The Course Rep System is run by the Students’ Union. We aim to have reps for every year in every department.
By now, whether you’re a new student or a returner, you will almost definitely have heard all sorts of information from everyone about the Course Rep System. However, as the election process is in motion, I want to give a slightly more personal insight into the scheme, having been a course rep for two years myself.
The Course Rep System is run by the Students’ Union but the election and organisation of reps is conducted within individual departments. We aim to have reps for every year in every department, as well as overall department and faculty reps. It’s a lot less scary than it sounds because we fully train all reps at the SU before they take up the role and are always here to support you guys and answer any questions and queries.
Fundamentally, being a Course Rep means representing your peers and making sure that the student voice is heard within your department. This is a pretty cool job because not only do you get to chat to students about what they really want to see in their academic environment, but you get to liaise with academics and department heads (with our support and assistance) in order to really make these things happen.
Seeing your department improve and student satisfaction increase while knowing you played an instrumental role in that change, is a seriously rewarding feeling. It’s also a great way to get to know staff and students in your department better as well as making some really close friends with other course reps via training and socials.
This kind of communication is done on a fairly informal basis. It could be anything, from someone mentioning something they’ve experienced, or would like to raise while you are on a night out or at the start of a lecture. Any feedback that you gather is perfectly valid and can be taken to student/staff meetings. All of the meetings will be attended by a range of departmental reps so you won’t be put on the spot at all.
Overall we have always had great responses from students about their experiences as a Course Rep, I can also say first-hand that I found it rewarding and really fun to do (as you can tell by the fact that I took on the role for a second year). The best thing is that you can chat to fellow students in between your daily activities all while gaining something quite impressive to put on your CV and job applications at a later stage.
Talk to academics in your department to get more information on how they run the system at their end and feel free to pop in and quiz us if you need to know more about the opportunities available.
Tasha Barrett
President, Education and Campaigns