Student Concerns Subcommittee Archive
2026-2027 Subcommittee members
Nicole McNair, McMaster University (Chair)
Md. Nazmul Arefin, University of Alberta
Janaya Davis, Athabasca University
Sara Hormozinejad, University of Toronto
Emma Nelson, Dalhousie University
Contact the Student Concerns Subcommittee
Instagram: @csa_students
Bluesky: @csa-students
This Subcommittee has an extensive mandate as well as programs and initiatives to benefit students which comprise approximately 50% of the Association’s membership.
Revisions were therefore implemented (February 2026) to the structure of the Subcommittee’s positions to include multiple perspectives, improve the ability to recruit members, and to ensure that the workload is manageable. The expanded list of positions provide a maximum allowance of members on the Student Concerns Subcommittee in any given year, with the understanding that some positions may not be filled. It is recommended to have at minimum, six (6) positions filled in any given year.
The members of the subcommittee choose the Chair who sits on the Executive Committee.
Regional Representatives:
1) Pacific Region (BC)
2) Prairie Region (AB, SK, MB)
3) Central Region (ON, QC)
4) Atlantic Region (NB, NL, NS, PEI)
5) Northern Region (YT, NT, NU, provincial North)
6) Communications Representative
Subcommittee and Caucus Representatives:
7) Black Student Representative
8) Decolonization Student Representative
9) Equity Concerns Student Representative
10) Francophone Student Representative
11) International Student Representative - (non-Canadian studying in Canada)
12) International Student Representative - (Canadian studying outside of Canada)
Learn more about these positions
The mandate of the subcommittee includes;
• Identify priorities with respect to issues affecting students
• Advise on student funding programs and assist with adjudication
• Stimulate and facilitate communication among and between students, faculty, and professionals
• Representation on Association initiatives supporting students
• Membership on the Conference and Nominations Committees
• Knowledge sharing through virtual events, website resources, and Conference sessions
Learn more about the current activities of this subcommittee
Past Student Concerns Subcommittee Professional Development webinars
Subcommittee Past Activity Highlights
Members:
Nicole McNair, McMaster University - Chair and member of the CSA Executive CommitteeJ Overholser, University of Calgary, Communications Executive
Shayan Morshedi, Memorial University, Eastern Canada Representative
Sara Hormozinejad, University of Toronto, Central Canada Representative
Md. Nazmul Arefin, University of Alberta, Western Canada Representative
Over the course of the past year, the Student Concerns Subcommittee has worked hard to continue our goals of supporting the CSA student membership through actions such as: facilitating communication amongst the student membership; developing diverse opportunities for knowledge sharing online; representing student voices and advocating for students’ needs within the organization; and amplifying the important sociological work and successes of the CSA student members.
1. Infrastructure & Membership
Over the past two years, the SCS has been working on a restructuring proposal that, if approved by the CSA general membership, would lead to an increase in subcommittee positions. This would allow for a better representation of our student membership and their needs, while also increasing our capacity to successfully organize and implement subcommittee events, activities and programs.
2. Student Concerns Subcommittee Student Survey
In the Fall of 2025, the subcommittee released its annual survey of our student membership to help shape our upcoming programming and to review our previous year’s work. The survey was open for three weeks and provided insightful feedback from the student membership. This year, with the approval of the Executive Committee, we were able to offer a participation incentive where all students who completed the survey were eligible to enter a draw to win one of two free, one year CSA student or postdoctoral fellow membership. We are grateful to the Executive Committee for supporting this incentive and we hope to be able to offer it again for our Fall 2026 Student Survey.
3. Coffee Chats, Webinars & Training Sessions
This year we hosted monthly Coffee Chats on the 4th Thursday of every month. This was inspired by SCS predecessors who hosted virtual Coffee Chats in past years before the annual conference to answer questions and connect with other students. We expanded on this to provide monthly, informal meet ups so students could connect with each other throughout the academic year and could also raise any concerns to the Student Concerns Subcommittee. We hope to continue this initiative next year and would love to meet more students from the CSA in the upcoming year.
