With about four months left in its term, PNU’s 57th General Students' Association (GSA), “Around Us,” has fulfilled 23.8% of its pledges. While 38% of the projects are on track, the upcoming student council election in two months highlights the need for stronger management and execution of promises.

As of one week before the start of the 2025 Fall Semester, “Channel PNU” reviewed the status of the 21 pledges. Results show: 5 completed (23.8%), 8 on track (38%), 2 partially implemented (9.5%), and 6 postponed or abandoned (28.5%). The completed pledges include three in the welfare sector—free access to ChatGPT Premium, the creation of a campus environment improvement task force, and a student society workshop—as well as 2 in communication: a news alert service and weekly Student Council reports.

The evaluation covered pledges listed in the “2025 Student Council Joint Policy Book”  21 pledges across education, welfare, culture, communication, and autonomy. Verification was conducted not only through the GSA but also through departments within the Head Office.  Pledges classified as “on track” are those substantively in progress; “partially implemented” indicates altered or scaled-down versions; and “postponed/abandoned” refers to pledges stalled at the discussion stage or left unfulfilled.

■ Education

The pledge to “expand military e-learning courses and secure testing conditions” has seen modest progress. Available courses increased from 3 in 2024 to 4 this year, with the addition of “Diversity in an Age of Crisis “ from the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy. The Institute of Liberal Education stated it plans to add 1 more course in 2026. The GSA also stated that it is working with the Ministry of National Defense and the Institute of Liberal Education to further expand both the number and range of available courses. Meanwhile, since August 20th, a survey on the current state of military e-learning has been underway, but improvements to testing conditions remain stalled. 

The “improvement of core curriculum courses” is ongoing. From July 10th to 31st, the GSA surveyed students on satisfaction with required general education courses, later publishing results on August 15th. The survey revealed low ratings (below 3 out of 5) in key areas such as course relevance, quality of materials, engagement, workload, and level appropriateness, underscoring the need for reform. The GSA is scheduled to hold discussions with the Institute for Liberal Education.

On “attendance guarantees for reservist training,” the council has been in talks with the Office of Academic Affairs about providing course materials, but not about excusing absences. In response, GSA President Choi Soo-in (Dept. of English Language and Literature, 20) explained, “a “Survey on Reservist Training and the Right to Study,” conducted on July 11th, found no evidence of study rights being violated. As a result, the GSA did not pursue discussions on guaranteeing attendance itself. Instead, the priority was ensuring fairness with students not subject to reservist duty, and discussions are underway to ease restrictions on the period for accessing lecture materials.” In addition, minutes from the 14th Expanded Steering Committee meeting, held on July 15th, record GSA President Choi stating that the council plans to work toward allowing students to choose their reservist training dates so that their right to study can be better protected.  The Office of Academic Affairs also confirmed ongoing discussions. 

■ Welfare

3 of 10 welfare pledges have been completed: free access to ChatGPT Premium, a student society workshop, and a campus environment improvement task force. According to the GSA and Office of Information Technology and Services, the “ChatGPT free access” pledge is being implemented via a paid contract with OpenAI’s API. From the 2025 Fall Semester, students will be able to use ChatGPT through the campus support app “Plato.” 

The “student society workshop for both freshmen and undergraduates” was held jointly with Busan National University of Education in Gyeongju on August 28th–29th, with 106 participants. The “campus environment improvement task force” is still in the process of recruiting members. Based on the results of a four-day “campus study environment” survey conducted from June 20th, the GSA recruited applicants from August 6th to 10th. Additional recruitment followed, and as of August 21st, the task force is set to operate in 3 groups: a facility improvement team, an awareness improvement team, and a publicity team.

The “free access to MiriCanvas” pledge was scaled down. Instead of making the platform free for all students as originally promised, only 100 students who had paid the student council fee were selected by lottery to receive four-month passes, due to budget constraints. The GSA stated that it is considering ways to gradually reduce costs and eventually transition to full free access.

The pledge to hold a “hackathon for bus system improvements” was shelved after the GSA discussed the issue with the Division of General Affairs but was told that the current routes and timetables were already the best possible. The council stated that, as a result, it decided not to proceed with organizing the hackathon.

The pledge for “visits to international organizations and overseas companies” advanced only as far as a preference survey. From February 5th to 9th, the GSA surveyed students on their interest in company briefings and overseas visits, but no progress has been made since. The Division of Employment and Career Support acknowledged awareness of the pledge but confirmed that no further discussions had taken place with the GSA. The GSA explained, “ under the university’s budget system, requests submitted this year are executed the following year, meaning the initiative is still in its groundwork stage.” Meanwhile, the pledge to “provide career information and events” will be carried out at the upcoming Career Fair: Career In, Future On, scheduled for September 2025.

