The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) conducted a referendum for the ratification of the UPOU Student Constitution on 18 – 22 April 2022. The voting period was extended until 30 April 2022 upon the approval of the UP Student Regent to allow more students to participate. Students voted through the newly established student affairs platform aptly called Tagpuan.
The approval of the UPOU Student Constitution allows for its sanction and implementation, thereby ensuring genuine student representation and upholding the student’s rights through the creation of the student council and various student organizations.
Ms. Renee Louise M. Co, UP Student Regent, articulated the importance of student councils: “Through student councils, the student body’s concerns are collated and organized, its interests promoted, and its demands actively sharpened to shape the policies of the university for the betterment of the sectors.”
UPOU is the only UP constituent university without a student constitution and student council despite being the UP unit with the fourth largest student population. As such, the referendum is crucial in the establishment of the University’s very first student council and student organizations.
The UPOU Provisional Committee (ProvComm) has drafted the Student Constitution, which contains 15 Articles covering the declaration of principles and objectives, the rights of the UPOU students, the process by which a university student council will be established, and the composition, committees, powers, duties, accountability, and finances of the student council, among others.
The UPOU ProvComm was formed in 2021 by the UPOU Office for Student Affairs (OSA) in collaboration with the UP Office of the Student Regent. It is tasked to guide the UPOU student body in establishing a framework that will provide the opportunity for student representation, address student concerns, and enrich student life.
Written by Jaime P. Guimbao
Edited by Myra C. Almodiel and Anna Canas-Llamas
Image from UPOU ProvComm Facebook Page
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