Our subcommittee hosted three webinars this year, based on feedback we received from our Student Survey. We offered a two-part webinar called, Tips, Tricks & Advice for Publishing in Various Formats and Sources (Parts 1 & 2), with amazing panelists consisting of CSA Book Award winners and special mentions, and editorial board members from a variety of journals, including the Canadian Review of Sociology. We also hosted a webinar called, Trauma Interactions in Emotionally Demanding Research: Understanding How Content, Context and Culture Influence Researcher Experiences, a highly relevant webinar for sociological research. In addition, we co-hosted an interactive webinar with the Equity Issues Subcommittee called, Where Does this Paper Even Go?: A Survival Guide to Interdisciplinary Publishing. This year, we also collaborated with the Digital Research Alliance of Canada to offer a training session called, Advanced Research Computing for Sociologists: Introduction to the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. Recordings were made for most of these sessions to be available to CSA members who were not able to attend the live events, and can be found here: CSA Webinar Archive.
4. Student Spotlight Program
After spending much time redesigning and restructuring, we re-launched our “Student Spotlight Program” this year. This initiative highlights CSA students’ academic research, applied sociology work, activism and involvement in community engagement. Student Spotlight profiles are featured in our Student Newsletter, on our social media pages, and on the CSA website for one year before being archived. Although the re-launch took some time to gain traction, we are seeing momentum build and hope to spotlight many more students in the upcoming year. To see our featured Student Spotlights and for nomination forms, check the CSA website link here: CSA Student Spotlight Program.
5. 2026 CSA Annual Conference
The Student Concerns Subcommittee proposed two sessions for this year’s conference. We are hosting one virtual session, (SCS1) Student Perspectives on Academic Freedom in a Polarized Time, and one in-person session, (SCS3) Students as Agents of Change. We will also be hosting a Student Reception again this year where student members can get to know other student conference attendees. Additionally, our May monthly Coffee Chat will be used as a pre-conference virtual meet up to ask questions, connect with other students, and provide peer support to any first-time attendees.
The Student Travel Grant Program was generously supported by the Executive Committee. The SCS will continue advocating for this program across upcoming years to ensure that student participation at the CSA’s annual conference remains supported. We thank all the subcommittees who re-allocated their conference plenary organizing funds to supporting the CSA Student Travel Grant Program.
Our subcommittee was able to propose a Room & Ride Share initiative for this year’s annual conference, as an additional way to reduce conference costs, by pairing up with other conference participants to share accommodations and airport transportation.
With a shift away from Congress at this year’s annual conference, the initiative to provide Black and Indigenous students with complimentary conference registration was unfortunately not available this year. The SCS has been working on alternative ways to support Black and Indigenous student conference participants in the future.
The SCS appreciates the support of the Executive Committee and CSA Research Clusters in taking our feedback into consideration to work on restructuring the Research Cluster Awards guidelines for this year’s conference. We hope the newly established guidelines help make award adjudication processes more streamlined this year. We are also grateful to the Executive Committee for their support in increasing the CSA Best Student Paper Award opportunities. We have received a record-breaking number of student paper submissions for the 2026 award! We are also grateful to all CSA members who have agreed to sit on the Award Adjudication committees to help support the amazing work of our student membership.
6. Moving Forward
Given the potential restructuring happening this year, the Student Concerns Subcommittee hopes to spend this upcoming year maintaining the current programs, events, and activities we offer, while providing support to incoming SCS members. The goal is to focus on a smooth transition this year, with the hope that an increase in SCS members will allow for even more opportunities in the future. We hope to continue to work collaboratively with the Executive Committee, CSA Subcommittees, and Research Clusters to continue to advocate for the CSA student members and provide student members with valuable programs and support.
