TOM WILSON
<Chair, Student Caucus>
With the start of a new year at Osgoode, I want to take this opportunity as Chair of Student Caucus to welcome everyone back and to report on Caucus’ work over the summer.
First, allow me to address an age-old question: how is Student Caucus different from Legal and Lit?
Here’s the long and short of it … Legal and Lit is the overarching student government at Osgoode. It oversees an incredibly vast portfolio from orientation week, to student events, health plans, and clubs, Legal and Lit is your source of all things student-life at Osgoode.
Student Caucus, on the other hand, has a more focused task. Members of Student Caucus represent Osgoode JD students as voting members of Faculty Council. Faculty Council is comprised primarily of full-time professors and is Osgoode’s main operative and decision-making body. Under the jurisdiction of the Senate of York University, Faculty Council (or “FC” as those partial to abbreviations often call it) determines a whole host of issues that affect the day-to-day operation and long-term direction of Osgoode. To give a taste of the work we do, Student Caucus members are involved with student admissions policy, faculty recruitment, and academic policy. In a nutshell, Student Caucus spends its time discussing various academic and student-life issues, all toward protecting and advancing student interests at the administrative level.
With that exciting explanation out of the way, I’ll move on to what we’ve been up to for the past four months. This summer the Executive of Student Caucus appointed six JD students to Faculty Council subcommittees: Yousaf Khan and James Stevenson (Academic Standing Committee), Lawrence Forstner, Fahad Siddiqui, and Yuxi Alexander Yu (Faculty Recruitment Committee), and Victoria Riley (Student Awards Committee). Unfortunately, with the Executive of Student Caucus familiarizing itself with its new role and the administration requiring a quick turn-around, student groups, particularly student groups representative of equity-seeking cohorts, were not contacted directly regarding the vacant positions. Instead, an email communication was sent to the student body at large regarding the committee openings. Given the incredibly strong applications we received, I’m confident that the appointed students will do a fantastic job. However, in our next round of appointments I will ensure that equity seeking club groups are contacted directly so as to abide by Student Caucus’ newly-minted Diversity Policy. Congratulations to the students appointed to committee!
Student Caucus meetings are open to all students and if you are interested in hearing more about the academic issues of the day, please come by! Our meetings are held every other Wednesday, beginning on September 26th. Our website (www.studentcaucus.legalandlit.ca) will be updated shortly with meeting locations. In the meantime, however, please contact Oyinkan Akinyele (oyinkansolaakinyele@osgoode.yorku.ca) to receive additional information on upcoming meetings. Lastly, drop by any time at our office located on the basement floor next to Legal and Lit.
Please remember that Student Caucus is a resource and advocate for the student body. We need to engage in a dialogue with the student body to effectively act on your behalf. If ever you don’t know where to go with an issue, have an idea for improving academic life at Osgoode, or are curious to hear what we or the administration have been up to, please drop us an email at studentcaucus@osgoode.yorku.ca or contacted me directly at thomaswilson@osgoode.yorku.ca.
Hope you all make the best of your year at Osgoode. It is a true privilege to attend this school, count you as a colleague, and work on your behalf.