The First Nations Day of Action: Why we should support it

Thursday June 28, 2pm
Grad Centre Room 108 (board room), UVIC.

Come join the GSS for tea and coffee and an informal round table discussion with:

Chiinuuks, an MA student in Indigenous Governance who is from the Nuchalnuth First Nation

Glen Coulthard, a Dene activist and PhD student in political theory at the University of Victoria who teaches courses in the Indigenous Governance Programs and the Department of Political Science.

What is the day of action?
National Chief Phil Fontaine issued an invitation to all canadians to join a peaceful First Nations Day of Action to improve the lives of First Nations people. Information on June 29th activities and the campaign can be found at http://afn.ca. Chief Fontaine also discussed many of the issues faced by First Nations in this short YouTube statement about the Day of Action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skV_UB32fxA

For more information about this event, contact Stacy at gssmgr@uvic.ca

Deans presentation on expanding grad enrolment

Recent funding from the BC government will mean a rapid expansion in graduate student enrollment, starting in September 2007 and continuing to 2010. This link is to Dean Aaron Devor's presentation at a recent Town Hall meeting to explain the new funding and possible impacts at UVic.
While pleased to finally have a BC graduate scholarship, the GSS is concerned about the impact of resources such as office space and supervisory time with this jump in enrollment.

Grad student rep needed for UVSS constituency group council

The GSS is seeking a graduate student representative to sit on the UVSS advocacy council.

Every graduate student contributes to the UVSS constituency groups budget, and as such graduate students have a seat on the Advocacy Council, which recommends budget allocations to constituency groups, and supports the groups working effectively. You can view the terms of reference for this council below.

If you are interested, please send a brief statement of interest, along with your full name, degree program, and contact information to gssmgr@uvic.ca.

[From UVSS POLICY]

PART B: ADVOCACY COUNCIL

1. Type

a. Standing, open committee of the UVSS BoD with closed membership.

2. Purpose

a. Act as the primary liaison between constituency organisations, NSU and the BoD.

3. Duties

a. Serve as a forum for constituency organisations to work collectively on common issues on campus and in the community such as but not limited to, homophobia, sexism, racism, anti-semitism, classism, colonialism, ableism and ageism.

b. Allocate funds from the constituency control account to constituency organisations subject to approval by the BoD

c. Facilitate the reactivation of inactive advocacy council member organizations

4. Membership

a. The Chairperson - ex officio and chair of the committee

b. One Director elected by the BoD

c. One GSS member elected by the GSS

d. Resource Coordinator(s) – ex officio and non voting

e. One representative from each Constituency Group, as per UVSS bylaws selected by their respective organization and ratified by the BoD

f. One representative selected by the NSU and ratified by the BoD

5. Quorum

a. Shall be a majority of voting members and the chair and not less than three (3) voting members.

6. Meetings

a. Shall meet at least once a semester at date set by the chair of the committee or upon the call of the BoD.

7. Term of Office

a. Shall be from the date of appointment until the end of the current board year (ie April 30).

Simpsons makes fun of grad students

hat tip to Joey Coleman.

Childcare Bill supported by GSS

The GSS Sent this letter in support of Bill C303, the Access to Childcare act.

April 30, 2007

Dear members of the House of Commons HUMA Standing Committee,

I am writing on behalf of the University of Victoria Graduate Students’ Society (GSS) to encourage you to support Bill C-303.

Access to affordable childcare has a major impact on the ability of many of our members to succeed in pursing post-graduate studies. In 2006, there were 2423 graduate students at UVic, and of these 1426 were women. The median age of full time graduate students is 30 yrs, but for part time students, who are often students juggling parenting, jobs and their studies, the median age is 37.

While UVic has excellent childcare facilities, the wait for childcare, both at UVic and at other childcare centres in Victoria, can be several years. There are simply not enough spaces available. Many students complete an entire degree without being able to access UVic childcare services. Even parents who can afford the most expensive facilities are sometimes unable to find care. Bill C303 addresses the need to create new childcare spaces.

Lack of spaces drives prices up and for families living on a low income this means it is even more difficult to find safe, quality childcare. According to Campaign 2000, BC holds the shameful distinction of having the highest rate of child poverty in Canada (23.5%). For parents who are raising children in poverty, post secondary education is one route to increasing family income. For many students, the cost of childcare is a major barrier to attending college or university. In 2005, the average monthly cost of childcare in BC ranged from $705 for infants to $419 for after school care, and according to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index, childcare costs in BC rose 5.6% from 2005 to 2007. Bill C303 supports the creation of public, affordable childcare.

Finally, Bill C303 safeguards federal funding for childcare. This is especially important to citizens of BC, where shortly after a federal childcare funding announcement the provincial government cut funds for infrastructure and creating new childcare spaces in BC.

For these reasons, we encourage you to support Bill C-303.

Sincerely,
Patrick Reed
Chair, University of Victoria Graduate Students’ Society

Travel Grants amounts increased

The Faculty of Graduate Studies is pleased to announce that travel grant funding has been increased as of April 1, 2007.

 

As part of our commitment to support the research activities of our graduate students, we have adjusted the following categories:

 

Travel Grant category:	Previous funding amount:	New amount:
1	$150	$300
2	$200	$400
3	$400	$600

 

Students who have already been approved for travel grant funding for the current fiscal year (travel occurring after April 1, 2007) will receive the additional funding in the particular category to which they have applied. No new application is required in order to receive the increased amounts. Those students who have already been approved for travel grants should submit receipts to the Faculty of Graduate Studies that equal or exceed the new amount in their particular category.

 

Please distribute this announcement to all of your graduate students.  Attached are revised travel grant regulations, as well as a new travel grant application form. Please use these forms from now on. They can also be found on our web site at

http://web.uvic.ca/gradstudies/fund/documents/TravelGrantAPPLICATION-new.pdf

 

If you have any questions, please contact Anitra Winje, Travel Grant Facilitator, at 472-5209 or fgssec1@uvic.ca.

BC Govt releases Campus 20/20

This document is a discussion of the BC government's vision for post secondary education in BC.

Report recommendations for graduate studies and research include:

"40. Limit granting of doctoral degrees to the four provincial universities.

41. Building on the recent commitment to create 2,500 new graduate student
spaces by 2010, develop a plan to implement the BC Access and Excellence
Strategy target of the highest per capita enrolment of graduate students in
Canada by 2015.

42. Allocate the new graduate student spaces to UBC, UVic and SFU in proportions
similar to the existing distribution of research funding and graduate student
enrolment.

43. Establish an expanded program of graduate student financial aid to ensure no
qualified applicant for graduate studies is denied access on the basis of financial
circumstances.

44. Increase and thereafter maintain direct investment in research and innovation in
public post-secondary institutions sufficient to ensure BC is in the three highest
spending provinces by 2010.

45. Implement a “Georgia Strait” research cluster initiative by ensuring that at least
95 per cent of all provincial research funding is awarded to UBC, SFU and UVic.

46. Establish a continuing commercialization strategy to ensure that the province
and post-secondary institutions are maximizing opportunities to benefit from
commercially realizable research discoveries.

47. Task the Higher Education Board to develop and report on performance
measures with respect to results from provincial funding for research."