A year has passed since the transition from the Student Council to the University Student Government as the autonomous representative body of the students. On its second year, the USG is characterized by numerous milestones.
This academic year marks the opening of the student handbook to revisions, the formalization of the separation of RVR-COB and SOE, which consequently led to the formation of new college and batch governments, the creation of its new vision-mission statement, as well as the revision of the USG Constitution, among others.
New mission, new USG
This year, all the undertakings of the USG are grounded on its new mission-vision. Components of its mission-vision include the advancement of students’ rights, the promotion of students’ holistic growth, strengthening the identity of the Lasallian community, and engagement in societal development. USG President Cabe Aquino says that the new mission complements the change in the vision and mission of the University.
In an informal survey conducted by The LaSallian across the seven colleges with 581 respondents, students believe that the USG activities fared well in achieving its mission, 53%, 52%, 43%, 45%, rated the USG’s performance as “good” in terms of fulfilling the aforementioned components.
Despite this, student participation is still a problem. According to the same survey, 69% or more than half of respondents have attended only one to three activities of the USG during this academic year; 12% share that they have not attended any.
According to the term-end reports of the Officer Monitoring Board (OMB) during the first term, turnout for USG activities are below 50% of the target audience amount, with exceptions to events such as the screening of the 2011 State of the Nation Address and the Centennial Celebration.
USG devised new plans to ensure that its set goals are fulfilled effectively and with quality. These measures include the implementation of the Advocacy Calendar and use of a stricter set of Activity Approval Guidelines.
The Advocacy Calendar was put into practice so that every month has a specific advocacy or national issue in the spotlight as the theme for all USG-related activities.
“Lasallians should not just be aware, but be more involved, and for them to be involved means to be proactive in socially-relevant issues pertaining to national development,” says Vice President for Internal Affairs Nicole Gaba.
86% of respondents share that they understand the purpose of the nation-building activities of the USG.
Being visible to the student body
According to the survey, students believe that the USG officers were visible. Out of the total number of respondents, 84% know who their college president is, 78% know who their batch officers are while 53% know who the officers of the Executive Board are.
Although the Executive branch of the USG is relatively visible, the Judiciary branch is still taking initiatives to make their presence known. Since the Judiciary branch was only established upon implementation of the USG, many students are not aware of its existence. The survey shows that only 140 of 581 respondents are aware of what constitutes the Judiciary branch.
Chief Magistrate Alexyss Alip, however, notes that this year, the branch is achieving more prominence after a series of efforts to publicize the branch. She adds that more students are asking about complaint process against officers, which indicates a significant improvement from last year. “We have also been receiving more complaints this year,” shares Alip.
Are we heard?
This year, the Student Handbook (SHB) is open to revisions. Even before this academic year started, the USG has been conducting surveys, and doing researches to gather data for presention to the Legislative Assembly (LA) during its sessions.
Although movements by the USG for the SHB revisions are getting noticed, the problem lies on the transparency of the body’s undertakings.
Raymond Tsai (III, POM) attests that student involvement in the SHB revision is minimal as the USG fails to effectively inform students as to what proposals have already been approved for revisions.
Reports from OMB show that publicity of resolutions passed by the LA is insufficient. A total of 46 resolutions were passed during the first term of this academic year. Students, however, are not aware of these new policies.
Measures have been made by the LA such as posting the approved resolutions on the official USG website. Moreover, another initiative the LA took was to open its session to the students. Despite sessions being accessible to all, the same people attend the sessions.
Some respondents also believe that the USG does not effectively communicate students’ opinions.
When asked if they think that the promises made by USG officers when they campaigned were fulfilled, 62% said that it is still too early to determine this. As most of the promises made by the elected officers were focused on the revisions to be made on the SHB; results are not yet seen as implementation will be done next academic year.
Starting off
Now on its second term of existence, School of Economics Government (SEG) is undergoing transition as an independent government.
Mia Salud, SOE College President, believes that the needs of students from her college have not yet fully been determined. To address this, SEG and the college’s batch government units conduct surveys and gather regular feedbacks as well as coordinate with the Dean and Vice Dean to pinpoint the college’s needs and address them effectively.
Streamlining of activities is also difficult. The OMB report reveals that EXCEL2012, in particular, has activities that they failed to implement because they were similar with EconOrg activities. EconOrg is the professional organization for Economics students.
Despite this problem, 63 out of 73 SOE students agree that the SEG has performed effectively during its first year.
“The USG officers should prioritize significant issues first to better represent the student body,” shares one respondent.
