OUSA

This morning OUSA received an invitation from the Executive of the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents to present our work on teaching and learning at their May meeting. Teaching and learning issues will be front and centre throughout the meeting, with the authors of Academic Transformations also attending to provide their recommendations.

Based on our research and on many consultations with students and educational developers, we’ve identified seven broad concerns with the state of teaching and learning in Ontario, as well as a number of cost-effective recommendations for improvement. Students have made it quite clear that improvements are necessary, but we need leadership from all levels of institutional governance if we are to truly change the culture around teaching and learning. I’m hopeful that we can begin a constructive dialogue with the Academic Vice-Presidents about the best way to move forward.

OUSA’s seven concerns are as follows:

1. There is a lack of emphasis on, and support for, the scholarship of teaching and learning
2. We rely too heavily on outdated teaching methods
3. Centres for Teaching and Learning do not receive adequate funding and support
4. There is insufficient emphasis on student-faculty interaction, especially in the first year
5. Excellence in teaching is consistently undervalued and not sufficiently recognized
6. Physical infrastructure inside and outside the classroom is often not designed to support active learning
7. Graduate students, Ph.D. Students, and new instructors are not required to complete any formal training in teaching, learning and assessment.
   

Alexi White
Executive Director

We shed a single tear as we write our final heartwarming OUSA blog. As we take the time to reflect on what has been an amazing year, we are incredibly proud of the accomplishments and progress of OUSA. It is sad to leave the rest of steering committee as we return to becoming normal students who start their day at 11 am and end in a pub. A special thank you to the wonderful home office staff who provided endless amounts of support. We know that they will be breathing a sigh of relief as our rambunctious steering committee will no longer be frequenting the office. Best of luck to Kieran and Chris who will be rolling their eyes as they get lectured about Western’s best student experience for hours on end. It has been a fantastic year for students, and we can only hope that next year will be even better.

Adam Zabrodski + Susannah Gouinlock
Queen’s University Alma Mater Society

Here I am in mid-April, two weeks until I’m finally done. The time has just flown right by, it seems as if March was yesterday, and November was last week. My office decorations are slowly disappearing, and all across Ontario, items taken from the McMaster Students’ Union are finding their way back. Daud is readying himself to take the reins and responsibilities, but refuses to sit in the VPUA chair until his time comes on May 1st.

It’s easy to reflect on two years of service to BUSU and OUSA, but tough to know where to start in terms of blogging. I’ve been through two steering committees, and 8 staff members at home office. Four General Assemblies and two Lobby Conferences. That alone is a lifetime of experiences and memories, strategizing and lobbying, writing and research. OUSA can trumpet successful partnerships inside and outside the sector, and of course our biggest win during my term, last month when five financial aid recommendations from our Ontario: A Province of Knowledge submission appeared directly in the government’s announcement. As VP Finance this year, I was able to overhaul OUSA’s books and accounts, and write stronger financial policies to shape us moving forward. And our Food for Thought campaign this year generated more buzz about OUSA than anything we’ve done in the last few years within the media.

I hesitate to look back too much, when OUSA has such a Bright Future ahead, pun intended. For all the successes I have helped with or watched, I will be just as proud when next year’s team, or any subsequent OUSA Steering Committees, accomplish the goals as laid out in our strategic plan, OUSA’s Bright Future. We’ve set a series of tough but achievable targets moving forward, to grow and strengthen our organization and its capacity to affect change in Ontario. My next steps are as of yet unknown, but I can relax comfortably (lending a helping hand when necessary, if asked) knowing that OUSA will be on solid footing for years to come, continuing our record of excellence on behalf of our students.

As this is my last blog, I would like to publicly thank this year’s OUSA team. Dan, Justin, Chris, Kory, Adam, Sus, Robert, Alexi, Alvin, Paul, Sam, Tammy and Howie. Thank you for pushing me to be the best representative I could be, helping me learn and grow, and for all the hard work you have contributed towards OUSA and the postsecondary sector this year.

Rob Lanteigne
Vice President University Affairs
Brock University Students’ Union

On Friday, OUSA was invited to participate in a day-long National Roundtable on Canadian Youth, taking place on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and hosted by Justin Trudeau and his colleagues in the Liberal caucus. Dozens of individuals and youth organizations from across Canada participated, including groups such as Oxfam, Right to Play, Apathy Is Boring, and Scouts Canada, as well as individual youth who are making a difference in their communities.

