Council meeting minutes from 2024-10-30

minutes of the students' representative council for study programs of computer science

Bioinformatics Academic Support

- Several students voiced concerns about a need for more academic support in their bioinformatics studies
- Lizzie reports that professors in ZBI voiced concerns about costs and finding people to teach would make the prospect of a Bioinformatics Vorkurs is not feasible. The ZBI team is already currently discussing the possibility of changing admission criteria for the programs
- Mona mentioned that if a group of engaged students wanted to create a student-led bioinformatics Vorkurs (bootcamp) every year, that it would be more feasible and it would be useful
- Manu says that the content taught in the Python for Bioinformatics (M.Sc.) course is already simple and straightforward and that students need to develop a degree of self-sufficiency in their degree in informatics anyways. Bioinformatics B.Sc. students approached Manu recently and voiced that they felt that, after taking Prog1/2, the difficulty of the program wasn't of concern. He adds on that it is expected of prospective students to possess a level of programming knowledge before entering this program and that the criteria for admissions isn't selective enough.He isn't opposed to a student-led Bioinformatics Vorkurs.
- Mona mentions that some visual computing courses in the Bachelors program are offered for Masters students, and that implementing this on a small-scale with some courses for bioinformatics would be helpful. She mentions that students already in the program need help now, necessitating some academic support.
- Manuel disagrees and would find it unfair if people took advantage of these supplementary courses for easier credit points
- Ted says that incorporating 'supplementary' courses into a curriculum is challenging.
- Manu voices that ZBI criteria for bioinformatics program admissions can be interpreted subjectively and it's hard to definitively prove 'good programming background'. Additionally, he suggests that students can attend programming lectures on campus, without needing to take the exams, as well as finding programming teaching content online.
- Alex suggests that we find the responsible people in the bioinformatics study program, set up a meeting with them, and discuss admission criteria to see if they want people with solid programming AND biology backgrounds or students who have superior knowledge in either subject. If students with a solid background in at least one are to be admitted, then we discuss the possibility of adding 'supplemental' lectures for CP to support students' 'blind spots', such as Prog1/2. Alex adds as a caveat that this should not add more work or stress onto course organizers.
- Manuel endorses reaching out to the study coordination and Lizzie offers to reach out to them to schedule a meeting

Committee Transparency: More public announcement of studentic representative positions

- It was voiced to the FSR that committees should be more transparent and available publicly for students to participate in
- Alex mentions that if we were to implement this, there should be a heavy vetting process and that it would create a great deal of work for us, but it may be a good idea to boost morale
- Mona says that vetting is highly subjective and that it would be difficult to implement, Alex echoes this.
- Manu clarifies that the requirements to join as a voluntary member is lax already (i.e. general trust from FSR and engagement in our projects)
- Generally, most members agreed that opening up committee positions publicly further would make things complicated and could open up opportunities for people to act in bad faith

Nikofete Organization

- Last semester, Nikofete 2023 benefitted Kaltebus e.V., which benefitted houseless people during winter and Der Tafel (a foodbank), which aims to make groceries accessible for economically disadvantaged people
- Currently, the most popular date on the dudle poll is Friday 13th December, but the date is highly subject to change
- Manu suggests that the Mensa has a support program for students in need called 'Mensa Hilft' (we think?) and it provides free meals to students. This is currently being organized by the AStA
- Lizzie also suggests Tierheim Saarbrücken e.V., which has a simple user-friendly donation page on their site, along with tax-reporting paperwork for donors (http://www.tierheim-saarbruecken.de/)
- Daniel adds that Der Tafel needs support and that they are in high demand for support and resources
- Manu proposes a vote, including voluntary members
- 6 people voted in favor of Mensa Hilfe
- 7 people voted in favor of Tierheim Saarbrücken
- 5 people voted in favor of Der Tafel
- 4 people voted in favor of the Kältebus e.V.
- Tierheim Saarbrücken e.V. and Mensa Hilfe win for our two benefactors
- Lizzie offers to reach out to the Tierheim e.V.
- Manu offers to reach out to AStA for the Mensa Hilft initiative

