1. Who are you and why do you want to become president of the student union?
Our 30+ point agenda can be classified into 5 groups of goals: protect those in need (mostly PhD students, check out the 2019 PhD survey for more details), ensure equal opportunities for everyone (foreign students, women, people with special needs), transform the Student Union into something more efficient and more reliant on direct democracy, ensure transparency in terms of grades, regulations and communication, and on various concrete improvement ideas, spanning from Assessment to PhD.
Who I am does not matter much. All I can tell is that I am very motivated to work towards making SHSG greater than ever. I see a lot of room for improvement, and I am confident that we will be able to bring a significant portion of our agenda into fruition.
2. Why should students vote at all, do we even need a student union?
If the Student Union was working as intended, nobody would be asking this question right now, and the voter turnout would have been much higher.
In my opinion, a functional student union needs to have 4 properties: transparency, accessibility, the ability to defend student interests, and the ability to provide meaningful services. At the moment, only the last of the prerequisites is satisfied, to some extent.
The students are not being informed about the dates or the agenda of the parliament meetings. Additionally, very few know how the Student Union is structured and how it works. Therefore, transparency is clearly lacking.
Only a small “political elite”, those that got elected, get to decide on everything. There are no direct democracy processes, not even meetings for the non-elected. Thus, accessibility is also missing.
The student union is unable to defend the interests of the students (see question 8).
As a result, it is not surprising that nobody bothers to vote.
One of the reasons the students should vote in these elections is exactly that: The fact that I intend to reverse this situation, to the best of my abilities. Simultaneously, we have a wide variety of concrete ideas, spanning from Assessment Year to PhD. I believe that there is no student who would not benefit from at least one of them.
3. What will you have achieved in your first 100 days in office?
Depending on the support and opposition we encounter, I intend to prioritize different parts of the agenda. If the composition of the Student Parliament becomes more favorable after the elections in May or September, I will focus on my Student Union reforms at that time. Similarly, if the administration of the PhD Programs is supportive, I will prioritize the PhD-related goals instead. If I discover that the professors are agreeable regarding grading transparency, I will focus on that.
The president is not an omnipotent pharaoh. Success depends on the intentions of other agents, which is an unknown variable. By the end of my term, however, I am confident that we will have turned a significant part of our agenda into reality.
In any case, there are some goals that do not require the involvement of third parties, such as surveys, translations, centralized student platform, improved feedback processes and club census. I promise that I will fulfil at these goals, even if I have to do it by myself.
4. How do you rate the relationship between the city and the university and do you see potential for future ideas and projects?
In my opinion, there is already a very strong connection between the city and the university. From a physical point of view the campus is spread all over St. Gallen, and, if I am not mistaken, there are even plans for further expansion. Additionally, projects such as the SQUARE are mutually beneficial for both students and the local society. Based on the feedback I have received, ensuring a higher supply of dormant rooms could be an idea for future improvement.
5. What was the most shaping experience for you at HSG?
Positive experience: The punctuality, professionalism, and organization I have encountered at courses is awe inspiring. Swiss universities are miles ahead compared to other universities.
Negative experience: The recent mass email incident. I am sure that such opinions are not embraced by the majority, but it is still saddening.
6. You have already published several election videos, including one called “SHSG exposed”. Are there additional things that you consider inappropiate at the university?
- School and Program representatives, as well as senators, not allowed to reveal what is being discussed.
- Unwillingness to translate regulations and documents into English.
- The overall lack of transparency, in many dimensions.
- Unpaid overtime for most PhD students.
- Co-authorship without contribution.
- Unfair (according to ~90% of hundreds of survey participants) fees.
7. You are currently living in Athens. How can you fulfil your mandate as president without being physically present?
There are very few tasks that cannot be completed remotely in 2022. As a representative for Computer Science, Management, PMA, and the Senate, I would argue that I have been able to fulfil my duties with success so far. Whenever offline presence is necessary, the Vice President (Ornella) will happily represent me.
8. In your election program you compare SHSG to a puppet. Would you say that the current SHSG board is a puppet of the university and how will you differ from them in the future?
Before I actually answer the question, there are 2 things that I would like to clarify:
- This was not meant to be an accusation for the current board in particular. It is a general trend that I have been observing since I joined HSG.
- Do not get me wrong, I am not implying that the Student Union should be classing with the professors all the time. Demands should be voiced only when there is a real need.
When it comes to defending the interests of the students, the Student Union is indeed very weak. I see no courage to request higher representation in the senate and at school assemblies, to aggressively gather student signatures to challenge decisions, to speak publicly about problems, or to voice any demand in general.
Simultaneously, I sense a lack of motivation to share power with the non-elected students. “Bringing the Student Union closer to the students” is a cliché that I have been hearing for years, but the reality is totally contradicting. Why don’t we introduce direct democracy processes then, if we want to make the students engaged? Why don’t we centralize the feedback mechanisms? Why don’t we announce the dates and the agendas of the parliament meetings to the public? That concentration of power to a small “elite” weakens the Student Union.
If I get elected, I will do the exact opposite: Give the power back to the average non-elected student via means of direct democracy, and then use public support to pressure the university for much needed changes.
9. Your opponent is currently Vice-President. Do you think the SHSG needs a fundamental change?
As already mentioned, I strongly believe that many things need to change, in terms of transparency, feedback processes, voting rights and even transfer of knowledge. We also need more ambition and concrete goals.
But there is also something else that needs to fundamentally change: We need to get rid of the “vote for your friend” mentality. Scheduling elections with no debates, public speeches and advertising prohibits the exchange of ideas, and heavily favors the candidates with the most connections. Everything is too superficial.
Lastly, I believe that more emphasis should be put on the needs of often neglected groups, such as PhD and foreign students.
10. Is there anything else you would like to mention?
I would like to express my deep disappointment regarding the email incident once again. However, I would also like to point out that I am sure that the opposing candidates were not involved in that. They are much better than this.
Not accepting a debate is the complaint I have from their side.
Orestis will be available to meet during the week on teams from 11 am – 2 pm and 6 pm -7 pm