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 160,000 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.[1]
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. In 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 had rejoined after a 7-year absence.[2] In 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 also withdrew from membership in OUSA.[3]
OUSA's Steering Committee is the body responsible for setting and monitoring the organization's priorities and strategic initiatives. It is also the non-profit organization's board of directors. One executive member of each constituent student union sits on the board as a voting member. According to the organization's Bylaws, each association is entitled to appoint one additional non-voting resource member to OUSA's Steering Committee.[7]Alma Mater Society of Queen's University is the only OUSA member in recent years that regularly uses this provision to appoint an additional member.
As of May 2024,[8] the membership of the committee is:
Due to its moderate leanings when compared with other student advocacy groups and close working relationship with many decision makers, OUSA has faced criticism[by whom?] 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.[9]
Presidents and Executive Directors
Presidents
1998 - 1999 Kenzie Campbell
1999 - 2000 Basil Alexander
2000 - 2001 Mark Schaan
2001 - 2002 Erin McCloskey
2002 - 2003 Josh Morgan
2003 - 2004 Jeff LaPorte
2004 - 2005 Alison Forbes
2005 - 2006 Stephanie Murray
2006 - 2007 Paris Meilleur
2007 - 2008 David Simmonds
2008 - 2009 Trevor Mayoh
2009 - 2010 Dan Moulton
2010 - 2011 Meaghan Coker
2011 - 2012 Sean Madden
2012 - 2013 Alysha Li
2013 - 2014 Amir Eftekarpour
2014 - 2015 Jen Carter
2015 - 2016 Spencer Nestico-Semianiw
2016 - 2017 Jamie Cleary
2017 - 2018 Andrew Clubine
2018 - 2019 Danny Chang
2019 - 2020 Catherine Dunne
2020 - 2021 Julia Pereira
2021 - 2022 Eunice Oladejo
2022 - 2023 Jessica Look
2023 – 2024 Vivian Chiem
2024 – Present Michelle Wodchis-Johnson
Executive Directors
1994 - 1996 Michael Burns
1997 Rick Marin (Interim)
1997 - 1998 Barry McCartan
1998 - 1999 Andrew Boggs
1999 - 2001 Ryan Parks
2001 - 2002 Bryce Rudyk
2002 James Meloche (Interim)
2002 - 2003 Leslie Church
2003 - 2005 Adam Spence
2005 - 2007 Scott Courtice
2007 - 2008 Chris Locke
2008 - 2009 Howie Bender
2009 - 2011 Alexi White
2011 – 2012 Sam Andrey
2012 - 2013 Rylan Kinnon
2014 – 2015 Sean Madden
2015 – 2017 Zachary Rose
2017 – 2018 Sophie Helpard
2019 – 2022 Eddy Avila
2023–Present Malika Dhanani
References
Information taken from OUSA's website unless otherwise stated. Presidents and Executive Directors updated annually.
