Hello everyone!
Happy December! To be honest, I cannot believe we’re already here!
Let’s chat about everything OUSA was up to in November!
First, we wrapped up our final campus visit of 2025 at my home school, Laurier! We connected with students to share what OUSA does and how they can get involved with our organization. Members of OUSA’s Home Office had great meetings with key staff at our Students’ Union, and Malika and I had the opportunity to meet with President and Vice-Chancellor Deborah McClatchy and Dean of Students Adam Lawrence, to discuss OUSA’s advocacy priorities, Bill 33, and how we can work together to support students!
Next, we participated in the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health’s annual virtual conference, titled “Dialogue to Action: Pathways to Hope.” Here, I had the opportunity to co-emcee the conference, alongside Bella Fischer, President of the College Student Alliance. I also joined our Managers of Research and Policy, Octavia Andrade-Dixon and Abishane Suthakaran, to present a presentation titled “No Student Left Behind: Supporting Marginalized Students Amidst Growing Austerity.” This was a great opportunity to highlight marginalized students’ experiences on campus and the barriers they face in accessing critical resources.
This month, Bill 33 received Royal Assent. This legislation, which allows the government increased influence over admissions criteria and ancillary fees, was unfortunately passed without going to committee for public input. While we are disappointed by this outcome, we are hopeful the government will keep their commitment to a transparent consultation process, which will include student groups. OUSA is also focusing efforts on crafting a policy response and campaign to prepare for our advocacy ahead. Read our press release here.
Next up, Tiffany, our Manager of Operations, attended the Technology and Education Seminar and Showcase (TESS) alongside OTSU and BUSU. This was a great way to connect with our partners (and hosts) eCampus Ontario, and catch up with some of our OUSA alumni! Tiffany and our members got to see some cool innovations being made in tech-enabled learning, and expand our network to help support some of OUSA’s initiatives.
Home Office also had the opportunity to attend the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario’s conference, ReimaginEd: Shaping the Future of Ontario PSE. Throughout various sessions, Home Office had a chance to engage in stimulating conversations on important topics like supporting Indigenous learners, AI, and job-readiness. Our Executive Director, Malika, also had a chance to moderate one of the sessions on prioritizing student success and system sustainability. Thank you, HEQCO, for a wonderful conference!
As well, 18 student leaders across our nine member institutions hit up Queen’s Park during the last week of November for our annual Student Advocacy Conference! Here, we had meetings with over 25 MPPs from across Ontario to advance our current advocacy priorities, centred around investing in post-secondary education and housing, student and community safety, and work-integrated learning opportunities. Read more about how it went here.
And finally, if you have not already seen Wicked: For Good … please support your local cinema and watch it. I promise, you will be changed … for good. 💚🩷
Alright – catch you all in the next one!
In solidarity,
Sayak