In a written resolution at the Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives for the second half of 2024, the student council fee is set to increase from 3,000 won (2.28 USD) to 5,000 won (3.80 USD). The decision to raise student council fees has not been officially discussed, leaving students caught off guard.

On September 27th, the General Students’ Association (GSA) of Pusan National University (PNU) told “Channel PNU” that the assembly, which was held from 9am on September 19th to midnight on September 21st, concluded on the 22nd without any further discussion. Unlike the resolution on September 10th (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 11th, 2024), which was canceled due to lack of a quorum, 119 delegates participated in the written resolution. All 10 proposed items, including a plan to raise student council fees, the establishment of a cheering squad, and the budget bill for the GSA Central Executive Committee, were approved.

Out of 119 delegates who submitted their votes, 97 voted in favor, 18 against, and 4 abstained, on raising the student council fee to 5,000 won, starting in 2025. The fee will be raised 66 percent from the existing membership fee. In a briefing on the deliberation agenda held immediately after the collapse of the assembly on September 10th, the GSA said that the reasons for the increase in student council fees were due to a decrease in the student council fee participation rates, inflation, and the reduction in university support costs for student activities.

It has been pointed out that the prior explanation should have been sufficiently made as this issue is closely related to all students. Still, most students are unaware that the increase has been approved, so the prior guidance was insufficient. The agendas were not disclosed on GSA’s social media, which was easily accessible to students before the resolution was made. PNU student A said, “The department posted no notice, and it was not posted on the GSA’s Instagram account. I didn’t know that the resolution was happening.” In response, GSA said, “Since the written approval has been passed, a notice of increase in student council fees will be announced to the students.”

It remains unclear whether there was any discussion among the student councils apart from the GSA’s collection of written resolutions from the delegates. PNU student B at the college’s student council said, “Although I am a member of the student council, I have never officially heard that the total student council fee will increase because I am not a student council member. I’m embarrassed because I had no idea how much the price was going to go up, or when.” Lee Chang-Jun (Dept. of Geological Sciences, 22), the GSA president, said, “If someone has any other opinions, they should write them in the comments section. As indicated in the results, there were no other opinions.”

The university’s announcement (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 13th, 2024) said that it would produce and distribute major agendas to guarantee students’ right to know was also not followed. The briefing video, conducted live on SNS, was also released only to the delegates. The information can be viewed only when a separate request for data disclosure is submitted.

Most of the nine agendas, including the adoption of regular audit results reports in the first half of 2024 and deliberation of temporary audit results in the Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, were approved with only five or less votes against them. The project plan approval and budget deliberation agenda of the “Foundation of PNU’s Cheer Group”, which was one of the GSA’s major pledges, were opposed by 9 and 14 people, respectively, but it was passed with more than 100 votes in favor.

In addition, the GSA’s business plans for the second half of 2024 were all approved with the majority consent. The GSA Central Executive Committee presented a total of 36 business plans (5 from the Education Policy Bureau, 3 from the Strategy and Finance Bureau, 6 from the Competition Cooperation Bureau, and 22 others). In a written statement, GSA President Lee said, “Being a delegate as the president of the department’s student council means representing the students. I sincerely ask you to attend the meeting to express your opinions next time.”

Reporter Jung Yoon-Seo

Translated by Seo Ye-Jin