Last week, from October 23rd to 26th, OUSA hosted our Fall General Assembly (GA) at Laurentian University. This bi-annual conference brought together over 60 delegates from across our nine member organizations for four days of critical discussions to approve three student-written policy papers.
This GA, student leaders were tasked with giving feedback on three papers:
- Indigenous Students
- Accountability and System Vision
- Mature Students
Huge spoiler- they all passed unanimously! But first, our delegates had to arrive in Sudbury for the conference on Thursday. After a long drive northward for many of our delegates, the conference kicked off with a welcome from Staysha Kasunich, Vice President Advocacy of Laurentian’s Students’ General Association (SGA) and Steering Committee member. Staysha delivered a Land Acknowledgement in English, French, and Ojibwe before welcoming the delegates to her campus and hometown.
Next, students entered their first round of breakout sessions, where they could discuss feedback directly with authors in small, rotating groups. The authors then integrated this feedback in rewrite sessions before the next round of feedback the following day.
We wrapped up day one with a “Guess The Song!” social where students got to engage in fun after a long day and win some prizes!
Day two started with a presentation from David Vares, beloved Laurentian professor, on student advocacy and the unique challenges and needs of mature students. The rest of the morning consisted of our second round of breakout sessions, during which students provided further feedback and suggestions on the rewrites the authors had made the previous night.
That afternoon, ALUMO had the opportunity to open our new segment as our 1st Diamond Sponsor! Then we launched into a networking event where delegates got to chat with our supporters and some student-run organizations and initiatives. Then, there was a new addition to the GA itinerary - a drop-in session with authors, before amendment submissions the next day, as a final opportunity for feedback and suggestions! We rounded off day two with dinner at Shoeless Joe’s and watching the first Blue Jays game in the World Series!
Day three, a much-needed slower day, started with delegates submitting their amendments to be discussed at plenary. We held preliminary consultations for the next GA’s papers (stay tuned for spring GA!) and held a mock plenary session, as many of our delegates this year were first-timers. Then everyone got some free time before the evening social - Sudbury’s Big Nickel and Pumpkininferno. Students got to take a private city bus to a popular tourist attraction, the largest coin in the world! We were also there in time for a one-of-a-kind outdoor Halloween experience, the Pumpkinferno, with thousands of carved pumpkins. Our delegates finished their last night in Sudbury around bonfires with s’mores and hot chocolate, laughing over the events of the week so far and revelling in the new connections they’d formed. We had a musical end to the night on the bus back, as students impromptu sang and rapped together, performing a wide range of hits, from John Legend to Nicki Minaj!
Sunday morning brought us to Plenary, where students got to discuss and collaborate on proposed amendments to the papers. They were democratically voted on and, in record time, all three papers passed unanimously by mid-afternoon! We finished with an OUSA tradition, awarding everyone who has attended five or more plenaries with a certificate!
Unbridled joy!
This GA’s short Plenary and overall smooth proceedings are a testament to the months of planning and strategizing Home Office have put in, as well as the endless hard work and dedication to student advocacy from all of our delegates.
A massive shout-out and thank you to Tiffany, our Manager of Operations, and Staysha of SGA and Steering Committee, for all their tireless efforts in planning and supporting the proceedings of this GA! Thank you and congratulations to all the authors for their hard work and patience as their work was reviewed and critiqued.
Planning is already in progress for the Spring GA at Western University. We can’t wait!
