Blog

Have you heard about Consent Awareness Week? 

(Content warning: sex and gender-based violence)

View online with e-reader here

September = welcome back to campus! I hope you all had fantastic summers and are well-rested as we dive into the school year. 

JOB POSTING: RESEARCH AND POLICY ANALYST

Formed in 1992, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization that strives to effectively and responsibly represent Ontario’s full and part-time undergraduate students to lobby for an affordable, accessible, accountable, and high-quality higher education system. In order to achieve these goals, OUSA provides research and policy solutions to government, organizes campaigns, communicates their priorities, and develops partnerships with post-secondary education sector stakeholders. With a membership of approximately 150,000 undergraduate, professional full and part-time students, OUSA is one of the largest and most respected student organizations in the country.

Happy Friday, everyone!

In case you missed it, let’s catch you up! Just last week, Vivian Chiem, our Communications and Advocacy Intern launched her capstone project, RGB: Issues in Ontario’s Post Secondary Education! RGB is a colour-coded photo series that aims to bring attention to ongoing issues that university students face in Ontario in the areas of sexual and gender based violence, affordability and mental health. The project draws from OUSA’s student survey, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Survey (OUSS), as well as OUSA’s own policy library.

Happy August everyone, hope you’ve had an amazing summer so far!

It’s hard to believe that we’re at the tail end of summer already, but we’ve been working hard the last few months to prepare for the year, and we can’t wait to welcome students back to campus! July was filled with a lot of behind-the-scenes work here at OUSA, including determining our advocacy priorities and related policy recommendations as well as getting our working groups started for the year. On the policy paper side of things, our Steering Committee members, student authors, and Research & Policy Analysts have been hard at work during think tanks, focus groups, and student consultations. Once again, we look forward to engaging with students and hearing about what’s important to you!

Vivian Chiem, OUSA Summer Advocacy and Communications Intern, presents RGB: Issues in Ontario’s Post-Secondary Education, a collection of photographs and data to visually highlight some key themes from the 2020 iteration of OUSA’s rigorous bi-annual research undertaking, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Survey (OUSS). RGB (red, green, and blue) features 9 color-coded photographs on sexual and gender-based violence, affordability, and mental health, accompanied by text featuring data from the 2020 OUSS and other sources.

Hi everyone!

Thank you for taking the time to listen to what I have to say (read what I have to write?) I’m really excited to be back with OUSA for the 2022 - 2023 academic year as an observer member and a representative for students at Ontario Tech University.

Hi there! My name is Elizabeth Wong, and I’m the Vice-President (Education) of the McMaster Students Union (MSU). I have just finished my degree in Political Science and Labour Studies as well as a Certificate in Business. This is my first time being involved with OUSA, and I am so excited to be a member of the 2022-23 Steering Committee!

Hey friends! Can you believe it’s July already? 

June was an eventful month here at OUSA! Following the provincial election, we wrapped up our Get Out The Vote campaign; you can still check out our blog on youth voter apathy here and our FAQs here. In other news, we also had summer school sessions in preparation for our policy papers this year. We’re looking forward to kickstarting the policy cycle for the year – that includes consultations with students from all over Ontario! This year, we’ll be reviewing the following policy papers: Tuition, Teaching & Assessment, Student Entrepreneurship, Employment & Employability, Ancillary & Incidental Fees, Student Accessibility & Disability Inclusion, and Two Spirit & LGBTQ+ Students. Your voice and your elected representatives shape our policy papers at OUSA, and we can’t wait to engage with campuses across the province.

Hi there!

My name is Callum Robertson, and I’m the Vice President of University Affairs for the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University. I’m currently completing my Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Studies with a minor in Computer Science (an unconventional combo, I’m aware haha). I’m incredibly excited to be a part of the 2022/2023 Steering Committee and am looking forward to being a part of the amazing work being done at OUSA!