A Brief History of Council for Student Class Representatives
A Brief History of Council for Student Class Representatives
  • Reporter Park Geun-woo
  • 승인 2017.03.15 11:26
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What is truly making Postechian culture? It is true that the diverse Postechian-governed societies build up the core of Postechian culture. They take a substantial deal in enlightening life throughout the campus and reinforcing connection between fellow Postechians. However, not even the Student Union nor any other clubs can surmount the importance of one society that is so thinly dispersed among Postechians: the class system. Postechian culture and the class system is, in a word, inextricable.
Saying that the class system has been walking right along with the university is not an exaggeration. The “front” and “back” class concept has long been seeped into the university’s freshmen curriculum. There is no other student society that could exceed the student classes in any way; its indisputable size of members, strong sense of membership, and the fact that every student was automatically joined to the group made it an irrefutable core community of Postechians.
The concept of Council for Student Class Representatives was born in such a context. It is a council built out of classes to create a powerful voice regarding decisions of the university. At last, it got to the point where the Council was promoted to an independent student body in 2012. The council was constituted by each of 15 classes’ representatives and formally took the role of (a) preparing for MTs, and the class general meeting at the start and end of semesters, (b) making a structuralized system out of class representatives and the Council, (c) sharing and settling class cultures, and (d) planning and executing class-oriented events.
However, a rough road was waiting for the Council; its awareness was low and settlement as an independent student body was slow. In 2012, there even arose the problem of lack of an independent office space in the Student Union Building. The Council carried out its mission to bring together the voice of each class to some degrees, by at times collaborating with Freshmen Orientation event between 2012 and 2015.
The thin line broke at the Full Student Representative Conference in 2015, and a decision was made to eliminate the Council. There were three reasons: (a) the actual role of the Council was unclear, (b) administrative forcing on ratification of the Council’s budget and account was unnecessary in every perspective, and, most critically, (c) the Council was not able to resolve the difficulties of not being able to open a conference during the class general meetings, making the base of the Council’s existence fall apart. In all, the Council had its limits, like other independent student bodies, when bringing the voices of all students together.
Two years have passed, and the worrying voices for 2018’s “All Freshmen Undetermined” policy’s impact on social interaction between the freshmen and the seniors has been surfacing. There have been many suggestions as to what new group will absorb the impact the best, and there the revival of the Council has been in the work during 2016 behind the curtains. Now the Council is rising again as what might be the new hope of maintaining the social relationship for the ’18 students. Nevertheless, it is clear that the idea was brought up not with careful planning and revising to avoid repeating the history, but rather in desperation. Maybe the idea of the past Council is not the right answer, and that is what makes it still worthwhile to see what the interim Council will turn into over time.