The College of Pharmacy student council at Pusan National University (PNU) collected six years' worth of student fees from freshmen separately from tuition fees. It caused a stir and was clearly defined. 

On February 14th, on the PNU anonymous community, “Everytime,” a posting came up titled "Is this the right thing to do for the Pharmaceutical Students' Association?" The writer said that the pharmacy student council collected six years’ worth of student fees (253,000 won) and separated payers and non-payers in the group chat room.

According to "Channel PNU", it was confirmed that the pharmacy student council had been collecting student fees in the same way before. Also, in the process of collecting student fees, they violated several General Students' Association regulations. For example, collecting six years’ worth of student fees other than tuition fees,  checking non-payers through group chat rooms, and so on.

According to Article 73(3) of the "Pusan National University Student Association Regulation," the sum of the Student Fee, College Student Fee, and Departement Student Fee cannot be divided and paid separately. Distinguishing between payers and non-payers through a group chat room also violated the principle that students need to feel free to pay their dues.

After opposition from the students, the student council decided not to collect those fees from 2024 after several discussions. President Lee Soo-Yeon (Dept. of Pharmacy, 19) said, “When I took over the former president’s duties, I did not receive details, so I didn’t recognize that it was a violation of the rules of the student council. Then, the group chat room was not intended.” She continued, adding “We will refund the entire student fee, adjust the student fee on the tuition bill, not the self-operating fee, and switch to the method of receiving it every semester. We will become a student council seeking better direction through communication with students.”

Reporter Cho Seung-Wan

Translated by Kim Hyeon-Hee