Members:
• J Overholser (University of Calgary), Chair & Communications Executive
• Shayan Morshedi (Memorial University), Eastern Canada Representative
• Sara Hormozinejad (University of Toronto), Central Canada Representative
• Alhan Yazdani (University of Calgary), Western Canada Representative
• Nicole K. McNair (McMaster University), Decolonization Representative
• Rezvaneh Erfani (University of Alberta), Equity Issues Representative
• Michelle Nadon Bélanger (University of Toronto/Université de Toronto), Francophone Affairs Representative
Over the course of the past year, the Student Concerns Subcommittee has worked hard to continue our goals of supporting the CSA student membership through actions such as facilitating communication among the student membership, representing the needs and priorities of students across different committees, and developing diverse opportunities for knowledge sharing online.
We represent students from Western, Central, and Eastern Canada and have worked with other CSA subcommittees to further support an ever-growing diversity of student experiences and needs.
This year the Student Concerns Subcommittee engaged in the following work:
1. Student Concerns Subcommittee Student Survey:
In the Fall of 2024, the subcommittee released its annual survey of our student membership to help shape out upcoming programming and to review our previous year’s work. After the survey was made available to our student members for 3 weeks, we reviewed the findings and published the results. We also shared these results with the CSA’s executive committee to ensure that student member input was taken into account. The results of this survey helped inform out activities and policy positions for the 2024-2025 term.
2. CSA Congress Programming, Awards, and Grants:
The Student Concerns Subcommittee devoted significant time and effort towards our planning for the CSA’s annual conference. Our goal has always been to support our student members to the best of our ability and that includes supporting students attending the conference—be it their first or tenth time. This year the subcommittee organized a pre-conference virtual coffee hour to provide peer support to any students who have never attended a conference before or who might have questions leading up to the conference, as well as daily informal student lunch meet-ups, and other similar supports for students, including a student lounge space in the CSA Conference greeting room.
The Student Concerns Subcommittee also hosted our first Student Social on the first day of the conference to help student attendees connect with each other.
During the virtual portion of the CSA’s annual conference, the Student Concerns Subcommittee hosted a career workshop title for students titled “Exploring Your Options: A Workshop on Alt-Ac & Non-Academic Careers.” This workshop built on topic explored in the conference session “Off the Tenure Track: Preparing for Work Outside the Professoriate” which was organized by the CSA Applied and Community Engaged Sociology Cluster in association with the Student Concerns Subcommittee.
The Student Travel Grant Program was generously supported by the Executive Office Subcommittee and the Student Concerns Subcommittee will continue advocating for this program across upcoming years to ensure that student participation at CSA’s annual conference remains supported. A review of this program will once again be provided to student members in the 2023-2024 student survey. The Congress Student Merit Award program also continued and was once again generously supported by the Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Finally, in addition to the CSA Student Travel Grant, this year the CSA and Congress graciously offered student members identifying as Black or Indigenous complimentary Congress delegate registration to attend the conference. Going forward, the Student Concerns Subcommittee will continue to advocate for such necessary financial supports for our student membership.
3. Internal Committee Work and Looking to the Future
The subcommittee has been working hard this year to revisit and restructure some of the activities and programs that we have run in the past. Most notably, the subcommittee has been working to redesign and restructure the “Student Spotlight Program.” This work has focused on making it easier for students to apply for to have their work (or the work of other student members) highlighted across our different platforms. We have also been working to increase the reach of the new spotlight program by exploring diverse ways to highlight applicants. We plan to trial the updated program in the coming year.
Working with the CSA President (Liam Swiss) and with other members of the Executive Committee in an Ad-hoc Governance Committee, the Student Concerns Subcommittee advocated for increasing opportunities for students to join different subcommittees and take part in leadership opportunities within the CSA. We also advocated for adjusting how the Student Subcommittee is structure so that we may better represent our student membership.
