EGSA Team 2023 - 2024

EGSA Spring 2022/2023 Elections are here! Nominations for executive positions will be live April 24 – May 8th. Spring Elections will be May 10-12. Take an active role in student leadership, build community, and learn new skills. Complete the attached nomination form or find more information on the roles here.

President:Vacant (egsa@uwo.ca)

The responsibilities of the president includes: (a) liaise with the many departments within the Faculty of Education, especially the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and the Graduate Assistants; (b) organize EGSA elections for the subsequent year; (c) call and chair EGSA meetings; (d) update andcompile EGSA information; (e) manage the tasks required by each position held in the EGSA; (f) create and organizes communications regarding EGSA events and recruitment; and (g) manage the EGSA website and social media (Twitter, etc.).

Vice President: Vacant

The vice president’s responsibilities include: (a) attend all EGSA meetings and take minutes; (b) submit minutes to the coordinator for approval and dissemination; and (c) in the event of the president being unable to fulfill their duties, the secretary is responsible for organizing a new election.

Program Representatives (one each)

• Curriculum Studies – MA & PhD – Vacant
  
• Applied linguistics – MA & PhD – Vacant
  
• School and applied psychology – MA & PhD – Vacant
  
• Critical policy, equity, and leadership – MA & PhD – Vacant
  
• MPed & EdD – Vacant
  
• TESOL - Vacant

To nominate yourself for this position, send your bio statement (max. 75 words) at egsa@uwo.ca.

Program representatives’ responsibilities include: (a) attend EGSA meetings and share their opinions and feedback on program-related questions and issues that arise; (b) communicate relevant information from the EGSA meetings to the students in the program that they represent; (c) start initiatives/organize events/workshops as deemed necessary for scholarly and professional development for students in the program in collaboration with the EGSA. For the research-intensive programs, two representatives (one master’s and one doctoral student) from each ARC (Applied Psychology, Critical Policy, Equity and
Leadership, Curriculum studies and studies in Applied Linguistics) will be elected each year. From the professional education programs, one representative will be elected from each of the EdD program and MPEd programs.

Robert Macmillan Symposium in Education (RMSE) Committee
Chair: Vacant
Committee Members: Committee elections in Fall 2024 (rmse@uwo.ca).

The RMSE committee organizes the annual, graduate student-led symposium: Robert Macmillan Symposium in Education. The RMSE chair oversees and manages the committee organizing the symposium. The chair will liaise with the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and the Research Office to plan the annual research symposium. In organizing the RMSE, the chair is responsible for managing, organizing, and delegating tasks within the RMSE committee. The chair will also act as a committee member, completing tasks and supporting committee members in the successful completion of assigned tasks. The chair will provide updates about the progress of RMSE planning at EGSA meetings to keep the association informed. The RMSE committee members complete delegated tasks prior to the symposium and attend it to serve in a variety of capacities ensuring successful implementation of the event, acting under the direction and organization of the RMSE Chair.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee Chair: Vacant
Committee Members: Committee elections in Fall 2024

The EDI Committee is a graduate student-led committee that works towards creating a supportive and inclusive community of learners in the Faculty of Education. The responsibilities of the EDI Committee Chair include (a) assist and advise in coordinating programs with other EGSA members to ensure that the programs and events provided by the EGSA are equitable, diverse, and inclusionary; and (b) start initiatives (anti-racism initiatives) as deemed necessary with the support of the EGSA and/or other faculty resources. The EDI Committee Members’ responsibilities are to participate in meetings to share opinions and feedback on EDI related questions and issues that arise and provide support for the initiatives acting under the direction and organization of the EDI Committee Chair. EDI committee can work on issues or concerns related to equity, diversity, and inclusion such as:

• support policy reviews and revisions;
• initiate educational programming;
• address and implement proactive strategies to mitigate concerns regarding human
  rights (i.e., religion, age, disability) and discrimination (i.e., racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism).

Social Event Committee - Currently, this role has been shared by Program Representatives.
Chair: Vacant

The Social Event Committee coordinates the social events for Education graduate students. The events should focus on creating space and time for Education graduate students to build a social network with their peers. The Social Event Chair will provide updates about the progress of event planning at EGSA meetings to keep the association informed. The Social Event Committee Members complete delegated tasks and attend the events to serve in a variety of capacities ensuring successful implementation of the event, acting under the direction and organization of the Social Event Chair. The Social Committee Chair shall be elected from the committee members

Sustainability Committee
Chair: Vacant

The Sustainability Committee coordinates the events/workshops for Education graduate students to promote sustainability in the faculty of Education. The Sustainability Committee Chair will provide updates about the progress of event/workshop planning at EGSA meetings to keep the association informed. The Sustainability Committee Members complete delegated tasks and attend the events to serve in a variety of capacities ensuring successful implementation of the event, acting under the direction and organization of the Sustainability Committee Chair. The Social Committee Chair shall be elected from the committee members.

