In the November 12 meeting of the DLSU University Student Government (USG) Activities Assembly (AA) for Academic Year (AY) 2021-2022, various college presidents along with officers of the Office of the Vice President for Internal Affairs (OVPIA) and the Office of the Vice President for External Affairs (OVPEA) finalized the committees and discussed the assembly’s plans for the current AY.
New AY, new departments
As stated in the USG Constitution, it is part of AA’s responsibility to create departments and ad hoc committees that will perform specific functions in the assembly. Unlike previous AYs, this year’s AA set into motion such responsibility by coordinating with college presidents and other members of AA.
“We want to be able to discuss ano ba ‘yung kailangan nating tugunan right now, ano ‘yung mga kailangan ng mga departments natin to be able to come up with projects related to the department,” OVPIA head Britney Paderes explained.
(We want to be able to discuss urgent matters that need attending to, what each department needs to be able to come up with projects related to the department.)
With this, the University Student Support, Student Welfare and Safety, National and Political Affairs, External Opportunities, and Civic Engagement departments were formed.
University Student Support will be focused on student services and academic concerns, while Student Welfare and Safety will oversee the initiatives connected with the gradual resumption of face-to-face classes in the coming terms. On the other hand, Civic Engagement will spearhead community development advocacies. Most of the discussion groups also proposed the National and Political Affairs Department, anticipating the incoming 2022 national elections.
Each department will have its own set of events in accordance with its chosen initiative. An events kit, which will contain essentials in planning an event like calendars, contact persons, and other important paperwork, was also introduced in the meeting.
Planning for the long run
Following the introduction of the purpose and objectives of the AA, OVPEA head Lara Jomalesa introduced the other plans that the USG has. Aside from the change in the assignment and creation of the departments, Jomalesa also emphasized the creation and establishment of an AA Manual.
“We wanted to institutionalize [the manual] to have continuity for the succeeding years and for the next Activities Assembly,” she shared. The OVPEA head also highlighted that the manual’s creation is necessary for AA to have a “reference guide” for succeeding meetings.
Paderes, on the other hand, explained that since the main goal of AA is to implement projects that would aid the DLSU community, each department would be required to create its own set of goals, objectives, strategies, and measures. With this, the OVPIA head disclosed that operations of the involved departments will be handled by their office.
A tentative timeline was also presented, with the next AA meeting scheduled on November 26.
The assembly will release the final timeline once all dates have been approved by the Office of Student Leadership Involvement, Formation and Empowerment.
