OUSA

Released by the Canadian Press story in this CTV article HERE, the McGuinty government will announce in their Throne speech a renewed emphasis on post-secondary education. The premier said, “about 62 per cent of Ontarians go to college or university, but 70 per cent of new jobs demand post-secondary education,” a fact that OUSA has been advocating on for a renewed investment in the post-secondary system to allow greater access for potential students to reach higher education.

The speech is also expected to include an renewed emphasis on international students, adding, “why don’t we get serious about competing for international students? We could use the funds this generates to help expand our schools for our kids and create jobs.” In OUSA’s recent report Ontario’s Knowledge Economy: The Economic Impact of Post-Secondary Education, OUSA outlines how an investment in higher education creates jobs and supports communities. OUSA hopes that the Ontario government follows through with these recommendations to boost education investments to support and stimulate the economy while helping out students.

-Alvin Tedjo
Director of Communications & Public Relations
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

Today is my last day working for the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, OUSA. It’s funny, when I started here I knew the name and a bit of what was done here, but really had no idea the breadth and depth of issues that were dealt with on a daily basis. More importantly (in my opinion), I wasn’t prepared for the passion and dedication student leaders and staff had for making a real difference in the lives of all of Ontario’s undergraduate students. For the past 19 months I have had the privilege of working in this environment every day, and let me tell you, it’s been fantastic.

As I listen to 80s power ballads (via The Cult), I consider all of the hard work I’ve seen over the past couple of years. Shortly after I began statistics Canada released data which showed that Ontario students would soon pay the highest tuition in the country. Our organization moved fully into external relations mode, advocating loudly for the continued accessibility and affordability of the system. In interview after interview, our then President, Trevor Mayoh, reminded reports and the provincial government that the future prosperity of Ontario and Canada relied on making post-secondary education more accessible, and tuition rises of 5% a year were not going to do that.

This was just one of the many issues we tackled in my first six months on the job, and with each one, I became more and more impressed with the way OUSA did business.

And then the recession hit…

Suddenly, the whole sector, or really the whole world, went into damage control mode. But this didn’t stop us from advocating strongly for the issues students face every day like inadequate student assistance, lagging student services, or an ever deteriorating student experience. This year, under the leadership of Dan Moulton and a new Executive Director Alexi White, we redoubled our efforts and swung into high gear. We produced a 40 page document outlining our vision for the future of post-secondary education in Ontario. We then produced an important piece outlining the multitude of ways that higher education stimulates and supports our economy. We took every meeting we could get, seeing over 60 Mpp’s during our annual lobby conference not to mention a host of deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers.

iTunes just kicked into “Love Removal Machine” and it seems an apt place to end. Let me say to all the OUSA members out there, if you ever wonder how hard your steering committee and home office work for you, just ask me. If you ever wonder what motivates your student leaders, I can easily say, without a doubt, that they fight only to make Ontario’s PSE system and your individual campus better for all students.

It has been my pleasure to serve 140,000 students in their endeavour to create a more accessible, affordable, accountable, high quality post-secondary education system. While it is time for me to move on, I leave OUSA with a hundred wonderful memories and a huge amount of hard work under my belt.

All that is left is to say….

Thank you.

Paul Bien
Former Director of Research and Policy Analysis

BUSU is on Reading Week right now, so I’ve taken the opportunity to migrate across the country to that big sporting event captivating the world’s attention. I’m at the Olympics, and right now blogging on my return trip from Cypress Mountain and the women’s ski-cross race.

I type because I can’t speak, there’s no voice left. I’m proud to say that the first ever women’s ski-cross gold medal, won by Ashleigh McIvor, happened due to a combination of training, hard work, dedication, and me wearing my OUSA hoodie underneath my Canada jersey to the event.

Media sources tell me that if I would have worn my OUSA hoodie to the ladies 1500m speedskating on Sunday, my first event, that we would have come away with a gold instead of silver. My other event so far, our womens hockey victory over Finland in the semifinals, also guaranteed us a medal. So far I’m 3 for 3 in the medal count. I don’t want to predict anything, but watch out for bobsleigh Wednesday, Short Track Friday and Curling gold Saturday.

