The General Students' Association (GSA) of Pusan National University (PNU) is pushing to change the maximum grade that could be received when retaking the same course from a B+ to an A. At the same time, they decided to launch major business plans such as student participation in the direct election of the president.

On the afternoon of March 14th, the “Assembly of National Hyowon Representatives for the first half of 2023” was held at Seonghak Hall of PNU. The Assembly refers to the highest decision-making body after the student general assembly and consists of the president and vice-president of the Student Council, College Student Council, Independent Faculty Student Council, Department Student Council, and Club Association. On this day, 91 of 125 members, including delegates and observers, attended the general meeting and deliberated on two issues for approval, one for discussion, and another for the report.

All of the approved proposals raised by the GSA were passed. First of all, six directors were unanimously elected according to the first approval agenda of the General Academic Central Executive Committee. Kim Yo-Seop (Dept. of Korean Language Education, 20), President of the GSA, said, “We will spend all night for the development of PNU by joining forces with the presidency and the directors. If you have any comments, please give us your opinion at any time and we will do our best to reflect your opinions.”

Subsequently, the second approval agenda, the “Approval of business plans for each country of the university,” was passed with the consent of the majority. A ​​total of 30 business plans including the Education Policy Division (five cases), Planning and Coordination Division (four cases), External Cooperation Division (four cases), Communication and Public Relations Division (five cases), Financial Secretariat (two cases), and Student Welfare Bureau (10 cases) were also passed. These included the pledge to run for president (released by Channel PNU on March 2nd, 2023), reduction of credits for repeated courses, increased student participation in the direct election of the president, Hyowon Police Station, watching sports in groups such as the Lotte Giants, dormitory response team, supplementary battery rental service, and introduction of a reserve army bus. Director Kim Se-Hyeon (Dept. of Economics, 22) in the Finance Office said, “These days, student autonomy activities confront a challenge. We will lead in improving transparency so that the GSA can gain overall trust.”

“Results of regular audits in the second half of 2022” were also reported. Among the student councils of the College of Nursing (60 points), College of Information and Biomedical Engineering (60 points), and College of Life Sciences (35 points), only the College of Human Life Sciences received a reprimand for a breach of rules (disciplinary action) according to Article 25, Paragraph 2, Chapter 4 of the Audit Enforcement Rules. In consideration of the change in the unit representative, a monthly settlement plan was not submitted.

The College of Human Ecology, which had a large deduction, was punished for “posting an apology” by the unit representative at the time of budget execution. Choi Han-Gyeol (Dept. of Mathematics, 22), chairman of the 1st Audit Committee, said, “The audit score of 60 points is based on the submission of monthly accounts as a disciplinary standard. We decided not to take disciplinary action, considering that the reason for deducting points from the units was not malicious and that the union representative had changed.”

Meanwhile, the agenda for discussion, “deliberation of the budget for the first half of the school year,” was also approved with the consent of the majority, but the Central Operating Committee will conduct additional discussions later. According to Article 71 of the “PNU Student Union Rules,” the GSA and special organizations should have prepared a budget along with a business plan and obtained provisional approval from the first meeting of the central operating committee after the semester starts, but they did not execute it. Chairman Kim said, "I missed it because of rushed preparation as the general meeting opened earlier than the original schedule. I apologize to the students." He continued, adding, “Through careful review, we will correct the budget bill for the third quarter and the second half to be approved by fully complying with the regulations.”

Reporter Cho Seung-Wan

Translated by Kim Hyeon-Hee