Federal Election - Liberals and PSE

Also on September 17th the DSU released a press release on the Liberal's stand on PSE:

DAL STUDENT UNION PLEASED WITH LIBERAL EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION

HALIFAX, NS – The Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) is pleased with this morning’s Liberal announcement to dedicate an additional $25 billion to post-secondary education.

Liberal leader Stéphane Dion announced today that the party will be putting more emphasis on improving the accessibility and affordability of post-secondary education and supporting university-based research and development.

“We are thrilled that the Liberal party has responded to the student voice by adding this plan to its platform,” says Courtney Larkin, President of the DSU. “Coupling this plan with the new Canada Student Grant Program will increase accessibility of our post-secondary institutions and will enable more students to receive a university or college education.”

The 20-year education endowment fund, worth $25 billion, includes:

· 200,000 needs-based bursaries of up to $3,500 per year

· 100,000 access grants of up to $4,000 per year for groups under-represented in post-secondary education

· Guaranteed student loans of $5,000, regardless of parental income

· Expansion of the post-graduation student loan repayment period from six months to two years

· Increase tricouncil research funding by more than a third of its current value

Student loan reform is an issue that the DSU is extremely vocal about. “This will answer many of the concerns that post-secondary students across the country are facing,” says Larkin. “Eventually we would like to see the interest rate on student loans eliminated entirely, but increasing the no-interest grace period is a great start.”

The DSU also advocates several issues not addressed by this morning’s announcement. Among these is a dedicated per-student transfer for post-secondary education to the provinces. Such a plan would involve allocating funds to provinces based on the number of students who attend institutions in that province, rather than the number of permanent residents. As a net importer of students, Nova Scotia does not benefit as other provinces do from the current federal funding formula.

In addition, The DSU advocates implementing early outreach programs to educate demographics of the population that have a tendency to overestimate the cost and underestimate the benefit of a post secondary education. Larkin explains: “No matter how many new programs we introduce, we need to pursue early outreach programs to ensure the opportunities available to Canadians are equally clear to all demographics.”

The DSU is the largest student union in Maritime Canada, representing nearly 16,000 students at Dalhousie University. As a member of the Alliance of Nova Scotia Students Associations (ANSSA) and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), the DSU actively represents the diverse interests of Dalhousie students by providing services and support in a financially, socially and environmentally responsible manner. For more information on the DSU, visit the website at www.dsu.ca.

-30-

Federal Election - NDP and PSE

Back on September 8th the DSU released the press release below:

STUDENTS URGE NDP CANDIDATE TO MAKE EDUCATION A PRIORITY

Halifax, NS – Dalhousie University students are encouraging all candidates for the federal riding of Halifax to make post secondary education a priority in the upcoming federal election. On the evening of the NDP candidate nomination, the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) is hoping the party chooses a candidate that is willing to champion post secondary education in Ottawa. Issues important to students include a change to the federal funding formula for post secondary institutions, funding for graduate student research, and access and affordability to a quality education.

Nova Scotia has been suffering from a federal funding formula that subsidizes the costs of post secondary education based on the number of residents in a province. Students from out of province aren’t incorporated into this formula, which is problematic because Nova Scotia is a net-importer of students. This has resulted in the provincial government deciding to subsidize education costs for residential students only, leading to increased tuition fees for out of province students. “We hope that the next federal government will recognize this inequity, and create a dedicated transfer to the province for higher education that accounts for the number of students living here,” explained DSU President Courtney Larkin. “Within three years differential tuition fees will grow to the point that out of province students are paying more than one thousand dollars more than residential students in a year’s tuition.”

Students are also urging candidates to push for more federal funding for graduate students needing research support. “Graduate programs are typically more expensive than undergraduate programs” says Larkin. “Lack of funding is a barrier that is preventing otherwise qualified graduates from continuing their studies in higher education.”

Lastly, the DSU hopes that any new money for student financial aid will be directed to those students who need it the most. “We need more targeted, up front funding that will be directed towards high-need and low-income students,” suggests Larkin. “Our goal is to ensure that all academically qualified students are given access to the resources they require to achieve a quality post secondary education.”

-30-

The NDP recently released their full platform and within it was PSE. Today the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations released the following:

Students welcome pledge of long-term predictable federal funding for post-secondary education.

OTTAWA, Sept. 28 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Alliance of Student
Associations is encouraged by the pledge of the New Democratic Party to create
a dedicated funding transfer from the federal government in each fiscal year
to support the post-secondary educational services of the provinces. The
pledge, announced today as part of the NDP's "Education Opportunity Plan",
would guarantee each province a long-term, predictable level of funding each
year, provided that each province satisfied certain criteria and conditions
set by the federal government regarding program quality, accessibility, public
administration and accountability.