I also had a media interview out here. My first non-PSE interview in quite awhile. 680 News radio station out of Toronto found me by the Olympic cauldron to ask some of my thoughts as a tourist.

I have kept up the education theme, however. I’ve been to campuses of Kwantlen, Simon Fraser, UBC and Capilano already. Does that mean I can write this trip off as a business expense???

Either way, Go Canada Go! I’ll be back in Ontario refreshed and ready to lobby after my last (and best ever) Reading Week finishes up.

Rob Lanteigne
Vice President University Affairs
Brock University Students’ Union

I talked about focus groups LAST WEEK, OUSA’s first foray into primary research, and gave some hints about the depth of valuable information that was gleaned from the 40 or so students I met and talked to during the first semester.  As I said before, the topics covered were student financial aid and student services, and focus groups were held at three universities: Brock, McMaster and Laurier.

Today, highlights from the report on these groups become available on this very website.  This slideshow is a look at some of the most important findings from the focus groups, the implications these findings have on both OUSA and the PSE sector at large, and finally some recommendations that OUSA and others might be interested in considering moving forward. Take a look at the slide deck HERE.

From my perspective, the focus groups were not only a huge success, but have also provided us with some new and unique perspectives that will help OUSA do even better work in the future.  For example, in each group I heard students talk about their specific circumstances and how little OSAP was able to accommodate them.  Students explained that their parents weren’t contributing to the costs of their education, but because of parental income requirements they were unable to get much money in a government loan.  One student explained that they had a sibling with special needs, and thus while their parents had enough money “on paper” to support them, their actual ability to provide funds for school was very limited.

This kind of information allows OUSA to better understand the nuances of larger issues and discover details about programs we may not already be aware of.  In this way, I was able to get a feel not only for how OSAP or student services worked in theory, but what their actual impacts were on everyday students.

There is so much more to say and report here, but I’ll save you all from reading it twice, and simply suggest that you go take a look at the presentation I’ve prepared.  If you’d like more information, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Paul S. Bien
Director of Research and Policy Analysis
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

The students of Ontario would like to congratulate to Tessa Virtue, a first-year psychology student at the University of Windsor on her Gold Medal at the Vancouver Olympics with fellow Ontarian Scott Moir. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from London, Ontario, completed the free skate last night with a near perfect score to capture the Gold in the figure skating ice dance. They represent Canada’s first gold medal in the event. Your alma mater and fellow students in the province are very proud of you. Congratulations!

In a report released yesterday, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce recommended improving Canada’s high education system to deal with looming labour shortages.

“An affordable, accessible and high quality post-secondary education system is key to ensuring a large and growing pool of skilled and knowledgeable workers to meet future labour market needs,” wrote Chief Economist Tina Kremmidas.

While the recession has diverted attention from the labour shortage issue, Canada’s low birth rates and an ageing population will soon catch up with us.

“We will have too few workers to meet the needs of our economy and of society. Thus, we must do everything possible to tap into the pool of underutilized talent – older workers, Aboriginal peoples, the disabled and recently landed immigrants.”

The report echoes what OUSA has long affirmed – that increasing post-secondary graduation rates for Canadians from these traditionally underrepresented groups will be critical to reducing the coming labour shortage. Canada’s disappointing university participation rates show there is room to improve.

“In 2006, Canada sat 20th among OECD nations in the proportion of youth enrolled full-time in university soon after completing secondary school. For First Nations, Métis, Inuit and the disabled, post-secondary education participation rates continue to be very low. Canada needs to do more to ensure affordable access to a high-quality education for them.”

With this report, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has added itself to the list of organizations outside the post-secondary sector that have recently called on the provincial and federal governments to improve access and participation, including the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and the Ontario Association of Food Banks.

View the full report HERE.

-Alexi White
Executive Director
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

Our very own Paul Bien, the Director of Research and Policy Analysis is leaving OUSA… *tear*… Paul recently accepted a position as a policy advisory for the Minister of Education, and his last day at OUSA is this Friday, February 26th.

