OUSA

Post-secondary education (PSE) is primarily a provincial responsibility; however, the federal government has a considerable amount of direct and indirect influence on PSE in Ontario and across the country. This is why many student unions have opted to join the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA). CASA is an alliance of student associations from across Canada which promotes the interests of post-secondary students to the federal government. Most of the student associations in Ontario that are a part of OUSA are also a part of CASA.

This year I was elected to represent Ontario on the regional board of CASA. I was further elected by the regional board as the secretary of CASA.  I will be acting as the voice of Ontario on this board and ensuring that OUSA and CASA continue to have a healthy relationship over the next year. The upcoming year will be a very important year for OUSA-CASA relations especially with the idea of a formal tie between the two organizations looming in the air.

OUSA and CASA have traditionally had a great relationship.  For many years CASA and OUSA have been part of a larger partnership of provincial student alliances from across Canada which come together once a year to share ideas and find synergies in promoting student interests to the federal or provincial governments. This has been a very fruitful relationship for all of the student alliances involved, especially when it comes to sharing best practices on how to improve our provincial student alliances to better promote the interests of students across the country.

Last year OUSA and CASA adopted the principles of an open letter that suggested the idea of making our loose partnership between provincial student alliances into a formal partnership that directly ties these provincial alliances with CASA. This would mean that CASA would no longer be driven by individual students’ unions from all over Canada but would instead be driven by provincial student alliances in a federated structure.

OUSA’s counterparts in other provinces have agreed to entertain the idea of a federated structure of CASA. The partnership will be coming together in Ottawa between August 16^th and 17^th in their first meeting on the topic to discuss the feasibility of this partnership idea.

Whatever comes out of this year’s partners conference, OUSA and CASA will continue to have strong ties and work together to promote the interests of students both at the federal and provincial levels of government.

Daud Grewal
VP University Affairs
Brock University Students’ Union

There are many questions that a student must ask themselves when deciding what to do after high school. There are the common questions like “Do I want to take a year off?” or “Do I want to go to college or university?”  A lot of students will ask themselves “How do I plan on paying for this?”  Others will stress more about living with a roommate.  While details are important when deciding on one’s post-secondary path, the idyllic question should be, “What do I want to be when I grow up?”

That’s what Early Outreach is about: engaging youth in informative dialogue about what they want to do in life and about which post secondary options will help them reach their goals.  To effectively have this dialogue, students need to be well informed about everything from entrance requirements, program options, financial aid, and academic expectations.  This process must start early – a Council of Ontario Universities study found that 73% of students make the decision to attend university before the age of 15 and 35% of students decide before the age of nine – and should involve high schools, parents, and the community.

One in three students has decided that they are going to university or an equivalent before they’ve finished Grade Six.  So what influences this early decision?  Most of these factors should not be a surprise – parental education, perceived value of education in the family, ethnicity, financial background, and even proximity are all reasons why a student may not pursue post-secondary education.

These influences, among others, are what Early Outreach programs attempt to address.  And current programs are showing signs of success.  Pathways to Education, a program that focuses on tutoring, mentoring, counseling, and financing has shown a 65% reduction in absenteeism and boasts an impressive 98% retention.  Success is also being noted with dual credit programs that give high school students a chance to earn both a high school credit and college credit. However, there are lacking areas, and it is those areas that OUSA’s upcoming Early Outreach Policy Paper will address.

The purpose of Early Outreach can be misconstrued as an attempt to increase enrollment and fill empty seats. It’s not; it’s about helping students reach their goals by making them aware of which pathways will get them there.  No student should be told that, because their parents didn’t go to university, they can’t be an astronaut.  Early Outreach is about getting students to where they want to be and removing barriers in their way.

Kieran Slobodin
Academic Affairs Commissioner
The Alma Mater Society, Queen’s University

In the fifteen months since I first became involved with OUSA, I have been given many valuable opportunities to lobby both local university administrators and provincial politicians, as well as bring our message to the attention of various
media outlets. As I will be graduating with a degree in Communication Studies, I have found both aspects of our political engagement to be fascinating and rewarding due to my being able to put to use skills only recently acquired.