Weihnachtsmarkt Crawl

- Manuel thinks that Straßbourg would be a fun idea for students; he wants to reach out to a bus shuttle company to transport students to and from the market for the sake of ease (avoiding DB hiccups). He suggests that students pay a fee to join and sign up in advance to join.
- Mona suggests that students use their Deutschland ticket to go to Sarreguemines and then Straßbourg afterwards with the RB. Manu has concerns about feasibility about this
- Manu says that he will find a cheap shuttle bus company that are willing to fit 50 people; from there, people can be split into smaller groups and can explore the market
- Daniel says that this isn't really a 'crawl' in the sense we visit multiple markets, and maybe we could include other activities
- Lizzie suggests that we include FSR chaperones in each group, like with the Kneipetour last spring, but Manu says that that is not needed and that people can find their way back on their own
- Manu mentioned that the Romanistik program wanted to collab with us on this event. This may be advantageous, as they speak French. They would contribute to the charter bus costs and they would ride on the same bus as us.

Room Decorating and Painting

- Jan-Philipp points out that the paint in our room is getting a little old
- Campus facilities can paint if we put in a request
- An unofficial vote is cast to see who can help, a handful of people offered to help
- Alex suggests that we print a giant Rindphi, slice it in half, and print it on the door, and make it into our 'signature door'
- Alex suggests a few paint background options
- Daniel proposes we paint the door a blue color
- This topic was tabled for a later meeting after we gather our thoughts on good color schemes

Study Prerequisities: 'Is programming knowledge useful?'

- Simon received a message from the Zentrale Studienberatung that asked how useful prior programming knowledge is for the university's informatics study courses
- Manu said it helps, but isn't necessary for all cases. For Prog1, conceptual knowledge of programming helps
- Alex said that it is useful overall, especially for practical and project-focused courses such as Programming 2 and Software Praktikum; with several courses, namely with courses with 'rarer' languages (i.e. OCaml), the playing field is evened. He mentions that superior math knowledge can help greatly with several courses, including Prog1
- Daniel mentioned that prior programming knowledge won't help with all lectures per se, i.e. with OCaml in Prog1;
- Sirr is currently in Prog1 and says that though Abitur is standardized, not everyone has the same background skills that can benefit them
- Simon says that with Prog2 and project-focused courses like SoPra, it is an advantage
- Kevin will reach out with our thoughts

Lost-and-Found Policy

- Jan-Philipp says that we have a Lost and Found box in our office; people who find stuff in the buildings or lecture halls return us found items
- We attach dates to each found item
- Jan-Philipp mentions that a lot of people visit the Fundbüro for lost and found items, not our office necessarily
- Manu suggests we give the items to the Fundbüro after an x amount of time, i.e. two weeks
- Kevin suggests announcing on Discord that we found items; Daniel says we shouldn't be too specific about the items for security

Unreliable IT Infrastructure

- Alex brings attention to the fact that there were several infrastructure collapses within the HIZ system, causing several server outages and lapses in student productivity because of it
- Alex asserts that functioning servers is paramount and that we must bring greater attention to these frequent outages
- Daniel suggests mobilizing students to also voice their concerns
- Manu suggests proposing this to the StuPa in line with the formal 'Antrag' guidelines
- 5 people voted in favor (with a majority) of reaching out to StuPa about this
- Daniel offers to compile a list of complaints and proposed changes; Manu and Alex offer to contact StuPa and propose a request to discuss this

Japanese Minor Subject

- there was once a Japanese minor subject available, but it is no longer offered because the 'senior' professor heading it retired
- Alex mentioned that it was actually pretty popular and that it ultimately stopped because of financial reasons and a lack of a successor.
- Alex says that this would likely be popular with students again and worth reinstating. We also have an AI research partnership in Japan, which may help with networking.
- We already have a cooperation with Trier Uni regarding our language centers; meaning, that students from Trier and Saarbrücken can visit each other's language courses. Trier offers Japanese Studies as a major, too.

Dishwasher Status

- Our dishwasher broke last week
- It largely works again, but there is a leak
- We can try to fix it further, but if the leak doesn't resolve, we can't keep it. We can't function as an FSR without a proper dishwasher!!!!
- 6 people (unanimously) voted in favor of a new dishwasher