Members:
J Overholser, University of Calgary - Chair and member of the CSA Executive Committee
Alicia Cifford, McMaster University, Cross-Appointed Decolonization Subcommittee Representative
Shayan Morshedi, Memorial University, Eastern Canada Representative
Andy Holmes, University of Toronto, Central Canada Representative
Alhan Yazdani, University of Calgary, Western Canada
Pedrom Nasiri, University of Calgary, Cross-Appointed Equity Issues Subcommittee Representative
Over the course of the past year, the Student Concerns Subcommittee has worked hard to continue our goals of supporting the CSA student membership through actions such as facilitating communication among the student membership, representing the needs and priorities of students across different committees, and developing diverse opportunities for knowledge sharing online.
We represent students from Western, Central, and Eastern Canada and have worked with other CSA subcommittees such as the decolonization subcommittee to further support an ever growing diversity of student experiences and needs.
i. SCS Student Survey
In the Fall of 2023, the subcommittee released its annual survey of our student membership to help shape our 2023-2024 program, and to review our previous year’s work. After the survey link was made available to our student members for three weeks, we reviewed the findings and published the results. The results of this survey helped inform our activities and policy positions for the 2023-2024 term.
ii. Webinars, Panels, and Virtual Workshops
Based on feedback we had received in the previous term and on the results of the student survey, we saw a clear interest in programming that centered for practical, hands-on skills and learning, especially ones which centered on professional development and methodological practices. In response, Alicia Clifford, Andy Holmes, and I created a series of 5 virtual events which focused on a range of skills from indigenous, visual, and digital sociological methodologies, to visual communication, to communicating research to the public on non-traditional academic platforms. These events also featured a diverse range of speakers at various stages of their research and non-research careers. These panels, webinars, and workshops ran from October 2023 to March 2024, with plans to continue some of the themes and topics into the next term. Recordings of these events may be found in the CSA Archive.
Some of the events were also done in collaboration with our fellow CSA committees, such as our first webinar on Indigenous Methodologies which was organized with the Decolonization Subcommittee. Alicia Clifford provided instrumental assistance in the planning of these events as the Cross-Appointed Decolonization Subcommittee Representative.
The Student Concerns Subcommittee also collaborated with the Policy, Ethics, and Professional Concerns Subcommittee and the Equity Issues Subcommittee to send out a feedback survey to help design a workshop series for fall 2024. This series will aim to help participants develop informal and peer support networks for navigating their experiences in the classroom.
iii. CSA Congress Programming, Awards, and Grants
This year, the Student Concerns Subcommittee will be hosting a funding workshop for graduate students during the virtual portion of the CSA Annual conference. We will also have a resource document available for any who were unable to attend, and for reference for those who were. In collaboration with Alicia Clifford and the Decolonization Subcommittee, we have also helped organize the session “Concepts in Indigenous-Settler Relations and Decolonization: Building bridges? Or perpetuating divide?” We will also be hosting a pre-conference informal coffee hour to provide peer support to any students who have never attended a conference before or who might have questions leading up to the conference, as well as various meet-ups during the in-person conference.
The Student Travel Grant Program was generously supported by the CSA. The Student Concerns Subcommittee will continue advocating for this program across upcoming years to ensure that student participation at CSA’s annual conference remains supported. A review of this program will once again be provided to student members in the 2023-2024 student survey. The Congress Student Merit Award program
also continued into its second year and was once again generously supported by the Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences. The applications received for this program were adjudicated in collaboration with the Student Concerns Subcommittee.
iv. Organized Monthly Meetings
As the Chair and Communications Representative, I organized monthly meetings to coordinate the activities of the subcommittee. This included organizing the meeting agendas and minutes, saving them to the subcommittee’s shared cloud storage, and ensuring that any missing members were kept up to date after the meetings.
v. Social Media
As the Communications Representative, I posted and re-tweeted notifications on the subcommittee’s Twitter account. These posts included information such as upcoming webinars and events (both ours and from other committees), job postings, call for papers, conference, and more. This year the Student Concerns Subcommittee also started an Instagram account in an effort to continue engaging members who may have migrated away from Twitter.
