David Cordial is a second year Computing Student. He was voted in as DCU Computing and Engineering Convenor for 2012/2013.
How did you find the role of Computer and Engineering Convener ?
It was a very learn-on-the-job role. There was no instruction manual. I got a few tips from my predecessor and you kind of had to figure it out as you went along. It was fun but challenging at the same time.
Did more students come to you for academic problems or personal problems?
I don’t know if they feel more comfortable going to friends for social problems but generally speaking, if somebody comes to me it’s an academic problem that they’ve got. It’s usually by email because it’s easier for them to contact me that way.
What was your interaction with the Computer and Engineering Class Reps like?
I wanted to interact a lot more with the class reps. One of the main problem we had was that there wasn’t a lot of class reps. A lot of classes didn’t have class reps at all and we tried to rally them and get them to elect class reps but some of them even until now don’t have reps.
In a recent survey undertaken by The College View, 7 out of 10 students said that they didn’t know who their conveners were. Do you think you made an impact on your students?
For me to make an impact on students I obviously contact them by email but for me to be able to help them, they have to come to me and tell me that they have got a problem. They have to give back a little bit.
What advice would you have for next year’s Convener Ian Kavanagh?
Interact with the reps more. There’s too many students to interact with one-to-one. But there are enough reps that you could engage with each of them and they understand the problems with their classes more than everybody else.
Finnian Curran
Image Credit: Niamh Dunbar
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