“A lasting legacy, YeoWoon.” This is the slogan of YeoWoon, the 58th General Student Council (GSC), which was elected on the Seoul Campus after 11 years. Two candidates ran in the election last December, and after a public hearing with face-to-face meetings with students, YeoWoon won the election with 67.15 percent of the votes cast with a final turnout of 50.79 percent of the student-body “YeoWoon: Afterglow,” who started its term in January, conducted activities like renting graduation gowns and meeting with library officials during the vacation, and is preparing to fulfill its promises in various fields such as school festivals, education & career events, living welfare, facilities, communication, human rights and solidarity ahead of the upcoming semester.

     At the start of the semester, students exhibit heightened interest and significant attention in the GSC’s activities, as it has been a long time since the last GSC presidential election at the Seoul Campus. What plans does it have for the upcoming year? The Argus interviewed the president and vice president of the 58th GSC at the Seoul Campus to delve into their aspirations and plans for the year 2024.

 | About YeoWoon 

The Argus: Please introduce the presidents of YeoWoon: Afterglow, the GSC to The Argus readers.

YeoWoon: Hello, we are Oh Chang-hwa (Department of Public Administration ’21), and Yeo Chan-woo (Department of Portuguese ’21), the president and vice president of the 58th Seoul Campus GSC.

The Argus: Tell us about the meaning behind the name, YeoWoon.

YeoWoon: YeoWoon means to spread out and leave a lasting impression, and we want to be a student council that will leave a lasting impression by performing well.

 Furthermore, we added the phrase, “to leave a lasting impression at HUFS,” in the sense that we hope that this year’s student council and the 70th anniversary of the university will leave a lasting impression in the university’s history. Consequently, many of our pledges are related to facility replacement or regularization that can leave a lasting impression on the university. We usually use the word “Afterglow (Yeowoon)” when something touches our hearts or when we feel good, so I hope our university life will be memorable for us and students who are running after their dreams.

The Argus: Why did you two decide to run together for the GSC Student Presidency?

Oh: In the 57th Central Steering Committee (CSC) last year, I was the student president of the College of Social Sciences and the vice president was the student president of the College of Occidental Languages. Since the CSC is a regular meeting where the most important decisions of the university are discussed, we had opportunities to discuss values related to the development of the university, detailed events, or the school’s discourse.

Yeo: I decided to run for the position alongside our student council president because I share the same aspiration for HUFS to truly develop into a school that can provide students with satisfaction in terms of experiences, facilities, and more.

Oh: Also, the specific experience that made us both decide to run for office together, I think it was very meaningful for us to discuss together what kind of events we were going to plan, how to develop the university, how to plan better events during the overnight Student Council OT as a president of each college.

The Argus: Please briefly introduce the key pledges of YeoWoon.

YeoWoon: Among various pledges, our most dedicated aspect is cultural branding. We believe that cultural events themselves are a method of branding. Therefore, we aimed to brand HUFS by combining culture and branding, leveraging the identity of foreign languages that HUFS possesses through regularizing cheering events and other initiatives. Additionally, in the aspect of student life and welfare, we aimed to provide pledges that students can directly feel and benefit from. Thus, we are making efforts to provide various legal counseling seminars and manuals related to long-term home rental fraud and contracts to directly assist students’ lives.

 | At the Beginning of the Glowing “YeoWoon: Afterglow” 

The Argus: After the election, you might have a renewed sense of determination before starting the new semester. What does the final voting rate of 50 percent mean for YeoWoon?

YeoWoon: The fact that this was the first election in 11 years means that very few of the current students have ever experienced an election, so we were very honored. We think the 50 percent turnout means two things, the first is a huge responsibility. There is a strong feeling that the students are closely observing us as the elected representatives. The second is that we are receiving a lot of support, because not only the school departments, but also other organizations around us know that we won the election with a high turnout of 50 percent, so this gives us a lot of momentum when we are working together on projects or making demands to the school.

 One of the things we said during the election was, “We won’t make promises we can’t keep,” and now that we have been elected, we are determined to make tangible promises and realize what the students want in order to show them.

The Argus: There is a high expectation having received the votes of the students, that the student council will be more attentive to the voices of the students. Please explain the specific plans for communication with students and the school.

YeoWoon: First of all, we are confident in communication with the school. Before the election started, we had discussions with the school departments about our pledges. For example, in meetings with the Facility Management Team, we discussed not only the feasibility of our pledges, but also the direction of specific actions to fulfill those pledges. Therefore, the school departments are aware of our pledges, and we are making efforts to realize them.

