Empowering Ontario's Undergraduate Education: Mid-Year Update 2016

1. MID-YEAR UPDATE January 10, 2016

2. Member Update 2016 VISION Accessible, affordable, accountable, & high quality undergraduate education in Ontario MISSION To develop educated solutions to challenges facing undergraduate education in Ontario and to successfully lobby government to make them a reality

3. Member Update 2016 APPROACH Non-partisan Leverage sector partnerships Professional lobbying Respected source for media commentary

4. Member Update 2016 MEMBERSHIP VALUE Ability to set OUSA’s priorities and policies Influence and leadership in the province Access to key decision makers Resources for engagement Share best practices

5. 140,000 students 7member associations

6. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

7. Member Update 2016

8. Member Update 2016 • Delegates shared priorities and brainstormed future policy directions • Re-examined some of OUSA’s policy processes • Delegates had the opportunity to speak with and ask questions to… • Hon. Reza Moridi, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities • Garfield Dunlop, Former MPP and higher education advisor to the leader of the PC party

9. Member Update 2016 • Clean audit presented • Executive reports delivered • Policy development: all three papers successfully passed by the Assembly • (major update) Student Financial Assistance • (major update) The Broader Learning Environment • (new paper) Teaching and Assessment

10. Member Update 2016 November 30th – December 3rd 2015

11. Member Update 2016 • A half-day crash course in effective lobbying strategy • 15 student representatives • 51 MPPs • 11 Ministers • Primary topics of discussion were work-integrated learning, the university funding formula, and financial assistance

12. Member Update 2016 Best-Practice Day Interested steering committee members and other executives met for a one-day conference Discussed best practices, overcoming challenges, and other lessons learned in their areas of responsibility

13. SECTOR AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

14. Member Update 2016 • SECTOR AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS • Ongoing co-chairing of Student Advisory Board of ONCAT and participating in its student-first redesign • Prominent participation, and quoted in, the formal University Funding Formula consultation • Prominent participation in the formal Bill 132 consultation

15. Member Update 2016 • SECTOR AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS (CONT’D) • Jointly leading a student-panel webinar with CSA on campus mental health services, for a large audience • Engaging with the Premier’s office and Ontario Chamber of Commerce on post-graduate employment • Submitted a presentation proposal for the 36th annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

16. Member Update 2016 • PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATIONS • Pre-budget submission being drafted • Will attend, and hopefully present at, pre-budget hearings • OUSA will attend invitation-only budget discussions with Ministry of Finance

17. Member Update 2016 CAMPAIGN“Time Out”Tuition, Jan 13-15 Ontario government invests least per student, yet tuition here is the highest Students fund the majority of university operating – no longer a publicly funded sector Posters, swag, social media call for the government to freeze tuition & fund the difference – keep quality and return fair cost-sharing to Ontario

18. Member Update 2016 THIS YEAR’S POLICY PRIORITIES Work Integrated Learning Tuition Funding Formula Review Credit Transfer / Recognition Student Union Autonomy

19. Member Update 2016 SPRING 2016 POLICY PAPERS BROCK GA – MARCH 18-20 Students with Disabilities Online Learning Student Employment

20. ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING

21. Member Update 2016 OUSA’s steering committee creates an annual plan to guide all the organization’s efforts for the year In addition to successful lobbying, policy-development, and events, these plan set out other annual goals Some recent developments from this year’s plan include…

22. Member Update 2016 WEBSITE REDESIGN Work is being done to make OUSA’s website more useful and user-friendly Currently conducting research and user-profile design to identify the most important functions of our website, and enhance it as an “entry point” to the organization and our policies

23. Member Update 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY Examining our approach to social media and how we can leverage it to the maximum benefit We have more followers (proportional to our size) than most of our peers, but we aim to have an even greater reach and explore new ways to use social media to assist advocacy and promote awareness of student issues

24. Member Update 2016 MUNICIPAL TRANSIT SUPPORT Finding ways for OUSA to assist in local advocacy on transit We have begun work on another edition of last year’s Municipal Issues Project, “Habitats,” making it an annual publication and including research and articles on student transit

25. Member Update 2016 LGBTQ+ STUDENT EXPERIENCE REPORT Released results of OUSA’s 2014 survey of the experiences and opinions of students who identify as LGBTQ+ Released a polished and professional report which was circulated widely and received coverage from the Academica Group, submitted research proposal to STLHE conference

26. Member Update 2016 ONTARIO POST-SECONDARY STUDENT SURVEY A biennial 60-question survey of OUSA students on a wide range of student issues We had a record year - significantly improving the quality of our questionnaire and our surveying methods, earning approximately 10,000 total participants in the survey

27. Member Update 2016 Staff changes (New ED, new RA) Long-term, three year strategic plan in development

28. THANK YOU! QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS?