28.03.2025
On March 12th, the first Student Representation Assembly (AdR – Assemblée de la Représentation, in french) of the spring semester took place, at which delegations from all sections met. After welcoming the representatives and presenting how the AdR works, the following topics were discussed.
The report of the HSS enrolments working group was presented by Salim Najib. The main finding is that the current “first come, first served” system is no longer popular. Opinions diverge as to the preferable alternative system. The option of improving the current system with changes – such as an automatic queue for one’s preferred HSS – is the one that seems to gather the most positive opinions. The full report can be found by following this link: https://go.agepoly.ch/rapport-shs.
The second topic was the report of the working group on the representatives charter. Samuel Bélisle presented the first version of this charter. One of the key points was the question of the possible dismissal of a delegate, and which entities would be legitimate to take this decision. Potential amendments to the LEX were also discussed, the aim of which would mainly be to give legitimacy to the charter. Student’s representatives are invited to provide feedback on the charter, so that a final version can be presented shortly.
The working group on administrative workload, a collaboration between AGEPoly and the School Assembly, was discussed. Zaïd Alhaj Kaddour and Lucie Moulin explained the purpose of this working group, and delegates were invited to fill in a form to report their experiences of a heavy administrative workload.
The AdR then addressed the (non-)remuneration of Master’s projects (MP) in industry. Louis Flahault and Zaïd Alhaj Kaddour, representatives of the MT section, pointed out that EPFL sometimes advises companies not to pay students for Master’s projects (for example on the web page about MPs in industry). The concerns raised are the devaluation of students’ work, the weakening of salary negotiations with the companies, and simply the need to have a salary to support themselves. The representatives discussed the differences between the sections on this subject.
Another point raised was the issue of not being able to retake a passed course in a failed block. Anna Kokorich and Ezra Baup, representatives of the MA section, noted that this sometimes leads to cases of definitive failure with no remaining possibility of retaking a course to validate one’s block. It was noted that being able to retake a course that has already been passed to increase one’s average is certainly not something that can be considered, but the aim is rather to avoid definitive failures by letting more opportunities for students to improve their results in those blocks and validate them. Even though these are quite specific cases, it was proposed that a working group be set up to study the issue and potential alternatives to this rule. The working group is composed of Anna Kokorich, Ezra Baup, Alonso Coaguila and Nathalie Bui.
The next topic was about negative feedback on the Durability course, a new HSS course common to all BA2 students. Among the issues raised were the relevance of the lectures, the quizzes to be taken on weekends and sometimes created with artificial intelligence, and the fact that the lectures are broadcast via zoom. It should be noted that the last two points seem rather at odds with the course title. It was decided to wait for indicative feedback before deciding whether to take more steps to raise any issues. Bringing the point to the Teaching Committee for HSS is also considered.
The last point was the role of student representation within AGEPoly. Salim Najib explained that this subject has been under discussion for some years, particularly in view of the low number of delegates participating in the House of Representatives. The reasons for this are unclear, and it is suggested that a working group be created to look into the matter, and reassess the role of student representation in AGEPoly’s internal processes.
More details about the meeting can be found in the minutes [link].