While my personal experience with lobbying has been relatively limited – outside of OUSA’s own “LobbyCon”, my time has been spent mainly on campus – I find that I have been able to connect with media outlets on a regular basis. I suspect that this has happened for two broad reasons.

Firstly, I was lucky to have a chance to work with local media outlets before entering my two terms in university student politics. By having learned such basics as how to write an effective press release and what makes for an interesting news story (e.g. human interest stories and stories with a local angle), I put my skills to use when our campus community radio station (“CJAM-FM”) came under threat by an American private broadcaster. Happily, these skills have been equally useful when it comes to inviting outlets ranging from campus newspapers to the CBC to cover stories relating to OUSA. This leads me to my second reason.

Media outlets at all levels and across all mediums have been a pleasure to work with, and I suspect that our preparedness and professional conduct contribute to these positive working relationships. When I have submitted a press release to any outlet (this has been common to print, radio and television), I have always attempted to state clearly why an upcoming event matters, how it will affect the consumers of this particular medium and so forth. Of course, it is also wise to make as concise as possible any submission, as people operating under strict deadlines will not have the time to read anything longer than one page. Lastly, I have also found it helpful to avoid the use of all technical jargon.

For these reasons, I have been able to help communicate our various messages to tens of thousands of listeners, readers and viewers who in turn are now aware of OUSA’s educated solutions!

-Robert Woodrich
Vice President University Affairs
University of Windsor Students’ Alliance

Non-tuition ancillary fees have become an embedded part of the cost of university. Along with tuition, every student can expect to pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in additional fees. Unfortunately, most students are uneducated, if not oblivious, to these costs and what they provide.

Ancillary fees, as defined by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, are “fees that are levied in order to cover the cost of items that are not normally paid for out of operating or capital revenue.” Prior to 1994, the fees could be put in place by the universities to provide for the cost of various expenditures. Following that year, the power to set ancillary fees fell to the student governments and currently cannot be levied or collected without their permission. This is normally decided through student run referenda. Gaining the ability to become the sole decision makers on which fee would be imposed upon them was a major victory for students and their governments. While OUSA applauds the fact that students have this control over the additional fees, some concerns remain.

The most important point of apprehension is that when the cost of ancillary fees are added to the already high price of tuition, it may force some to rethink or even discount, the thought of attending post-secondary education. Even though students vote on the implementation of these fees, a significant proportion is not administered by the student government, they flow directly to the universities. This raises the fear that institutions are beginning to view ancillary fees are an alternative source of operating revenue.

OUSA has been carrying the standard on ancillary fees for some time and while these concerns are not new, they will continue to be addressed. OUSA was responsible for the creation of the framework for legislation that limited ancillary fee increases and rested decision making in the hands of students. Working on this issue has been important for our organization. This coming year, the OUSA policy on non-tuition ancillary fees will be updated as we maintain our commitment to representing students.

-Joe Finkle
MSU VP Education
OUSA VP Administration

One of OUSA’s foundational pillars of advocacy is accessibility for all those willing and able to attend undergraduate education in Ontario. This includes a commitment to lobbying for the removal of barriers of access to education for groups underrepresented in the post-secondary system. Historically, we have carried out this commitment by writing and implementing policy such as our Early Outreach and Rural and Northern Students papers, and I am excited to announce that we will be continuing this pledge by preparing a policy paper on Aboriginal students for our winter general assembly.

At our last AGM, we had a heated debate over whether or not to call on the federal government to restore funding to the First Nations University of Canada. The main point of contention centred around OUSA’s lack of policy specifically relating to indigenous pedagogy in Canada and North America, and it quickly became clear that this year’s steering committee would need to fill the gap. At our recent strategic planning conference, I eagerly volunteered to take the lead on a paper that would address these concerns.

