Council meeting minutes from 2023-03-13

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

MfCS1

The MfCS1 main exam this exam did not go well (~25% passed). To get more people passing the reexam, we will offer a Repetitorial next week (21-23th of March). A lot of people already signed up for that, but that is only a rough estimate for how many actually show up. There were some complaints that the exam was overly hard, but some council members have taken a look at it. We are of the opinion that the exam was just harder than the previous years, but the last iterations were easier than usual. There have been lots of exercises, but we see it as an advantage as you can start with the exercises you are comfortable with.

Machine Learning

Prof. Maggio has come back to us after our complaint about the ML lectures. Prof. Valera answeed her with the main question about how to find tutors. There is not much that we can do, but we are happy to help and assist. We will write her that we think that most problems will resolve themselves with the lecture improving.

KiF

The KiF will take place on 17-21th of May in Bremen. It is a big get-together of all CS-councils in German-speaking countries, where lots of topics around improving the study situation are discussed. We usually send two people, which we will vote upon soon.

Requirements for the CS Bachelor

The computer science Bachelor currently requires very high proficiency in German, but most courses are in English anyways. In fact, only the courses in the first two semesters and the minor subjects are taught in German. We think that for the computer science part a B2 requirement would be sufficient, but it might be difficult for the minor subject. We will ask the university about whether there is interest or support for that.

SE-Lab

We have gotten an Email with a complaint that the SE-Labs grading is inconsistent and thus unfair. The design phase is especially intransparent according to them. We will talk to the SE-organisers, but in our opinion there is not much to improve. Also this is a very late request, so it is hard to still estimate what went wrong.

Programming Courses

In our discussion with Prof. Rahmann we found out that there is a high demand for applied courses. We also have a lot of courses that require knowledge in C++, but there is no course that introduces C++. We could imagine a course like "comparative programming", where you have to solve some selected problems with different languages. However that would probably end up with a course similar to "Programming 2". But there needs to be a professor who also wants to teach that lecture, and the professors probably do not want to give a lecture just about that.
We will ask the deans whether there are professors wiling to offer a course in that direction. We think that such a lecture would greatly improve the lectures that require the knowledge, and you usually do not have the time to learn a programming language by your own during the semester. Also we are of the opinion that the study regulations should be such that people can pass the core and advanced lectures with knowledge from the basic lectures.

Summer BBQ

The Summer BBQ will take place in Summer. We will decide on the final date soon, but we are guaranteed to have support from from the faculty.

Breakfast

We want to held out another Breakfast at the beginning of the teaching period. There is no fixed date yet, but it is probably the second week of the semester (week of 17th of April). For that we might look into a new coffee machine as the current way of making coffee is suboptimal. We increase our budget for that (7 in favour, 1 abstaining, 0 against)

Stove

Karl has again offered us the Oven for free. Anton V. and Lukas will take responsibility for its installation.

Seminar Room

We have made quite some improvements to the seminar room. We want to do further improvements, but the expenses for that need to be approved (7 in favour, 1 abstaining, 0 against). We also voted that there will be electrical locks (10 in favour, 0 abstaining, 0 against).

Students Financial Support

Karl asked us to advertise the 200€ which are given by the government. International students are also eligible for that. We will talk to Robert because he has already done something into that direction.

Quiz Night/Pub Quiz

There will be a Quiz Night at the end 27th of April at the Guckelsheim Dormitories. There will be a doodle for participations, but we do not know how much assistance we need. More information will follow soon.

Coffee Machine at the Library

The library had a contract with a coffee manufacturer, which will not be renewed. However it was well received and there has been a signature collection to get it continued. The Library referred to us, but we probably have the same financial issues that are the reason why the contract ended.

Soda Stream

David donated a Soda Stream to make sparkling water. We are grateful for the gift, Manuel will look after it.