The NBSA is hosting its annual Advocacy Week from November 29 to December 3, 2021.
During this week, the board members and student delegates from Mount Allison, St. Thomas, and UNB Fredericton and Saint John will be meeting with government officials, stakeholders, and university administrations to discuss concerns that students have and make recommendations to improve postsecondary education in New Brunswick.
What is New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA)?
The New Brunswick Student Alliance is a student-run organization that represents over 12,000 post-secondary students in the province. Its board consists of two representatives from each of the four participating universities along with their current Executive Director, Bibi Wasiimah Joomun.
Want to get involved with the team?
If you would like to join the team, there are various committees that you can choose based on your interests. You can join to work on advocacy policy, research, and/or campaigns with the board of directions. Please contact the Executive Director at director@nbsa-aenb.ca if you have any questions, concerns, or inquiries concerning the committees and/or the application process.
Affordability Committee
The recent tuition increases have made obtaining a degree in New Brunswick financially difficult. The student leaders in this committee will research, review, and advocate for financial support for international students, New Brunswick tuition, student financial aid, providing funding, student load process, Open Educational Resources, and student loan interest in the province during the academic year 2021-2022 to address these financial struggles.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Committee
The NBSA’s structure is rooted in colonial practices and one of the major goals of the committee is to ensure that the work is conducted and implemented through an equity, diversity, and inclusion intersectional praxis. This is to ensure that the students welcomed to the committee feel respected, equally valued as the rest regardless of their gender, religion, race, or ethnicity.
The committee leaders work to decolonize the organization and the post-secondary education system by effectively researching, collaborating, and consulting with the students and fellow community members.
Health & Wellness Committee
The Health and Wellness committee mainly advocates on how the province might take steps to minimize health and wellness-related barriers to receive a degree in New Brunswick. The committee has been working on policies for e-mental health and other services, as well as putting together a “fitness and healthy living campaign” which will be launched in early December. This committee especially focuses on mental health and student wellness.
Sustainability Committee
The NBSA is a firm believer in the importance of campus sustainability to the postsecondary experience. Recycling, food security, affordable housing, and the influence that the campuses have on the climate are among the goals set by the sustainability committee this year. Through the creation of NBSA policy and advocacy materials, polls, and campaigns, the organization intends to raise awareness and influence provincial policy changes in these areas of concern.
What are key things that NBSA will be addressing during the Advocacy Week?
Conducting an inquiry into systematic racism in the province, providing money and implementing e-mental health services for students, implementing an accountability framework to ensure the clarity of sexual violence policies, providing long-term and equitable funding for trauma-informed services, offering international students access to provincial student loans, and providing a minimum annual increase in the university’s operating grant to allow for multi-year tuition fees are some of the key recommendations that the board members will be addressing during this week to meet the needs of post-secondary students and the future of New Brunswick.
Interested to learn more about the committees?
Please visit the website to learn more about the committees. You can be part of multiple committees at the same time as well. The applications have been closed for this academic year but will re-open again next year and will be available to apply on the website.
To stay up-to-date with the NBSA conferences, events and news, please follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. To watch the full press release, please visit the link- nbsa-aenb.ca/press-releases and for any questions or inquiries regarding the Advocacy Week, send an email to the Executive Director of NBSA at director@nbsa-aenb.ca.
