Construction of Jang Yeongshin Student Union Building (N13-1) has finally completed. This building is very meaningful in a way that students actually took part from the building step to managing step which is not likely for other buildings in KAIST or in fact, in any other universities. KAIST Student Culture and Space Council is in charge of managing and running the place. To learn more about this interesting building, The KAIST Herald met with the president of KAIST Student Culture and Space Council.

Please briefly introduce yourself.

Hello. My name is Dae Hwan Kim and I am the president of KAIST Student Culture and Space Council. This is my third year in KAIST and I major in the Department of Computer Sciences.

Can you explain about KAIST Student Culture and Space Council?

Jang Yeongshin Student Union Building is finally opened this semester. We are a council that actually manages and runs the new place. We also support KAIST students' activity in their usage of this building. We first started by brainstorming the space distribution of the building, determining each usage of the space and even the furniture placement. We worked for this new space starting from building up the place and worked our way through to managing the place.

Can you explain about newly built Jang Yeongshin Student Union Building?

The purpose for building Jang Yeongshin Student Union Building was at first to have more space for club rooms. However, through a student survey, a lot of ideas were collected that wanted more open space for any individual student rather than space being only used as club rooms. To satisfy both needs, the new building was built that accommodated many club rooms and at the same time, had many public spaces for free individual usages. Hence, there are many public spaces that can be easily used after reservation. There are spaces for band practices, dance practices, various art activities and even seminars and meetings. 

There was Opening Week event from September 1st to 4th. Please explain about this event. And also what was the most popular program during the event?

The event was held to promote this new building in its usages to many KAIST students. In the past, there were not much public open spaces for students to do various activities. Hence, not many students know what kinds of activities can be done in these new spaces and how to actually utilize these spaces. This demonstration can help students to grasp the idea of how to utilize this new building. As we are not a committee for organizing and arranging events, we cooperated with many other school clubs for each program. It was also a good way to show that these different clubs or organizations can freely use these spaces for variety of applications. The most popular program was the lecture about E sports held by Min Kang, famous E sports player and commentator. The whole Ul-rim Hall was filled with students to listen to his lecture and have the chance to actually meet him.

What are some difficulties working in KAIST Student Culture and Space Council?

The biggest difficulty is that there is no case to benchmark when it comes to managing an open public space in the hands of students. There are only about 5 organizations in the world that have students work for their own building. As a result, we have to set all the ground rules and systems from the start. We made rules and regulations in order for students to share and use the space in a way that can maximize everyone's conveniences. However, there are still students who are unfamiliar with the concept of using and sharing a public space and lack basic manners or break the rule. This can lead to inconveniences to other students. Hence, we keep trying to notify the regulations and help students to have better understanding of using this space. Furthermore, if there are some feedbacks on the system or the regulations, we are open to accommodate those feedbacks and ideas to make the place better for everyone. We are still in the stabilizing process and are flexible to make amends by taking active feedbacks.

Is there any last comment you want to add?

The big thing about this building is that it is in the hands of students to utilize and care for the spaces. And I would like this space to be left that way. For this building to be remained in the hands of students, KAIST students need to be more conscious and caring when utilizing the space. We need to keep basic manners and rules for everyone to conveniently enjoy the space. I also would like to introduce book cafe in 2nd floor and ask for active usage of this space. This space has the meaning of communication as it is not only the space for reading like other libraries. This space can be used for the students to come and have little chat and discussions while reading. Lastly, I would like to add that English version of the website will be in ready soon for foreign students.