As of last December, UOS has seen a new Student Council. Due to fallouts from the election and low support of students, the newly elected Student Council has introduced some policies to restore their trust and interest.

“Emile Project”, which was one of the biggest election pledges of Gonggam Plus, will be put into effect this March after a series of trials in February. Emile Project allows easier access and more direct communication between UOS students and the Student Council than previous means of communication. Students can ask the Student Council about anything from information about nearby shops to notices and business of the Student Council simply by adding them under their ID, gonggam 2014 on KakaoTalk. Aside from asking questions, students can always give their opinions regarding the Student Council and its business. Their working hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and students are required to go by their real names when contacting the Council through KakaoTalk.

Other projects that will be carried out throughout the year include SMART Student card, UOS Membership, UOS Map, Tutoring cooperatives, and an evaluation page of all lectures. UOS Membership, which provides students with discounts to neighbouring shops and restaurants, is expected to be test-run from Mar. 17 to Apr. 30 at 14 stores both at the Front and Rear Gate. These discounts are from 500 won to 5,000 won maximum, and there will be special events and free drinks. Students can benefit from this simply by downloading an application on their phones or getting a coupon book from the office.

Only those who paid the student union fee of 20,000 won and created a four-digit password to register for the application are entitled to this service. In a similar vein, UOS Map, a.k.a. Sideyeojido is a map program with information on nearby places that helps students acquire useful information on housing and amenities near the campus. In addition, Gonggam Plus is working on a Tutoring cooperatives project to pair UOS students with students living in Dongdaemungu for tutoring. Another plan that is very much anticipated by students is the new website that has information and evaluations of all lectures available at UOS. Shim Yong-sub (Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, ’10) showed particular interest in implementing of the evaluation website. He mentioned, “Since there is not much information regarding liberal arts classes at UOS, a website that has ratings and comments on the overall evaluation of classes would be very helpful to students.”

By. Jeong Sae-hee