The Boston University Computing and Data Sciences Student Government announced in a letter to constituents Friday it is launching a new CDS Student Advisory Board.
Senator Peter Emero wrote in the letter the board will meet monthly “to share student experiences, provide feedback on the curriculum, and discuss student life within CDS.”
The board will consist of two students per graduating class and one representative from StuGov, according to the letter. Students are invited to apply to join the board.
CDS Director of Student Academic Experience Molly-Kate MacLeod will meet monthly with the board, serving as a liaison between students and professors.
CDS StuGov President Emma Steel has been a data science major since the program’s founding her freshman year.
“I have noticed how, especially the introductory courses, have changed so much from when I took them,” Steel said.
Steel said CDS StuGov created the board to make sure the school is “being constantly developed” using student input. The CDS board is based on the BU Hub Advisory Board, which Steel previously served on as a CDS representative.
“We get a lot of feedback in our general meetings about, ‘Oh, I wish we had this available to us, or I wish we had learned this in these classes to better prepare us for later courses,’” Steel said. “We decided we wanted to create an advisory board that can help inform CDS admin and professors and staff about students’ feelings towards the curriculum and student life.”
Steel said the board intends to bring specific concerns to the CDS faculty and administration.
Sophomore data science minor Ella Pringle said the board could be beneficial if more CDS students became involved in program decision-making.
“CDS is a growing school, so I think that it’s important students give back and give feedback on what improvements are needed,” Pringle said.
However, Pringle said she thinks the initiative could be unnecessary, because CDS StuGov “already works with professors to figure out what changes are needed.”
Steel said despite confidence in the current CDS curriculum, student input on the school is valuable as the program evolves.
“I don’t think there’s really a lot of issues necessarily with CDS curriculum now. I think people are getting a lot out of it,” Steel said. “It’s just that [the school] is so new, and there’s so many opinions, so we want to make sure admin is hearing them.”
