Speech by Ghazaleh Etezal

Reflection on Student Forum results towards the institution's strategic planning for the next six years

Monday December 4, 2006

I was not aware of the importance of research into art and design up until meeting Sara Diamond on Thursday, which intrigued me enough to research more into it. I now know that research is "pieces of activity that look at how to think about a whole series of questions of how to create more knowledge." This is the future of enhancing the field with technology.

I was skeptical about the Strategic Plan being geared towards research after having the term used 344 times in the document. The students were concerned too. We did not know what this document meant about the current state of the school. We felt that it did not contain any of our voice and collective issues.

I initiated the student forum because I sensed that it was something that was really needed. I felt that OCAD needed more student engagement and an outlet and thankfully being a member of the student union granted me that opportunity.

I used every method of communication available to me through OCAD. I designed and put up posters and convinced the head security to not take them down. I distributed many emails to the student body through Brent James, I emailed my former teachers as well as the entire faculty to encourage their students to get involved. I went into classrooms and gave speeches as well as Jasper, made a website, put a link to it from the OCAD site, planned the sessions and came up with a system to carry it out. Sent out emails constantly. Made a mailing list. Updated people with the results and put up interviews after each session to attract more people.

Of course you only get the people who you’ve convinced and who actually want to be involved and took 2,3 hours of their time to participate. I am grateful for their attendance and genuine support and judging from their expressions, I believe that it was a unique experience for all of them.

This event worked because I prioritized it as my project, my mission, my short term goal. Why? Because I really care for this school. I want to see it shine and I want the best for students. I think people are afraid to speak out politically and feel that their time is never worth the effort. And being a full-time graphic design student, this should really not be a focus of mine.

It worked because with the help of Jasper and student union members, I didn't come up short. It took A LOT of convincing, even at first to the student union and a lot of confidence to finalize this project. However, I believe that doing such a thing for the school should NOT be as difficult and strenuous as it was. It takes a lot of effort to do anything around at OCAD and actually get the students involved!

Why is that? Why is it so hard? Why do we have such a hard time communicating? Are we not an institution that should lead the country in communication? How can we have better methods? How can we get students to want to be more involved within their community? How do we make them feel like they're PART of something and that they are important? How can we get them to come together and integrate? How can we build better relations with our alumni? How can we better inspire students?

These are issues that the college should resolve as a short term goal. And the answers reside within the core of the problem; the students. If any research needs to be prioritized, it should be research to enhance the current state of the school. And the ultimate resource for that is the student body.

What’s really going on? We have a poor student experience. We have students who are disappointed with OCAD and it's interior. We are disappointed with the communications services, the visuals around the school. We are frustrated with access issues, with our difficulty to switch between majors and our freedom to take the courses we want and some of us are confused by our first year experience. We have the status of a university yet we lack the life of one.

We need OCAD to feel welcoming. We need it to feel like our second home. We are so unique and distinct, and even more so on the inside population, yet we are below par in student life. If OCAD invests more funds, more time and more energy for responding to student concerns, we shall blossom from the inside. The scent will spread and attract the creative minds globally to our garden.