vi. Student News Bulletins
This year we worked to restructure our student newsletter. Whereas in previous years we worked to send out 1 larger newsletter each academic term, over the course of the 2023-2024 term Shayan Morshed and I reworked the newsletter into shorter monthly bulletins with special announcement news bulletins to be sent out as needed. These news bulletins included information about calls for abstracts, papers, conferences, work and research opportunities, available awards, upcoming events, and more.
vii. Student Spotlight
In the previous term, the Student Spotlight was one of our few initiatives that did not remain successful. In the 2023-2024 term, the Student Concerns Subcommittee focused on gathering insight from our student members on how to improve the program and have been working to revamp the application process. We have also been working to increase the reach of the spotlight program by exploring new ways to highlight applicants. We plan to trial the updated program in the coming year.
viii. Scholars Connect
In 2024, with the support of the CSA President (Dr. Temitope Oriola) and in collaboration with the Executive Director (Sherry Fox), the Student Concerns Subcommittee developed and began a pilot student-faculty networking program. The goal of this program is to help facilitate connections between graduate students and researchers, faculty, and other professionals across Canada for professional development, research, co-authorship, and other opportunities. This initiative was developed based on feedback from our student membership, especially those from small universities, small departments, or departments with fewer connections. After the pilot run of this program, we will be collecting feedback from students and researchers as to how to refine and improve the program.
Members:
Pedrom Nasiri, University of Calgary - Chair and member of the CSA Executive Committee
Alhan Yazdani of University, Calgary, Member Representing Western Canada
Hayley McLellan, Memorial University, Member Representing Eastern Canada
Andy Holmes, University of Toronto, Member Representing Central Canada
Taib K. Boyce, Carleton University, Cross-Appointed Black Caucus Representative
Alicia Clifford, McMaster University, Cross-Appointed Decolonization Subcommittee Representative
J Overholser, University of Calgary, Communication Representative
1. SCS Student Survey
In Fall 2022, the subcommittee released its annual survey of our student membership to help shape our 2022-2023 programming. After the form link was available to our student members for three weeks, we reviewed the findings and published the results. The results of this survey were brought to the attention of the Executive Committee and helped inform our activities and policy positions for the 2022-2023 term.
2. Webinars
The results of the survey demonstrated that student members wanted us to provide programming that centred professional development and methodological practices. In response, J. Overholser, Alicia Clifford, and I created a series of 4 webinars that focused on Community-Based Research. These workshops ran from January 2023 to April 2023, with plans to continue the series throughout the Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 semesters. Recordings of these webinars may be found in the CSA Archive.
J. Overholser and I are also creating a living database of resources for students, centring on community-based research practices. In their cross-appointed capacities, Taib K. Boyce and Alicia Clifford also provided instrumental assistance to the CSA Black Caucus and the Decolonisation Subcommittee, respectively, in webinar programming for the 2022-2023 term.
Importantly, Alicia Clifford and other members of the Decolonisation Committee successfully advocated to provide CSA’s invited speakers with honorariums. This marks a significant change from previous years, and we are very thankful to the Decolonisation Committee, Sherry Fox and Dr Irene Shankar in promoting this change.
3. CSA Congress Programming, Awards, and Grants
This year, the Student Concerns Subcommittee will be hosting 4 events for the Congress 2023 conference. In-line with our survey results, J. Overholser and I co-designed a workshop for Congress 2023 that will provide students with a hands-on opportunity to create necessary materials for academic and non-academic job markets. For those who are unable to attend Congress 2024, we will provide templates for each of these materials through Google Drive. In addition, Alicia Clifford is organising two sessions for the Decolonisation Committee: (1) Theoretical Conversations: Reckoning Contemporary Settler Colonialism during a Time of Reconciliation, and (2) Applied and Community-Based Dialogues: Reckoning Contemporary Settler Colonialism during a Time of Reconciliation.
