OAUCHO Committees

Much of OACUHO’s work is grounded in the efforts of various standing and ad hoc committees. OACUHO currently runs five committees:

• Membership Engagement Committee (seeking members)
• Communications Committee (seeking members)
• Professional Development Committee (seeking members)
• Curriculum and Programs Review Committee (not currently seeking members)
• Strategic Imperative for Anti-Racism & Indigenous Sovereignty Advisory Committee (not currently seeking members)

If you are interested in joining any of the committees listed below – be sure to sign-up. Once you’ve completed your submission, the Committee Chair will be in touch.

The level of commitment varies by committee and role. Typically, committees will meet and work via email and conference calls.

Membership Engagement Committee

Allison Keyes
Membership Engagement Director

Work of the Committee:

• Review current awards and recognition activities while providing recommendations for new areas of development
• Promote awards and recognition opportunities available to members of the association
• Facilitate nomination and application process for awards and recognition activities
• Serve as the selection committee for OACUHO awards and recognition activities

Communications Committee

Mitchell Prost
Communication Director 

Work of the Committee:

• Provide recommendations regarding all forms of communication within the membership (e.g. publications, website, listserv, newsletter, etc.)
• Contribute to the The Pulse publication

This is an especially exciting time to join because of the launch of a association brand, look and feel. This committee provides direction on the content and tools of the site.

Professional Development Committee

Melissa Chaffe
Professional Development Director

Work of the Committee:

• Contribute to the annual professional development plan
• Ensure that meaningful professional development opportunities are available to all functional areas within student housing
• Participate in the planning of various professional development events such as the Fall Business Meeting and the annual Spring Conference
• Develop evaluation and assessment tools to measure the impact and the effectiveness of professional development workshops/events
• Create needs assessment tools to better understand the professional development needs of members
• Promote and facilitate the process for members to apply for grants available for research and initiatives that will impact student housing in the province

Curriculum and Programs Review Committee

Brian Tan
Conference Director

Work of the committee:

• Enhancing the learning experiences offered by OACUHO through the development of a curriculum that will serve a guide for conferences such as the Spring Conference, Fall Conference, and Residence Life Conference, as well as the New Professionals Training Institute (NPTI).
• Developing and updating conference objectives, designing learning streams, and ensuring that the conference content remains relevant to our members' needs and reflects current trends in campus housing. 

Strategic Imperative for Anti-Racism & Indigenous Sovereignty (SIARIS) Advisory Committee

The Strategic Imperative for Anti-Racism and Indigenous Sovereignty (SIARIS) Advisory Committee is designed to provide support, accountability, and measurability to particular elements of the 2020-23 OACUHO Strategic Plan. The committee acts an advisory body to the President of OACUHO.  

Through the lens of equity and racial justice, this Imperative is a call to action regarding the key strategies of education, knowledge management, and membership engagement contained in the Strategic Plan with the distinct purpose of moving from words to action. To begin the committee will be tasked with the following goals:  

• To embed a sustainable approach to anti-oppressive practices within OACUHO’s 2020-23 Strategic Plan focused on equity, racial justice, and Indigenous sovereignty; 
• Allyship, education,and leadership development; 
• To define a distinct set of calls to action informed by membership consultations organized by level of membership. 

Throughout this process, we’ve also sought to gather ongoing feedback and ideas via an open form on the OACUHO website where members have contributed ongoing feedback and thoughts about what they would like to see represented in this work moving forward. Members are encouraged to continue to use this form as an open space to share their own thoughts as it relates to the Strategic Imperative on Anti-Racism and Indigenous Sovereignty.  

We are looking for passionate, dedicated and available individuals to serve on this committee, specifically those who: 

• Can bring expertise informed by lived experiences, past and present, to inform decisions that result in positive change; 
• Have a passion for promoting equity, diversity,and inclusion; 
• Are actively involved in the OACUHO BIPOC network a benefit. 

The intended composition of this advisory committee will be made up of those who are impacted by this work, and our aim is that majority of the members identify as non-white, mixed or Indigenous. There will be a need for those with privileged voices to contribute to this work and we invite applications from all who are interested. We will continue to work with the Association on this strategic imperative and there will be future opportunities to contribute and have your voice heard.