College Student Alliance

The College Student Alliance (CSA) is a provincial advocacy organization in Ontario that represents students at community colleges. The alliance represents 8 colleges and 10 student associations with over 78,000 student members.

College Student Alliance
LocationToronto. Ontario, Canada
Established1975
PresidentBrittany Elizabeth Greig
Vice president-
AffiliationsOUSA, CASA
Websitewww.collegestudentalliance.ca

Founded in 1975 as the Ontario Community College Student Parliamentary Association (OCCSPA), the College Student Alliance (CSA) is an advocacy and student leadership organization which serves Ontario's college students.

CSA's main competencies are advocacy related on behalf of its membership on all issues relating to college education including tuition, accessibility, quality and transferability. Independent of any political or organizational affiliations the CSA is dedicated to championing the needs of Ontario postsecondary students from the students' perspective.[1]

Advocacy Successes

Over CSA's 40-year history, the staff and board have worked hard to ensure the college student voice is heard at Queen's Park. The following are some of CSA's advocacy successes over the years.

  • For the 2015 Provincial Budget, CSA had a huge win after successfully advocating for student who own a vehicle. Thanks to CSA, students who own a vehicle will no longer have their OSAP affected.
  • CSA and other advocacy groups worked together to have the Government of Ontario invest $74 million on credit transfer including the creation of the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT).
  • For the 2016 Provincial Budget, CSA was successful in the creation of education access for students via the creation of the Ontario Student Grant.

Programs & Service

1. FUNDING TOOLS | A one-stop-shop funding website; with over 500 scholarships, bursaries and grants, and a budget calculator.

2. POINT BANK | CSA's Point Bank program was designed to give back to student associations to better student life for individuals on their campuses. Through promotion of CSA, student associations gain 'points' which turn into dollars. In 2015/16, we distributed over $14,000 to fund food banks on-campus.

3.THE YELLOW UMBRELLA PROJECT | The Yellow Umbrella Project is an annual mental health awareness campaign developed by CSA. Student associations across Ontario participate in the campaign in order to achieve its overall mission: to stop the stigma surrounding mental health and mental illness, and help students recognize the resources available to them on-campus and within their community. The Yellow Umbrella Project coincides with Mental Illness Awareness Week in order to bridge the gap between communities and campuses. CSA provided student associations with marketing material, suggested social media posts and a how-to guide for implementation.

4. STUDENT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP | CSA's Student Leadership Scholarship is awarded to 12 outstanding student leaders from Ontario colleges who demonstrate exceptional work on campus and in their community. The scholarship is awarded to individuals with proven leadership qualities. Winners are involved within their college community, demonstrating leadership efforts, volunteerism and participation in organizations focused on helping others. CSA's Leadership Scholarship is presented annually by CSA's Board of Directors.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors are elected by the membership to oversee the organization, provide guidance and future vision. All members of the Board must be current student leaders from within the membership.

The 2018-2019 Board of Directors are:

Title Name Student Association
President Brittany Elizabeth Greig Conestoga Students Inc.
Vice President Justin Paolo Lorenzo Lim Centennial College Student Association Inc.
Director Jessica Itiaba Flemming College Student Administrative Council Inc.
Director Andrew MacNeil Conestoga Students Inc.
Director Ali Hassan Sault College Students' Union
Director

Staff
  • General Manager | Curtis Bell
  • Director of Advocacy | Abdullah Mushtaq
  • Research & Policy Analyst | Olivia Dagbo
  • Programs & Events Coordinator | Theresa Slater
  • Communications Manager | Emmaline Scharbach

Presidents
  • 2002-2003 | Jon Olinski
  • 2003-2004 | Valerie Rothlin
  • 2004-2005 | Justin Falconer
  • 2005-2006 | Matt Jackson
  • 2006-2007 | Matt Jackson
  • 2007-2008 | Tyler Wiles
  • 2008-2009 | Jennifer Howarth
  • 2009-2010 | Justin Fox
  • 2010-2011 | Justin Fox
  • 2011-2012 | Brian Costantini
  • 2012-2013 | Ciara Bryne
  • 2013-2014 | Curtis Bell
  • 2014-2015 | Matt Stewart
  • 2015-2016 | Jeff Scherer
  • 2016-2017 | Madison Schell
  • 2017-2018 | Joel Willett/Aimee Calma
  • 2018-2019 | Brittany Elizabeth Greig

Executive Directors/General Managers
  • 1996-1999 | Cynthia Watt
  • 1999-2002 | Tracy Boyer
  • 2003 | Jon Olinski
  • 2004-2005 | Frank Cappadocia
  • 2005 | Jon Olinski
  • 2005-2016 | Ted Bartlett
  • 2016-2018 | Jennifer Nguyen (Howarth)
  • 2018–Present | Curtis Bell
gollark: "Actively harm humanity" is waaay too vague. This is a bad idea.
gollark: <@330678593904443393> Burning people because they don't agree on things is an awful idea.
gollark: <@357932279231807488> They did release the full model IIRC.
gollark: Why not run it on... your actual computer? Is there some sort of importable Pyth implementation?
gollark: I think the main issue is just in creating a process; that is *slooooow*.

References
  1. http://www.collegestudentalliance.ca/about/about-us/
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