The student executives at the OTSU have just one year to accomplish all the things they set out to do when they are elected by Ontario Tech students. It seems like a lot of time, but really, it’s pretty short when you take into consideration Board and university administration meetings, events, organizational operation and planning, accomplishing advocacy initiatives, and the plethora of ad hoc…stuff that comes up on any given day.

This opportunity comes with a great sense of accomplishment, but also a great deal of responsibility, given that we are the guardians and custodians of many of your student fees—something we take very seriously!

As part of our commitment to transparency, and our dedication to achieving the goals that we set out to accomplish, we’ve listed our major accomplishments below. And on our final days in office, we sat down together to debrief and to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve done this past year, and on what this time here has meant to us.

We hope this gives you better insight into what this organization strives hard to accomplish, and hope it inspires you to take an active role in your student union’s future.

Student governance is an incredible forum to develop personal and professional skills, and an opportunity to take part in influencing decision-making in a way that many students are otherwise unable to.

We are so grateful to have had this opportunity, and for your trust in us to work hard on your behalf. Best of luck in all your future endeavours—we know you’re going to do great things!

~ The 23/24 Executive Team

(Eloghosa Avenbuan, VP Student Life; Samantha Brown, President; Angelique Dack, VP Downtown; Tega Ubor, VP Student Affairs)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0reCcs2tgOU [Youtube]

2023/2024 Accomplishments

Tega, Vice President of Student Affairs 2023-2024

• The undergraduate academic appeals now allows for students to file appeals past the ten business day deadline if they have sufficient grounds.
• During O-Week and the following two weeks of the fall semester, 100 reusable drink covers, 300 condoms, and electrolytes were given out to encourage safe, consensual sex and partying.
• Co-authored the transit portion of the OUSA provincial paper on Housing, Transit, and Community Development.
• Edited two OUSA papers: International Students & International Education, and Addressing Racism & Religious Discrimination.
• Attended the February and March TEC meetings, relaying student concerns over transit reliability and the budget cuts to transit.
• In February 2024, I wrote an open letter to the DRT—signed by 135 students—to encourage them to conduct meaningful forms of engagement with students to measure their satisfaction with service levels.
• Initiated and facilitated conversations to meaningfully include the International Student Association and the university administration regarding resources available to international students.

Elo, Vice President of Student Life 2023-2024

• Established a new Clubs & Societies Committee to address any concerns or sanctions regarding any club or society.
• Helped inaugurate the Legacy Builders initiative for Black History Month, which included four events, two Black Excellence in Leadership awards, seven free tax filing sessions for Black-identifying students, and the Digital Black Magazine. My platform was equity and engagement, and I was proud to accomplish that through our BHM initiatives!
• Hosted an O-Week event called Battle of the Societies to encourage teamwork and healthy competition among the Societies throughout the year.
• Assisted in ratifying ~108 clubs and 7 societies. In doing so, the clubs and societies section on the website is now updated to reflect the new changes that occurred this year.
• Emceed our annual Pangea event alongside OTSU President, Sam Brown, helping showcase the significance of cultural diversity on our campus.

Angelique, VP Downtown 2023-2024

• Successfully connected with 1,452 members of the downtown campus community (faculty, staff, and students), slightly below my target of 1,741 (75% of the community).
• Through pre-existing relationships with University departments, I facilitated further collaboration with the Student Engagement and Equity Office, Campus Sustainability, Brilliant Catalyst, and other key stakeholders to bring new opportunities to our students.
• Through the Brilliant Work-Integrated Learning program, I facilitated five student positions:
  • Project Administrator
  • Project Administrator Advocacy
  • Project Administrator Equity, Inclusion, Diversity
  • Project Administrator Business Development
  • Project Administrator Downtown (this is the first time the OTSU has offered a downtown-specific employment opportunity outside of the VP Downtown)
• Attended many OUSA events, bringing ideas from our downtown campus community (For example, I proposed (and have accepted) a PCR set specific to considering satellite campuses in student housing development plans).
• To round out the year, I will co-author a paper alongside Sam for the OUSA Habitats publication.