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)
