From June 15 to July 10, the Office of Student Affairs conducted a psychiatric survey through the UOS web portal. The purpose of the survey was to build an overall database about each student’s mental health level and to provide appropriate support to students in need. However, an unexpected backlash from the students caused some embarrassment for the administration.

In this controversy, students were required to complete or reject the survey in order to stop a pop-up window and continue using the web portal. Since the survey said students would not be able to check their grades if they denied it, most of them were almost forced to comply with it. This idea was considered so invasive that many students became angry. The fact that the period was around final exams even worsened the situation, as essential exam-related information was mostly announced through the web portal.

Some of the students even doubted whether the survey would be relevant or effective. Not a few students, vexed by this sudden, time-stealing demand, just marked the answers randomly in order to skip it.

Hyun-jun Jang (Dept. of Science in Taxation, ’11) agreed that the survey may have been necessary, but he was skeptical whether it would work. “It is good for them to conduct such a survey for us, except that it’s so perfunctory,” he said. “I would agree with the idea that, these days, a lot of students have some depression. Maybe it would be better to provide places they can go and just whine.”

With so many students complaining, the vice president of the UOS student council, Ok-gyu Han, met with school officials as a representative. Han put together various complaints from students and sent them to the related school officials. According to Han, school officials expressed their embarrassment and said they would reconsider about the way they conducted the survey. It seems that school officials need advance cooperation from students, which they failed to earn this time.

By Shin-ho Ahn