{"id":5382,"date":"2019-08-30T20:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tembusu.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/?p=5382"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:42:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:42:32","slug":"the-case-for-a-csc-portfolio-without-tww","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/2019\/08\/the-case-for-a-csc-portfolio-without-tww\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case for a CSC Portfolio Without TWW"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editors’ Note: The timeliness of Bach\u2019s article cannot be overstated. This semester\u2019s inaugural dinner was the first with our new Master Dr. Kelvin Pang where he highlighted that structure must be continually addressed if Tembusu College is to remain the Home of Possibilities. Unironically, he also encouraged students to sign up for the College Students Committee (CSC) elections after mentioning of its extension. CSC campaigns began only yesterday, after its postponement due to insufficient sign-ups.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bach argues that the CSC urgently needs an update, and that it can begin with dropping Tembusu Welcome Week from the CSC\u2019s portfolio. Treehouse is proud to feature his article as the first under Tembusu’s new Master.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I will begin with two caveats to my argument. Firstly, I have never been in the College Students Committee (CSC). My viewpoints are only informed by observations and conversations with peers who were in the CSC. Secondly, I am not suggesting that the CSC does not have the capability to run Tembusu Welcome Week (TWW). On the contrary, past iterations of TWW were great successes, both in introducing incoming freshpeople to the college and creating a common platform of interaction for the diverse residents, highlighting the vision and leadership of the current CSC and those before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My position is of concern and sympathy for the CSC. The point\nof this article is to say that, for the CSC\u2019s sake, TWW should not be a\nmandatory item in the CSC portfolio. Traditionally headed by the CSC Vice\nPresident as the Project Director with other CSC members involved as subcommittee\nheads, TWW has always been a big-ticket project that requires much time, energy,\nand effort from every outgoing CSC. This has two detrimental effects: CSC\nmembers experiencing burnout during and after TWW and the resulting limitation of\nother meaningful visions and projects that the CSC can pursue as an elected\nstudent-run body. In the context of increasing competitiveness of Senior\nSelection due to a lowered senior intake (which I argue is a structural problem\nlinked to the lack of vision in the University management), the CSC has been consistently\nunderappreciated by the college management vis-a-vis other student groups\u2014which\nhas led to a lack of interest in CSC positions from students who are prudent with\ntheir college commitments. This demands a reinvention of the CSC. I argue that it\ncan start with dropping TWW from the CSC\u2019s portfolio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I would first like to give the credit due to\ncounterarguments. There are legitimate reasons why the CSC should hold on to\nTWW. Firstly, the CSC is right to understand that its first and foremost role is\nto run student life in Tembusu, and that TWW is an extension of student life,\nespecially since it is where student life is first introduced to the incoming\nstudents. In that sense, the CSC is right to see TWW as its responsibility.\nSecondly, worries about delegating out TWW are founded: college events and\nprojects outsourced to the student body have been poorly run\u2014in particular, the\nTembusu Orientation during the term of the 3rd<\/sup> CSC. As the CSC is an\nelected body, TWW gains accountability when it is run by the CSC, improving its\noversight and quality control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having acknowledged the merits of having the CSC run TWW,\nhere are my thoughts on the alternative. The CSC, as they themselves stated in\nthe Year-in-Review sessions, have been at their maximum capacity. Beyond day to\nday operations, management of subcommittees and respective events (THG, ICG,\nArts Week, e-IHG Welfair, SLI Showcase, etc.), and projects (Yearbook, tShop,\nTuckshop, etc.), the CSC runs big-ticket events such as Open Day and TWW. This\nhas led to burnout in many CSC members whom I talked to. While the pursuit of\nthese events and projects are indeed important to their vision of a vibrant\nstudent life, it limits what else the CSC can do had they not been bogged down\nby such events. Instead, they could have pursued projects such as improving the\nrelationship between the students and the administration, fostering a culture\nof student engagement and activism that has been disappearing from Tembusu, and\nprovided a vision and identity of the college beyond the events organised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do these matter? My conversations with CSC members have\nconfirmed my belief that even with the big-ticket events in their portfolio, the\nCSC is greatly underappreciated by both the college and its students vis-a-vis\nother student-run activities and initiatives considering the effort required.