Q&A / 質問
What position are the candidates contesting for?
Everyone is set up for be voted as “Member of the Student Council”. Read more about the structure of the student association here.
How many people am I expected to vote for?
You can vote for up to three different candidates.
What is the nature of this student body? What is its mission and vision? Is it a student policy-making body or is it only consultative in nature? What are its powers and responsibilities and where do these powers end?
The student association will have the following tasks:
- channel, relay and discuss student concerns to/with the NAIST administration
- improve quality of life on campus
- support student club activities
We envision a more lively campus where student needs are met and understood.
We noticed in talks with the president that lots of things are hard to organize without a group that represents “the students”. For example, there are no rooms for student groups (e.g. a storage space for club materials), and student groups cannot reserve/use lecture rooms and event halls like the Millennium Hall. This is the kind of thing we want to push and take responsibility for.
We also know that many new students don’t know where to turn when they have free time. We will list active student clubs and host a cultural calendar with events on our website, and may organize campus events ourselves. The goal is to promote an active campus life and to connect the students and clubs.
What concerns can you actually address with this association? Is this more effective than just talking to your sensei or the concerned offices directly?
Talking to your sensei may work fine for academic and smaller issues, but not for everything. As an example, consider the children who live on campus but don’t have anywhere to play sports except the parking lots. There has been a proposal to open the NAIST football field for them, but no office seems to be responsible, or they might feel it’s unimportant. This is one of the concerns we can follow up on as a group, but which are very difficult to change as a single student.
We will not know how effective the association will be until we try it out, but we are convinced that it will be a positive influence on the campus.
Also, is there a minimum number of votes for the election to be considered a successful one?
There is no minimum number of votes for the members of the council.