▲'Phil' General Students' Association President and logo (Source: courtesy of the General Students' Association)

The 'Phil' General Students' Association has been newly launched for the new academic year. In addition to being selected as a glocal university in 2024, CWNU plans to expand student support by participating in various national programs such as the D.N.A+ plan and the establishment of the glocal university of Advanced Science and Technology. To learn more about the major projects and policies of the 'Phil' General Students' Association, we interviewed its President, Kim Jung-hyun.

Q. Please introduce yourself.

Kim: Hello, I'm Kim Jung-hyun, The 41st President of the 'Phil' General Students' Association of CWNU in the Class of 2025.

Q. What are some of the projects and/or policies that the ‘Phil’ General Students' Association is focusing on this year?

Kim: In the events sector, we plan to enhance last year’s functions like the cross-country, regional Cherry Blossom Festival, and sports day, while adding the unique touch of the association. In business, we will continue improving student-benefit projects, such as welfare facilities and safety education, while introducing new initiatives to adapt to the evolving university environment.

Q. What are the most common complaints from the student body, and what efforts are you making to resolve them at the General Students' Association level?

Kim: It’s hard to pick just one main issue, but the 'course buying and selling' practice during the course registration period, is a significant problem. This involves trading courses anonymously on 'Everytime,' leading to fairness issues, deprived learning opportunities, and illegal transactions. To address this, the association is planning to introduce a 'prioritized ordering system.' Students can register for a backup spot and automatically become enrolled when a space becomes available. Discussions with the school are ongoing, with plans to pilot the system in the second semester.

Q. How does the Student Petition Board, which was one of your election promises, operate and what are its main objectives?

Kim: Since students struggle to voice opinions directly to the school, the General Students' Association conveys their concerns and finds solutions. The Student Petition Board was created for this, aiming to provide quick, reasonable resolutions. If a petition gets 50+ likes in 14 days, the association reviews, discusses, and takes action.

Q. There are many grievances about the dormitory cafeteria menu. What is the General Students' Association's stance on this, and are there any plans towards resolution?

Kim: The association is fully aware of students' dissatisfaction with the dormitory cafeteria menu, and we are exploring various ways to resolve it. First, we plan to refine the survey items to more specifically reflect students' needs, and we are also working with dining operators to improve the quality and variety of menus. While we can't cater to every student's preferences, we'll continue to improve as much as we can with your continued input.

Q. How was the distribution of graduation goods received at the Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2025? How did the graduates react to it? Were there any regrets?

Kim: Graduates received a business card case engraved with the phoenix, the CWNU’s mascot bird, after being certified at the General Students' Association booth. The response was generally positive, and the various programs planned were well received. However, we were disappointed that we were unable to provide them to all graduates due to budgetary issues.

Q. Do you have any final thoughts you'd like to convey?

Kim: I believe a school exists for its students, thus all student organizations are planning activities to make university life enjoyable and meaningful. I encourage all students to actively participate, and I hope we can work together to further develop CWNU as a glocal university.

Kim, the President, shared his ambition to create a cultural system where students actively participate in events and help shape the university into a space for communication and growth beyond academics. It will be interesting to see how the 'Phil' General Students' Association incorporates student voices moving forward.

By Lee Min-ji, cub-reporter  minji00708@naver.com

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