Blog

Interested in writing for OUSA? Contact Tiffany Li Wu, our Operations & Communications Coordinator.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Written by on February 10, 2023

TL;DR – try for that new opportunity you’re intimidated by but can’t seem to get off your mind! You are qualified, valued, and capable. Don’t be afraid to lean on your community and ask for help along the way. It’s how we all get through it :)

 

“What stands between you and the world you want to live in?” A dear friend of mine recently shared her answer to this question that her professor posed in class. Her answer was simple: representation. While this isn’t a groundbreaking answer, her simple answer made me reflect on why representation is so important.

 

Presidential Update January 2023

Written by on January 18, 2023

Happy new year everyone!

I hope you had a relaxing and restful winter break, and have had a smooth transition back to classes. It’s hard to believe, but we only have 4 months left of the year!

Presidential Update Holiday Edition 2022

Written by on December 05, 2022

Hi everyone!

 

I'll be honest, it’s been a wild few weeks here at OUSA!

From onboarding our new Research and Policy Analyst Octavia and returning to our first in-person General Assembly since 2019, to saying goodbye to long-time and beloved Executive Director Eddy Avila and braving the first snowfall of the season in Toronto at our annual Student Advocacy Conference at Queen’s Park,  we can't seem to catch a break — and am I looking forward to one! 

So, to kick off our December, I’m writing to you with a special, holiday edition of our presidential updates to take a moment and appreciate all the hard work we’ve done to imagine and advocate for a better post-secondary education system in Ontario.

Recapping OUSA's 56th General Assembly... In-Person!

Written by on November 09, 2022

Twice a year, student leaders and delegates join OUSA in a weekend-long conference (known as General Assembly aka GA) that aims to discuss, refine, debate, and approve our policy papers on a variety of post-secondary issues. Over the past 2 years, OUSA has held 5 GAs online and while the discussions were just as riveting virtually, we were itching to get back in-person. Well, over this past Hallo-weekend, OUSA finally made the long-awaited return to an in-person GA, hosted by our friends at the Students’ General Association (SGA) at Laurentian University, in the beautiful city of Sudbury!

 

Believe in Your Student Voice - Eddy’s Farewell Blog

Written by on November 04, 2022

Today is my last day working as the Executive Director at the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance or OUSA for short - a clarification that has become a permanent addition to my introduction after 4 years of working for this amazing organization. I have a lot of thoughts, memories, and thanks I want to share, but I’ll try to keep it (somewhat) brief.

I want to take this opportunity to highlight two messages:

  1. Student voices are important & should be the guiding force behind all student advocacy
  2. @ students - You can do this. Your voice should be taken seriously and you are well-positioned to speak on student issues.

Hidden Fees, Assignments, and the Planned Destruction of Affordable Textbooks

Written by on October 19, 2022

There’s a special question that university students ask at the start of each semester. A question whose answer, if you’re lucky, will be a resounding “no”: 

 

“Is the textbook really required?”

 

Textbook publishers have worked hard to make sure the answer is always a “yes.” Digital Learning Resources (DLRs) are here, and they bring unaffordable textbooks, inaccessible methods of evaluation, and an inherently inequitable learning environment along with them. How did we get here, what is a DLR, and what can be done to address their impact on post-secondary education?