In the months ahead, I will be conducting a survey of current programs and policy focusing on Aboriginal students and Ontario undergraduate education. My priority will be to listen to the experiences of Aboriginal students and incorporate their perspectives into the paper. Ultimately, my goal will be to produce a piece of policy for OUSA that will recognize social inequity and offer concrete and tangible solutions for adoption by the provincial government.

Chris Rudnicki
AMS Vice-President (University Affairs)

Hello all! I hope that everyone’s summer has been going well and that you have been able to make the most of the great weather we have had lately. Today I’m going to speak briefly about the OUSA’s finances and some of our financial oversight procedures.

As you may know, OUSA is funded almost solely by the $2.68 for each full-time equivalent student enrolled at our member institutions. Therefore, ensuring financial accountability is of utmost importance. Since our membership changes annually, we operate on a yearly budget cycle from May – April. The budget also attempts to break even and historically we usually come very close.

In order to guarantee student dollars are being spent appropriately there is significant monitoring and oversight of the budgeting process by a number of individuals including but not limited to the Executive Director, accountant, Steering Committee, General Assembly, our Auditors and of course, myself. The budget is usually set by Steering Committee during the summer, however, that is only the first step towards assuring accountability.

As the budget is just a plan for the year, Steering Committee, General Assembly delegates and I will see financial updates throughout the year to make sure that we are spending in accordance with what was planned. If there are any discrepancies, if we are spending too little or too much, which could be due to a variety of reasons, than Steering Committee might find it appropriate to amend our budget.

Due to a change in OUSA operational policies, this year 80% of the membership fees will be collected up front. This means that for a few months time we will most likely have a significant amount of money available for the possibility of short-term investments. I am currently investigating the different low-risk and principally acceptable options we have and a report will be brought to Steering Committee soon.

Well that’s all for me this time around. Until next time, stay classy Blogosphere!

Saad Aslam
WLUSU Vice President University Affairs
OUSA Vice President Finance

Nine months ago, in OUSA’s submission to the special secretariat charged with developing a new long-term plan for post-secondary education in Ontario, students predicted that support services would feel the brunt of the impending budget cuts, warning that these programs “often lack the adequate and reliable funding needed to sustain them year after year, especially when universities are tightening their belts.”

Last week, I was saddened to see our prediction become reality at my own university. As part of an effort to cut $27.5 million in expenses, the University of Windsor fired three staff in our Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), bringing the total number of staff layoffs to five.

The CTL is a vital part of my university. The centre works tirelessly to provide professional development for faculty, to promote innovation in teaching, to celebrate those who excel in this field, and, more generally, to enhance learning for everyone at the University of Windsor. Moreover, with teaching already taking a back seat to research at universities across Ontario, these Centres are absolutely critical to reversing this trend. While recognizing the extreme financial pressure that my university administration is under, recent events seem to indicate that my own institution is not placing enough emphasis on a high-quality learning environment for its students.

That said, the root of our budget woes can be traced back to insufficient funding from the provincial government for these support services. While millions in new operating grants have been added to the system, this money has not kept pace with increasing enrollments and inflationary pressures. Ontario still ranks near the bottom in per-student funding and right at the top in tuition fees.

Equally frustrating is the government’s hesitation to direct funding to where students need it. Decades of research indicate that the passive lecture style of teaching is inferior to the active and collaborative learning pedagogies that our CTL works to promote. Again, OUSA recommended nine months ago that funding be “designated by the provincial government to found and maintain instructional support programs to encourage innovation in teaching and provide ongoing professional development for Ontario’s post-secondary educators.” Beyond support for teaching, OUSA has recommended that many student services require dedicated funding, including personal and academic counselling, child care, aboriginal resources, international student services, and career support.

Students will continue to recommend that funding be designated to specific support services to ensure that these vital resources are protected and strengthened. The question is what state will these services be in when the funding arrives?

