Shaurya Malik joined Columbia University’s Data Science Institute (DSI) Student Council in the fall of 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, remotely, from his home in Mumbai, India.

“Due to Covid, I deferred starting the [M.S. in Data Science program] until January 2021, but I wanted to take the opportunity to meet people and get involved in DSI before I moved to New York,” he said.

When Malik, who received his bachelor’s degree in technology, computer science, and engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, arrived in New York City to officially start his coursework, he also began his tenure as student council president. He hopes his classmates will leverage the council’s events and activities to make new friends as he has.

“Virtual classes make it harder to meet and interact with people,” Malik acknowledged. “Working with the student council has helped me break out of my comfort zone and interact with new people—other students, but also [teaching assistants] and faculty.” 

The student council has innovated to meet and advance its mission to represent M.S. in Data Science students and build community throughout the pandemic. Its spring student and alumni social was held virtually via Gatherly, a digital platform which mimics in-person gatherings. The council has also augmented its online presence and launched a podcast, Outlier Detected. Recent episodes featured Aishwarya Srinivasan ’18, who was one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices for Data Science and AI in 2020, and Aagmann.ai co-founders Keerti Agrawal ’17 and Aarshay Jain ’17.

Events scheduled for Fall 2021 include the annual town hall, which is an opportunity for the administration and faculty to receive feedback from returning students. The annual Datathon will give student teams 48 hours to create a solution to a challenge submitted by a DSI industry affiliate. Last year’s virtual Datathon involved a challenge presented by Dataiku.

Other student council-hosted events are more informal, including trivia and game nights, according to Malik. “At the end of a week of heavy academic coursework, we provide a chance for students to casually meet new people and relax.”

— Karina Alexanyan, Ph.D.