Advocacy @ SAIT

What is ‘affordable’ when it comes to Post-Secondary Education? That’s what we’re trying to figure out in collaboration with SAIT.

Open Educational Resources are free or low-cost educational resources; textbooks are expensive, free or low-cost resources help students and institutions keep PSE affordable.

Saitsa established an award in 2019 to reward instructors who focus on using OER’s in their classroom. More info on the Athena Award here!

Our Peer Support Centre was established to support student’s mental health by providing a space for students to relax and make friends. More info on the Peer Support Centre here! 

We successfully advocated to SAIT to establish victim-centric policies and supports. We’re continuing to advocate to the province for standardized policies across the province.

Check out an article about Saitsa’s Executive Council’s work on this here. 

SAIT’s Sexual Assault and Violence Resources can be found here. 

We successfully advocated to SAIT to establish an Ombuds Office; set to open in 2021/2022 the Ombuds Office will provide impartial, accessible and independent support to students facing academic or non-academic issues.

In 2020 SAIT established its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion strategy; Saitsa is currently collaborating with SAIT and identifying areas where Saitsa can transform to become a more inclusive organization.

More info here. 

Saitsa is working with Calgary Transit and the Calgary Student Alliance to ensure the UPass and public transit benefit SAIT students.

Saitsa recruits students to sit on SAIT’s Academic Council.

In 2020 two sub-committees were established to address issues that were brought to Saitsa’s attention: one to address affordability, and another to ensure that a set of best-practices for online delivery were generated.

Academic Council is mandated by the Post-Secondary Learning Act, and has the power and duties to review proposed programs of study, to review and propose policies and procedures that effect the student’s academic and non-academic journey at SAIT, and make recommendations or reports to the SAIT Board of Governors on matters that the Council considers advisable. The Council is comprised of three major groups: the SAIT administration group, the SAIT academic staff members group, and the student group. Saitsa recruits the 9 students-at-large that sit on Academic Council, and including Saitsa’s Vice President, Academic who is traditionally voted in as the Vice Chair of the Council, all 10 students have voting rights.

If advocating for and working on issues that affect SAIT’s student’s daily lives interests you, then consider running for one of Saitsa’s student leadership positions! More info here.