VDU Mažojoje salėje vyko VDU Studentų parlamento posėdis

April 26 at the meeting of the Student Parliament of VDU, the questions raised by the students regarding the discussion of the study settlement assessment and the correction of the assessment procedure of the appeal commission were discussed. Also, the question was returned to clarify the need for the establishment of the VMU Social Fund, and the question about the removal of the parliamentarian was raised.

The issue of the VMU social fund was discussed. Emil Starodubov was interested in how much freely available funds VDU SA has and how they are distributed. There was talk about establishing a fund to support students from Ukraine studying at VMU, but this form of support for these students already exists at VMU. It was decided that such a fund is not needed for today, as VDU SA does not have enough constant funds, and there are many different ways of supporting Ukraine, you can find them here.

At the meeting of the VDU Student Parliament held in January, a working group was assembled regarding the declaration of a climate emergency at the university. During this meeting, the speaker of the parliament, Gabrielė Jonuskaitė, asked how the working group was doing and what was the progress of its activities. The working group had not yet had time to meet and discuss possible actions on this topic, so the issue was postponed for another time.

Justas Ivanauskas, the representative of the students of the Faculty of Catholic Theology (KTF) in the parliament, presented the issue of the mandatory publication of the discussion of the exam/colloquium/homework and other settlements and the right to inspect/evaluate the written work. J. Ivanauskas faced a situation where the teacher refused to comment on his work, he was not given the opportunity to review the settlement and find out why there is such an assessment. Therefore, the parliamentarian suggests that the Moodle platform includes a section with the time of discussion of the work and amends the regulation, which would oblige the teacher to discuss the work with the students. Faculty of Social Sciences (SMF) student representative in the parliament, Ieva Vengrovskaja, said that she has not encountered this problem and in all these years, students have not complained about such a problem, because teachers agree with their groups and work is discussed in a form, time and place that is convenient for everyone. KTF student Justas Žukauskas also agreed with her, stating that discussions of the works are also taking place at the Faculty of Catholic Theology. Gustė Žukauskaitė added that VMU Studies regulated Item 145 states that "after the written exam, the final results are published on the University's intranet within three working days, and then they are discussed in the student group." As this is an individual issue within the faculty itself and not a student/faculty-wide issue, the MPs suggested raising the issue with student representatives on their academic unit's council and student representatives on their study program committee.

In the previously held meetings, the parliamentarians decided that the provisions of the VMU appeals regarding the study result assessment and/or settlement procedure must be adjusted, the issue was transferred to the VMU SA Academic Affairs Committee. For this meeting, the committee prepared its proposal, which was presented by Gustė Žukauskaitė, the coordinator of the academic affairs committee of VDU SA. It is desired to adjust 13.3 document point and supplement it with the information that the appeal commission must submit a completed form on the decision of the appeal along with the minutes. The correction was approved by a joint decision of the parliamentarians, and further corrections of the description will be presented to the VMU administration for further approval of the document.

The representatives of the Faculty of Catholic Theology in the student parliament - Justas Žukauskas and Deimantė Auksinaitė - raised the issue of removing Justas Ivanauskas from the VDU Student Parliament. The KTF representatives received complaints from students that they could not talk to the student J. Ivanauskas inside the faculty, so they decided to conduct a survey among the students of their faculty about him and his activities at the university, that this student does not represent KTF students and does not use his responsibilities properly. About 120 students study at KTF, and 31 students answered the survey, of which 30 students expressed their desire and support for expelling the student, 1 student abstained. It was optional to share your notes and comments in the survey. 11 respondents shared their experience that this student is not tolerant, doesn't listen, doesn't agree with different opinions and can form an inappropriate opinion about the entire faculty with his behavior. D. Auksinaitė and J. Žukauskas, when conducting the survey and raising this issue in the Student Parliament, seek that Mr. Ivanauskas does not speak on behalf of the entire faculty and conducts activities on his own behalf, and not as a representative of KTF, and to be removed from the VMU Student Parliament.

Before that, during the meeting, Mr. Ivanauskas said that he renounced his duties as a parliamentarian and left the meeting hall

Such a question is an unprecedented case with no practice before it. The student was elected to the parliament after collecting 3 student votes, since there were 3 student seats and 3 willing students in the parliament, all the seats were filled. So now this situation needs to be dealt with individually - that's what Speaker of the Parliament Jonuskaitė said, who passed the question on to Daniel Mačičhin, a member of the Board of VDU SA who attended the meeting as a guest. He commented that the expulsion of a member from Parliament cannot be decided during the first sitting. In such a case, all information regarding the removal of the parliamentarian must be forwarded to the VDU SA Board, which, after considering it, will make recommendations to the Student Parliament during the next meeting. 23 of the assembled parliamentarians approved, 4 opposed, and 1 abstained from transferring the consideration of this issue to the VDU SA Board.

The next parliamentary session is scheduled for May 19.

We invite students to pass on the arising problems to their study program course elders, study program committees or council members of academic departments, student senators and student parliamentarians. These students will be able to raise issues during the meetings.

You can also report any problems to the VMU Student Representative Office by e-mail. by mail info@vdusa.lt.