DISCLOSING THE STUDENT Council’s (SC) accomplishments and transparency report to the students of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), outgoing SC officers presided over the State of the Council Address (SOCA) and SC Executive Committee (SCEC) Recognition Rites at the Abbot Lopez Hall, June 26.
The SOCA, a previous practice in SBU which was stunted by the COVID-19 pandemic, made its return in evaluating and providing the Bedan community with a transparency report of the incumbent CAS student government before the end of their term.
Before they formally complete their stint, SC officers reported on their individual accomplishments and transparency reports during their term, beginning with Year-level Representatives—Beige Benedict Campbell, Mitziko Clare Yema, and Mikaela Dimapilis—on their chaired initiatives.
Then, outgoing Auditor, Rean Jam Dela Cruz, next presented her outline of initiatives before Enrique Louise Bonete’s presentation of the Finance Committee Paperless Tracker. This was then followed by other programs such as Secretary-General Alessandra Nicole Namujhe’s assessment of the Bedan Activity Tracker (BAT); outgoing External Vice Present (EVP) Kyla Cristina Cayetano’s review of her office’s projects such as the Sibol: Himig ng Bagong Simula; outgoing Internal Vice President (IVP) Julia Clarisse San Jose’s presentation on her Office’s projects such as the Student Organization Circle (SOC) Leadership Training Seminar; and Bermudez’ highlight on the SC Constitution Revision and other implemented projects.
Moreover, a treasury and audit report were later presented by Bonete, delineating the SC’s three sources of funds and their allocations as per SC expenses, student activity funds, and non-professional organizations’ expenses.
Next was Dela Cruz who gave the SC Performance Check—a fulfillment of one of her platforms—that evaluated the outgoing SC officers based on platform implementation and student responses from an online evaluation form posted on the official Facebook page of the SC last June 4. Giving more detailed revisions to the SC Constitution, Bermudez presented the major amendments that were raised during the Second Student Assembly (SA) last February.
To conclude the 2024 SOCA, the awarding of Student Assembly Representatives took place. In the conclusion of the SOCA, the SCEC Recognition Rites called for the acknowledgement awards such as the Top 15 Outstanding Committees members, principal authors for the Constitutional Revision, and their successful initiatives that served the Bedan community throughout the A.Y. 2023-2024.
After the event, putting into light SOCA’s objectives of “transparency and accountability,” Bermudez told The Bedan that these two values are “something [the next SC] should always foster, so that the students or the whole CAS community would know the plans and the ongoing projects of the council.”
Moreover, Bermudez also shared her aspiration that the succeeding SC would “remain humble” and prioritize “student-centric” activities. As a final word, she offered a piece of advice for the incoming SC in ensuring that events are done in the “interest of the Bedan community.”
“If may gagawing event, dapat inaask ‘yung sarili if magbebenefit ba talaga ‘yung students for this one. Aside from that, ‘yung mga times na hindi nagcater talaga sa buong CAS community, I think they could also focus on some classes in the CAS community na kailangan ng tulong,” Bermudez concluded.