Hello Badgers,

As my term with BUSU and OUSA comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the work we have done over the past year with OUSA.

I began my journey with OUSA early in my term, meeting with Executive Director Malika Dhanani on my second day to get onboarded. Shortly after, I attended the WelCon and StratCon retreat in late May, where I connected with student leaders from across OUSA’s other eight member organizations and the Home Office team. Over four days, we built relationships, developed our leadership skills, and began shaping the direction for the year ahead.

From this work, we established our advocacy priorities:

• Student and community safety
• Strengthening Ontario’s workforce
• Meeting post secondary demand

We also outlined key organizational priorities:

• Restructuring General Assembly
• Promoting OUSA
• Expanding outreach across the post secondary sector

Very early on, the provincial government introduced Bill 33, which became a central focus of our advocacy. It was clear that this would be a challenging year, and the Steering Committee began working immediately with OUSA Home Office to respond and ensure student voices were represented.

Over the spring and summer, I also contributed to OUSA’s Educated Solutions publication, focused on bridging the gap between post secondary education and the workforce. I had the opportunity to write from a Brock perspective, and this publication was shared directly with all MPPs across the province.

Alongside this, I participated in regular Steering Committee meetings and worked with the Organizational Strategy and Governance Working Group to support OUSA’s Annual Action Plan, Policy paper consolidation as well as reviewing OUSA Governance policy and GA Operating Policy. The Annual Action plan focused on:

• Improving the policy and advocacy process
• Strengthening Steering Committee outreach
• Supporting long term planning

In August, we held stakeholder roundtables with several key organizations across the sector. These included: the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT), eCampus Ontario, and the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO).

These conversations gave us the opportunity to share our advocacy priorities, better understand the work happening across the sector, and identify areas for collaboration moving forward.

In September, OUSA launched an email tool that allowed students to directly contact their local MPPs and share concerns on key issues around Bill 33. The Home Office also visited several campuses including Brock, Trent Durham, Waterloo, and Queen’s to connect with students and promote OUSA’s work.

During this time, Malika Dhanani and I also met with Brock’s Government Relations team to align on advocacy priorities for the year and identify where OUSA and Brock could work together at the provincial level.

OUSA also worked in collaboration with several student organizations to oppose Bill 33. These included: Ontario Student Voices, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, College Student Alliance.

Together, we formed a coalition to push back against bill 33 which could propose changes that would increase government control over student fees.

In October, OUSA hosted the Fall General Assembly at Laurentian University. Over sixty delegates from across the province came together for four days of discussion and policy development. BUSU was proud to send six delegates to represent Brock.

At this Assembly, three policy papers were reviewed and passed:

• Indigenous Students
• Accountability and System Vision
• Mature Students

In November, 18 student leaders from the 9-member student unions participated in the annual Student Advocacy Conference at Queen’s Park. 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.

OUSA also attended the Technology and Education Seminar and Showcase (TESS) alongside BUSU and OTSU, hosted by eCampus Ontario. This was a great opportunity to connect with partners, explore innovation in tech enabled learning, and expand our network to support OUSA’s initiatives.

In January, OUSA submitted our pre-budget recommendations to the Minister of Finance, calling for increased support across work-integrated learning opportunities, and that, should the tuition freeze not be extended, the provincial government should only permit gradual tuition increases tied to inflation or two percent, whichever is lower, and provide proportional increases in OSAP grants and loans to ensure affordability.

During this time, OUSA also experienced leadership transitions, with both Malika Dhanani and Tiffany departing after making significant contributions to the organization. Their impact has left OUSA in a stronger position moving forward. OUSA also welcomed new team members and leadership:

• Claudia Idzik joined OUSA as the new Manager of Operations, bringing fresh perspective to the organization’s internal work
• Octave Andrade Dixon stepped into the role of Executive Director after previously serving as Manager of Research and Policy, ensuring continuity in OUSA’s advocacy and strategic direction
• OUSA also began the hiring process for a new Manager of Research and Policy to continue strengthening its policy development and advocacy efforts

OUSA released its response to the government’s $6.4 billion investment in the post-secondary sector and drastic changes to the current OSAP structure. Accompanying this, we released an open letter to the Minister and  Premier to voice students’ frustrations and concerns over the new OSAP changes, which will massively increase post-graduation debt for many across the province. OUSA also launched another email tool encouraging students to contact their MPPs. We also participated in consultations on Bill 33 to ensure that student voices remained part of the conversation.

In addition to this, OUSA met with the MCURES to discuss recent and proposed changes to OSAP and Tuition. This conversation provided an opportunity to better understand the rationale behind these decisions, while also directly advocating for improvements and sharing the concerns we have consistently heard from students across our campuses.

In March, OUSA held our Spring General Assembly at Western University, bringing together over seventy delegates. BUSU sent eight delegates to represent Brock.

At this Assembly, three policy papers were discussed and passed:

• Tuition, ancillary, and incidental fees (BUSU, MSU, and OTSU authored)
• Student mobility and transfer credits
• Artificial intelligence

As the year wraps up, OUSA continues its advocacy work and is preparing for upcoming initiatives, including the Partners in Higher Education Dinner in April, where teaching excellence across member institutions will be recognized. At Brock, we saw strong engagement, with 139 student nominations submitted with Dr. Jianbo Gao getting the most Nominations.

Reflecting on this year, I never expected the opportunity to work on issues that impact students across the province. This role pushed me outside my comfort zone and helped me grow both personally and professionally.

While much of this work happens behind the scenes, advocacy and systemic change take time. Progress does not always happen in a day, a month, or even a year. But when it does, it meaningfully improves students’ lives, and that is why this work must continue every day.

If there is one piece of advice I would leave you with, it is to seek out discomfort. That is where growth happens.

Thank you for reading and for the opportunity to represent you this year.

Sincerely,
Aaditya Gupta
Vice-President, External Affairs
Brock University Students’ Union