\nIn fact, when I understood the efforts of the CSC in representing the college\nstudents\u2019 interests in matters such as RC representation in NUSSU or Senior\nRetention, I felt bad knowing that most residents only know of the CSC as the\norganizer of TWW. Such an imbalance between effort and recognition and the\nambiguity of what the role of the CSC is beyond operations and event\norganization might have been further reasons for the decreasing interest in\nrunning for the CSC. Furthermore, I do think that the necessary skills in one\u2019s\nrole as a CSC member does not necessarily overlap with the skills required to\norganize events like TWW. The inclusion of TWW might deter those interested in and\nhaving visions for only the former. A reinvention of what it means to be the CSC\nand their roles is needed\u2014a reduction of their job scope and a refocus on bold\nvisions and ideas for the college. There is too little room for cultural change\nwith such a heavy burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is then a viable alternative? It is not something new. Many\nFaculties and Departments have clubs and societies with the role of FOP\/FOC\nProject Director. It is an appointed position via application and interview\nwith the Club\/Society EXCO. The Project Director assesses and selects their FOP\/FOC\nCommittee members, many of whom do not come from the EXCO of the respective\nClub and Society. In Tembusu\u2019s context, the CSC would retain a role in\nselecting the TWW Project Director, setting guidelines, controlling budget\nallocation, and vetting the program. What they should not be involved in are vision\nsetting, planning, and the running of the program. This is not to say that CSC\nmembers cannot run for the different TWW roles if they are willing and capable.\nMoreover, the CSC should take charge of TWW if there are no qualified\ncandidates. This just means that it should never be a mandatory requirement for\nCSC members to run TWW if their heart, vision, and skillset lies in other\naspects of residential life. Granted, the risk that TWW might not have the\nsimilar accountability, oversight, and quality control as before is justified. While\nI definitely cannot give a guarantee for the prevention of the worst-case\nscenario, I do believe that the benefits outweigh the risks, especially since an\noutsourced TWW can prepare earlier, allowing for a better execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, I believe that the 9th<\/sup> CSC has considered\ndelegating projects and events to increase efficiency. There were even considerations\nfor non-CSC members to fulfil the role of TWW Subcommittee heads. However, these\ndid not happen due to their concerns of responsibility and accountability. I\nsuspect that behind the hesitation in dropping TWW from their portfolio is their\ndiagnosis of the lack of recognition of and interest in the CSC from both the\ncollege and the student body. This is highlighted by the creation of a new role\nof Communications Secretary aiming at improving the CSC\u2019s public relations. Furthermore,\nthe CSC seems to attribute the lack of interest from the student body to run\nfor CSC positions to increasing competition from other student-run groups\ndespite their current efforts. This is highlighted by their consideration to forward\nthe election timeline to between late Semester 1 to early Semester 2. It appears\nthat they wish to attract potential leaders before they commit themselves to\nother roles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I sympathize with their sentiments and welcome the new\nrole of Communications Secretary which would be instrumental in reinventing the\nrole of the CSC, I do not agree that it is solely a communication issue. The\ncurrent CSC portfolio, even when properly communicated, is not inspiring. In\nparticular, I argue that TWW overshadows the other legacies of the CSC as it is\nthe platform where residents observe and interact with the CSC members the most,\nwhile not necessarily being the area the CSC contributes the most. Moreover, the\nworkload of the CSC\u2014associated with the sheer number of events it needs to\norganise\u2014is notorious for being draining and non-negotiable, and this does not\nentice prospective candidates, especially those who want to evolve their roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do we go from here? It is not straightforward. I recognize the legitimate concern over the quality of TWW and that I could very well be wrong in my diagnosis of why the CSC remains underappreciated by both the college management and the student body, especially in the low desire to run for elections. However, I do believe that whoever considers (not) running for the CSC should have a more critical view on whether TWW should be shouldered by the CSC. In my view, delegating TWW is a good start to rethink the role of the CSC. It should extend beyond operations and event organization to the creation of a culture of student engagement\u2014which the college direly needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Header and feature images courtesy of tStudios and Tembusu Welcome Week 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the author<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bach is a fourth-year undergraduate majoring in Political Science (do it). He is interested in political movements across the world and is probably secretly planning one at this very moment. If you are confused by his Instagram\/Telegram name, it is actually inspired by one of his childhood idol revolutionaries, Che Guevara. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bach argues that the CSC urgently needs an update, and that it can begin with dropping Tembusu Welcome Week from the CSC\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":5397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","publication_type-op-ed","theme-college-affairs","scope-tembusu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5382"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5409,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5382\/revisions\/5409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}