DESPITE having a full slate of officers, the Central Student Council (CSC) Executive Board failed to accomplish its main campaign platform: the approval of the long-delayed Student’s Code this academic year.
The outgoing CSC officers, who all ran as independents in the 2018 student polls, however, were able to implement 13 out of their 23 projects.
“The fact that [the draft of the code] has already been passed to the jurisdiction of the Council of Regents, malaking bagay na ‘yon sa amin,” CSC President Francis Santos told the Varsitarian.
Santos pointed out that this was the first time a student council was able to present the code to the Council of Regents. This happened in November last year.
He said the Executive Board had two meetings with UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. to ask for help in expediting the approval of the code.
However, he admitted that the process of passing the code would take more than an academic year.
Santos, in his campaign for the presidency last academic year, proposed to lobby for the Student’s Code, hence his project Kabalikat, which called for an improvement in the communication and relationship of the CSC with various administrative offices.
Proposals and projects
As president, Santos spearheaded a year-long project that emphasized the rights and welfare of the students, called “Kasangga: Student’s Rights and Welfare.” It was a project-pitching platform where anyone was allowed to raised their ideas, held from July 8 to 20.
The CSC also hosted a Student’s Code public discussion on Oct. 27.
Another is the “Thomasian Votes,” a three-day voter registration drive held in the University from Sept. 27-29, in relation to the upcoming national midterm elections.
The “Student’s Rights and Welfare Coalition” (Straw), while approved by the Office for Student Affairs (OSA), was not launched due to lack of applicants, but Santos said he would open applications to students who would like to become members before the academic year ends.
“I did not launch it yet kasi wala pang masiyadong update for the coalition,” Santos said. “That’s why the plan is to open the application to [more] students who would like to be a member of the coalition at the end of the academic year para [ma-transition] sa succeeding years ‘yong napundar namin sa Students’ Code.”
Vice President Victor Amores failed to implement the “Stronger Safety and Security System,” which aimed to provide “safe spaces” inside and outside of the University.
“We lobbied this to our administration noong pagkapanalo pa lang namin… then sila na ‘yong naging way para tumulong sa amin makipag-usap with different concerned people,” Amores said.
Amores also promised to work for a multi-faith room called “Thomasian Interfaith Room,” where students of different religions could pray, mediate and contemplate. There was a carpet placed at the fourth floor of the Tan Yan Kee building.
CSC Secretary Robert Dominic Gonzales, who is gunning for the position of president, proposed two projects.
Gonzales was able to implement “Radiate: The Medical Project,” a community development project that aimed to raise awareness on the top 10 medical health problems to a partner Aeta community in Sitio Mabilog, Tarlac. The medical mission happened on March 23 and 24.
Another project headed by Gonzales was “Illuminate: A Step to Quality Education,” which sought to improve the quality of the student-educator relationship though a mental health awareness seminar.
The event commenced on April 3 in connection with “Emotional Toolkit: Helping Skills for Responders,” a seminar led by the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.
“[T]his event also aimed to further strengthen the bond between the students and their educators; ultimately, taking one step to improving quality education,” Gonzales said.
He also spearheaded “Secretariat: Chamber of Secretaries,” a seminar for secretaries of local student councils and student organizations in the University.
It was a tutorial on the preparation and processing of documents and other secretarial duties last Nov. 19, 2018.
Before his resignation as CSC treasurer, Alek Pierce Sta. Ana proposed “TP4: The Return,” which was supposed to be implemented prior to the academic year but did not push through. It aimed to give scholarships to qualified public senior high school students who will enroll at UST.
He also proposed “Investomasino,” a project that aimed to teach Thomasians the mechanics of investing.
CSC Auditor Adrian Lee Fernando led “Greener UST” a two-phase environment advocacy project.
The first phase, which focused on “Environmental Assessment Resolving the Threats to our Home” (Earth), was launched on Sept. 17 and 18. The next phase, titled “The Greener Congress,” held on Nov. 27, gathered student leaders and organizations to come up with projects to ensure environmental protection.
Another was “Veritas 2.0: Auditing Beyond Numbers,” which published updates on the executive board’s programs after every semester.
CSC Public Relations Officer (PRO), Jeanne Nicole Naval proposed a project on the extension of the operating hours of some University facilities to give space for students who need extra time in UST to study during exam weeks.
Naval said the CSC was still processing the papers for the proposal.
“May regulations din kasi [like the] security of the students outside the University, ‘yon ang hinahanapan namin ng soultion right now,” Naval explained.
CSC project “Pandit” was also proposed by Naval to give tutorial sessions to partner-communities in preparation for the National Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency examination. Naval has yet to implement the project.
Naval launched “Amplify: League of PROs 2018,” a seminar for PROs of local organizations and class officers in the University on Nov. 28.
Naval is also heading “#CSCSpeaks,” a year-long project of the CSC that releases informative campaigns on relevant university and nationwide issues. with reports from Vivienne Audrey Angeles
