MARLON (not his real name), an irregular junior student recently experienced shabby treatment from a professor, who allegedly kept on “ignoring” his appeal to change his “incomplete” grade after submitting all the requirements in the subject.
For Marlon, the professor seemed indifferent to the urgency of his appeal. The subject was a prerequisite of another program he was supposed to enroll in this semester, and it has yet to appear in the temporary transcript he requested from the Registrar’s Office three weeks upon passing all the requirements. Left with no choice but to forego the subject until next school year, he promptly asked: is there such thing as a Thomasian grievance system?
“There is,” according to Central Student Council (CSC) president Reyner Villaseñor who discussed the special body tasked by the student government to address student grievances during the launching of the Student Rights Awareness Week (STRAW) last November 12-16 at the Plaza Mayor.
“A lot of things are happening in the campus that our fellow Thomasians don’t know or tend to ignore because of, say, their rigorous academic schedules. Through this process, we would like to help them voice out their grievances if ever they have one, through a more systematic and circumspect manner,” Villaseñor told the Varsitarian.
The CSC, SOCC (Student Organizations Coordinating Council) and all the local student council presidents comprises the STRAW Committee which functions as the students’ rights and welfare board.
The committee mentioned by Villaseñor in a previous interview with the Varsitarian, will hear student grievances and other pressing concerns.
By the virtue of their position, all the local student council presidents are also the grievance head in their respective colleges and faculties.
The committee will serve as the “student lawyer” on behalf of the aggrieved Thomasian who will decide to file a complaint. If a student decides to file a case against a faculty member or a non-academic employee, he or she will be guided by the committee to seek for the proper office to address the issue.
Villaseñor said that the committee will assure that the process will not be “manipulated” to the disadvantage of the aggrieved Thomasian.
“We are still calling for the critical mind of the Thomasians to complain (about) small irregularities that they will observe in the future,” Villaseñor said upon assuming office last June.
The CSC is in the process of coming up with the first draft of the grievance code which will be integrated in the existing Thomasian grievance code in the revised students’ hand book, Villaseñor said.
The council had also scheduled a meeting with Acting Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. regarding the revisions of the Magna Carta.
Upon CSC’s go signal, the Central Comelec is also prepared to conduct the plebiscite.
Outside view
During the STRAW Week, a forum discussed the respective grievance systems of the University of the Philippines (UP), the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), and De La Salle University.
“We have an autonomous student council when it comes to the grievance system. The administration has its own (system),” said Shahana Abdulwahid, president of the UP Central Student Council.
After a case has been filed, the complaint will be sent to the administration, Abdulwahid explained.
Ateneo de Manila requires the complainant to complete a form available at their Student Concerns’ Center, which is under the university’s student council.
“It will be processed within three days. Then, a case will be filed which will give the complainant the chance to choose on whoever he or she wants to represent him. It could be a faculty member, or a guidance counselor,” said Gregorio Tiongson, representative of the Ateneo Central Board.
Meanwhile, the De La Salle Student Council encourages students to settle the issue out of the committee as “amicably as possible”. “In the case we can’t settle the issue, we draft a formal complaint which passes through the department chair, then to the dean, to the grievance board, and finally to the vice-chancellor for academics,” said Nicole Villarojo, De La Salle Student Council vice-president for academics.
De la Salle Student Council, UST’s co-member in the Union of Catholic Student Councils (UCSC) in the Philippines, suggested to the members of the union to hold a week-long activity in their respective universities highlighting the students’ rights and welfare.
From Metro Manila, there are 11 Catholic Schools which makes up the UCSC including UST, De la Salle, Miriam College and Ateneo. A.M.P. Dagcutan
