OUSA elects new Executive, welcomes new member association and full-time staff

TORONTO, May 18, 2012 /CNW/ - The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is pleased to announce the election of a new President, Vice-President Finance and Vice-President Administration. OUSA also welcomes its newest full member, as well as a new Executive Director and Director of Communications.

OUSA's member associations elected Alysha Li, Vice-President University Affairs of the University Students' Council (USC) at Western University as incoming OUSA President. "Working with the OUSA steering committee has been phenomenal; this group of students is bright, driven and thorough," said Li, "I think this is going to be a great year." Li was elected as successor of Sean Madden, former Vice President University Affairs of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students' Union (WLUSU), who served a one-year term with OUSA.

The steering committee also elected Huzaifa Saeed, Vice-President (Education) of the McMaster Students Union as OUSA Vice-President Finance. Mira Dineen, Vice-President University Affairs of the Alma Mater Society (AMS) at Queen's University, was elected as the alliance's Vice-President Administration.

OUSA is also pleased to welcome its newest full member, the Trent in Oshawa Student Association (TOSA). TOSA joined OUSA as an associate member in 2011 and signed their full member agreement on May 16, 2012. "We were really pleased with the work OUSA produced during our year as associate member and are looking forward to playing a more active role this year," said Meghan Condon, who was recently elected as President of TOSA.

Effective May 7, 2012, Rylan Kinnon began transition to the role of Executive Director of OUSA, as successor to Sam Andrey, who just completed a two-year term with the organization. Kinnon is a graduate of the University of Toronto and a Masters candidate in Public Administration at Queens University.

"The prosperity of this province depends on the success of its students, and I think OUSA plays a pivotal role in advocating for what students need to succeed," Kinnon said, adding "I'm really looking forward to working with OUSA's members, partners and stakeholders."

Former Director of Communications Alvin Tedjo completed a three-year term with OUSA, and was replaced by Medina Abdelkader, who also began transition on May 7, 2012. Abdelkader is a graduate of McMaster University and a Masters of Design candidate at OCAD University.

"I'm humbled to be part of this team," Abdelkader commented "I think OUSA is an incredibly astute, effective organization, and this is a really interesting time to be part of the conversation around higher education in Ontario."

OUSA represents the interests of over 150,000 professional and undergraduate, full- and part-time university students at nine member associations across Ontario.

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Medina Abdelkader, Director of Communications, work: [phone], cell: [phone], email: [email protected]