Presidential Update - September 2016

Hey Everyone,

I can hardly believe that the end of September is already here! It’s been a crazy month on our campuses and a great month for us at OUSA. We saw excited first year faces, the return of our upper year students, and finally our campuses are filled with the hustle and bustle that we are so used to (unfortunately the coffee lines have returned). 

OUSA has been hard at work over the past month. We have been busy visiting all of our member schools giving out free swag, talking with students, and talking with administration about our lobbying priorities. For me as President, this was a great opportunity to see the great work happening on our campuses, connect with students on a personal basis, and to see how we can improve how OUSA is connecting to students. Keep an eye out Queen’s because we will be coming for you next week.

Steering committee has also been continuing to engage with members of our government. I would like to personally thank Minster Matthews for taking the time to visit Western’s Orientation week and for meeting with me during her time in London. We also recently released our report on Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary so I highly encourage you to check that out.

Recently, we saw the Premier’s decision to prorogue the legislature, resulting in a speech from the throne and new priorities. I would like to thank the Premier for her invitation to have us present and to attend the Lieutenant Governors reception as well. We also saw the release of the Premier’s mandate letter to the new Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development. OUSA was particularly thrilled to see the request for the creation of an advisory committee to the Minister and the call for a centralized data system.   

Currently, each of our schools are in the midst of the selections of their delegation teams for our General Assembly at Western. Before we know it, fifty people will be gathered at Western, debating our policies on Sexual Violence Prevention and Education, Ancillary Fees, and Rural and Northern Students. Over the next month we will be very busy preparing and rewriting!

As always, stay engaged with what OUSA is doing by getting to know your steering committee member or talking to me directly. We need student input in order to advocate for you! 

Stay OUSAwesome,

Jamie Cleary
OUSA President
@jcleary19