Research Committee Student Representatives Current Representatives: Vacant PhD, Vacant MA

The primary functions of the Research Committee are: (a) to adjudicate the internal funding competitions (Faculty Research Development Fund, faculty conference travel and research, student travel), (b) provide input and insight on the strategic research plan for the Faculty, offer suggestions to improve research-related processes in the Faculty (i.e. updating internal competition guidelines and application forms), (c) and share their opinions and feedback on research-related questions and issues that arise. The Research Committee schedules one-hour meetings once a month in the fall and winter terms.

PhD/EdD/MA Mentorship Facilitators:Vacant (Multiple positions)

The Mentorship Facilitators organize program specific mentorship activities to support new students in their programs. This looks different in each program and varies according to the needs and capabilities of the facilitators, mentors, and mentees. At a basic level, it involves matching-up upper-year students with new students, based on a variety of factors, such as research interest and, when possible, shared supervisors. It may include organizing activities in person or online, social events, career information sessions, preparing for milestones, etc. The facilitators attend EGSA meetings and provide updates on the program, propose funding for planned events (as needed), and ensure that the information shared between peers is inclusive of all students and consistent with current graduate office policies.

Indigenous Student Representative – Vacant

The Indigenous Student Representative ensures that the interests and concerns of Indigenous graduate students are part of the EGSA's overall mission to foster a supportive and inclusive community of learners in the Faculty of Education. The role includes a responsibility to communicate with the EGSA by attending meetings/sharing the information about events/workshops concerning Truth and
Reconciliation/decolonization on the EGSA platforms. It may include opportunities to start initiatives as deemed necessary with the support of the EGSA and/or other faculty resources. The Indigenous representative may also assist or advise in coordinating programs with other EGSA members such as mentorship facilitators, the research symposium, social committee chairs, and communications officer.

Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) Councillors – 9 seats to be filled:
Please email at egsa@uwo.ca to nominate yourself, indicating your full name, program and year. Graduate students in the faculty of Education can hold up to 18 positions in the Council.

Current SOGS councillors:
Julie Maron (PhD), Liwen Situ (MA), Qianhui Ma (MA), Jessie Hyowon Jang (MA), Filipe Cerqueira (PhD), Roya Karimli (PhD), Ruth Neilsen (PhD), Emi Iwaizumi (PhD), Garima Jha (Phd)

The SOGS Councillors are to attend monthly meetings, vote on issues, and serve as a representative of Education graduate students to the Society of Graduate Students. Meetings are held on main campus. The number of seats allocated to the Faculty of Education varies based on graduate enrolment. More information can be found at http://sogs.ca/council/

PSAC Local 610 Steward – Vacant:
Please email at egsa@uwo.ca to nominate yourself, indicating your full name, program and year.

The responsibilities of the Steward are to: (a) attend PSAC Local 610 meetings; (b) serve as the representative of the PSAC Local 610 to Education Graduate Students and Teaching Assistants; (c) serve as the first point of contact for grievances and other labour issues. This union represents Teaching Assistants (TAs/GSAs). Not to be confused with GST Assignments, which refers to limited duties instructors and therefore not covered by the TA union agreement. Since PhD students usually don’t find out their assigned duties before the end of April, the PSAC position is appointed/elected in the fall. More information can be found at http://www.psac610.ca/

Faculty Council & Graduate Faculty Council Graduate Student Representatives
Current representatives: Ghusoon Alaqassab (MA), Li Li (PhD), and Alex du Boulay (MPEd)

The Faculty Council and Graduate Faculty Council liaisons are representatives responsible for serving as a liaison between the graduate students and the Faculty of Education. Representatives also communicate meeting minutes to the graduate student population. Council meetings are held approximately four times per year. There are four positions available for the following students: PhD, MA, EdD, and MPEd.

Graduate Education Council Representative (GEC at SGPS)
Current representative: Emi Iwaizumi (PhD) (Li Li served until Summer 2022)

This member is appointed or elected by the EGSA to represent Education graduate students at meetings of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. If the representative chooses, there are committees for which the individual could volunteer. The representative votes on the new policies, procedures, and issues for the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, which then go to Senate for approval. The representative will share information and updates from SGPS by attending EGSA meetings. The council meets for around 2 hours; 4 times throughout the year.