David Carlos R.

Servado 2011-01499 Interview with NCPAG Student Council Last Friday I had the opportunity to interview the external affairs administrator, Jizen Reyes, of the current NCPAG student about the accomplishments and activities of the council during the first semester of this academic year. Based on what he said and my observation this whole first semester, the current NCPAG student council really did a good job in implementing and facilitating the activities that they planned for the whole NCPAG community. In my interview with external affairs administrator Jizen Reyes, he elaborated each project of the student council for every month of the semester starting from June until October. For each project he explained the significance and relevance of it to the whole NCPAG community. Aside from that, he also stated the difficulties and the results of each activity the student council has implemented. In the month of June the student council only facilitated one activity which is the General Assembly. During the assembly the council presented all their plans for the whole NCPAG community in their two semesters of service as student council members. The nominations for batch representatives also occurred in the assembly. In the nominations for batch representatives there can be 2 or 3 student nominees for each of the batches. From these nominees, one will be elected to represent their respective batch in student council meetings. By having a batch representative each batch could have a direct line of communication to the student council regarding their concerns and needs. During the month of July the whole college celebrated the NCPAG Month. In line with this celebration the student council also prepared activities which would foster the spirit of solidarity within the college. One of these activities is the Acquaintance Party. This party aims to welcome the new students of NCPAG, which includes freshmen, shiftees and tranferees. Another event organized by the student council in cooperation with the student organizations of the college is the Org of the Week. This event highlights different student organizations each week by granting them the access to the NCPAG lobby as venue to exhibit and promote the activities of their respective organizations. Aside from these activities the student council also facilitated a series of forums and workshops called Lead NCPAG. These forums and workshops are directly aimed to train the Student Council Auxiliary Corps, a group of volunteer students formed to help the NCPAG student council implement their plans for this academic year, in different fields such as marketing and advertising events. The recruitment for volunteers for the 1st Philippine Good Governance Summit also started in the month of July. The summit is a 3-day event comprising of activities and workshops directed for the benefit of all public administration students nationwide In the month of June the NCPAG student council led two events. The first one was the NCPAG Olympics, a college wide team building activities that gave NCPAG students the opportunity to have fun

while playing different kinds of sports. The second event was done in partnership with the College of Business Administration. This event , called Public Administration for the Private Sector, was aimed to show the different opportunities available for Public Administration graduates in the private sector. Aside from the two events the NCPAG student council also started a solicitation campaign to fund the printing of the NCPAG newspaper. This newspaper will contain articles written by NCPAG students about what its like to study in NCPAG. In the month of September the NCPAG student council in cooperation with several Nongovernment organizations held a forum about volunteerism called NVolve. This forum discussed the importance of volunteerism in working in NGOs. Another event held in this month is CAMOTE, another team-building activity especially organized for the benefit of new NCPAG students. Unlike the Acquaintance Party where only a simple program with dinner was held, the Camote engage the new NCPAG students in fun party games. In the incoming month of October the NCPAG student council prepared an event especially directed for the benefit of graduate students. This event, called LVL UP, introduces the content and opportunities of the graduate studies program of NCPAG. In my short interview with the external affairs administrator, Jizen Reyes, I have come to realize the burden that a student council member endures. Aside from the load from academic and org related activities Jizen also needs to endure the responsibility entrusted in his position. While the support coming from the whole NCPAG community was over-whelming the problem of funding still weigh down the burden of student council members like Jizen.