Partner Perspectives: Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

It was wonderful to chat with the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance this week and learn more about contemporary issues facing students in universities across the province. We had the opportunity to speak with Omar Sayyed, VP Finance of the Steering Committee, and Octave Andrade-Dixon, Executive Director. Representing both the student-led and the executive leadership sides of the organization (something unique to an organization like OUSA), Omar and Octave had a wealth of knowledge to share with the group.  

Representing around 160,000 professional and undergraduate, full-time and part-time university students at nine student associations across Ontario, OUASA regularly engages in research, lobbying and educational campaigns to reach their goal of an accessible and high-quality post-secondary education for all. With the recent changes to OSAP funding affecting many undergraduate students, OUSA has been a prominent voice at Queen's Park, often engaging in stakeholder meetings with MPP's across all parties, and press conferences on behalf of their members.

Something unique to OUSA is their "student-driven" work: not only in their leadership, but also in the work they do, are student across the province represented. We learned that they regularly publish policy papers on subjects relating to technology in education, student mental health, and much more. They also run programs like their internship placements and a scholarship program. Through the collection of student feedback, they have been able to advocate on the provincial and federal level for several issues, many of which have been wins! These include additional funding to post-secondary mental health funding, the implementation of anti-racism strategies, transit passes, and much, much more.

Thank you Omar and Octave for sharing your passion and time with the group. A big thank you as well to OUASA for your continued support of OLIP- we couldn't do it without you!