Press Releases

Science Society Board of Directors

• Press release from Science Councilors on the Board's unanimous CECA Censure:

On April 2, the Science Council Board of Directors and the Executive of the Science Council unanimously voted to formally censure the Department of Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA) for their failure to adequately support the students in the Co-op experience at the University of Waterloo. The Board of Directors and the Executives of the Science Council have the full support of the Science Councillors. While the Board acknowledges that the CECA performs a crucial role in supporting the more than 18,000 Co-op students at the University, it expressed frustration for the opaque nature of Co-op fee expenditure and called into question the cost to benefit ratio for students given new fee increases. The Co-op fees have recently risen by 4.9% surpassing a staggering $700.00 CAD despite tremendous student opposition. Furthermore, the Board has expressed concerns for the inability of students to provide anonymous feedback to CECA about its employees or their operations, a lack of a forthright response to the complaints of students, and the lack of meaningful reform based on criticism, complaints, or questions raised. Read the text of the SciSoc Board Resolution here and the letter from the President & Board below.

After response from CECA's Director of Student & Faculty Relations, Rocco Fondacaro, the Science Society Board address factual concerns the Director brought forth from the original letter. The Board Speaker and President noted there were clerical errors in the letter regarding student representation that misrepresented the Board's resolution. Below is the reply from Science undergraduate government to the CECA:

• Press release on the Science Society Board of Directors' Mental Health Resolution:

April 2nd the Science Society Board of Directors and the Executives unanimously voted on “A Resolution on Future Action to be Taken by Mental Health Services at the University of Waterloo”. The Board of Directors have the full support of the Science Councilors. While the Councillors would like to thank the courageous efforts of those individuals in Mental Health Services who work diligently to address student concerns, we understand the Board's sentiment for the need for greater action to be taken by the University to better provide support services to their students. While the Resolution agreed upon by the Board was very detailed, the suggestions for improvement fall mainly into two categories. The first is, the Board would like to suggest that the number of counselors employed by Mental Health Services be approximately doubled as, currently, there are 22 counselors to serve the 30 000 plus students on campus. It was and found the cost of the extra counselors could be funded by an increase in school fees of approximately $44 per student per year The second is, further steps should be taken to ensure all students are aware of the mental health services offered by the University. The Board discussed a variety of methods by which to accomplish these goals would like to suggest: a letter be included into each University of Waterloo admissions package reminding parents/guardians the importance of their support regardless of academic success, establish a mandatory 10-minute meeting with a counsellor for each new student to explain the mental health services available to them, and add more support staff for on campus housing to allow for monthly meetings between each student and their don.