Become a Delegate

According to the GA Charter, every academic unit (department, group, or program) is allowed one Delegate per every 100 graduate students or fraction thereof in the academic unit. 

• View the updated Delegate Directory to see how many Delegates your academic unit can have.
• If you do not see your academic unit listed, please email the Internal Vice President.

Interested in becoming a Delegate for the 2022-2023 Academic School year?

Reach out to your department’s Graduate Student Affairs Officer (GSAO) to learn about your department’s nomination or election process for becoming a GA Delegate.  You can also view the current Delegate Directory to reach out to current delegates in your department.  More information will be posted to this page for steps to become a delegate at the start of the fall semester.  Please email the  Internal Vice President  with any questions.

For the 2022-2023 Academic School year, please complete these steps to become a Delegate:

1. Fill out the 2022-2023 Delegate Certification Form. You will be notified of your application’s status within two weeks of its submission. 
2. Have your Graduate Assistant, Graduate Student Affairs Officer (GSAO), Department Chair, or head of Departmental Student Group fill out the 2022-2023 Departmental Approval Form.
   • Note: If your department is appointing multiple delegates, this form needs to be filled out separately for each delegate.
3. Send an Email Announcement to students in your department (ask your GSAO for help if you don’t have a departmental student email list).
   • If your department has multiple delegates, you can coordinate together to send one email.
4. Read the GA Zoom Guide. [Updated September 2021]
5. Join the GA Delegate Slack Workspace.
   • REQUIRED: Please set your slack name as follows: First name, Last name, Department, Position, Preferred Pronouns
   • Example: Liz Lawler, Vision Science delegate, (she/her/hers)
6. [Optional] Sign up for the Delegate Mentorship Program Pilot!
   • If there is sufficient interest, this year we’ll be piloting out a GA delegate buddy system to match new delegates with returning delegates to show them the ropes and be a resource. Mentor/mentee delegate matches will depend on the number of folks that sign up.
7. New Delegates are required to attend New Delegate Orientation. Please RSVP by filling out this RSVP form.
   • This year’s orientation will be held on Thursday, September 1st, 5:30-7pm either on Zoom (register here!) or in-person in the ASUC Senate Chambers (5th floor of Eshleman Hall).
8. The GA uses Parliamentary Procedure/ Robert’s Rules of Order for meetings.  Please check out our GA Delegates Guide to Robert’s Rules for helpful information!

Please contact internal-ga@berkeley.edu for questions about any of these steps!

Delegate Assembly meetings are held the first Thursday of every month, with the exception of September, when they are held on the second Thursday. Meetings begin at 5:30pm. Logistical details for meetings will be provided soon. Meeting dates for the 2022-2023 term are:

1. September 8th
2. October 6th
3. November 3rd
4. December 1st
5. February 2nd
6. March 2nd
7. April 6th
8. May 4th

For more information about the structure of the Graduate Assembly or the responsibilities of a GA Delegate, please look through our 2022-2023 New Delegate Orientation presentation (recording here), or email internal-ga@berkeley.edu if you have any questions.