In addition, Andy Holmes and I assisted Dr. Natalie Delia Deckard in reviving and reconfiguring the BIPOC Mentorship Program. We assisted in matching students with faculty from across the country. We also worked with committee members to develop and support these relationships at Congress 2024. In accordance with the desires of our student members, the Student Concerns Subcommittee has committed to assisting with this program through 2023-2024.
In 2023, The Federation of the Humanities and Social Science (FHSS) introduced a pilot program to provide funding to select graduate students as endorsed by member Associations. The Congress Student Merit Award, as the program is termed, received a considerable number of applications which were adjudicated in collaboration with the Student Concerns Subcommittee. We extend our congratulations to the inaugural winners of the Congress Student Merit Award.
The Student Travel Grant Program was generously supported by the Executive Office and Committee during the 2022-2023 term. The Student Concerns Subcommittee will continue advocating for this program across 2023-2024 to ensure that student participation at CSA’s annual conference remains supported. A review of this program will once again be provided to student members in the 2023-2024 student survey.
Lastly, the Student Concerns Subcommittee was successful in advocating for student members to not experience rate increases in their CSA conference fees or, more broadly, their membership dues.
4. Organise Monthly Meetings
J. Overholser and I organised monthly meetings to coordinate the activities of the subcommittee. J. organised the agenda and meeting minutes, saving them in our shared cloud storage.
5. Twitter
J. Overholser (Communication Representative) posted and re-tweeted notifications on our committee’s Twitter account. This usually included information about upcoming webinars, spotlight information, or other CSA activities. J. also re-tweeted job postings and calls for papers, presenters, and conferences. Notably, J. made a significant effort in advertising our resource library, which contains information pertaining to such things as annual awards and scholarships for students.
6. Student Newsletter
Hayley Mclellan, Andy Holmes, and Alhan Yazdani published our student newsletter thrice in the 2022-2023 term. These newsletters included information about SCS planning and initiatives, the results of the student survey, particulars relating to forthcoming webinars. The newsletter also included information about awards available to sociology students and employment opportunities.
7. Student Spotlight
Unlike previous years, the Student Spotlight is not an initiative that remained successful in our 2022-2023 term. Despite our efforts to recruit new students across Fall 2022 and Winter 2023 through the Student Newsletter, personal networks, and twitter, we did not receive any submissions. The Student Concerns Subcommittee will re-evaluate the Student Spotlight in the 2023-2024 Student Survey to determine the cause of this noticeable absence.
Members:
Nicole Malette, University of British Columbia - Chair and member of the CSA Executive Committee
Finbar Hefferon, Memorial University, Eastern Representative
Valerie Grand’maison, University of Guelph, Central Representative
Carieta Thomas, University of Calgary, Cross-Appointed Decolonization Subcommittee Representative
Ayesha Main Akram, University of Windsor, Cross-Appointed Equity Subcommittee Representitive
Taib K. Boyce, Carleton University, Cross-Appointed Representative for the Black Caucus.
The Student Concerns Subcommittee continued its aim of building an inclusive and informed student culture. We supported a number of student-focused initiatives this year, ranging from hosting webinar panel discussions to creating a new online resource library. We also celebrated the achievements of students across Canada through our social media outlets and Student Spotlight initiative. Our goal is to continue to effectively support the diverse needs and experiences of CSA student members across Canada.
1. Organize Monthly Meetings:
The chair of the Student Concerns subcommittee organized monthly meetings, set the agenda for each meeting and recorded meeting minutes. All agendas and meeting minutes are saved in our shared drive folder.
2. Twitter:
Two members of the committee posted and re-tweeted notifications on our committee’s Twitter account. This usually included information about webinars, student spotlight information or other CSA happenings. We also re-Tweeted job postings and conference calls by other organizations.
3. SCS Student Survey:
In September the SCS distributed a short survey to all CSA student members to shape our 2021/2022 programming. After the form link was available to student CSA members for three weeks, we reviewed the survey findings. After reviewing and analyzing the survey responses, SCS members wrote a report on the findings and brought those findings to the CSA executive for the fall executive meeting. We also used these findings to organize our upcoming webinars.
