Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
Abbreviation OUSA
Motto Educated Solutions
Formation Formed 1992, Incorporated 1995
Location
President
 Jamie Cleary (USC)
VP Finance
 Kraymr Grenke (SGA-AGÉ)
VP Admin & HR
 Julia Wood (BUSU)
Steering Committee
 See Steering Committee
Affiliations CSA, CASA
Website www.ousa.ca

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is an alliance of students' unions in Ontario, Canada. Their common objective is to protect the interests of over 140,000 professional and undergraduate, full-time and part-time university students, and to provide research and recommendations to the government on how to improve accessibility, affordability, accountability, and quality of post-secondary education in Ontario.

History

The initial catalyst for the creation of OUSA was disagreement over the position of the provincial and national student association in Ontario on the first Gulf War.[1] In 1992, The student associations of Brock University, Queen's University, the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, and the Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students at the University of Toronto approached the Ontario Federation of Students(OFS) to host a roundtable discussing the prospect of pushing for an increase in tuition fees. When this idea was rejected, the roundtable occurred informally and resulted in the formal incorporation and creation of OUSA.[2]

Part-time students at the University of Toronto withdrew from the Alliance, as did Queen's Alma Mater Society, citing concerns over the organization's management in the mid-1990s. Queen's then rejoined the Alliance as an associate member in 2001 and then as a full member in 2004. As of May 2011, OUSA welcomed two new members, the Trent in Oshawa Student Association (later the Trent Durham Student Association) as associate members, and the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students as full members, who have rejoined after a 7-year absence.[3] As of May 2013, the University of Windsor Students' Alliance voted through a referendum to leave the Alliance. On April 29, 2014, the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students withdrew from membership in OUSA.[4]

The Students' General Association (SGA-AGÉ) of Laurentian University was admitted into OUSA in April 2016, with membership taking effect May 2016.[5]

Steering Committee

OUSA's Steering Committee is a nine member board of directors responsible for the overall strategy of the organisation. One executive member of each constituent student union sits on the board as a voting member. Queen's University is provided with a second resource member who is non-voting.

As of 2016, the membership of the committee is:

Title Name Student Union
President Jamie Cleary USC
VP Finance Kraymr Grenke SGA-AGÉ
VP Administration
& Human Resources		 Julia Wood BUSU
Additional voting members Colin Aitchison WLUSU
Blake Oliver MSU
Kayla Smith TDSA
Carolyn Thompson AMS
Sarah Wiley Feds
Resource member Leah Brockie AMS

Criticisms

Due to its moderate leanings when compared with other student advocacy groups and close working relationship with many decision makers, OUSA has faced criticism that they are too cooperative with the government. OUSA has also received criticism for a mid 1990s proposal that asked for increased government spending towards universities along with increased tuition fees, however this recommendation was reversed a few years later, and OUSA has called for tuition freezes and decreases since at least 1999.[6]

Presidents and Executive Directors

Presidents

Executive Directors

References

  1. ↑ http://thevarsity.ca/2009/03/17/the-same-thing-twice/
  2. ↑ http://thevarsity.ca/2009/03/17/the-same-thing-twice/
  3. ↑ "Newswire Press Release". Retrieved 2011-05-27.
  4. ↑ http://www.mcmaster.ca/maps/history.html
  5. ↑ "OUSA Welcomes New Member". Newsroom. Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  6. ↑ http://www.ousa.ca/uploaded_files/pdf_files/Policy%20Papers%20and%20Statements/Beyond%20the%20Breaking%20Point%20-%20Tuition%20Fee%20Policy%20%2810.99%29.pdf
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