Rep Week is starting on Monday and provides a platform to celebrate the great changes that have taken place with the help of your Academic Representation Network. Just last month a record number of students voted in our Your Rep Elections and there are now over 430 Academic Reps working, for you, in every department of College. Their aim is to improve your education.

There have already been some great successes in your department and we will be showcasing some of these throughout the week, using our ‘You said, we did’ campaign. Keep checking the Union website and follow our hashtag #loveyourep on Twitter.

Your reps will be wearing bright red ‘love your rep’ t-shirts all week (25-29 November) so keep an eye out for them. They will be gathering your suggestions for improvements to teaching, learning and facilities in your department. Feel free to give them any tips on how your time at Imperial can be improved. You can do this by emailing, Facebook messaging or talking to them in person.

The 700+ tips collected from last year’s Rep Weeks were typed up and sent to your academic reps, who were encouraged to bring them up at their next Staff-Student Committee. So don’t think we just collect your suggestions and leave them – we read each and every one of them! We will be rewarding the three best suggestions with £10 Union vouchers and you can even tweet your suggestions by giving your course and using #loveyourrep on Twitter.

If you want to talk to your reps in person then come to the Junior Common Room between 12:00 -14:00 Monday-Friday. We also have Postgraduate reps in ħ (h-bar) and Silwood Park campus on Wednesday 12:00- 14:00.

Don’t know who your rep is? Log into imperialcollegeunion.org and your reps will appear in the side bar, or take a look at our Rep A to Z: http://bit.ly/IgI7aW

Also taking place during Rep Week is the Student ICT forum, where reps meet up with members of ICT and eLearning staff. If you have any ICT-related problems (yes, including Panopto!) then email your rep to let them know BEFORE Thursday and then they can bring your problems and suggestions to the forum. This is a really useful way of bringing together the ICT team with students and previous meetings have been really successful at sorting out your ICT problems. I will write a blog on everything that was discussed and circulate it to you via your reps so you’ll know all the outcomes that resulted from your comments and suggestions. Your voice will be heard.

Reps work hard to get the best educational experience for you all, so if you see a rep make sure you show them some love!

DPE love, Nat x