The Roundtable is part of a larger initiative, spearheaded by Mr. Trudeau, to create a national strategy on youth engagement. OUSA previously participated in a smaller consultation in Toronto last summer and we were pleased to be invited once more to represent undergraduate students and ensure any national strategy includes improving higher education in Canada.

In his opening address, Mr. Trudeau asked all participants to place particular emphasis on at-risk youth throughout the day’s discussions. Given the myriad of social, cultural, financial, physical and geographic barriers that are keeping Ontario’s youth out of post-secondary, the request was a welcome one.

OUSA President Dan Moulton and I attended the morning breakout session on youth learning, chaired by Liberal MP Ken Dryden. With such a broad topic and so many voices at the table, Mr. Dryden did an excellent job of keeping the discussion centred on specific policy changes that would do the most for our youth. Dan and I used the opportunity to press the need to address low participation from traditionally underrepresented groups by investing in early outreach initiatives in communities across the country. In the afternoon, attendees returned from the breakout sessions to share their ideas in a lengthy roundtable discussion.

When all is said and done, the future of Mr. Trudeau’s initiative is still murky. He informed us that he has attempted to begin a discussion in parliament on a national youth strategy but was blocked by the Conservatives and the Bloc Quebecois. He admits that some of what emerges from this process will be used to inform the next Liberal platform and he doubts that a national youth strategy will be enacted unless the Liberals return to power.

Dan and I wish to thank Mr. Trudeau for inviting us to participate in the event.

Alexi White
OUSA Executive Director

For the first time in OUSA history, two DoRPAs will blog simultaneously! As Sam Andrey, your new DoRPA, and I (Paul) work together to transition him into the role, it has given us a great opportunity to do some thinking about where we have been and where we might be going from a research and policy perspective.  Thus, I will write the first part, and Sam will respond in the second.

Paul

It is probably appropriate for me to spend a bit of time looking at where we’ve been.  While it has already been discussed on this website and blog at length, I think that the recent changes to student financial assistance have real implications on our policy and advocacy work. For at least the past five years (and in some cases longer), OUSA had been advocating strongly and seriously for the modernization of OSAP. In fact, if you look here <http://issuu.com/ousa/docs/ousabudgetsubmission2010> and here <http://issuu.com/ousa/docs/aprovinceofknowledge> you’ll see examples of these demands from this year.

Now that the government has finally doubled the income exemption in OSAP and made the six month non-repayment period a true grace period by making it interest free, OUSA can shift some of its focus to other areas that require serious and immediate attention. Don’t get me wrong, there are still important changes that need to be made to OSAP, not least of all a reworking of the needs assessment formula used to determine how much assistance a student will get, to be better in line with the federal formula. However, there are issues that pertain to quality and supporting student success that are very pressing, but have always come second to the immediate financial pressures students on assistance faced.

Thus, the most recent budget has opened a small amount room to begin a more serious dialogue on better supporting teaching in our universities for example. There can now be space for a broader discussion about student support services, and the crucial role they play in having students persist from the beginning to the end of their degree and achieve academic success.

As I move on to new challenges, it will be incumbent upon the home office and new steering committee to try and figure out how to best bring this issues forward in the constructive and purposeful way that OUSA always does.  And, in that spirit, I pass the torch to Sam to talk a little bit about the policy decisions that are upcoming for the 2010-2011 year.

Sam

As I settle into the office and get further “into the weeds” of OUSA’s policy and research, I am becoming even more excited about my new role. The General Assembly held at Western a few weeks ago really laid out what the summer is going to look like – namely re-writing our policies on student financial assistance, early outreach, and ancillary fees.

The last student financial aid paper was 94 pages, and I have little doubt that the 2010 version will be even longer. I think each re-write of a long-standing policy is an opportunity to re-think and renew our ideas on the subject, and I think this is especially important for SFA.  As Paul mentioned, the recent government announcement on OSAP reform allows us to turn the page on a few of our long-standing recommendations and begin to develop new educated solutions for the coming years. There was a great deal of excitement about the Australian model of deferred tuition at the most recent General Assembly, which may fit into the SFA discussion but will require long-term thinking and critical thought.
The government’s continued interest in a new Reaching Higher plan should allow OUSA an opportunity to share its vision for the sector. Thought and work has already begun on the government’s areas of focus, namely international students, system expansion, on-line learning, and credit transfer, and OUSA will have to continue to stay ahead of these topics. Developing new policy solutions to achieve the goals of our student success paper will be important, as will continued dialogue and thought on tuition, funding, and access. However, as always, the direction and priorities of OUSA will be decided upon by the students that we are lucky enough to be working for.

