November 12, 2018
TORONTO, ON - This morning is the start of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA)’s Advocacy Week. Students from across Ontario will head to Queen’s Park to advocate for safer and healthier university campuses and to better prepare graduates for the workforce.
Our student leaders will represent 150,000 of their peers from OUSA’s 8 member campuses this week in Toronto. They will meet with MPPs and stakeholders to discuss these priorities and provide student solutions.
“Advocacy week is an opportunity for OUSA to discuss the issues facing post-secondary students and to introduce the Provincial Government to our specific policy recommendations,” said Julia Göllner, OUSA Vice President Administration and Human Resources and student at Queen’s University. “We are looking forward to working with all Members of Provincial Parliament this week, and to build lasting and collaborative relationships.”
OUSA believes that all students should not only be able to access affordable and high-quality post-secondary education, but should also be able to thrive on their campuses. To achieve this, we need to make sure our students are learning on campuses that are safe and healthy, and have the tools they need to succeed after they graduate. OUSA recommends that the government take a comprehensive approach to tackle sexual violence on campuses, to help keep international students healthy, and to take steps to solve the mental health puzzle. In order to better prepare graduates for the workforce, students are asking the government to invest in technology enabled learning and develop more experiential learning opportunities. Additionally, students want to highlight the importance of maintaining the modernized OSAP system and addressing high tuition costs.
“It's important that policymakers have the opportunity to hear from students,” said Matthew Gerrits, OUSA Steering Committee Member and student at the University of Waterloo. “University students represent an important part of Ontario and the future of Ontario’s communities. A high quality education is necessary for students to become a driving force in economic development far into the future.”
To follow along with Student Advocacy Week, use #OUSAdvocacy on Twitter.
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OUSA represents the interests of 150,000 professional and undergraduate, full-time and part-time university students at eight student associations across Ontario. Our vision is for an accessible, affordable, accountable, and high quality post-secondary education in Ontario.
Deborah Lam
Operations & Communications Director
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
416-341-9948
[email protected]