Blog

OUSA is thrilled to offer two internships this summer for undergraduate students at our member schools! We are hiring for the positions of:

1. Advocacy and Communications Intern
2. Research Intern

Applicants are welcome to apply for one or both positions, but will only be invited to participate in one interview. Please visit the attached links above for more information on both internships.

Internships are open to students at our member schools who are represented by our participating student associations; these include:

1. Queen's University - Alma Mater Society (AMS)
2. Brock University - Brock University Students' Union (BUSU)
3. University of Waterloo - Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA)
4. McMaster University - McMasgter Students Union (MSU)
5. Laurentian University - Students' General Association (SGA)
6. Trent University Durham GTA - Trent Durham Student Association (TDSA)
7. Western University - University Students' Council (USC)
8. Wilfrid Laurier University - Wilfrid Laurier University Students' Union (Laurier SU)
9. Ontario Tech University- Ontario Tech Student Union (OTSU)

Hey, hi, hello! 

Happy New Year dear friends! I hope 2024 has been treating you well thus far, and only continues to be as fulfilling.

Sreenidhi Jaganathan, OUSA Summer 2022 Research Intern present Should You Care? Cultural Sensitivity, Access and Community in Care at Post-Secondary Institutions.

As I enter the 4th and final year of my undergraduate journey, I am left pondering my countless career-induced meltdowns, as the post-graduation navigation of jobs is overstimulation at its finest. Although it seemed like an isolating process where only I could possibly be contemplating what to do after my time at McMaster, it was oddly comforting to see my peers in political science face the same dilemmas. 

One thing about political science students: they will do their very best to look like they got it all figured out, no matter the costs.

Hello friends!

November has been a whirlwind of events after events.

Firstly, the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health (CICMH) hosted their annual conference where I got to co-host and where OUSA once again had the chance to present. Our brilliant RPAs, Octavia and Ananya, as well as our superstar MSU representative, Abby, facilitated a session on the mental health experiences of marginalized students in an evolving social-political climate. We were thrilled to see over 120 attendees at their presentation, and appreciate all the hard work of the CICMH staff in their planning and execution of the event!

Hi wonderful people,

I hope your days have been filled with care. It has been a while and a LOT has happened…

I want to begin my update by acknowledging the loss of our friend, Stephanie Ye-Mowe. I am sincerely thinking of my colleague, Steph’s family, friends and loved ones during this time. Stephanie was an amazing advocate and friend, who was strongly committed to amplifying the student voice and had an incredible intellect to match, carrying a critical lens in all the spaces they interacted with. We miss Steph dearly, and are always thankful for what they brought to OUSA and our lives.

Another successful General Assembly (GA) is in the bag for OUSA!  This fall GA, we gathered at Wilfrid Laurier University in Kitchener-Waterloo where student leaders spent four intensive days discussing and approving student-written policy papers. The conference brought together all of our member schools in person with the new addition of the Ontario Tech Student Union, taking our membership slate to represent nine schools and over 160,000 students in Ontario! The excitement from seasoned GA delegates and some of the nervousness of 1st time-goers made for a riveting weekend with laughter, hugs and inside jokes.

OUSA is deeply saddened about the passing of our former board member and VP Finance, Stephanie Ye-Mowe. 

Steph was a fierce champion of student-led advocacy, and stood up for students with conviction, passion, and an intersectional view of how robust policy could best address the diverse needs of students. She made immense contributions to OUSA, always thinking about and acting on ways to improve our work and organization as a whole. They encouraged their peers to think critically about the decisions guiding OUSA’s work and kept students’ best interests at the forefront of everything they did.

Hi everyone! My name is Avina (she/her), and I’m so excited to be joining OUSA as the Communications Assistant!

I’m headed into my 3rd year of Medical Sciences at Western, specializing in One Health. I was drawn to this specialization within the program because of its interdisciplinary nature, which tackles the broad topic of human health through a variety of natural and social science perspectives.

Hi folks!

August has definitely slipped away into a moment in time. This is the calm before the storm - before students return back to campus! 

Last week, I spoke at a Possibility Seeds press conference, Taking Action to Protect Students from Sexual Harassment in Experiential Learning. This is the first national research-to-action project on this issue, and in order to safeguard students against sexual harassment during experiential learning, we urge post-secondary institutions and provincial governments to adopt these recommendations. The release of the preliminary findings also coincides with the one-year anniversary since the Our Campus, Our Safety action plan was released.