¶ Purpose
The Advisory Board serves to provide the MSA board with guidance and nuanced expertise in their respective focus areas. The MSA board is made up of a group of students leading a community of students like themselves and thus the Advisory Board is purposed as a supplement to the MSA board’s abilities and skills to effectively advance the mission of the MSA. Moreover, the purpose of an Advisory Board is to have specified leaders who the Board develops relationships with and who can be of consistent assistance to the MSA board. Instead of only making defensive and reactive decisions that inevitably force the MSA board in a tight corner, creating an Advisory Board whom the MSA board can regularly meet with allows for preemptive measures and precautions against issues before they arise
¶ Meeting Rules and Expectations
Meetings with the entire Advisory Board are an opportunity for the MSA board to bring up critical issues that necessitate expert perspective and guidance
- Meetings will take place at Berkeley once per semester
- The President will be responsible for scheduling Advisory Board meetings
- The President will be responsible for sending out a semesterly email update to the Advisory Board with the latest updates on the MSA's accomplishments and struggles
Recommendation: Schedule the Advisory Board meeting about halfway through the semester when the MSA board will likely be burnt out or preoccupied with academics. The Advisory Board meeting is a restorative source of motivation.
It is encouraged that the MSA board utilize the Advisory Board as a resource throughout the semester and personally reach out to the relevant advisors with any particular questions as they arise
¶ Standing Areas of Expertise
The following list outlines the current areas of expertise brought forth by our Advisors and that supplement the MSA board’s leadership. As the need arises, the board should add to Advisors that compliment these areas of expertise.
Islamic Guidance
Keeping the Board well-connected to their faith to assist them in embodying Islamic values and leading by example
Activism/public relations
Training the Board to be well-equipped in handling relations with other organizations and having a strategy for times of activism
University Administration
Assisting the MSA board in maintaining a strong and institutionalized relationship with administration that lasts beyond individuals
Organizational structure
Seeking guidance on improving the MSA as an organization in regards to large structural changes (i.e. leadership structure, methods of feedback, etc)
Historical perspective
Providing perspective on the MSA's history from decades before the four-year term that our student leadership spends at UC Berkeley
¶ Etiquette
- When scheduling the Advisory Board meeting, MSA board members are expected to be flexible and prioritize the availability of advisors
- The MSA board must be mindful that although the advisors have dedicated time to help guide the Berkeley MSA, they are also all working, influential Muslims with busy schedules of their own
- The MSA board must take care to book a classroom and provide dinner during the Advisory Meeting
¶ Current Advisors
Best form of contact can be found in our Hubspot contact database.
- Khalid Kadir (Professor at UC Berkeley)
- Hatem Bazian (Professor at UC Berkeley)
- Zahra Billoo (Director of CAIR SFBA Chapter)
¶ Comprehension Quiz
If you were instructed to read this page as part of an online training curriculum, you must submit this quiz and answer all questions correctly. In the case that you do not answer a question correctly, you may view which questions were incorrect and take the quiz again.