4. Newsletter:
The SCS published a newsletter, twice each semester that included information about SCS planning and initiatives. It also included information about awards available to sociology students and employment opportunities. Newsletters were distributed in the following months: September, November January, March, and July.
5. Webinars:
The SCS hosted 3 webinars this academic year. The topics for our webinars were decided in September/October following the September SCS meeting and feedback from the SCS Student Survey. Our webinars in 2021/2022 included:
• Canada versus America Job Market (December 2021)
• Effective Social Media Use for Grad Students (October 20, 2021)
• Pushing Research Beyond Academia (February 16, 2022)
6. CSA Conference Sessions:
The SCS also hosted/co-hosted 3 events for Congress 2022 conference. These events included:
i. Getting It Done – Tips and Tricks for Successful Dissertation Completion Panel Discussion
Moderator: Nicole Malette, University of British Columbia
Panelists:
Jessica Braimoh, York University
Catherine Corrigall-Brown, University of British Columbia
Casey Scheibling, McMaster University
ii. CSA-SCS Speed Meeting Social Event
14 Graduate student members of the Canadian Sociological Association had the opportunity to engage in 10-minute discussions with several faculty from across the country. Thank you to the faculty for sharing their time and experience!
iii. Navigating Parenting as an Academic during and “after” the Pandemic (details found with the Equity Subcommittee report)
7. Mentorship Program:
Two members of the SCS committee sat as volunteers for the CSA Mentor Programme for Indigenous, Black, and Racialized Graduate Students. In previous years, we helped match students with faculty from across the country. We also worked with committee members to support these relationships throughout the year.
8. Student Spotlight:
Starting in Spring 2021 (with subsequent rounds in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022), the CSA SCS has now showcased over 20 Masters and PhD CSA members through the Student Spotlight initiative. This initiative has served as a platform for the SCS to highlight the hard work (both academic and activism) of our student members. For all three rounds, we put out a request for submissions to students through the SCS newsletter, twitter and shared with our personal networks.
9. Student Resource Library:
In addition to creating an archive of student achievements and SCS webinars, we have also used our CSA website to house a Student Resource Library. Our Student Resource Library includes information about annual awards and scholarships for students. It also features a Race and Sociology Resource guide. This includes a reading list on topics such as disability, education, employment, gender, sexuality, health, intersectionality, immigration, social movements and many more.
Members:
Awish Aslam, Western University - Chair and member of the CSA Executive Committee
Nicole Malette, University of British Columbia, Western Rep
Finbar Hefferon, Memorial University, Eastern Rep
Carieta Thomas, University of Calgary, Cross-appointed Equity Issues Subcommittee Rep
Alicia Clifford, McMaster University, Cross-appointed Decolonization Subcommittee Rep
Over the 2020-2021 academic year, the subcommittee aimed to build an inclusive, supportive, and informed student culture. The subcommittee continued to run existing programming but also introduced several new initiatives in response to student concerns about the ongoing impacts of systemic racism and the uncertainty and isolation resulting from COVID-19. We focussed our efforts on three priority areas: acknowledging and addressing the impact of systemic racism on students’ experiences, improving engagement among student members, and strengthening our communications strategy.
1. Acknowledging and Addressing Systemic Racism
“Let’s Talk Systemic Racism” Panel/Discussion
We co-organized a forum on systemic racism with CSA student member, Karine Coen- Sanchez, held via Zoom on Monday, August 17. The event was intended to provide a “safe space” for racialized students to discuss the day-to-day and long-term impacts of systemic racism within academia and what role the SCS might play in addressing student concerns. There were approximately 50 students in attendance. Following the panel discussion, the SCS provided an additional anonymous medium (i.e., a survey) for students to share their experiences and provide further feedback.
