Bettering Campus Life: SeoulTech's Central Student Organizations

To promote students' convenience and happiness, most universities have independent student organizations. These organizations contribute to the quality of students' campus life with various activities and projects. However, many students miss out on these opportunities because they don't know what the organizations offer. To spread awareness, we conducted written interviews with the presidents of the three central student organizations that have the greatest impact on SeoulTech student affairs: the Student Council (SC), the Student Welfare Committee (SWC), and the Club Union (CU). In the previous issue, we covered only the SC, which works on behalf of all SeoulTech students to protect their rights, promote their welfare, and develop SeoulTech. In this article, we will continue to introduce these organizations by focusing on the other two groups - the SWC and the CU.

* These interviews' final revision was on November 5.

 

Interview with the Student Welfare Committee

We conducted an interview with the SeoulTech Student Welfare Committee



▲ 37th For:Rest SWC's President and Vice President: Hwancheol Hwang (Left) and Hyerim Cho (Right)

 

Q1. Please introduce the SWC briefly.

A1. Student Welfare Committee is a central student organization that conducts various welfare and safety projects to make students' campus life more comfortable and secure.

Q2. Please introduce the main events and projects of the SWC.

A2. Our projects can be divided into four categories: culture, events, convenience, and safety.

① Culture

In order to facilitate cultural development, we are conducting partnership projects with various companies, such as a photo studio, a movie theater, and a hospital. Also, we collaborate on partnership projects in the fields of education and leisure. This year, we are working with Bright Sungmo Eye Hospital, otd.mode (a do-it-yourself black-and-white photo studio), a media art exhibition named FLOWER BY NAKED-HONGDAE of NATURE LABS, and others. Moreover, we are conducting culture day projects that provide a variety of special cultural experiences to our students four times a year. These include activities like appreciating exhibitions or reading books.

 

② Events

We try to offer events that diversify students' campus life. To give our students unique and memorable experiences, we are conducting several projects, including the SeoulTech diary production project, a celebration of adulthood, a volunteer business with Nowon District, and the student lecture S'TED to give our students a varied campus life.

 

③ Convenience

In order to make SeoulTech more comfortable, we are making progress on endeavors like providing rental services for various goods like Bluetooth speakers and umbrellas. Also, we are operating a printing business and providing rest areas for male and female students. Our students can enjoy these benefits if they visit the Student Welfare Committee room (located in Student Union Building 1, room number 213). For your information, rest areas for male and female students are closed due to COVID-19, but we hope to reopen them when the pandemic situation improves.

 

④ Safety

To promote university safety, we run the Eoui Sarang Guard Group.

This group of student volunteers patrols the campus and guides student population from night until morning to protect our students from strangers. Also, we have implemented a safe zone project to protect our toilets from illegal hidden cameras. We detect illegal cameras and report the results to our students. Students can check the results on our SNS channel.

 

Q3. I think S'TED is a special event in SWC. Please explain the S'TED project in more detail!

A3. S'TED (SeoulTech's TED), the biggest of the Student Welfare Committee's events each year, is held every second semester. S'TED is the only lecture by our students for our students at SeoulTech.

S'TED began in 2017 and celebrated its fifth anniversary this year. It is a lecture run completely by students who participate as speakers, staff, or even just as audience members. S'TED gives all students the opportunity to talk about their stories in front of a large audience.It encourages students to hear and empathize with the varied stories of fellow students.

As the number of audience members and presenters continues to increase every year, the Student Welfare Committee hopes to continue to foster a virtuous cycle in which more students share stories and their concerns as they heal each other and move forward together. For example, "I am still in my 20s, so it's too early to give up on my dream" was one of the topics in S'TED 2021. Through this project, we expect to play a role as a channel for communication and empathy among our student population.

Additionally, in the case of selecting speakers, students vote either online or offline on candidates' lecture topics annually a month before the event starts. After that, the 5 speakers with the most votes will present. The final lecture will be conducted based on the lecture topic most students voted for. Our students could check this information on the SWC Instagram or poster. This year, because of COVID-19, we held S'TED simultaneously on Youtube streaming and Zoom.

 

Q4. Among the projects your group works on, there's a university student talent donation project. Can you explain it in more detail?

A4. The For:ReSTREET project, known as the university student talent donation, is run in conjunction with the Nowon District Office to develop a culture of local community and is conducted in conjunction with Chu-Chu, the community flea market for Nowon District residents in the Gyeongchun Train Forest Street. Although the schedule has changed every month due to COVID-19, it is currently held regularly on the third Saturday of every month against the background of the beautiful Gyeongchun Forest Railroad Visitor Center. In 2021, it was held twice in May and June. Participants were selected based on proposals from SeoulTech students, and the participants ran various experience programs like a booth for making calligraphy postcards and a booth for candle making.

