By Emelie Beaudry
As a new or continuing student, you may not know much about the Student Union. Sure, you pay a Student Union fee as part of your tuition, but what are they really doing?
Ines Tang (She/They) is an artist, a student, and the Student Union’s Executive Director of Campaigns and Advocacy. In this interview I sat down with her to speak on the Student Union; who they are, what they do, and how they relate to you, the student.
Emelie Beaudry: Thank you for meeting with me! To start, would you introduce yourself?
Ines Tang: Hello, I’m Ines! I was born and raised in Hong Kong, came to Canada for university, and enrolled in OCAD U for Illustration. I do digital artwork with a focus on storytelling and character design. I’m entering my third year at OCAD.
E: What is your role in the Student Union?
I: I am the Executive Director of Campaigns and Advocacy. I advocate directly for students as a whole and for bigger issues that need attention, especially when it comes to social justice, equity, anti-colonialism, and anti-oppression.
E: What exactly does the Student Union do?
I: For anybody who might not be familiar with the concept of a Student Union; it is really just there to advocate for you, to enrich your student life, and to lend a helping hand when you need it, especially when interacting with the university.
If you ever need help with any processes where you need to talk to the school, please reach out to our lovely Advocacy Manager, Jacqui Spencer (advocate@ocadsu.org)! We also have our lawyer, Mbuso Nkosi (lawyer@ocadsu.org), who can help notarize documents, act as legally needed presence, or direct you to other legal aid. Outside of that, we run Hot Lunch twice a week during the Fall and Winter terms, plus regular student pantries and a community fridge (on the 2nd floor of 100 McCaul, and 6th floor of 230 Richmond St. W). It’s something we’ve historically set up and kept running to make sure that food is accessible to our student body. The SU also offers micro-grants that you can apply for, for whatever project, initiative, or student group you might be thinking of. We also try to organize different sponsorships, events, and initiatives, to make your student life just a little more interesting and fun, so that you’re learning and experiencing something outside of the classroom as well.
E: Do you have somewhere online that people could go to find out more?
I: We have a website (https://www.ocadsu.org/) where you can look at a general list of our resources, who your representatives are, etc. You can check out our Instagram (@ocadsu), email us at any time if you have any questions or concerns, or even come say hi at our office on the 6th floor of 230 Richmond St W.
E: Why did you decide to join the Student Union?
I: In my second year, I ran a petition for more class sections and smaller class sizes around the same time that the Student Union elections were happening. I wanted to access the resources and network that the SU had for student advocacy. I figured that being directly involved would allow me to collaborate closely with OCAD’s administration and other OCAD SU representatives on actually achieving these initiatives that I’d been working towards as an individual student. It was really about getting more deeply ingrained with the groups and communities on campus who were already working towards the same goals.
E: Specifically, how does the Student Union relate to and work with the school?
I: Technically, we are independently incorporated as a nonprofit, which means that we’re not actually OCAD U administration. We exist purely to advocate for and support students when the university does not have that capacity for whatever reason.
E: What kind of values are you trying to promote within the Student Union, and the school as a whole?
I: I really want to promote student activism and dissuade political apathy. I worry that students aren’t engaging with the political sphere around them, because they feel too tired, overwhelmed, disconnected, or afraid. I think people don’t realize they can make an impact, and I really do understand that feeling, but the secret is that a single person can actually do a lot. Bare minimum engagement from a single person, spread out across a group of many, many people, does a lot. It does and means so much.
That’s also why I promote a lot of student involvement in administrative decision-making. Traditionally, across sector norms, students aren’t involved in or aware of the bigger university decisions being made. I want to change that, because OCAD is not a “normal school”, and I don’t think it should be treated like one. I think we can be better than the sector norm, because we have an extremely unique position, in a lot of ways.
E: What are your goals, more broadly speaking, for the Student Union?
I: My general goal for the Student Union is for the student body to immediately know what we’re doing for them. We’ve been doing Hot Lunch, Student Pantry, and Community Fridge to help with food insecurity. Even now, we’re planning on creating more bursaries and opportunities for international students and students in crisis. We’re working towards making sure that your programs aren’t being dissolved without your input. We’re trying to organize even outside of campus, to join the greater student movement, and to convince the government to fund post-secondary education better, so that you don’t have to pay as much tuition. Things like that to improve your student experience. I not only want us to actually do things for you, but I want you to know you can trust us to do things for you, with you.
E: What is something that you’re working towards that you want students to know about?
I: Generally speaking, we’re working towards more student involvement in terms of administrative decision-making. We’re really concerned and dedicated to making sure that the administration is communicating properly to students, giving them advance notice, actually fully involving them. Bridging the gap between administration and students is what we help do, because we’re mediators, as well. We collect information about what students want, bring that to administration, then report back to the students.
Other top-priorities that I’d like students to know about is that we’re pushing for more government funding, more transparency in OCAD U’s administrative communication to us, and on-demand course registration systems so that we can all have enough sections, finally.
E: What would be the best way to get engaged with the Student Union, as a new or continuing student?
I:
The top two things: come to our Annual General Meeting, and vote in our elections!
Those are the top two ways to engage with us, to participate and have your (literal) vote and say in what happens in the Student Union. Because, hey, you’re a Student Union member! You are the Student Union. You decide what happens. Believe in that power.
The other ways to generally engage with us, over any semester, is to email us, physically come to our office, check your emails (please check your emails) and social media for events, outreach, surveys, all that good stuff. The most important thing that you can do is just care. Take that time to engage and talk to us, especially if you need help. We’re here for you, and we want to be sure that we’re working towards what you want and what you need from your university experience, whether it be within the campus or outside of it. But seriously, please check your emails and show up to our AGM! I’m begging you. Please please please!
E: Last question: Is there anything else you want to say, any final notes you want to add?
I: Please rest properly over the term and hydrate regularly. University is such an experience, the saying of “you get what you put into it” really shines through, because you’ll find that a lot of university problems are pretty consistent across the province. Try not to let it get to you. Make friends, go talk to people. We’ll be here every step of the way.
