A meeting of the VMU Student Parliament was held in the VMU Small Hall
April 26 At the meeting of the Vytautas Magnus University Student Parliament was held, the issues raised by the students regarding the discussion of the assessment of the study report and the correction of the assessment procedure of the Appeals Commission were discussed. The issue of clarifying the need for the establishment of the VMU Social Fund and the issue of the removal of a parliamentarian were also returned.
The issue of VMU social fund was discussed. Emil Starodubov was interested in the extent of the available financial resources of VMU SRC and how they are distributed. There was talk of establishing a fund to support students studying at VMU from Ukraine, but this form of support for these students already exists at VMU. It has been decided that such a fund is not needed today, as VMU SRC does not have enough permanent funds to receive, and there are many different ways to support Ukraine, you can find it here.
At a meeting of the Vytautas Magnus University Student Parliament in January, a working group was convened to declare a state of emergency at the university. During this sitting, the Speaker of the Parliament Gabrielė Jonuškaitė asked about the success of the working group and the progress of its activities. The working group has not yet been able to meet and discuss possible action on this issue, so the issue has been postponed for the next time.
Justas Ivanauskas, the student representative of the Faculty of Catholic Theology (KTF) in the parliament, introduced the issue of announcing the compulsory examination of the examination / colloquium / homework and other reports and the validity of the right to review / evaluate the written work. J. Ivanauskas was faced with a situation in which the lecturer refused to comment on his work, he was not given the opportunity to review the report and find out why there was such an assessment. The parliamentarian therefore proposes that the Moodle platform include a section on the timing of job discussions and a regulatory amendment to oblige the teacher to conduct a job discussion with students. Ieva Vengrovskaja, a student representative in the Parliament of the Faculty of Social Sciences (SMF), said she had not encountered the problem and that students had not complained about it during the year, as teachers agreed with their groups and discussed the work in a convenient way, time and place. Justas Žukauskas, a student at KTF, also supported it, stating that discussions on the works are also taking place at the Faculty of Catholic Theology. Gustė Žukauskaitė added that Item no. 145 of the Vytautas Magnus University Study Regulations states that “after the written exam, the final results are published on the University intranet within three working days and then they are discussed in the student group”. As this is an individual problem within the faculty itself and not a problem for most students / faculties, parliamentarians suggested raising this issue with the student representatives on their academic council and the student representatives on their study program committee.
At previous sittings, the parliamentarians decided that the regulations on the submission of VMU appeals regarding the assessment of study results and / or the reporting procedure should be adjusted, the issue was referred to the VMU SRC Academic Affairs Committee. The committee prepared its proposal for this meeting, which was presented by Gustė Žukauskaitė, Coordinator of the Academic Affairs Committee of VMU SRC. It is intended to correct item 13.3 of the document and to supplement it with the information that the Board of Appeal, together with an extract from the minutes, must submit a completed form for the decision on the appeal. The correction was approved by a joint decision of the parliamentarians and the corrections described below will be presented to the VMU administration for further approval of the document.
Representatives of the Faculty of Catholic Theology in the Student Parliament – Justas Žukauskas and Deimantė Auksinaitė – raised the issue of expelling Justas Ivanauskas from the Vytautas Magnus University Student Parliament. Representatives of KTF received complaints from students that they could not talk to the student J. Ivanauskas within the faculty, therefore they decided to interview his faculty students about him and his activities at the university, that this student does not represent KTF students and misuses his duties. About 120 students study at KTF, and 31 student responded to the survey, of which 30 students expressed a desire and support to expel the student, 1 student abstained. It was optional to share your remarks and comments in the survey. 11 respondents shared their experience that this student is not tolerant, does not listen, does not agree with a different opinion and may form an inappropriate opinion about the whole faculty. D. Auksinaitė and J. Žukauskas, conducting a survey and raising this issue in the Student Parliament, seek to ensure that J. Ivanauskas does not speak on behalf of the entire faculty and carry out activities in his own name and not as a representative of KTF and is expelled from the VMU Student Parliament.
Prior to that, during the sitting, J. Ivanauskas stated that he was resigning from his position as a parliamentarian and left the Chamber.
Such a question is an unprecedented case with no practice before. The student was elected to the parliament by collecting 3 student votes as there were 3 seats in the parliament for students and 3 aspiring students, all seats were filled. So now this situation needs to be addressed individually – said the Speaker of the Parliament Jonuškaitė, who handed over the question to Daniel Mačičhin, a member of the Board of VMU SRC, who participated in the meeting as a guest. He commented that the removal of a Member from Parliament could not be decided at the first sitting. In this case, all information regarding the removal of the parliamentarian must be forwarded to the Board of VMU SA, which will consider the recommendations to the Student Parliament at the next sitting. 23 members of the assembled parliamentarians supported, opposed 4 and 1 abstained from referring the matter to the Board of VMU SRC.
The next sitting of Parliament is scheduled for 19 May.
We invite students who have problems to pass their study program to the elders, members of the study program committee or academic unit council, student senators and student parliamentarians. These students will be able to raise issues during meetings.
You can also report any problems to the VMU Student’s Representative Council by e-mail. email info@vdusa.lt.