Q5. What activities were held in the second semester, and what is planned for the second semester?

A5. S'TED and the Eoui Sarang Guard Group project ran. Also, the For:ReSTREET project and SeoulTech diary design contest will soon be underway! Moreover, the GOODBYE KIT project, which was a pledge of the 37th SWC, aims to offer some items to students on a first-come, first-served basis this November to celebrate the end of the year and to prepare for a new year and new university life. We are preparing for the Plogging event, jogging and picking up trash, which will be held in November, too.

 

Q6. This is the last question. Please tell what message you want to say to our students.

A6. We, 37th For:Rest SWC, promised our students that we would always provide welfare For:Rest to our students. Until now, we have tried to enhance your campus life, not leave it average. Against COVID-19, which has become a part of daily life, we will connect with you this semester with a variety of fun, supportive, and meaningful activities. Thank you for always paying a lot of attention to us.

 

* Contact Information of the SWC

TEL : 02-970-7023, 10:00-17:00

(during the semester, closed during vacation)

Facebook : 서울과기대 학생복지위원회

Kakao (channel) : 서울과기대학생복지위원회

Instagram : 37welfare_st



 

Interview with the Club Union

Additionally, we had a written interview with the president of the CU.



▲ 37th Ding-dong CU's President and Vice President: Jinwoo Kang (Left) and Haeun Lee (Right)

 

Q1. Please introduce the CU briefly.

A1. The Club Union consists of about 50 officially approved clubs, and it supports and manages these student clubs so that SeoulTech students have access to free and enjoyable extracurricular activities.

 

Q2. What are the main events and projects of the CU?

A2. The Club Union provides access to tents, emergency medicine, tools, and other supplies during the semester. Also, we run a printing business for students in the Club Union room (located in Student Union Building 1, room number 322). We strive to support the club by providing financial incentives for club activities. In addition, we host an annual Club Fair in the first semester and a Torchlight Festival in the second semester.

 

Q3. Please explain the Club Fair in more detail.

A3. The Club Fair is an event where clubs can introduce themselves to our students by conducting programs at their own booth. It is usually held at the beginning of the first semester on Hyanghak Street (located between the SeoulTech main gate and the pond named Boongeobang), which a lot of students pass through. Many clubs set up events to catch the eye of students walking by. Clubs usually recruit new members during this period. But this year, because of Covid-19, we could not hold it offline.

 

Q4. What is the Torchlight Festival?

A4. The Torchlight Festival is an event held in the second semester where SeoulTech clubs' members show off the skills or abilities they have honed over the year. This festival is a time to help students relax from their studies by participating in festival activities, viewing performances, and even sharing their own talents. We plan this festival to provide clubs an opportunity to show off their skills on a decorated stage.

 

Q5. Due to COVID-19, various businesses are still facing restrictions. Have many activities had to change due to COVID-19 restrictions?

A5. Currently, many clubs are having difficulties with their activities due to the inability to use club rooms and public spaces. However, we discussed these issues with SeoulTech and prepared various support plans to help clubs maintain their activities even during this difficult situation. Due to COVID-19, the Club Fair was held online in the first semester. Also, the Torchlight Festival was conducted online through Zoom because of the pandemic situation. The regular business and welfare programs that were carried out in the first semester is conducted the same way.

 

Q6. Last question. Is there a message you would like to relay to our students?

A6. All of our students are going through a hard time due to COVID-19. We empathize with students that the campus life and studies that everyone wants are not going smoothly now. Nevertheless, many official clubs in SeoulTech have overcome the difficulties and continued to work hard to have a fruitful time. Moreover, we offer our support to help clubs run their activities smoothly. So, we hope that you can participate in club activities and enjoy your campus life. Thank you.

 

* Contact Information of the CU

TEL: 02-970-7022, 11:00-18:00

(during the semester, closed during vacation)

Facebook: 서울과학기술대학교 동아리연합회

Kakao (open chatting): 으뜸빛과의 익명소통

Instagram: seoultech_club_union

 

After the interviews with SeoulTech's Central Student Organizations

So far, we have heard from representatives of the three central student organizations in SeoulTech. We have looked into what activities each organization does and how they are trying to overcome the hardships of the pandemic to improve the quality of students' lives at SeoulTech. As mentioned earlier, their diverse activities will make students' university life more colorful. Quite a few students miss out on these activities, events, and projects because they don't know about them. We hope this article can help students become more aware of the opportunities they can participate in to enjoy their campus life a bit more.

 

* We comment the 'Club Association' memtioned in the last issue to 'Club Union'.



 

Reporters,

Gayeon Han hgy1228@seoultech.ac.kr

Jonghun Park pjh79937@seoultech.ac.kr