The English Student Association (ESA) is a student-run organization that seeks to improve living and working conditions of students enrolled in the CUNY Graduate Center’s English PhD Program by representing their interests. Representation includes expressing the concerns of the students to the faculty and administration as well as relaying information back to the students.
The primary tasks of the ESA are to provide a forum for student concerns, sponsor a network of student mentors, oversee course evaluations, and run the student election process. In addition, the ESA runs an annual conference with faculty participation, open to ESA members as well as students from other institutions.
To get involved, sign up for the ESA listserv, join the ESA Facebook group.
ESA Constitution and By-laws
ESA Budgets (Current and Past)
ESA Meeting Agendas and Minutes
ESA Committee Membership
Former ESA Committee Members can be found here.
See Descriptions of Committee Roles and Statements from current and former committee members here.
ESA Co-chairs
Facilitate discussion among members; act as liaisons between the student body and the Executive Officer; organize ESA meetings; serve on the Executive Committee ex officio.
Jacob Aplaca
Filipa Calado
Admissions and Financial Aid
Joint program-ESA committee. Read applications and work with faculty to make recommendations for offers of admission.
Allison Douglass
LeiLani Dowell
Andrew Dunn
Kristi Fleetwood
Shoumik Bhattarchaya
Chris Carpenter
Alumni and Fundraising
ESA-only committee. Maintain alumni contact info; organize career panels, readings, and other social and scholarly events; create a yearly alumni newsletter with department updates and alumni publications.
Daniel Hengel
Elissa Myers
Aaron Botwick
Conference
ESA-only committee. Organize and run ESA conference; distribute a CFP; screen submissions; advertise conference; direct participants and volunteers on the day of the event. Title: “Black Lives”
Makeba Lavan
Ryan Tracy
Course Assessment
ESA-only committee. Oversee the dissemination, collection, and transcription of course evaluations.
Param Ajmera
Stephen Spencer
Genevieve Bettendorf
Sean Nolan
Aaron Botwick
Curriculum
Joint program-ESA committee. Regularly review the program’s requirements and make recommendations.
Christian Lewis
Mikey Rumore
Diversity
Joint program-ESA committee. Attend to matters of diversity within the Program. As of May 2017, Diversity officers are drawn from members of program committees to better be able to represent diversity concerns across all areas of program governance.
Jessica Lugo
LeiLani Dowell
Sara Akant
William Arguelles
Steven Herran
Anna Zeemont
Editorial
ESA-only committee. Organize student guides on ESA Commons; revise existing guides as needed.
Beth Sherman
Casandra Murray
Genevieve Bettendorf
Patrick James
Elections
ESA-only committee. Conduct the election of student committee members and ESA Co-chairs; Responsible for including any valid proposed amendments to the ESA by-laws on the ballot.
Bradley Nelson
Chris Carpenter
Executive
Joint program-ESA committee. This committee is the chief governing body of the English Program. It meets about once a month, including Open Meetings at the end of each semester.
Christina Katopodis
Stefano Morello
Faculty Membership
Joint program-ESA committee. Consider changes in the doctoral faculty membership; publicize searches for new members; make recommendations to the Executive Committee.
Shoumik Battarchaya
Catherine Engh
Friday Forum Committee
Joint program-ESA committee. Evaluate the Friday Forum Proposals each semester.
Jason Nielsen
Jojo Karlin
Lounge/Library
ESA-only committee. Maintain the ESA library in the English lounge.
Stefano Morello
Labanya Unui
Placement
Joint program-ESA committee. Work with the Placement Officer and other faculty members to coordinate job placement efforts.
Elissa Myers
Kristi Fleetwood
Sarah Hildebrand
Makeba Lavan
Recruitment
Joint program-ESA committee. Recruit potential new students before and during the Open House for admitted students; coordinate the Mentor/Mentee program; coordinate with the Website Committee on materials for the Prospective Students.
Jessica Lugo
Maxine Krenzel
Sophie Riemenschneider
Chad Frisbie
Daniel Hengel
Website
ESA-only committee. Maintain the ESA site; update, expand, and organize the website as needed.
Jojo Karlin
Param Ajmera
DSC Program Representatives (Non-ESA)
Graduate Council Program Representatives (Non-ESA)
Genevieve Bettendorf
Chris Carpenter
Stefano Morello
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