Since 2020, the UST College of Nursing has never seen a complete slate of candidates in the Nursing Central Board of Students (NCBS), which marks the second consecutive time this year.
On March 21, 2022, the UST Nursing COMELEC announced the official list of candidates on their Facebook page which only consisted of three prospects namely Charles Hezekiah Importante for president, Nicole Christiane Olvido for vice president, and Sebastian Dela Fuente for secretary, with Dela Fuente being the only candidate endorsed by a political party and all running unopposed.
Binuklod ng Isip Sipag at Galing (BISIG) is the sole recognized party as per Nursing COMELEC Chairperson Jaimie Co as they were the only party who complied with the given deadline.
Co supposes that the shift of the mode of learning may have been a factor in the decline in student council aspirants. “The situation kasi now is different. Syempre different mode of learning, so students have different ways to adapt. May ibang students na hirap mag-adapt since iba-iba ng circumstance, so kahit gusto nila mag-run for candidacy or mag-join ng organizations, they don't kasi iba focus nila,” Co said to The Nursing Journal.
In addition to this, Co speculates that the burden of the academic load of nursing students and the time and effort required to become a student council member may seem unappetizing to nursing students. “Syempre priority padin nila yung studies nila…Being part of the council or any organization requires commitment, time, and energy and maybe some students are just not ready for that,” Co adds.
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