CQUniLife - Why you should be a Student Representative

As a university student, your ultimate goal is to graduate and become job-ready. To ensure you are successful in the workplace as a graduate, you must develop skills that allow you to become indispensable.

To do this, you can get involved in CQUniversity initiatives like the Student Representative Council (SRC).

The Student Representative Council is a collective group of students elected by their peers and appointed to engage with and advocate for the CQUniversity student community. Members are elected to represent all course-levels and all locations across Australia.

Research Higher Degrees Student Representative Council Member, Roksana Jahan Tumpa, shared why she believes you should nominate to serve on the SRC.

I am Roksana Jahan Tumpa, a PhD candidate from the School of Engineering and Technology and the Research higher Degrees Student Representative Council (SRC) member, based in Sydney.

Studying at university not only helps acquire academic and professional skills, but it also fosters personal development in many ways. To survive the ever-changing world of work, we need to develop a range of soft skills such as communication skills, interpersonal skills and team-building attributes along with academic excellence. One way to develop these skills, challenge yourself and make a difference during your studies is to serve as a student representative on the Student Representative Council.

I have been serving as the Research Higher Degree representative on the SRC since April 2020. Even though 2020 was a challenging year, I think being a student representative helped me in a number of ways. I was able to develop my skills, make new friends and expand my network with professionals. It allowed me to enjoy my research studies even more despite the ongoing circumstances.

Upon joining the SRC, I also served on the Research Committee as a student representative. As a student representative for this committee, I have been publishing content on the Research Radar.

Being a member of the SRC and Research Committee helped me increase my knowledge, develop new skills and hone various attributes.

Being an SRC Member can be a fast-paced and fun experience that allows you to make new friends within the university, network and meet other representatives and fellow students.

The role of a student representative is to listen to students’ concerns and suggestions, attend meetings, liaise with students and staff to organise events and opportunities, take part in decision making, and inspire fellow students. It is an exciting role that helps you connect with various internal and external professionals, network with other students and staff from a variety of fields, assist fellow students with having their voice heard, share experiences and participate in various events.

As well as all the positive aspects mentioned above, this role helps you shape graduate employability. Securing a job upon graduation can be challenging at times particularly in the competitive job industry. By taking up extra responsibilities during your study period at university, you can stand out from the crowd and demonstrate confidence and determination. Student representatives are able to demonstrate a ‘can do’ attitude and a determination to work hard and achieve goals.

Being a student representative, I have been enjoying my role thoroughly and I look forward to having some of you on broad.

Many of our wonderful Student Representative Council members have now graduated so there are currently, 17 vacant positions. If you would like to nominate, simply complete this survey and we will contact you.

Vacant positions include: