, homework submission access codes, case studies, calculators, grad school prep and test admission fees.
Professional Development costs include but are not limited to business student organization membership fees, headshots, and internship and job resources.
Graduation costs include but are not limited to graduation photos to celebrate and commemorate underrepresented Haas students, graduation gowns and stoles, and more.
By bridging the gap left by financial aid, the HBSA Student Resource Fund hopes to lessen economic disparities by providing small fund disbursements on an as-needed basis to students. Through this students-helping-students resource, we are lessening financial barriers while expanding access to the specific educational, professional development, and graduation resources needed to participate, succeed, and thrive in the undergraduate business community at Cal.
Our Spring 2021 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee!
Our Goal
We are raising $4,300 to help cover the academic, professional development, and graduation costs needed to access, participate, and thrive in the Berkeley Haas and business communities at Cal. This includes but is not limited to the following: E-textbook rentals, HP 12C Calculators for finance courses, online textbook course codes, case study access codes, lifetime membership fees needed to fully participate in professional development events in business/professional development organizations, and graduation photos, stoles, and gowns. By contributing to this resource fund, this means that you would help us cover the needs of students who otherwise wouldn't have these resources to equitably pursue business at Berkeley!
Our Spring 2021 Student Affairs Committee!
Why is this important?
As members of the Haas student government (HBSA), and current students, we have seen and experienced first-hand how financially burdensome certain required course materials can be. Some of us have experienced and first-hand witnessed friends and classmates having to find alternatives, go without the required materials, or even pursue a different major, due to our varying socioeconomic backgrounds. For students struggling financially, on top of worrying about even getting into business classes, these educational inequities are worsened by the costly materials needed for undergraduate business courses at Cal. This is why we have started the HBSA Student Resource Fund to attempt to lessen this inequity.
We all know that a Haas education provides immense opportunities after graduation. The HBSA Student Resource Fund will be extremely impactful by providing the means of assistance necessary to allow a wider and more diverse pool of students to access the materials they need to take and succeed in the courses in their desired field of study. Increasing access to Berkeley Haas and the business education opportunities at Cal is vitally important if we want these life-changing opportunities to be possible for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Additionally, we want to make sure students who need such aid can get this assistance as easy as possible, without undue proof of how much they are struggling. We will prioritize students experiencing financial hardship and additional socioeconomic and financial barriers.
We are reimagining the UC Berkeley business experience so that all students can participate, thrive, and succeed. We need your help in co-creating an accessible, equitable path to business at Berkeley together. We appreciate you and your support!
Contact Information
Feel free to contact us through email or stay in touch with us on our socials!
Email: Brittany Sartor brittanysartor@berkeley.edu | Erinn Wong erinn-wong@berkeley.edu | Shivani Parikh neomishivani@berkeley.edu
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berkeleyhbsa/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaasBSA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/haas-business-school-association-hbsa/
You will be given a shoutout on our Instagram Stories.
You will be given a shoutout on our Facebook, where current students and alumni stay connected and in the know.
You will get a Shoutout from the Rooftop! This means you'll be getting a shoutout in our weekly undergraduate Haas newsletter, Facebook, and Instagram Story.
You'll be getting a handwritten thank you note from HBSA.
Donate $1,000 or more & you'll be getting a thank you video from us at HBSA to thank you for your support with this project!
