News

StudentsNS welcomes Nick Head-Petersen as its 8th Executive Director. Nick graduated from St. Francis Xavier University, in 2013, with a Bachelor of Science in biology. During his time at StFX, Nick served as Students’ Union President in 2012-2013 and sat on the Board of Directors of StudentsNS. After completing his undergraduate degree, Nick attended the University of Victoria where he completed a Masters of Public Health, with a focus in Indigenous Health.

Student leaders across Nova Scotia expressed concern on Thursday over the recent decision in the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) lawsuit against the Cape Breton University Students’ Union (CBUSU). In that decision, an Ontario Superior Court justice ordered CBUSU to pay $293,000 in damages to the CFS, in addition to their court costs. CBUSU was prompted to leave the CFS after a 2008 campus-wide disaffiliation vote where 92% percent supported leaving.

Notwithstanding legislation brought forward yesterday, the Government of Nova Scotia has undermined university accountability according to Students Nova Scotia. By deregulating tuition at Nova Scotia’s universities, the Government has granted the institutions more financial control than anywhere else in Canada, while also excluding students from the Memorandum of Understanding negotiations with the universities for the first time since 2005.

Today, the Nova Scotia Government announced multiple steps to substantially increase the cost of university, reduce student financial support and undermine university accountability. In particular, tuition fees are being deregulated for all students in 2015-16, then capped only for Nova Scotian undergraduates at 3% per year moving forward, leaving all other students unprotected.

A groundbreaking report released this morning by Students Nova Scotia argues for changes for the Province and the NSCC to better support NSCC students and strengthen their voices. Fees, Funding and Student Voice at the Nova Scotia Community College examines fee and funding levels, financial assistance and governance, arguing for steps to ensure the NSCC delivers on its mandate.

The NSCC has indicated that an agreement has been reached with the Province to increase tuition in most programs by 3% in 2015-16. The increase considerably exceeds inflation. The Province did not consult students in advance of the tuition decision.

On Tuesday, Minister Kelly Regan delivered the most significant speech of her time in office to date, indicating the government’s direction with respect to Nova Scotia’s ten universities. The speech was short on details, but still indicated significant and often contradictory policies. She most significantly opened the door for tuition increases, including an unprecedented expansion of differential fees for out-of-province students.

In honour of International Women’s Day, emerging and established women leaders will be at Saint Mary’s University the evening of March 12 to talk about the opportunities and barriers for women in leadership. Mend the Gap: Emerging Women Leaders is a collaborative effort between StudentsNS, the SMU Students’ Association Equity Centre, the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and Equal Voice Nova Scotia.

An independent review released today has recommended significant changes to governance structures within Nova Scotia student unions. The report finds that student union structures have not evolved as the associations have grown in size and complexity, which undermines both student ownership and effective service delivery. The report includes 56 individual recommendations addressing issues ranging from governance structures to university relations and election rules.

Students Nova Scotia released a vision paper on student finance and the student movement this morning. The brief paper advocates for needs-based grants to fully meets students’ costs to attend post-secondary education. It calls for student movement unity across Canada in support of this vision.