JBNU had the Student Council election on November 15th, 2023, and the selected Student Council started its term in December 2023.
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2023 Student Council Election Timeline October 18th to 20th registration of preliminary candidates. October 23rd to 24th the announcement of preliminary candidates. October 31st to November 2nd registration of regular candidates. Two candidates were registered. “Daero” and “Myeong” were registered as the candidates’ official student council names. November 6th to 14th a week-long campaign on campus for “Daero” and “Myeong”. November 6th Through a policy briefing session, Daero and Myeong each outlined their pledges. November 15th the vote was held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. After the voting ended, the results and progress of the vote were released on UBS (University Broadcasting Station) YouTube Live, a broadcaster of JBNU. |
A policy panel discussion held by the JBNU Press, UBS, and The JBNU Globe was held on November 9th in the Academic Culture Center at JBNU. Through the YouTube live broadcast, all students who could not participate in person were able to participate online. At the policy panel, two candidates, Myeong and Daero, had a debate about "Glocal University 30" and "overheated elections". Through panel inquiries (three representatives from the JBNU Press, UBS, and The JBNU Globe) and mutual discussions, students could hear more specific information from the candidates and think about the candidate's pledges. In addition, the audience participated in a Q&A session about the candidates’ pledges onsite and online.
For the student election held on November 15th, a new Student Council and each college’s Student Council were elected. The election was held both onsite and online from 10 a.m. (9 a.m. in the case of online voting) to 7 p.m. Students casted their ballots by visiting the onsite polling station, located in front of the New Silk Road Center and Notification Street between the JBNU old gate and the first Student Hall. For online voting, students were able to cast their ballots through the voting link. To boost voter turnout, the 57th Central Election Management Committee of JBNU held election encouragement events. Voters who cast a ballot were automatically entered into a lottery.
The voting results revealed that 71.65% (12,005 students) of the entire student body participated in the election. Among them, Daero secured a 49.25% (5,913 votes) approval rating, while Myeong received a 40.68% (4,884 votes) approval rating. As a result, Daero was elected as the next Student Council President.
The Daero president and his team asserted their election pledges, outlining eight major commitments. They are as follows.
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1. Global Enterprise Exploration Program It facilitates visits to global enterprises related to the majors or personal interests. 2. Relaxing the Upper Credit Limit This aims to ease a 4.0 GPA (Grade Point Average) requirement to raise the standard of credit for registering classes. 3. Selective Pass/Fail System Having this system is for accessibility to other majors. It allows students to opt for pass/fail grading rather than letter grades, but students who choose the class pass/ fail and who get letter grades undergo the same curriculum. The standard grade that separates pass/fail will be determined through consultation with JBNU. 4. Improvement of Inconveniences in School Daero will investigate students’ concerns and actively seek improvement. 5. Expanding the Affiliation Fields It is geared towards student welfare, such as food for weight loss, a disinfection service company, sportswear, and convenience stores. 6. Programs Linked to National Flagship University Expand various programs that students lead in designing solutions to local problems with other national flagship universities that can harmonize with the region and between national flagship universities. 7. Improvement of Dormitory Facilities Daero presents the additional installation of dryers for laundry, expansion service hours of the gym, and additional installation and establishment of the management system of the refrigerator as examples. It will improve the dormitory facilities through consultation with the Dormitories, reflecting students’ opinions actively. 8. Iksan Campus Bus Expansion This is the commitment to make buses available for students at the time that students want after the student survey. |
For international students, several services are being prepared, such as residential welfare helpers for foreign students, Korean cultural experiences for foreign students, and the JBNU culture festival. Daero will offer information on house-hunting for international students facing language barriers. It will also facilitate cultural exchange programs introducing Korean culture and harmonizing it with foreign students’ own cultures from all over the world.
In the broadcast which announced the election results, Jeong Tae Hyeon, the Daero president, and Lee Jeong Chan, the vice president of Daero shared their impressions. Jeong said “Daero will value harmony with JBNU students like the Korean word ‘대로[Daero]’.” The word “대로” easily goes well with other words in Korean. Lee added, “Daero will always communicate and prioritize students.” Lastly, Jeong discussed the Glocal University 30 project, led by the Ministry of Education, which is to support universities outside Seoul. He stressed that Daero will prioritize fulfilling pledges for JBNU students in the face of rapidly changing circumstances.
| Kim Doe-hye, Jo Soo-jin, Park Mi-so, Bang Jun-hui Reporters