For the students by the students

A look into the Taylor’s University Student Council (TUSC)

With only two of fourteen schools having enough candidates to hold an open online election in the recent student council election, several questions have been raised. Do Taylorians understand the importance and the role of the student council? Is the council fulfilling its role as the collective voice of students?

Former Taylor’s University Student Council (TUSC) president Sim Sui Yee summarises the role of TUSC as ‘serving Taylorians by representing their voices in terms of welfare which covers comfort, safety and security in the campus’.

TUSC is an important resource for students during their time at the university to acquire the most enriching experience they so rightly deserve. But how many of us students are actually using this as a resource? More importantly, how many of us actually know about this resource?

A survey carried out by Inkslingers highlighted some concerning statistics. Although 40 out of the 50 surveyed knew about TUSC, a staggering 82 per cent could not identify any members of the previous council. While another 78 per cent (33 surveyed) didn’t know how to get in touch with TUSC and at least half of those surveyed thought that TUSC was not doing enough for the student body.

A collective comment that also emerged was the lack of publicity of TUSC and its function at the University.

“Publish and advertise more to attract more attention, especially for new students,” suggested an Architecture, Building and Design student who wished to remain anonymous.

Although TUSC does have a very active Facebook page with over 1,000 followers and an updated website, there is a distinct lack of their tangible presence on campus. Their office is hidden away behind the eternally active table tennis tables and the hardworking faces of their members are swept unrecognizable in the sea of faces that we pass by everyday. As comfortable we are with technology and instant updating, a figure of governance still needs a physical handshake instead of a click on the ‘like’ button or a visible nod of approval or disapproval for it to be most effective.

But then again, this applies both ways. Former president Sui Yee believes that for any Student council to succeed the students should take the initiative to make queries about the council and its activities.

“It goes the same for a country. Did the ministers or the Prime Minister keep promoting about his/her portfolio to the nation? Or it is our responsibility to know who the ministers are and what have they done for us?” he said.

Taylorians should also understand that TUSC is not a complaint box that handles anything from a broken flush tank on the second floor on block D or changing the temperature of the centralized air conditioner in the library. Students need to realise that while TUSC members are running around asking different departments to rectify these issues, such efforts are prohibiting them from spending more time on issues that matter. Students should take note that there are specific departments that handle such complaints on issues regarding broken bulbs or flooding toilets.

Taylorians need to be more responsible in what they channel through TUSC while fostering a better understanding of what they (TUSC) can undertake as part of their role as our voice at the management meetings.

But an enthusiastic communication student who chose to remain anonymous pointed out that “They [TUSC] should be more vocal in voicing out students’ woes in campus- and listen more to them; no matter how ridiculous their complaints are, don’t brush off complaints just like that because there could be a point in those comments…Student council means student representatives, which means representing the students.”

With the new TUSC taking over in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to witness how they will mark their presence on campus and to also see Taylorians be more responsible in terms of what they ask the council to advocate for them.

As the saying goes, it takes two to tango.

Out of 50 Students Surveyed

• 40 knew about TUSC

• 41 Could not identify any members of

the previous council

• 33 did not know how to get in touch with TUSC

(By Mizna Mohamed)