Student Academic reps make positive change at Imperial

Working in partnership with the College, Imperial College Union's Academic Rep system has been making positive change across Imperial.

Imperial College Union has over 450 academic representatives, covering every department, Master's course and PhD research area in College. 

Working together with the staff in their departments, these reps work tirelessly to help deliver positive change to improve the academic experience of students here at the College.

Cyn Nancarrow-Lei

Cynfelyn Nancarrow-Lei, Undergraduate Rep for Imperial Horizons secured the future of the Level 3 Arabic Course after canvassing for student interest.

Cyn said: “Arabic was only offered up to level two but there were a lot of students on the course who wanted to continue. Along with a couple of the other reps I took a petition of names of students who wanted the course to run again to the Department Student Committee Meeting to demonstrate the demand. The College were really receptive and the course is now running for another year.”

Some of the other highlights from the past year include:

Sinziana Giju, Undergraduate Departmental Rep for the Department of Life Sciences worked with her staff to increase adoption rates of Panopto from 0% to 70% across her department.

Undergraduate Reps in the Department of Life Sciences worked with the Department to introduce a ‘traffic light’ system to ensure assessment feedback is returned on-time.

Masters Reps in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering helped to introduce a maths refresher course to keep students up to date with advance math skills.

Merve Zeden, PhD Rep in the Department of Medicine, organised a Flowers Building Christmas Party to welcome first year PhD students in a causal setting.

Undergraduate Reps in the Department of Physics have increased understanding of mental health issues, making it a priority for student welfare in the department.

Masters Reps in the Department of Bioengineering have helped to revise the MRes syllabus so it’s clearer for all students to understand.

Working together

Imperial students offer a unique perspective on learning and teaching at the College. By working in partnership, the College aims to continually improve the academic experience it offers, enabling all our students to achieve their full potential.

Professor Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Provost (Education) said: "Imperial’s new Learning and Teaching Strategy aims to take big steps towards new ways of educating – and it needs to be a joint effort with our community. The insight of academic reps in departments is vital as we look to improve the education we offer at the College. The students I have met and worked with so far at Imperial have without exception been hugely dedicated and engaged – we need to make sure the education they receive is just as innovative as they are.”