All universities have student councils. A student council represents students’ rights as an institution that plays a role in representing students, who are owners of the university. Its aims and conduct are very important because it exists to support students’ needs and rights as an intermediary between the administrative personnel of the university and students. There was much concern in the recent past as Kyonggi University operated not with a regular student council but an emergency committee last year. Currently, Kyonggi University’s student council is RE:BORN, and it was established in 2018. The Pharos will now explain what RE:BORN has been doing since it overcame the chaos of last year.

The systems of a student council election and a general election are similar. The candidates compete with one another by making pledges that reflect needs and wants of the electorate. In this election system, the most important things are the pledges. The feasibility of the pledges and the rate of fulfillment are good indicators of whether the elected candidate has kept his promises well. These are the promises RE:BORN made: hold a 2018 restructuring public hearing, introduce a new percentage system for grades, hold regular student council audits, open 24-hour student union building, improve student management, guarantee students’ convenience, begin a convenient shuttle bus service, improve the dormitory, create a library that you want to stay in, and encourage outside/inside activities and affiliate business. The Pharos had an interview with a representative of RE:BORN to discuss the fulfilled promises, ongiong activities and other plans.

Which one was the greatest hit among all the promises?

The installation of microwaves in the dormitory bore the best responses from students. Previous student councils tried to achieve this, but were not able to do it. Students were dubious about availability to fulfill this promise because of this history. However, we did it under this past pressure and students were very grateful.

What is the best initiative that RE:BORN has undertaken?

Personally I think the communication box is the best initiative because students have sent a lot of opinions. When we receive opinions, we organize them and post feedback every week on our page in Facebook and on other community apps. One thing we want to ask students to consider is before sending opinions, check them twice to be sure they

really are valid. Since there are unrealistic requests like installing an escalator, we sometimes have difficulty responding. Another thing we did well was to extend the time of the curfew in the dormitory.

What are you going to do about the promises not achieved during your term?

We think our implementation ratio is pretty high. Most of the promises have already been implemented or are in the process of being fulfilled. For example, the public hearing session, improvement of the grading ratio, disclosure of professors’ evaluations, a communication box, various facilities’ maintenance, rearranging the timetable of the shuttle bus and so on, will, we think, almost all be done by the end of our term. However, the 24-hour opening of the student union building will be hard to fulfill during our term because of the matter of security. As mentioned at the assembly of students, we are establishing the foundation for this innovation so that the next student council will be able to achieve it.

What things might be needed by students other than the ones promised? Will it be possible to implement them this year?

Did you know that Kyonggi University has fewer books than most other schools? Including this, Kyonggi University still has many problems that need to be solved. To solve these problems, we emphasize that all students have to be aware of their sense of sovereignty. In other words, students should keep attentive to school matters. When the university or the student council makes promises about students’ rights and welfare, it is really important to give your opinions and pay attention to the process. If this is done, good work can be done. Thus, what we want to suggest is that students must “understand how to claim their rights while studying at this school.”

Evaluate RE:BORN’s accomplishments so far.

Although we have fewer people than is normal, individuals have made a great effort to protect and extend students’ rights. So far we think we are above the average.

What are RE:BORN’s aspirations for the rest of its term?

It sounds like a cliche, but we will sincerely try to do our best. To guarantee more rights for students, everyone must help us by paying attention to us and supporting us.

Next, the Pharos conducted a survey to investigate Kyonggi University students’ evaluations of the student council.

71st Cub Reporter•PARK SINUI•dean0305@naver.com

71st Cub Reporter•MOON SOHYUN•sohyun7709@daum.net