In the re-election for the 51st Student Council, the Synergy Campaign won the election with a 73.15% (5,397 votes) approval rating. Before the vote, CBT interviewed the Synergy Campaign. This interview will help CBNU students understand about their re-election and how CBNU students voted.



1. Please tell the readers the meaning of the representative colors and pledges of the Synergy Campaign and the backstory of their candidacy.

  I am Moon Jae-yun, the presidential candidate, and this is Park Hyung-bin, the vice-presidential candidate, of the 51st the Synergy Campaign. The meaning of our name symbolizes growing together and the willingness to make greater effects through communication with students. Our pledges are generally about solving the problems that happen in students’ daily lives. The reason I decided to run for the Student Council was that I realized that students weren’t being guaranteed their fundamental rights. Also, while I prepared for the Student Council, I recognized that there were many problems with the students’ welfare, communication, campus culture, and dormitories. I wanted to change the environment of the CBNU campus for the students. Therefore, I ran as a candidate for the Student Council.

2. After losing the first election, you decided to run again, so you were resolutely determined to win. How did you prepare for the 2nd election?

  After the previous election, I was reminded again that the Student Council can’t walk in step with the students if it can’t sympathize with the various problems of CBNU students. Moreover, if the Student Council can’t gain the sympathy of the students, it cannot be considered a true Student Council. Thus, in this election, I worked hard to make pledges that were more practical and considered the various problems of students’ daily lives more than before. I surveyed CBNU students’ various inconveniences and found some solutions. I also visited the Department of Academic Administration Support, the Unicoop Center, the Human Rights Center, the Department of PR, the Department of Student Affairs and the Department of General Affairs to confirm the validity of our pledges.

3. Please tell the readers about the course registration system issue. Many students suffered from inconveniences when they signed up for classes because of the server problems. According to your election pledges, you secured the budget to fix those problems through a finance committee. How will you solve the server problems?

  Geasin-Nuri has used the server for six years without improving it. It is illogical to blame the budget crisis for not improving the server because the budget of 1.6 billion won is enough money to improve the server. CBNU students want a better server and not just to move the information system to Geasin-nuri.
  In the finance committee, a discussion related to CBNU finances was held. To use the funds of school, there must be an agreement among all representatives of the students, the professors, and the employees. If I fail to secure the budget, I never agree until the committee gives a convincing answer to the students or makes a promise for budget preparation.

4. Please tell the readers about the price reduction for the   products of COOBNU.

  The reason why the Univcoop Center couldn’t lower its prices was not due to the minimum wage or the raw material costs. The real reason was the low usage rate of the school cafeterias and COOBNU. The majority of students have the opinion that the products of COOBNU don’t suit their tastes. The Univcoop Center records a deficit of about 100 million won a year in the school cafeterias, but the Univcoop Center covers the debt with profits from the other stores.
  I am not saying that I will change everything at once. First, I will try to improve the taste of the products of COOBNU and the food in the school cafeterias. The Univcoop Center tried to improve the quality of the products for the COOBNU and the school cafeterias, but the opinions of students improved only marginally. Also, communication with the Univcoop Center is not convenient as many students don’t know about the existence of the Student Committee of the Univcoop Center. I will help promote the Student Committee of the Univcoop Center.
  Moreover, I will ask the Univcoop Center to collect students’ feedback actively. Secondly, I will ask for suggestions from students and participate on the board of the Univcoop Center as a student representative. I will also fix problems that students suggest through test operations, and I will promote upgrades to the school cafeterias and COOBNU, which will hopefully increase the usage rate of the school cafeterias and COOBNU through said promotions and various other events. If the school cafeterias and COOBNU are improved through this process, the usage rate of the school cafeterias and COOBNU can be increased. Then, the Univcoop Center can make a profit and will be able to lower the prices of the school cafeterias and COOBNU.




5. There was a majority opinion that the reason why the Synergy Campaign lost the election was due to pledges not reflecting students’ opinions and being practically impossible. How did you prepare the pledges this time?

  I will implement a policy where the Student Council will let the students know about the ongoing policies. Also, I will run a policy evaluation system and a continuous survey campaign to hear the students’ voices.
  I consulted with the school office and received a reply about one ongoing issue. Students felt inconvenience because of desk/chair combinations. If I replace the desk/chair combinations with separated desks and chairs using only Student Council funds, I will have to spend all of our budget for the semester, and I will only be able to change 45 desks and chairs. However, the university said they plan to replace the desks and chairs of 20 lecture rooms, 80 per room, so that issue will be resolved and the Student Council will retain its funds.

6. What does the Student Council mean to you?

  I think the Student Council is not an organization representing CBNU but an organization serving the students. The Student Council has to reflect and accept the opinions of students rather than checking profits. The Student Council should solve problems in students’ daily lives. Moreover, the Student Council has to be an arbitrator. The mission of the Student Council is to relay students’ complaints to the school office and then to help solve those problems.

By Park Jeong-min l jm38@cbnu.ac.kr
By Ahn Yeong-tae l ytann05@cbnu.ac.kr
By Ahn Min-joo l jm40@cbnu.ac.kr