 Moreover, we believe that the most important thing is communication with the students. Therefore, internally, we are providing updates with the heads of each department in the CSC without withholding any information. Externally, we aim to utilize promotional social media. For YouTube, we plan to address the low participation issue of traditional public hearings by live-streaming public hearings, making them a platform for communication with students. Additionally, we aim to transition from one-way communication, often seen through community platforms, to a more interactive approach. Therefore, we are currently renovating the GSC website and striving to foster an inclusive culture of communication within the campus community by facilitating discussions in such online spaces.

 | Preview of YeoWoon’s 2024 

The Argus: According to the satisfaction survey report of the first half of the 2023 academic year by the 57th GSC “Doyak: Leap,” as 81.5 percent of students selected the school festival QUINQUATRIA as the most anticipated project for the second half of the year, pledges related to QUINQUATRIA stood out first. Please briefly explain the pledges related to QUINQUATRIA.

YeoWoon: This year, firstly, we will collaborate with Cheongnyangni Market to operate booths with a night market concept, and support student-led flea markets in vacant spaces within the Cheongnyangni Market, allowing students to enjoy diverse content on the first day of the festival. Additionally, if there are booths using ingredients such as fruits at department booths, sufficient support is possible, and there may be pop-up stores such as fresh fruit juice.

 Secondly, through collaboration with alumni companies, we plan to attract promotions and secure finances to enhance the quality of the festival. Lastly, we are considering ways to expand the scale of the festival through cooperation with local governments, with the goal of establishing QUINQUATRIA as a local festival, emphasizing branding efforts as part of the university’s 70th-anniversary celebration.

The Argus: The “Win-Win Project with Cheongnyangni Market” night market collaboration stands out as it involves both students and the local community. How did you conceive this idea and what benefits do you anticipate from its execution?

YeoWoon: Dongdaemun Ward is one of the areas with the most universities in Seoul, so we thought it was important to have a cooperative relationship with neighboring schools. In addition, the MOU we had previously signed with the ward was limited in that it was only a formality and did not really help students. Therefore, we came up with the Dongdaemun Ward Win-Win Project, and we thought that the Cheongnyangni Market was a popular and positive target for cooperation with the festival.

 We also think that experience is the most important when it comes to starting a business, we think that a short experience of selling your own products and understanding the market demand can lead to a big business later, so we are discussing to extend the booth in Cheongnyangni Market to two weeks or even longer.

The Argus: There were detailed pledges regarding the library, a vital student space. Could you outline the main commitments? Additionally, despite discussions with the library, the budget for the reading room chair replacement project was deemed insufficient. How do you intend to address this issue?

YeoWoon: The main suggestions include expanding the hours of the second, third, and fourth reading rooms, replacing the chairs in the reading rooms and installing ventilation, standing desks, and more lockers. The most popular requests were for extended reading rooms or expanded lobby hours, so we are currently discussing this. However, due to monetary factors such as labor costs for expanded operating hours, we are planning to proceed with further discussions, and it seems that a three-way meeting between the budget teams, the library officials, and the GSC will be held. In particular, University Library Director changed on February 1, so we plan to have another meeting around the end of February or in March for detailed coordination.

 The only thing that may be difficult to resolve is the replacement of the reading room chairs. So, we plan to use the GSC budget and run a pilot seating system to see the demand from students. Then, we will incorporate it into the main budget in December, or prioritize the replacement of chairs, starting with the first reading room.

The Argus: There are many pledges related to employment and entrepreneurship, but YeoWoon has planned to expand the number of students in the Career Credit Program and improve the Entrepreneurship Credit Program. Can you explain these two programs? Additionally, are there specific discussions and plans in place for their realization?

YeoWoon: In the Career Credit Program, students can earn credits by pursuing their aspirations and validating their activities. The Entrepreneurship Credit Program allows students to obtain credits for validating their entrepreneurial endeavors. While both systems offer credits, there are two issues with foreign universities: students lack awareness of the system, and meeting the selection criteria proves challenging. In contrast, other institutions have ample credits, and the criteria are less strict. In order to improve this, we are trying to arrange a meeting with the Career Development Center or other deans of the school to talk about it for the second semester, around May or June.

The Argus: Given your focus on the financial aspect, particularly with the Songdo Campus commitment, could you explain the issues and your plans to address them, considering that many students may not be aware of the situation?