Paul has been working for students since 2008 as a bright-eyed eager young-lad looking to make a difference. Over the course of his time at OUSA, Paul has led the writing for two budget submissions, a post-reaching higher document, our knowledge economy document, updated countless policies in our Solutions document, and coordinated students in writing numerous OUSA policy papers over 4 general assemblies. Paul has been an integral part of the OUSA team, especially during our Partners Dinner, transition, lobby and strategic planning conferences. In a small office with a small team its important to work as a team and Paul has been an essential part of this team and we will miss him.

To read the submissions mentioned CLICK HERE.

If you are interested in becoming the new Paul (Director of Research and Policy Analysis) CLICK HERE for the job posting.

Best of luck Paul!

Bye Paul!

LINK to Charity Village Job Posting

POSITION: Director of Research and Policy Analysis

STATUS: Position is 40 hours per week with the requirement to work some evening and weekends.

START DATE: Successful candidate will be provided with a short transition period in April and will assume full responsibility for the organization in May.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 5:00PM on Friday March 12, 2010

GENERAL SCOPE OF DUTIES
The Director of Research and Policy Analysis, herein known as the Director, is responsible for overseeing or personally completing the research and policy activities of the organization.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Director is responsible for the following deliverables:
• research papers and research studies;
• policy papers and statements;
• submissions to government;
• response papers for government announcements;
• briefing documents on new research and policy in the sector
• building and maintaining relationships with other researchers; and
• the in-house policy and research library.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
• graduate or professional level degree or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• familiarity with various word-processing and spreadsheet software;
• excellent research, qualitative and quantitative analysis skills;
• excellent organization skills;
• familiarity with research methods, academic integrity, and proper citation;
• background or relevant experience in post-secondary education realm;
• ability to work independently and within a team environment;
• excellent personal initiative and strong work ethic
• ability to work effectively and efficiently under pressure; and
• knowledge of OUSA’s structure and internal operations.

While OUSA is a professional organization, it is intimately connected with university students.  This youthful attitude transfers into a highly charged and passionate workplace that creates a unique opportunity for both satisfying and creative work.  OUSA makes every effort to reward employees with both a relaxing and exciting environment and a job that gives them the chance to build and develop their skills. If you would like a full copy of the job description, please e-mail hr@ousa.on.ca

Please send resume and cover letter via e-mail to:

Dan Moulton, President

e-mail: hr@ousa.on.ca

Good morning post-secondary aficionados! I am pleased to announce that the newly elected AMS Executive has hired a phenomenal 6’7 young man as their Incoming Academic Affairs Commissioner. Kieran Slobodin hails from the Yukon and will no doubt do a phenomenal job as Commissioner and Steering Committee member next year.

In other Queens’ news; the AMS held a Symposium on Tuesday to engage student leaders in relevant discussions on the future of their undergraduate academic experience. Principal Daniel Woolf attended and spoke about his Vision Document “Where Next? Towards an Academic Plan” and our very own Alexi White sat as a panelist. It was a very successful event and I really think we had excellent discussions on topics ranging from “e-learning” to “teaching space” to “tuition and access to education.”

Woo. Spring Break!

Susannah Gouinlock
Academic Affairs Commissioner
Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University

On February 16th the Queen’s Alma Mater Society held an academic symposium in collaboration with the Principal. The goal of the session was to engage students with the academic planning process. There was a panel discussion with a faculty member, a representative from the centre for teaching and learning, Principal Woolf, and OUSA’s very own Alexi White. Some of the topics included access, teaching quality, and potential differentiation as a result of lack of funding. After the panel discussion, we broke into groups to discuss some of the other issues facing post secondary education. Bringing research into the classroom was my personal favorite, but tuition and barriers to access was a close second. I applaud Principal Woolf for his continued efforts to engage the Queen’s community in the academic planning process, and especially for striving to include students. Hopefully the collegial nature of this project continues as Queen’s is forced to adapt to the lack of government funding. Many thanks go out to fellow OUSA steering committee member Susannah Gouinlock for organizing the symposium, it was a smashing success.

Adam Zabrodski
Vice-President (University Affairs)
Queen’s University Alma Mater Society