Student Autonomy Lacking Active Participation and Communication

The Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives of Pusan National University (PNU), a key voting body for student autonomy, was unprecedentedly decided through a written vote. The 56th General Students’ Association P:New (GSA) did not convene an extraordinary general meeting when the general meeting was canceled due to the absence of a majority of the delegates but immediately decided to hold a written meeting with an Expanded Central Operations Committee (ECOC) consisting of representatives of the student council of the college. As a result, major agenda items such as “increase in Student Council Fees” and “major budget plans” were passed without guidance. The GSA’s use of written resolutions, student representatives who ignored the issues, and students being unaware of the agenda all reflect poorly on PNU’s student self-government. The assembly, which had insufficient discussion, raised concerns about setting a bad precedent.

The GSA announced on September 27th that it held an assembly in the second half of the year in writing and passed all 10 items on the agenda, including the Student Council Fees increasing, the establishment of a cheering squad, and the budget bill of the GSA Central Executive Committee (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 4th, 2024). After the second half of the year’s grand general meeting, which was scheduled to be held on September 10th, was canceled due to a lack of a quorum of delegates, the GSA said it would hold an assembly in writing to each delegate on the 18th and received a written resolution from 9am to midnight on the 19th. (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 11th, 2024)

■“Rough guess decision”

At the assembly, the delegates who made the decision were not informed of the agenda in advance. The GSA said in a briefing on the agenda for deliberation held after the assembly was dissolved, that the agenda for the Student Council Fees increasing was submitted with the consent of the Central Operations Committee. However, the minutes the GSA has to upload are still not updated since two months ago on August 6th.

PNU Student A, the department’s student council president, said, “Just before the written assembly was held, I heard about the increase in total Student Council Fees from other places in the week. There was no notice to the department students or on to their opinions.” PNU Student B, the president of the department’s student council, expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal for the notification ceremony, saying, “The light atmosphere of talking and notifying students of the increased Student Council Fees among themselves is unsatisfactory.”

The GSA president, Lee Chang-Jun (Dept. of Geological Sciences, 22), said, “Since the written resolution passed, a notice of increase in student council fees will be announced to the students.” He added, “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.” (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 27th, 2024)

Another issue that needs to be addressed is the establishment of the PNU cheering squad. Budget allocation has been made to the cheering squad, established this year as a special organization. However, the cheering squad has not yet been registered as a special organization, as the rules for the GSA have not been revised. Even though the squad is not officially recognized as a special organization, the GSA’s Strategy and Finance Bureau stated that a budget has already been allocated. The GSA Office of Strategy and Finance said, “The cheering squad is preparing to launch an official organization, so we have prepared a budget.”

■lack of responsibility and leadership

Since the low attendance of delegates caused both assembly dissolution and written decision-making, the lack of responsibility among student representatives was revealed. For this reason, there are criticisms among the student council that the problem is that student representatives did not participate in the assembly, the core voting body for student autonomy. It was confirmed that there was no opposition in the process of the written assembly, and there was no discussion in the process of the grand assembly (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 27th, 2024). PNU Student C, the department’s student council president, said, “It is an important event which happens once a semester, and I think delegates must participate on behalf of the department. There is a lack of interest from delegates.”

Increasing vacancy also degrades the representation of delegates. Since the number of vacancies is not included, there is a situation where the agenda is passed with far fewer people than the required quorum. According to the GSA Rules of Procedure, the Central Executive Committee judges each issue individually because there is no clear standard for vacancy.

Due to the large number of absent delegates in the assembly, a strange structure was almost created in which the agenda could be passed even if only about 20% of the total number agreed. According to the GSA, 35 out of 159 delegates were absent this time, which is why the agenda can be passed if 63 out of 124 members attend and 32 agree. Since COVID-19, vacancies have gradually increased to 18 in the first half of 2023, 22 in the second half of 2023, 30 in the first half of 2024, and 35 in the second half of 2024.

In the student community, some point out that the GSA lacks the leadership to guide students. Some delegates said that the GSA’s distrust of the GSA President due to “controversy over supporting politicians with rude talk” and “implementing pledges in the first half of this year” was the reason for the president’s absence from the assembly (reported by “Channel PNU” on September 13th, 2024).

Above all, there are concerns that similar things could happen next time due to the lack of discussion. This is because delegates representing students can gather to discuss the agenda in depth and make decisions. Until now, GSA has held a temporary assembly as soon as possible to review the agenda if the assembly is canceled due to a lack of quorum. A graduate who said he worked at GSA until 2019 said, “For a desirable student society, more students should be able to express their opinions.”

Reporter Jung Yoon-Seo

Translated by Seo Ye-Jin