YeoWoon: To fulfill our pledge and uphold our core values, securing finances is very important. However, the university’s financial situation is not favorable. Therefore, we are initiating the “HUFS Saving Projects,” a commitment urging corporations to lessen taxes on the Songdo Campus. This initiative aims to enhance the university’s financial standing and support students.

 We are experiencing delays in the development of the HUFS-owned Songdo Campus due to the requirement for Ministry of Education approval to change its location. Associated tax burden due to the delayed development, amounting to 7.9 billion won (US$5.9 million), is adversely affecting the school’s finances. Addressing these issues would enable funds to be reallocated for the expansion of scholarships. However, students lack access to information on campus development and how the departments will be adjusted. We aim to convey student opinions to the Songdo Campus development committee to promote transparency and student involvement. Currently, our focus is on raising awareness of these Songdo Campus challenges.

The Argus: YeoWoon mentioned a plan to use the money from the Songdo Campus to expand scholarships. Is there a particular reason for this?

YeoWoon: Two years ago, the quota of the “7+1 scholarship” (7+1) suddenly halved in number, which I thought was a problem considering that many students enter HUFS with the expectation of becoming an exchange student or participating in programs like the 7+1. So, we had a meeting with the Office of International Affairs regarding quota. They told us that the quota is allocated according to the 7+1 and exchange program scholarship budget, but since the budget has decreased, quota has been halved. So, we thought that the first solution to increase the quota is to increase scholarships. Therefore, we have talked to the Tuition Review Committee to explore the possibility of expanding scholarship offerings.

The Argus: The main audience of The Argus is international students, and you have proposed a special lecture on employment for international students and the establishment of a task force (TF) team to translate the course manual. Could you share details regarding the realization plans and activities of the TF team, particularly as it relates to school life?

YeoWoon: In fact, the need to translate the course guide has been raised repeatedly, but not implemented due to the internal manpower problem and the translation work requiring, a lot of effort. It would have been difficult to translate the course guide while translating the announcements of the GSC. Therefore, we have skillful members with language and will translate the course manual through the TF team to help international students adjust to our school by translating the course manual. In fact, the previous GSC “Doyak” has translated the bylaws of the school, our current focus is to channel our efforts into translating the course manual.

 The existing course catalog is tailored to the needs of domestic students, encompassing aspects like reservists and graduation requirements. To adapt the course manual to better suit international students, it is important to understand their specific needs and circumstances. That is why we will create a Translation TF comprising both international and domestic members. This project is being led by the International Solidarity Department in GSC, and we plan to start discussions in mid or late March. This timeline takes into account the recruitment period for new students and the return of international students, with the ultimate goal of completing the translation of the course manual for the second semester.

 | Words from YeoWoon to HUFSan 

The Argus: The previous GSC “Doyak” garnered high satisfaction, achieving a 93 percent satisfaction rate in the latter part of its term. What activities do you intend to replicate or enhance from past GSC events, and in what ways will YeoWoon distinguish itself?

YeoWoon: Since the CSC and the GSC keep each other in check through decisions, we had many opportunities to give feedback on many projects last year as the CSC during the term of “Doyak.” Also, we are still giving feedback on projects that were well received by students and why. We think that what students liked most about “Doyak” was the events where they could have firsthand experiences and using the strength gained to advocate for their educational rights. That is why we organized cultural projects that students can genuinely feel. The distinctive feature of YeoWoon is that we have the opportunity to take advantage of various programs in collaboration with local governments.

The Argus: What do you ultimately hope to accomplish through your involvement in the organization?

YeoWoon: First of all, our name and the keynote we mentioned reflect our goal. Despite having only a one-year term, our aspiration is to leave a lasting impact by organizing activities that make the entire four years of university life worthwhile. So, if students are asked, “What kind of year was 2024?,” and they answer that they recall the multitude of enriching experiences and cherish happy memories at HUFS, we think it will bring us great joy and happiness. Therefore, our focus is on diligently organizing activities to achieve this. We want to make the school itself better, so that is our primary objective.

“Pledges that students can tangibly feel.” This is the most frequently mentioned phrase during the interview. YeoWoon approached the interview with a serious attitude, pledging to become a student council for the students by emphasizing their commitment to preserving the characteristics of HUFS and providing more for international students. Having gone through the process of reviewing their promises during the election process, it is now time for the student to offer feedback on whether YeoWoon is representing their opinions. Collaborating with YeoWoon, students can contribute to steering the university in a positive direction. The Argus hopes that students will continue to follow and support the progress of the YeoWoon.