Due to the absence of an appropriate consultation process between students and the school, there have been constant disputes over services provided by new private amenities.
In response, SGA conducted monitoring on the CU convenience store and Sinsegae Food Hall and submitted the results to OSA on Sept. 12.
The report pointed out that CU sells only one brand of bottled water and does not offer snacks in small packages. Also, stationery sold in CU is less diverse than that sold in the former convenience store. Greater variety of stationery was one of the promises that the Office of Financial Affairs made in August when the results of the contract were announced.
Sinsegae Food Hall offers one of its menus as a “student menu,” providing at cheaper prices for students. Bibimbap, the Korean food of mixed rice with vegetables, is part of the student menu. However, when SGA conducted the monitoring, the menu had already been sold out by 5 p.m. due to lack of supply.
The SGA requested that CU diversify the brands of bottled water, sell snacks in smaller packages, and offer a wider variety of stationery. For Sinsegae Food Hall, the SGA asked for an increase in the supply of student menus, an indication of the origins of food ingredients and a range of inexpensive snack menus.
In response, the OSA reflected the monitoring report and made further changes.
CU offers cheaper brands of bottled water and smaller packages of snacks from Sept. 12 and will provide more brands and types of stationery starting Oct. 15. Sinsegae Food Hall also installed a side dish refill station from which students can freely get more side dishes starting Sept. 16 and posted a sign on Sept. 12 informing the origins of food ingredients.
Students showed mixed attitudes toward the OSA’s response to students’ opinions and suggestions.
“The school should have acted much more quickly in response to the monitoring report,” Yang Ji (Economics, 4) said. “But I could easily agree with the report by the SGA and am glad that what students think about these amenities is reflected in the changes.”
The SGA plans to extend the report by conducting monitoring on Lounge O’ and requesting that OSA make improvements.
“We hope that students will be more satisfied in using these new private amenities,” said Chung Soo-hyun, an official from the OSA. “We will try to deliver what students say to related departments and make improvements based on them.”
Park Kyoung-eun
kathypark226@ewhain.net