Robert Woodrich
UWSA VP University Affairs

Yesterday, the OUSA Executive and Home Office staff attended a joint meeting of students and textbook publishers, hosted by the Canadian Publishers’ Council. Representatives from the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA), College Student Alliance (CSA), and publishing firms including Wiley, Nelson, Elsevier Canada, Pearson and McGraw-Hill were in attendance. The Canadian Publishers’ Council (CPC) is Canada’s main English language book publishing trade association.

We began with a review of the textbook publishing process and a discussion of recent trends in the industry. For instance, it was reported that the trend of ‘bundling’ academic materials – the packaging of textbooks with their counterpart materials – is declining as students and professors want more flexibility. To address the issue of textbook costs, a presentation was given on the general breakdown of the price of a textbook, including 30 – 40% to editorial work, 20 – 25% to sales, marketing, and administration, 10 – 15% for author royalties, and 20 – 30% stemming from bookstore costs and mark-ups.

It was also indicated that greater sums are being invested into the development of faculty tools and instructor support, including lesson plans, test banks, and presentation materials, because there is an increasing demand for these add-ons. As faculty workloads increase and more sessional lecturers are hired with little time to prepare their own materials, what was once work paid for through tuition fees and government grants is being outsourced to publishers. The reality is that all resources spent on producing a textbook and accompanying materials, whether for the purposes of the student or teacher, are paid for by the student. These added costs are included, despite whether the teacher will use the additional resources and whether the student wants them.

Although most students are not aware, it is important to note that textbooks can often be purchased in other formats a reduced cost, including the e-book version and the chapter-by-chapter version, providing the opportunity to purchase individual chapters online.

The issue of the application of HST to e-textbooks was also discussed at length. While Nova Scotia has exempted all e-textbooks from their harmonized tax, Ontario and BC have only provided exemptions for hard copy textbooks. For no apparent reason, the e-versions are all subject to the full HST. This is concerning due to the overall increase in demand by students for online learning materials and e-books, and will continue to be an issue that OUSA will consider for the future.

The CPC has created a website for students to visit and gather some understanding around the textbook publishing industry. This website can be found at www.textbookoptions.ca and is also accessible through the OUSA website.

Overall, the meeting was very beneficial, offering the opportunity for students and textbook publishers to discuss the issues that have traditionally created polarization between our two groups. We look forward to continuing a positive and collaborative relationship in the future.

Meaghan Coker
OUSA President

In an increasingly hectic world, effective communication becomes paramount. Writing as a form of communication, requires a great deal of focus and practice to become proficient at. With this in mind, one cannot understress the importance of writing centers as components of student success. Unfortunately, writing centres at Ontario’s universities tend to be underfunded and lack the proper resources to assist all the students that need their support.

Writing tends to be the main form of communication from students to professors. Evaluation hinges on the ability of students to effectively communicate their thoughts and ideas through writing. If writing centres do not have proper resources, then student success is hindered, as some students might not be able to communicate their brilliant ideas from their mind to the page. Trouble with written English, then, becomes a barrier for certain students who have the intellectual ability, but lack the written communication skills. This is an issue that many students face with the loss of OAC and, in turn, the loss of another year to practice their writing skills. This means that writing centers are necessary to ensure that students who need assistance and further practice can receive it and thus improve their writing skills.

The issue of writing ability becomes even more apparent when there is a writing evaluation conducted by the institution that needs to be passed for a student to graduate. This is a great tool to determine who is struggling with their writing skills, but the sad reality is that not everyone identified as needing assistance can access the resources available. For example at the University of Waterloo only 1/3 of the students who do not pass the English Language Proficiency Exam (ELPE), which is a tool that used to measure a students writing ability, receive the assistance they need from the Writing Centre due to a lack of available spaces. It is clear, then, that as student success continues to be important not only for the students of Ontario, but the government of Ontario, that more resources need to be devoted to writing centres to ensure that students continue to be successful.

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