    "Since the 1990's, the responsibility for funding post-secondary
education in Canada has largely been offloaded to individual students and
private enterprise, placing the accessibility, affordability and quality of
the system in jeopardy," said Zach Churchill, National Director of the
Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. "Depending on the amount, a
dedicated transfer can help to reverse this process, allowing the federal
government to reclaim its abdicated responsibility for ensuring a properly
funded and accountable public post-secondary education system."

   The NDP Education Opportunity Plan also promises:

   <<
       - A grant of $1000 by 2012 to all undergraduate or equivalent
         students who qualify for student loans, paid at the beginning of
         each school year
       - A promise to forgive the student loans of health professionals who
         commit to dedicate the first 10 years of their careers to family
         medicine in Canada
       - A promise to reform the Canada Student Loan system, including
         providing interest relief, to ensure that students will not be
         forced to start repaying their loans until after they have
         completed their education
   >>

   CASA calls on the New Democratic Party to follow-up on today's
announcement with more specific details about how their dedicated education
transfer payment will be funded each year. With reference to this, CASA
recommends that a dedicated transfer be funded at an initial level of
$4 billion in annual cash transfers, with increases made accordingly for
annual inflation and demographic growth thereafter.
   CASA will continue to call on the other parties in this election to
create progressive solutions designed to increase the participation rates of
Canadians who are currently underrepresented in the post-secondary system,
while sustaining students currently in the system by reducing the amount of
debt incurred in pursuit of a post-secondary credential
   The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a non-partisan,
not-for-profit national student organization composed of 23 student
associations, representing 300,000 students from coast to coast.

For further information: Jillian Flake, Public Relations and
Communications Officer, CASA, (613) 236-3457, ext. 224, (c) (613) 868-6605,
casacomm@casa.ca

Halifax Students Want Change

Today I attended the Halifax Student Alliance's (which the DSU is a member of) Student Forum. The event ran from 10am-6pm at Saint Mary's University.

There was a diverse amount of programming for the event: explanation of the Mayor's Report on Crime and Violence, panel discussions, breakout session and a world cafe. There were students from Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, Kings University, NSCC Waterfront Campus, and Mount Saint Vincent University. There were also representatives from the Mayor's report, candidates for the upcoming elections, an MP, and other government officials. There were two members of the Halifax community. And members of the media (Gazette, DalNews, The Watch, CBC, and others). The point that I am trying to get across to you was that in terms of attendance there was a wide range!

It was great to hear students talking about what are municipal issues to them and what they think should be priorities for HSA - this will help the HSA board of directors set an agenda for the coming year.

During the world cafe session my group came up with two main priorities for the year - focusing on student safety in HRM and having strong collaboration with City Council and other interest groups in the city to have a strong voice for our issues.

The event was ended with a candidates BBQ - with both a municipal and federal election coming up quickly it was a great opportunity for students to talk with candidates about their issues (thank you to all of the candidates that did attend the event as well).

Overall the event today was great and I hope that throughout the year the HSA board and executive director (and other interested students) will be able to continue consulting with students (perhaps by faculty, or residence community, etc) to find ways to discuss their concerns and better advocate on their behalves.

Residence Council Training

The Dalhousie Student Union is unique in many many ways, but that also gives us great opportunities. One of the great opportunities we have is the residence council system that exists through residence hall (entire building) and house (sections of the buildings) councils forming DSU societies.

This year myself and the Vice President (Internal) Daniel Boyle created a morning session for all of the residence council leaders to come for a training session.

The topics that were covered were an introduction to the DSU (the purpose of the DSU, services that the DSU has to help students, DSU fee breakdown, and how each of the DSU executive can help their individual portfolios and their council as a whole), how to run effective council meetings, tips and tricks that we have learned along our journey, and a world cafe session.

There were approximately 100 residence council students that came to the training on Saturday morning and the session that I found most beneficial and what I think they enjoyed the most was the world cafe.

The group of 100 students were split up into groups of 6-8 people that ideally they did not already know. They then were given the question: what are successes you would like your residence to achieve this year? The groups had lively conversations and a range of ideas were produced (everything from basic statements about having fun to wanting to improve the quality of the food and the experience in the residence meal halls). The students were then asked to switch and find a new group of 6-8 people they did not know and answer the second question: what are successes you would the entire residence community to achieve this year? The groups in general had similar thoughts around having residence pride, having better communication between residences, having more inter-residence events and making their students more informed on what the councils are doing. This process was designed to get our residence leaders thinking about goals for the upcoming year.

Overall the event was a great success and I look forward to working with and supporting our residence leaders on many different initiatives this year.