On the evening of March 31, OUSA hosted its annual Partners in Higher Education Dinner at the Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto. Guests included students, faculty, administrators, bureaucrats, politicians, political staff, researchers, and many other partners from inside and outside the higher education sector.

We began this event as a small breakfast to bring our partners together and discuss issues of importance to post-secondary education. Six years later it has evolved into a unique and important event in the sector, attracting over 150 people each year.

During the dinner, attendees had the pleasure of hearing from influential figures in Ontario’s higher education system, starting with the Honourable John Milloy, Minister of Training Colleges and Universities. After addressing the guests, and stressing OUSA’s strong partnership with the government, the Minister stayed to present the plaques to this year’s recipients of the OUSA Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr. Joy Mighty and Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes, the current and past Presidents of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, respectively, gave the keynote address on issues in teaching and learning. Julia and Joy have recently published a book entitled Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, which is certain to have a profound impact on the teaching and learning world. Rather than simply lecture the attendees, they incorporated a group discussion, which was very well received.

This sixth annual Partners Dinner also marked OUSA’s 15th year of incorporation. Three of OUSA’s most distinguished alumni – Leslie Church, Rick Martin, and Avvey Peters – were granted honourary memberships to mark the occasion.

OUSA would like to thank all our partners for attending, and send a specific thank you to our keynote speakers and event sponsors, without whom the dinner would not be possible.

2010 Partners Dinner sponsors: the Council of Ontario Universities, Wilfrid Laurier University, Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union, the Brock University Students’ Union, the College Student Alliance, the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, and the Federation of Students at the University of Waterloo.

Alexi White
Executive Director

The excitement is continuing to build here at the OUSA office as the final preparations are completed for our sixth annual Partners in Higher Education Dinner, set to take place this Wednesday, March 31 at the Sutton Place Hotel. The home office staff (especially Alvin) has been working very hard to make sure that this year’s dinner continues in the tradition of success.

It is clear from the program and list of attendees that we are all in for a spectacular evening. Guests will include students, faculty, administrators, bureaucrats, politicians, political staff, researchers, and many other partners from inside and outside the higher education sector.

During the dinner, attendees will have the pleasure of hearing from influential figures in Ontario’s higher education system, starting with the Honourable John Milloy, Minister of Training Colleges and Universities. After addressing the guests, the Minister will stay to hand out plaques to this year’s recipients of the OUSA Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr. Joy Mighty and Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes, the current and past Presidents of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, respectively, will be giving the keynote address on issues in teaching and learning. They have just published a book entitled Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and rather than lecture the attendees, they plan to incorporate new forms of teaching pedagogy into their address.

Finally, this year’s Partners Dinner will mark OUSA’s 15th year of incorporation. A video presentation has been devised to give guests a taste of OUSA’s history, and three of OUSA’s most distinguished alumni will be granted honourary memberships to mark the occasion.

As I said, attendees are in for a spectacular evening.

Justin Williams
Vice President Education
Federation of Students at the University of Waterloo

March 29, 2010

At 10AM this morning, the Ontario government answered the question that has been on students’ minds for months: What does the end of the Reaching Higher Plan and the largest deficit in Ontario’s history mean for tuition, financial aid, and the affordability of a higher education in Ontario?

As the dust settles, we can say with certainty that the outlook is positive, given the circumstances. The current tuition fee framework will be renewed for two more years, ensuring continued regulation of fees for domestic students at a maximum average increase of 5% across each institution. To balance these increases, the government is enhancing the financial aid system to the tune of $81 million through a package of reforms based directly on the recommendations of OUSA and our partner student organizations.

Included in this package are five changes OUSA requested in its submission to the government’s special secretariat last October, including:

-        Increasing weekly loan limits (from $140 to $150 per week),

-        Doubling the exemption on in-study income (from $50 to $103 per week),

-        Implementing a six-month interest-free grace period before loans must be repaid

-        Tying the maximum assessment for textbook and supplies costs to the rate of inflation

-        Implementing the more generous Repayment Assistance Plan, currently in use by the federal government

Other positive changes to the system, many of which have been supported by OUSA over the last few years, include:

-        $500 grant for part-time students

-        1,000 new graduate scholarships

-        Asset exemption for vehicles for married students

-        Spousal contributions reduced to align with federal assessment formula

-        Asking universities to automatically grant funds through the Student Access Guarantee, without forcing students to apply for an institutional bursary.

