“If you miss the event, it will be the same as a major class absence.” While face-to-face classes and various events have been active since this semester, the department event, which gave a “penalty for absence,” caused controversy among students. The opinion was that students were forced to do unwanted activities or have excessive schedules to avoid penalties.

According to the coverage of “Channel PNU,” two departments of PNU (the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Computer Science & Engineering) held events this semester, penalizing students who did not attend. The School of Mechanical Engineering held a sports day (reported by “Channel PNU” on October 25th) on October 27th, and the School of Computer Science & Engineering held “Tech Week” containing various academic and interaction programs from October 26th to October 28th. The School of Computer Science & Engineering had a “Tech Week” briefing session on September 26th and required students to participate in more than one program during the pre-program period. “Tech Week” was first implemented in 2022.

The two events did not allow students, who are absent without any particular reason, to be admitted to the attendance of major classes replaced by the events. The contents of the events were not persuasive to the students or even demanded excessive schedules. An anonymous student A (Dept. of Mechanical & Engineering, 17) said, “Honestly, I think it’s best not to hold the event because there won’t be anyone to participate unless they are forced to participate.” Student B (the Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering) said, “As the contents of the various events were announced when the midterm exam was approaching, I was dissatisfied with the urgent schedule. I felt that I was forced to have excessive schedules because the pre-program period of the event and the midterm season substantially overlapped.”

■ The Events Without “Sympathy” and “Backlash” Every time They Implemented

The events of the department that induce students to attend on the plea of the penalties have steadily caused controversy. In the first semester, the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering announced that it planned a “welcome climbing party for freshmen” on Saturday morning, reflecting their participation in attendance of required major subjects, but it canceled the event after the controversy spread, such as being reported in various media. On November 6th, 2019, “Busan Ilbo” and “The Kookje Daily News,” which are the local newspapers, also reported complaints from students of the School of Mechanical Engineering regarding the disadvantages because of absence on sports day.

The School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Computer Science & Engineering announced that they have no choice but to use the means of disadvantage to raise participation and achieve educational goals. On September 30th, the School of Computer Science & Engineering noticed “’Tech Week’ was designed as an educational program to relate to their classes. The absence process was introduced as a check device to prevent students from not participating in educational programs without any reason.” on the “Tech Week” homepage. The official from the School of Mechanical Engineering said, “Students are divided into eight groups in each grade in the School of Mechanical Engineering, and it is an opportunity for them to gather, interact with each other, and have meetings with the academic advisor. It is an important event that can replace the undergraduate classes as engineers do not solve problems alone.”

■ To become a good tradition

Students say we should first develop a consensus that department events are necessary. It means that the events should satisfy all members of the department. Student B said, “There are also professors who will give supplementary classes because of ‘Tech Week.’ I wonder if the ‘Tech Week’ is more important than department classes.” Student C (Dept. of Mechanical & Engineering, 22) said, “It would be good to determine the direction of the event by identifying what the students want by means like anonymous voting.”

There were also many voices calling for voluntary participation in the event. Student D (Dept. of Mechanical & Engineering, 18) said, “It makes sense if people who want to go participate in the event. But I feel like it threatens people, who do not want to participate, on the plea of grades, and it makes me more unwilling to participate.” Another student E (the Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering) said, “I know the purpose of the event, but the priorities of the students can vary. I hope we can not only be provided with the approval of attendance of liberal arts classes and classes of other departments, but also choose between events and lectures.”

Reporter Kim Min-Sung

Translated by Kwon Eun-Ji