In contrast, the pledge to improve dormitory facilities has not been carried out. The Dormitory Administration Office stated “Although the Student Council announced in June that  it would form a task force on dormitory improvements, no further discussions have taken place since.” The expansion of the number of single rooms, which the GSA had presented as part of the pledge, was in fact already included in the Hyowonjae BTL project and thus outside the GSA’s authority, while the provision of essential appliances has not yet been discussed with the dormitory office.

The pledges to establish an “education improvement task force” and to produce “guidelines preventing indiscriminate religious proselytizing and unauthorized political propaganda” have also not been pursued. Regarding the task force, the GSA said “It is considering event-based approaches rather than forming a TF.” The guideline initiative has not been discussed with the Geumjeong Police Station or the Division of Student Affairs, and its feasibility remains uncertain. The GSA added, “The guidelines would only be created if the campus environment improvement task force later deems them truly necessary.” 

 ■ Culture

Of the two cultural pledges, the “Siwol-Je memorial event” will not take place. The Career Fair: Career In, Future On, originally expected to coincide with the Siwol-Je, will feature only performances and booths, without a memorial event. The GSA explained, “Although the traditional form of the Siwol-Je will not be held this year, a new type of fall festival that integrates a graduate fair with a career and entrepreneurship expo is instead being planned.” Earlier, the pledge booklet had emphasized PNU’s historical role as the birthplace of the BUMA (Busan-Masan) Democratic Uprising and promised commemorative programs, but the plans have since been completely revised.

The other pledge, hosting an “E-sports Day,” is still in progress. Tournaments for League of Legends and Overwatch, each with 32 teams, were scheduled to begin on August 16th but were postponed to early November due to low participation.

 ■ Communication

The “Current Affairs Alert,” which provides information on issues deemed highly relevant or essential for the campus community, had been uploaded seven times as of August 21st. According to the GSA, topics are selected based on impact, timeliness, and relevance, and updates will continue every one to two weeks during the second half of 2025. The pledge to publish a “Weekly Student Council Report” has also been fulfilled. As of August 21st, 16 updates had been posted on Instagram, reporting the progress of projects by department. 

The pledge to produce a “GSA Guidelines” document is still in progress. The GSA originally pledged to compile its projects and messages into an encyclopedia-style blog, but no separate announcements have been made on official social media or the website. The GSA explained “We are currently organizing projects by departments in an online collaborative workspace and plan to publish the guidelines at the end of our term.”

The pledge for “direct communication between the executive board and students, beyond departmental channels,” is also underway. In 2025 Spring semester, the council created opportunities for dialogue during a snack event and during the campus visit of Park Heong-Joon, the mayor of Busan, and another communication contest is planned for September. The council emphasized “It is seeking ways for executives to engage students in the formats they most prefer.”    

■ Autonomy

According to the Student Council, the budget allocated by the Head Office for student autonomy was about 600 million won before COVID-19, but in 2025 it has dropped to around 500 million won—roughly a 100 million won decrease. The pledge to “restore student autonomy funding to pre-COVID levels” has been difficult to implement due to a freeze in the PNU’s accounts. The GSA explained that despite repeated requests to the Performance Management Center and the Department of Finance and Budget, they were told restoration was impossible this year because the university’s overall budget had been reduced. While the autonomy budget cannot be immediately increased, the head office has used national funding programs, such as the National University Promotion Project, to support student welfare. The Student Affairs Office added that although the portion of the budget directly allocated to the council has decreased, the reduced funds have been redirected to construction and student welfare projects, meaning the overall level of support is essentially comparable to that before the pandemic. 

The pledge to “revise bylaws and regulations with participation from all students” is currently in progress. From July 30th to August 1st, the GSA recruited about 20 participants for a revision task force, including members of the Expanded Steering Committee, the Central Executive Committee, and general students. In line with bylaw amendment requirements, at least ten members from the Steering Committee joined the TF, which was divided into three groups: a Bylaws Team, a Detailed Regulations Team, and a Review Team. The Bylaws and Regulations Teams draft proposals, which are then reviewed by the Review Team. The GSA stated “While it is too early to disclose specific progress, ongoing meetings are being held to discuss possible directions for revision.” 

Commenting on pledge implementation, Kang Jun-Seo (Dept. of Biological Sciences, 22), the vice president, said, “A year can feel long or short depending on perspective, but we are doing our best to complete as many pledges as possible within our term. Even if some cannot be realized before our term ends, we are laying the groundwork now so 2026 students can benefit, and we ask for your patience and trust.”

Reporter Lee Bo-Young

Translated by Seo Young-Chae