2. SCS Report on Systemic Racism
Recommendations included the following:
• Virtual Code of Conduct
While the aim of the “Let’s Talk Systemic Racism” event was to create an intentional space for discussion among racialized students, this was not achieved in full. Consequently, one of the recommended actions was to create a code of conduct to be used at future CSA webinars and panels. The SCS, in collaboration with Executive Director, Sherry Fox, and CSA Student Member, Pedrom Nasiri, have drafted a working document, which is now in the final stages of approval.
• Cross Appointed SCS Positions
The SCS received approval to create cross-appointed student positions with the Equity Subcommittee, the Decolonization Subcommittee, and the Black Caucus. Students elected to these positions would focus on identifying and addressing issues pertaining to student members of the CSA.
• Symposium on Systemic Racism in Sociology Departments
Speakers from the “Let’s Talk Systemic Racism” panel were invited to contribute to a symposium on student perspectives regarding systemic racism in sociology departments. The symposium will be published in the August edition of the Canadian Review of Sociology.
3. Mentorship Program for Black, Indigenous, and Racialized Students
Nicole Malette (Western Rep) served as the SCS Rep on the Committee and worked with to pair 14 mentees and mentors. She facilitated quarterly check-ins with all mentors and mentees (data collected in survey), co-facilitated a webinar (Research, Teaching and Embodiment), as well as final retreat.
4. Improving Student Engagement
i. 2020-2021 Student Survey
A survey was available from late-September to late-October and received 70 responses. It allowed students to share perspectives and identify concerns, and data were used to inform SCS programming for the 2020-20201 academic year.
ii. Student Achievements
This new initiative launched in December 2020, is intended to promote the work of student members (e.g., news on recent MA/PhD completions, publications, community engagement, activism, and awards). Achievements are shared online (newsletter, Twitter, website). More than 30 achievements featured this year.
iii. Student Spotlight
Another initiative launched in January 2021, intended to profile students on the job market (prioritizing submissions from Black, Indigenous, and racialized scholars). The first round of 11 profiles will be shared online (newsletter, Twitter, website) this spring.
iv. Strengthening Communications
We circulated quarterly SCS newsletters to share relevant opportunities and updates with students (activities and programs undertaken by the SCS, awards, employment opportunities, student achievements). Our team improved social media presence through Twitter account to share
information/promote initiatives (led primarily by Student Volunteers Kieran Maingot and Molly Harper).
• Tweets promoted information about CSA and SCS initiatives, academic resources, conferences, job postings, scholarships, post-doc opportunities, and social justice related issues.
• Created promotional graphics for SCS events and initiatives.
• Ran two Twitter contests (1 per term) to boost student engagement.
• Account now has over 400 followers.
5. Professional Development Webinar Series
Four webinars were organized based on feedback from student survey: Writing Winning Grant / Scholarship Applications, Qualitative Research Careers Outside of Academia, Publishing & Public Sociology, Writing Social Theory (in collaboration with the Social Theory Research Cluster). The webinars were recorded and made available to SCS members to view on YouTube via a private link. SCS members and Sherry Fox transcribed audio from recordings for accessibility. Infographics summarizing each webinar were created and shared on the CSA website page.
6. Congress 2021
Three virtual student social events will be held throughout Congress. Socials will allow for informal networking among students and a chance to check in with members.
7. Recommendations for 2021-2022 Student Concerns Subcommittee:
1. Continue soliciting student feedback to ensure programming addresses student concerns and build more capacity for student advocacy.
2. Continue working on recommendations identified through the “Let’s Talk Systemic Racism” panel including finalizing virtual code of conduct, creating a resource guide to increase the visibility of racialized scholars’ work, facilitating professional development webinars addressing systemic racism and decolonization within academia, create an annual award that recognizes student engagement with community initiatives aimed at transforming, dismantling, and abolishing structures of oppression.
3. Incorporate equity as an integrated principle during the planning, design, and execution of all programming rather than an additive objective.
4. Engage in more frequent informal online meetings with student members throughout the year to improve engagement.