🗳️ Course Representative

2025/26 Winter Term

We are recruiting a Course Representative for DS205 (2025/26).

👉 Nominate yourself on Slack by Tuesday, 10 February 2026, 12.00 p.m. (noon).

📑 Brief

Why become a course rep?

1. Course reps directly impact the student experience at the DSI. You’ll attend official meetings with DSI staff to voice your suggestions, concerns, and recommendations.

2. Enjoy perks like guaranteed spots on upcoming DSI Industry Trips!

3. Build a strong profile for the Henry Wynn Prize, which recognises outstanding collegiality and engagement beyond the classroom.

   In the first iteration of DS205 (2024/25), our course rep Michele was very helpful! He gave us detailed feedback on where most students struggled. Nuvolos had a much worse setup last year and we improved it following student feedback he gathered. He also reassured us that DS205 students wanted the challenge of the coding projects. Some of the projects were quite demanding to pull together, but students liked them and did not want them changed. That feedback is why we keep the fast-paced nature of this course. We also learned from course reps on DS101, DS105 and DS202 how to scaffold content so it is more accessible to people who enter via different pre-requisite routes.

The Process

The Data Science Institute (DSI) is excited to announce that the elections for Course Representatives for DS205 are now open!

If you are taking DS205 this Term, you can nominate yourself, and all students get to vote anonymously on the candidates. The nomination and voting process will be conducted via the #social channel on Slack.

As a Course Representative, you’ll work with staff to ensure your peers’ feedback is seen and acted on and that student voices are represented in institutional decision-making. It is also a fantastic way to develop new skills, to know the Institute better, and bolster your CV.

You can see the positions available in the table below:

Course	Number of Positions
DS205	1

📝 Commitments

What can you expect from this role:

🏅 Engagement and Perks

• You get a guaranteed place in the upcoming DSI Industry Trips!
• You will have a direct channel of communication to voice suggestions, concerns, and recommendations to the teaching and administrative staff at the DSI.
• You build a strong foundation for the Henry Wynn Prize, a £250 annual award recognising student excellence, collegiality, and engagement beyond the classroom.

Teaching Committees

As a course rep, you will be invited to attend one or two Teaching Committees ¹ at the DSI during Winter Term:

• Week 07 (exact date to be confirmed)
• Week 10 (exact date to be confirmed)

Plus, some informal coffee chats with our staff.

🧑 Why nominate yourself?

• You will play a significant role in making a difference and improving the academic experience for yourself and your peers
• You will build strong interpersonal skills, including confidence, effective communication, and dealing with and resolving complex issues
• You will get to know your classmates much better, as well as senior staff in your department and around the university
• You demonstrate the collegiality and external engagement valued by the Henry Wynn Prize

🗳️ The Election Process

There are two stages to this election:

1. Nominations

• Write down a short paragraph (max. ~50 words) explaining why you feel you would be great for the role!
• Head to your Slack group and post your short paragraph on the #social channel.
• You can nominate yourself anytime but no later than Tuesday, 10 February 2026, 12.00 p.m. (noon).

2. Voting

• We will set up an (anonymous) poll via Slack and leave it open until Friday, 13 February 2026, 12.00 p.m. (noon).
• No one will be able to see who is winning or losing. Only when the poll closes will we know the results.
• Results will be announced in the #social channel on the same day.

💬 Q & A

Q: What if no one nominates themselves?

A: No hard feelings! We will try again next Term.

Q: What if there is a tie?

A: We will do a swift run-off election

Q: Can I nominate myself to represent more than one course?

A: We love the enthusiasm! But, no. You can only serve as a course rep once per academic year for DSI courses.

Footnotes

1. Teaching Committees are official meetings where academic and professional service staff at the DSI discuss how the courses are going, devise adjustments for what is not going as planned, and plan new ways to boost recognition of innovative work of students enrolled in DSI courses. These meetings typically involve Lecturers, the Teaching Support Officer, the Communications Officer, the Institute Manager, and the Director of the DSI.