OUSA

Hello everyone,

My name is Chris, and I am pleased to officially have taken over as one of two Queen’s representatives to the OUSA Steering Committee. This past year was incredibly successful for OUSA and our partners in the post-secondary sector, and I look forward to continuing that trend as we move forward together. My hope is to continue working with organizations who share our vision for an accessible post-secondary system that sets the standard for quality throughout the world. As a member of Steering Committee, I’m specifically interested in researching alternate cost-recovery models and how they can be applied to the Ontarian context, systemic barriers to post-secondary education and how they can be overcome, and early outreach to groups historically disenfranchised by post-secondary education. I look forward to meeting and working with many of you over the coming year on these and other issues as they arise.

Cheers,

Chris Rudnicki
Vice-President (University Affairs)
Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University

Hello world of OUSA and the PSE sector! My name is Nick Soave and I am the new Vice President Education for the Federation of Students at the University of Waterloo. I have “recently” graduated, my convocation actually occurs on June 16^th , with a degree in Geography and Environmental Management. I have a strong passion for the environment and I will always enjoying driving through the countryside and pointing out meandering rivers and oxbows. I also have a very strong passion for education and how we can continue improve the ever-changing system we have in Ontario.

Some of my priorities for the upcoming year are aligned with student success and more specifically Teaching Quality. Access has been a main focus of the province for years now and all students should be grateful for what has come from that focus on access. Now attention needs to be paid to the quality of the education that our students are receiving. In my opinion the core of a quality education is the ability of professors and lecturers to effectively pass their wealth of knowledge to their students.

I am excited for the year ahead and I think this year can be a great year for the post secondary sector in Ontario. I am looking forward to work with the steering committee and building some great friendships!

-Nick Soave
Vice President Education
University of Waterloo Federation of Students

TORONTO, June 3 /CNW/ – Undergraduate students across Canada are shockingly ill-equipped and uninformed when it comes to navigating our financial aid system, says a report released today by a partnership of student alliances from across Canada. The report, entitled “The Illiteracy of the Literate: The Lack of Financial Aid Knowledge among Canadian University Students,” is based on a survey of over 20,000 students, half of them from Ontario, and examines the financial aid literacy of borrowers and non-borrowers alike.

Results indicate that 75% of students, including 54% of upper-year government loan recipients, failed the financial aid literacy test posed in the survey. Students most often cited parents and friends as their primary source of financial aid information, yet these students also had the lowest test scores.

“It is clear that thousands of Ontario students are unaware of the aid that is available and are unprepared to handle the significant debt they incur,” said Meaghan Coker, President of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA). “Our overcomplicated financial aid system is failing these students.”

The report also describes a number of the consequences that stem from poor financial aid literacy. Roughly one in five students who identified as debt-averse were unaware that it was possible to receive a grant without taking out a loan. Of fifth-year students who thought they would not quality for a loan, 71% were unaware that their parental income would not be taken into account. Furthermore, 57% of government loan recipients risk paying hundreds of dollars in additional interest because they did not know that interest on their Canada Student Loan begins to accrue immediately upon graduation.

“We urge the government to incorporate comprehensive financial aid literacy into the high school curriculum to educate students on the financial aid available to them,” said Alexi White, OUSA Executive Director. “No student should graduate from an Ontario high school without a firm understanding of the support available in pursuing higher education.”

The Canadian Student Survey was a bilingual, multi-institutional survey conducted on university campuses across the country in the fall term of the 2009-10 academic year. It was commissioned by a partnership of student alliances across the country, including the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS) and Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA).

A copy of the report can be accessed at www.ousa.ca/

OUSA represents the interests of over 140,000 professional and undergraduate, full- and part-time university students at seven Ontario institutions.

-30-

For further information: or to arrange an interview, please contact Alvin Tedjo, Director of Communications & Public Relations. Office: (416) 341-9948, Cell: (647) 669-6885, Email: communications@ousa.on.ca

VIEW NEWSLETTER

After a dynamic transition conference week at OUSA, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance is ready to take on another year, with eight motivated Steering Committee members and a new Executive.

I am pleased to have been elected President for the 2010-2011 year and inspired to be working with such talented student leaders from across our OUSA member student associations.

I want to extend my sincere appreciation and congratulations to the outgoing President Dan Moulton, the supporting Executive, and Steering Committee. The leadership you provided and the achievements you worked for this past year have carved a path for us to follow and have truly made a difference in the lives of students across Ontario.

Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to the guest speakers who presented at the OUSA Transition Conference this past week, including representatives from the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, the Council of Ontario Universities, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, and the College Student Alliance. Your dedication and contribution is appreciated.

This upcoming year holds much promise. Over the next twelve months, we will have the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing discussions on issues including quality enhancements, improving teaching and learning, implementing the Province’s internationalization strategy, and expanding early outreach initiatives in Ontario. I am very enthused about the potential for this upcoming year to engage with our membership and partners in the sector and continue to explore our shared vision for an accessible, affordable, accountable and high-quality post-secondary education in Ontario.

-Meaghan Coker