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Professors get dunked — Page 5
Hall election debacle NTU’s Pioneer Hall just barely manages to fill key positions, after swift intervention to avoid leadership vacuum Aqil Haziq Louisa Tang News
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ioneer Hall of Residence narrowly averted a student leadership crisis, when two rounds of elections failed to fill key positions in their inaugural Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC). In both the hall’s main and byelections, candidates failed to garner enough votes to secure their positions. This prompted the hall’s Faculty-in-Residence (FiR) committee to call for an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) on 7 Oct to address the electoral issues.
Fine margins
During Pioneer Hall’s main election on 16 Sep, 215 of its 581 residents cast their votes. While there was only one candidate each running for the positions of President and Vice-President, they both received only 64 per cent of the valid votes. Meanwhile, the sole candidate for the Academic Services Director position received 66 per cent of the valid votes. All three failed to meet the 66.7 per cent voting majority required to be elected into office. The position of Recreation Director was also left vacant after its sole candidate withdrew before the election.
Blanks again
A by-election was subsequently held on 22 Sep, with candidates for all four positions, except Recreation Director, running uncontested. However, the by-election results were rendered invalid because only 107 voters turned up. This figure did not meet the minimum threshold of 150 votes for the position of President, and 120 votes for other positions. Pioneer Hall resident Barry Tay, 21, felt that the low turnout could have been due to the “improper dissemination of information”. “Many residents didn’t know that the elections were going on. They didn’t know when the rally was happening, and because of that they didn’t know when the voting was going to take place,” said the first-year student from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). Leong Kah Mun, 19, a first-year student from the Wee Kim Wee
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: This timeline charts the unprecendented events that occurred during the election process at Pioneer Hall.
School of Communication and Information, said: “I expected that people wouldn’t be so active, especially since we’re the first two halls where the majority of the rooms consist of single rooms, so I came here with the notion that people preferred to do their own stuff instead of participating actively in hall activities.”
A compromise
At the EGM, which all residents were required to attend, one of Pioneer Hall’s FiRs, Dr Sze Chun Chau, pointed out the need to have a proper student management structure in place. The Nanyang Chronicle understands that Dr Sze had explained that the President had to be voted in by the residents rather than appointed by the FiRs. This would ensure that he or she earns the right to have the final say on financial
“Many residents didn’t know that the elections were going on. They didn’t know when the rally was happening, and because of that they didn’t know when the voting was going to take place.” Barry Tay, 21 First-year student School of Humanities and Social Sciences
matters, such as the hall budget. With that, a motion to lower the voting majority requirement from 66.7 to 65 per cent was raised. A total of 359 residents turned up to vote, and the motion was passed with 90.2 per cent voting in favour. This enabled the four candidates to be elected into each of the vacant positions. While the new voting majority requirement of 65 per cent was still higher than the 64.1 per cent that both the President and Vice-President-elects received, the Chronicle was unable to ascertain the reason for this discrepancy by press time.
An unexpected exit
However, the election saga did not end there. Just five days after the EGM, on 12 Oct, Pioneer Hall residents received an email from Senior FiR Associate Professor Christopher Shearwood, announcing that he was “asked to leave the hall with immediate effect”. “The University management and my team here at Pioneer Hall have expressed their lack of confidence in my leadership. “A number of reasons were presented to me but they mostly relate to the fiasco with the elections. I am extremely surprised and shocked by their decision especially since I have not done anything wrong,” said Assoc Prof Shearwood, in a copy of the email obtained by the Chronicle. Assoc Prof Shearwood’s sudden departure left a number of Pioneer Hall residents feeling stunned and
“I expected that people wouldn’t be so active ... so I came here with the notion that people preferred to do their own stuff instead of participating actively in hall activities.” Leong Kah Mun, 19 First-year student Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
confused. Kimberly Wong, 19, a first-year student from HSS, said: “I don’t think it’s his fault, he sent multiple emails to get people to vote. It’s not like he sat back and did nothing.” Others praised Assoc Prof Shearwood’s generous and affable nature as a Senior FiR. Ng Wee Tong, 22, a first-year student from the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, said: “He even donated a boxing bag to our gym.” Zheng Hui Jun, 19, a first-year student from the Nanyang Business School, said: “He really took the initiative to speak and interact with us.” In an email to Pioneer Hall residents sent two days later, Senior Associate Provost Kam Chan Hin said: “Associate Provost Kwok Kian Woon and I had a discussion with Assoc Prof Shearwood who has agreed that he will relinquish his appointment as Senior Faculty-in-
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Residence with immediate effect and that he will no longer be involved in Pioneer Hall. “This is to enable Assoc Prof Shearwood to better focus on his other university duties, especially his contributions to the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering — where he is an exemplary teacher and also the recipient of a new research grant. “I would also like to personally thank Assoc Prof Christopher Shearwood for having served as Senior Faculty-in-Residence during the start-up phase of Pioneer Hall.” Assoc Prof Shearwood declined further comment on the matter when approached by the Chronicle.
Moving forward
While Prof Kam acknowledged the teething problems which had surrounded Pioneer Hall’s election processes, he said that it had “galvanised” its residents and created many opportunities for learning and exercising leadership. He added that the current Pioneer Hall FiRs will work closely with their “new members in due course” to improve the experience of living on campus for current and future residents. However, some residents were still puzzled over the circumstances surrounding Assoc Prof Shearwood’s departure, and they hoped that in time, more information will be shared. “They (the Hall FiRs) didn’t disclose what happened and just wanted us to move on,” Zheng said.