Our Approach

Student Issues

As an organization, StudentNS have been regarded as subject matter experts. We stick to what we know--and what do we know best? The student experience in Nova Scotia.

We choose to focus on student issues. We know that as students, we are experts in our lived experiences and choose to narrow our scope to student life directly. This allows our work to have direction and focus.

Between lived experience, thorough research, and on-the-ground consultation, StudentNS can provide expert recommendations on a number of student-focused topics, such as tuition increases, financial aid, the rising cost of textbooks, and sexualized violence on campus, to name a few. StudentsNS believes: who best to represent these issues than students ourselves?

Research

When creating recommendations, we ground our work in both theory and data, providing a comprehensive overview on how to tackle many of the day-to-day concerns of our students. We routinely publish position papers, create an annual advocacy document utilizing data to support our claims, and collaborate with our partners coast-to-coast to provide environmental scans of post-secondary in Canada.

We want our recommendations to be tangible--that’s why we do the heavy lifting for government and other stakeholders by providing cost models for our proposals, which are further backed up by our research.

To read some of our recent publications, click here.

Advocacy

Advocacy: some say it’s a lifestyle. At StudentsNS, we believe that the heart of our work comes from strategic and effective advocacy to advance the concerns of students. Our approach is simple: we survey student concerns, delve into the research, liaise with relevant stakeholders, and deliver realistic recommendations to government.

The key to our advocacy comes through creating strong, non-partisan partnerships with civil service, elected officials, stakeholders, community groups, and students. We all have a common goal: to make Nova Scotia a viable place to work and live, and StudentsNS believes that improving our post-secondary system is key to achieving this aim.

Follow Us

News