Looking at the cost-sharing model as a whole, it is concerning that the funding announced last week for 20,000 new seats at colleges and universities does not include new funds to keep up with inflationary costs or improve quality. Instead, tuition increases will again have to make up this shortfall and students will continue to pay a greater and greater percentage of university operating budgets, thus continuing the process of creeping privatization of higher education. And then there’s the exorbitant fees charged to undergraduate international students, which serve only to subsidize domestic students and replace public funding.

At the same time, as a student leader, today’s announcement demonstrates that the government does listen to student concerns and actively works to address them. After hours of discussion with bureaucrats, staffers, politicians, researchers, partner organizations and students, improvements have been made and students are better off. Of course, a great many challenges remain, but my faith in the process and in OUSA – from grassroots policy development to a respectful, collaborative advocacy strategy – has been reaffirmed.

While we pause to celebrate what has been achieved, tomorrow beckons and new solutions will be required for new problems. The government has indicated an interest in online learning and in increasing international enrollment, though how either of these will be achieved remains hazy. Students look forward to tackling these challenges, together with government and our partners, in the coming months and years.

So, while students are grateful for the government’s continued support, tomorrow is a new day and it brings new questions. To all those who toil in the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, thank you but don’t get to comfortable. The cries of “what have you done for us lately” will soon return…

Dan Moulton
OUSA President

From March 19 to 21, OUSA held its annual spring General Assembly, bringing together student leaders from across Ontario. Hosted by the University Students’ Council of the University of Western Ontario, students came to discuss the challenges facing higher education today and develop educated solutions to address them.

After three days of discussion, hard work and a number of late nights, the delegates passed new policies on assisting students with disabilities and the future of differentiated mandates at Ontario universities. Additions to OUSA’s student success policies were also approved, mostly focusing on internationalization and supporting the broader learning environment on campus.

Over many hours of breakout sessions, students discussed issues ranging from improving the OSAP need assessment formula to developing a blueprint for the recently announced Ontario Online Institute, to investigating potential new models of cost-recovery for the system.

OUSA welcomed the Honourable Chris Bentley, Attorney General, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and former Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, as the conference’s keynote speaker. The Minister gave a short address and answered questions from students for the better part of an hour. Also present was Liberal Party President and Ottawa MPP Yasir Naqvi, who engaged in a spirited discussion with student leaders over lunch.

Alex Usher of Higher Education Strategies Associates was also on hand to present the preliminary results of the Canadian Student Survey, a landmark initiative surveying over 21,000 Canadian students and undertaken this year by OUSA and its partners across the country.

OUSA would like to thank the volunteers at UWO for hosting us and for ensuring a very well organized weekend.

LINK TO FOOD FOR THOUGHT HOME PAGE

TORONTO, March 29 – For nearly three weeks, from March 8, 2010 to March 26, 2010, students at four Ontario universities undertook an experiment to eat a healthy, balanced diet while spending only $7.50 a day on food – the same amount allocated for food by the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

The “Food For Thought” campaign, organized by the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) ended its 19-day experiment over the weekend, with its participants relieved that the experiment was over. “Students living on a $7.50/day budget that is allocated by OSAP cannot afford to eat healthy…that is simply the bottom line,” said Nick Gibson of Wilfrid Laurier University. Sarah Baker of Queen’s University said “ I tried my best but unfortunately there was not a single day where I both stayed on budget and got all my servings in.”

The campaign was aimed at drawing attention to the fact that the OSAP need assessment uses a standard living allowance for every student adding up to $12,540 a year, which is about $3,000 less than the poverty line, effectively institutionalizing student poverty. “OSAP actually claws back the money you make while you’re in school,” said Rachel Crane, Brock University student, making it even more difficult for students to come up with the money to make ends meet. Crane added, “students do an excellent job on budgeting their finances, and have began to take out loans and use credit cards to make up for OSAP’s shortcomings.”

During an appearance on Canada AM, University of Western Ontario student Andrew Beach said, “we’re trying to get the government to give just a little bit more money, so that students get the opportunity to eat healthy.” Many students with dietary restrictions, medical conditions, varsity athletes, or who live on campus have much more difficult circumstances to get affordable and nutritious foods for themselves.

“I’m still standing after 19 days of really, really watching what I spent and what I ate, and I felt really stressed out at times,” said Rachel Crane.

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For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Alvin Tedjo, OUSA Director of Communications & Public Relations, work: (416) 341-9948, cell:  (647) 669-6885