CSI’s Advocacy Department is dedicated to improving the student experience by creating data and research-driven solutions, and empowering students to be change-makers in the Conestoga community and beyond!
Our advocacy efforts provide our students with a platform to be heard within Conestoga College and across all levels of government. Students are contributing stakeholders that help create meaningful change focused on the pillars of Accountability, Affordability, Equity and Sustainability of the student experience.
A Look Forward
Student Housing
It’s of great importance to us to gain an understanding of the current housing challenges you may be faced with, explore best practices, and develop solutions to address them!
CSI actively reaches out to students to hear about their housing experiences, we work closely with community partners to advocate for greater housing availability, and affordability and engage relevant policymakers to ensure that we find the best way for students to be housed safely. Keeping in mind a price that does not inflict on the educational experience of students.
Transportation
What transportation methods are students using? How can their transit experiences be improved? We aim to ensure students have long-term, sustainable, and green-friendly transportation solutions available at all existing and future Conestoga College campuses!
CSI has joined the Link the Watershed Initiative to advocate for better public transportation between Brantford, Guelph, and the Waterloo Region and connect our communities with a network of four new conventional transit routes. Additionally, implementing service changes to the rural transit services to create a highly integrated network of rural and urban transit services and link the Watershed.
For more information, click the link below!
www.linkthewatershed.ca
Truth & Reconciliation
This advocacy initiative aims to encourage Conestoga College to commence the work of Truth & Reconciliation by beginning consultations with the indigenous communities on whose land the College is built on and whose nation the College is embedded with.
In partnership with Be-Dah-Bin Gamik, we seek to encourage the work of Truth & Reconciliation in our organization in a way that meaningfully involves and empowers indigenous students and community members.
Academic Fairness
How can we best assist our students in their educational experience? How can we ensure their academic journey is seamless?
Whether students are appealing a grade or need guidance on how to navigate the process, this advocacy initiative intends to better understand how Conestoga students experience and interact with the academic appeals process. It also aims to enhance the process by providing the resources needed to assist students in all topics relating to academic fairness.
CSI Year-End Survey
Our mission is to improve student satisfaction and success by providing a variety of student services and taking steps to ensure that our students feel supported and secure throughout their educational journey!
The CSI Year-End Survey is issued annually to our student members to better understand their interests and needs. We use the information gathered to help the CSI Board of Directors plan for the future, inform CSI’s annual strategic plan, and influence program planning and delivery.
A Look Back
2021/22 CEC and CAAT-A Bargaining
When bargaining negotiations broke down between the CEC and CAAT-A Faculty, CSI began to take proactive measures to ensure students were always informed about the current state of the negotiations and worked with other student associations across the province to call on both parties to continue negotiating and put students first.
These efforts included:
- The creation of a bargaining information page
- Frequent meetings with Conestoga College administration and Conestoga’s Local Union Representatives
- Letters to both bargaining teams and the province
- Developing internal response plans to ensure additional support would be available for students should a strike occur