From raising issues to department staff around timetabling to organising a group trip to the London Tech Show in March, MSc Digital Innovation and Analytics course rep, Ronak Shah, has worked hard this year to represent the students on his course.
From raising issues to department staff around timetabling to organising a group trip to the London Tech Show in March, MSc Digital Innovation and Analytics course rep, Ronak Shah, has worked hard this year to represent the students on his course. Last week, we caught up with Ronak to find out more about his experience as an academic rep.
Why did you want to become a rep?
I have always tried to take part in initiatives like this as they are wonderful opportunities to meet new people, which is important to me as I am an international student new to the country, and to give back to the University by positively impacting the lives of coursemates and other students. Additionally, I had some course-related concerns that I wanted to address and thought that if they bothered me, they were probably affecting other students too. Therefore, if becoming a course rep meant that I could do something about that, then I must.
What are your plans for the rest of the term?
For the rest of the academic year, I intend on continuing to hear back from our cohort as we work toward our dissertation and apply for jobs in the corporate and academic worlds. If needed, I want to provide them with career assistance through the University or our collective professional networks. My efforts as a course rep have also resulted in the unique opportunity of a summer programme with a leading London-based data research institute; I will be asking for feedback around on this to see if it addresses the issues we raised around the learning objectives from our course. Lastly, I have been given permission to start a newsletter for our School to help engage more students and create an environment of co-creation and curation within our departments.
How do you see being a rep impacting your future?
Being a course representative definitely boosts your professional profile as it demonstrates your ability to take the initiative and lead. Taking the role seriously by going above and beyond what is expected showcases that you fully understand the responsibility that comes with being a course rep, something that I am sure recruiters look for. Additionally, it helps hone other skills, such as communication, organisation, and conflict resolution.
What’s the best thing about being a rep?
The best thing has to be the positive impact that has on students' university experience as well as your own. It is also a great way to meet other students at the university and SU - students who you may not have otherwise had the chance of interacting with.