Members of CESA Council work for you in all aspects of university life to make sure that you are being accurately represented. Our Council members sit on the University Senate, the Alma Mater Society Assembly, the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society Assembly, the Arts and Science Faculty Board, the Education Faculty Board, the Departmental Student Council Assembly, the Alma Mater Society Academic Caucus, and other various committees.

We fight for you on issues like tuition increases, improving the quality of education, ensuring the quality of student services, and work to make your university experience the best that it can be.

What is….?

The AMS  (http://www.myams.org)

The Alma Mater Society is largest student government on campus. They offer many services for you like Walkhome, the Publishing and Copy Centre, the Common Ground Coffee House, and many more. They advocate on behalf of all undergraduate students to the University Administration, as well as to external groups like the provincial and federal government through lobby groups. The President and the CESA representatives to the AMS sit on AMS Assemmbly for you, and serve on many of its committees including the Federal Alignment Assessment Committee, and the Governmental Issues Committee.

ASUS (www.asus.queensu.ca)

The Arts and Science Undergraduate Society represents all students in Arts and Science, including Concurrent Education students. They offer services like the sales of the signature Queen’s leather jackets, ASUS formal, and the ASUS Movie theatre. They ensure that all Departmental Student Councils (DSCs) are working effectively for you on a department by department basis. The Vice President (Internal) sits on their Assembly as the representative of all Concurrent Education students.

Arts and Science Faculty Board

Faculty of Arts and Science Board meetings take place once a month. These meetings allow the Con-Ed student body to be informed on matters relating to the Faculty of Arts and Science. A report is made by the Dean of Arts and Science, Alistair MacLean, and one from the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society.  These meetings allow professors from all departments and student representatives (DSC representatives) to voice concerns and ideas relating to events and occurrences happening on campus and issues pertaining to academics and the universities finances. The Vice President (External) is a member of  the Arts and Science Faculty Board, representing the unique interests of Concurrent Education Students to the Faculty of Arts and Science.

Education Faculty Board

Education Faculty Board meetings take place once a month. Located on west campus, these meetings are opportunities for members of the Faculty of Education to discuss and act on pertinent subject matter relating to the Faculty which include issues of academic and program quality.  Reports are made by the Dean of Education, Rosa Bruno-Jofré and Associate Dean, Stephen Elliott. Reports are also made by various standing committees, delegates and coordinators including: Professional Studies Committee, Good and Welfare Committee, Graduate Studies and Research Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Coordinator of Continuing Education, Coordinator of the Practicum Office  and Student Society Reports, including one from our Vice President (External), to name a few. These meetings are very significant to the Con-Ed student body as they discuss a lot of relevant information pertaining to fifth year. There are very few student representatives on the Board, magnifying the importance of a strong voice on behalf of the Con-Ed student body.

Academic Caucus

Chaired by the AMS Academic Affairs Commissioner, the Academic Caucus brings together representatives from all AMS faculty societies. The Academic Caucus has three main functions. First, to work together under the direction of the AMS Academic Affairs’ Commissioner on a collaborative project for the benefit of all Queen’s students. Past projects have included a collaborative report to the Principal outlining academic concerns facing undergraduate students, a review of the USAT evaluation form, a comprehensive review of AMS Policy Manuals relating to academic matters, a review of Queen’s University’s commitment to OUSA (Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance) and a review of the documents presented concerning Federal Alignment. In addition, the Academic Caucus keeps each member informed of academic developments in their respective faculties, offering potential resources, advice or warnings for certain endeavours. The Academic Caucus also serves as a means of keeping the members updated on specific faculty and AMS projects as well as academic points or events of interest to students, which each member then relates back to their respective faculty societies.

Academics Committee

On October 16^th, 2006 , the Academic Committee was proposed before CESA Council with the intent to “assist in addressing our Constitutional responsibilities to “work with the President and Associate Dean of Concurrent Education to evaluate student satisfaction with the Concurrent Education program. A series of focus group meetings will be organized to generate feedback on each course” (Ghoshdastidar & Lee). The committee was initially set as well to help administer the USAT to all PROF classes. And while this latter portion has since fallen out of practice due to administrative re-organization of the USAT under Jamie Wright, the intent of the committee remains.

Academics committee has met once a term since November 19^th, 2007. The committee, as initially laid out by Jim Ghoshdastidar and Jenny Lee (CESA Academic Affairs Commissioners ‘06-’07) ideally consists of at least one member from each Concurrent Education class but is open to all interested Con-Ed students. Over the two years that Academic Committee has been run, it has had great representation from all four years as well as a good representation of both the P/J and I/S stream of the program. The primary focus of Academics Committee has been to assess the members’ thoughts and suggestions concerning PROF and CURR classes. The committee strives to work toward solutions to the overwhelming concerns that students have for PROF classes. In addition to this, the committee convenes to discuss important academic issues that are on the table at that present moment. In the winter term of 2007-2008 the Committee tackled the issue facing grading policy changes for PROF classes. In the winter term of 2008-2009 the Academic Affairs Commissioners sought the Committee’s thoughts concerning the matters before the Pre-Service Education Task Force and their goal to maintain a quality program in the face of a substantial budget cut. At the end of the academic year, a report are compiled by the Academic Affairs Commissioners concerning the opinions of the Committee and the report is sent to the appropriate person(s) in the Faculty of Education. We hope that the Academic Committee will continue and will expand its operation in future years.

Senate