With the beginning of the fall semester just over a month away, OUSA has been busy preparing for the coming school year.
In July, OUSA had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Thomas Carey, a Professor at the University of Waterloo in the Management Sciences Department and currently a Visiting Senior Scholar in the area of Knowledge Mobilization for Exemplary Teaching and Learning at HEQCO (Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario). Dr. Carey shared valuable information on the most prominent examples of online teaching and learning models, in addition to the prospective research themes that HECQO will be examining in the coming months for the Ontario Online Institute.
Additionally, OUSA was invited to take part in a day of discussions with the Canadian Publishers’ Council. This offered an interactive environment where students and publishers’ were able to highlight areas of aligned values, while continuing to express the diverging perspectives between students and textbook publishers’.
Later in August, OUSA will be attending the Partnership Conference hosted by CASA (Canadian Alliance of Student Associations) in Ottawa. This conference has always offered a unique opportunity for the provincial alliances, including NBSA (New Brunswick Student Alliance), ANSSA (Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations), and CAUS (Council of Alberta University Students) to meet and discuss the priorities of each other and potential for coordination on issues. This year’s conference will be focusing more explicitly on understanding the framework and effects of a new model for federal representation of student alliances.
Lastly, having determined the direction for this year at last month’s Strategic Planning Conference, we have been focused on developing the Action Plan for the year, coordinating our research and policy initiatives, advocacy priorities, and communications strategies. In assessing OUSA’s plans for 2010-2011, it is a year that is budding with potential and will be bursting with activity. With the strong commitment from our membership and relationships with our partners, there are great possibilities of moving towards ensuring and enhancing a high quality post-secondary education system, one that offers our students the opportunities they deserve.
-Meaghan Coker
