As the 2020–2025 Long-Range Plan wraps up, Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) is gearing up for the 2025 – 2030 Long-Range Plan (LRP). The plan was recently approved by the Board of Directors on April 16 and will guide the organization’s priorities over the next five years. Development of the plan began in August 2024 with the recruitment of at-large students to the LRP Committee and the initial groundwork for project planning. The process followed a four-phase structure: starting with project setup and stakeholder engagement planning, followed by interviews and focus groups to gather insights, then drafting and refining objectives based on feedback, and finally submitting the completed LRP along with an internal operational framework to support implementation. 

The 2025 – 2030 LRP is guided by a mission to serve, empower, and represent the undergraduate students at the UW. This mission is operationalized through three foundational pillars:

• Serve: Ensuring accessible services, spaces, and supports that make campus life safer, more connected, and easier to navigate — from food and transit to events, businesses, and study spaces.
• Empower: Helping students grow their voice, leadership, and confidence through advocacy, self-representation, and support for clubs and communities.
• Represent: Making student needs and perspectives visible in decisions that affect them through strong governance, evidence-based advocacy, and partnerships across campus and beyond.

Advocacy Priorities

Building on three pillars, WUSA has focused on advocacy efforts that reflect what matters most to students. Through campus-wide consultations, four key advocacy priorities emerged:

• Affordability and cost of living: Addressing housing and food insecurity.
• Co-op and employment: Enhancing co-op experiences and employment opportunities.
  
• Mental health and wellness: Promoting mental health resources and support.
• Academic quality and fairness: Ensuring academic fairness and high-quality education.

To address these, WUSA engages in advocacy at multiple levels — institutional, municipal, provincial, and federal. At the provincial level, WUSA works through the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) on issues like housing, mental health, and public transit. Federally, WUSA joined the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) in early 2025 after a year as an observer. Through CASA, WUSA meets with federal officials to raise student concerns and shape national policy. Locally, they work with Waterloo Region through the Town and Gown Committee to connect students with the broader community. 

At the institutional level, WUSA’s advocacy is guided by its Annual Plan and Long-Range Plan. Over the next five years, WUSA aims to improve co-op and employment programs, ensure the University can provide robust mental health services, and uphold the delivery of high-quality, fair education for all students.

In addition to external advocacy, WUSA is also preparing to launch the second edition of the Change Engine — an initiative that empowers students to lead their own advocacy projects. The next competition is expected to take place this fall, with further details to be announced soon. Progress updates from the 2024 Change Engine winners are available in the ‘Change Engine 2024: Milestone Update’ on the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association website.

Strategic Objectives

To make this mission a reality, WUSA has outlined six strategic objectives that build on the momentum of the last five years. 

• Better understand what students need — and be known for It: Deepening insights into student needs and formalizing WUSA’s role as an expert on student experience.

• Strengthen student trust, voice, and impact in WUSA: Fostering deeper relationships between WUSA and students, rooted in openness, representation, and shared purpose.

• Revitalize social life and belonging at UW: The 2025–2030 LRP outlines a commitment to creating a more connected, joyful, and inclusive student experience through redesigned spaces and diverse event programming. While renovations to the SLC are underway, WUSA is also exploring new event offerings based on student interests. The plans include balancing large, high-energy events—such as concerts—with long-standing favourites like Sex Toy Bingo, BBQs, and Cultural Caravan. A survey conducted in Fall 2024 through the Representative Survey Platform (RSP) is also expected to inform future programming in collaboration with clubs, societies, and WUSA’s student services.

• Strengthen operational monitoring and student-focused partnerships: Ensuring WUSA’s operations deliver real value to members and exploring new models like student-run co-ops.

• Be a place people are proud to work: Creating a healthy, supportive, and growth-oriented work environment at WUSA.

• Advocate for the collective interests of students: Elevating WUSA’s advocacy from responsive to strategic, shaping policies and systems that impact the student experience.

Measuring Progress

To ensure WUSA has the internal capacity to realize this ambitious plan, the organization has already undertaken a significant structural transformation. As of May 2025, a new governance model — developed from the 2022 review — has been implemented, including the creation of two Senior Director roles focused specifically on operations and outreach. Moreover, WUSA is committed to transparency and accountability, and has established clear mechanisms to track progress throughout the implementation of the Long-Range Plan. Updates on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are communicated through multiple channels, including email newsletters, targeted member updates, and regular postings on WUSA’s website. These are further supported by ongoing coverage on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, helping students stay informed about key milestones and initiatives. In addition to these communications, WUSA fosters direct engagement by hosting open forums, town halls, and feedback sessions both virtually and in person. These spaces allow students to ask questions, provide input, and stay actively connected. Progress itself is measured through strategic metrics that evaluate the effort behind initiatives (such as the number of workshops conducted), their effectiveness (for example, participant satisfaction), and financial outcomes (including cost savings).

To demonstrate real progress, WUSA held a general board meeting on April 16, where the board of directors provided a closer look at how the 2025–2030 LRP will move from vision to action. In the meeting, Alex Chaban, the board of directors (2024–2025) — lit up the room with excitement as he described the new LRP as more than just a document. “A huge part of this Long-Range Plan that I’m really excited for is the fact that it’s meant to be flexible — annual action plans and initiatives will feed into it, shaping clearer deliverables that then support our broader objectives,” he said. As the conversation deepened, Muhammad Abbas Kanji, a Board Director for the 2025–2026 term, chimed in with a question on everyone’s mind: “How will students actually be able to track WUSA’s progress over the next five years?” In response, Ben Belfour, manager of strategy and transformation at overlap associates, said: “The plan is built around clear key results. These key results will make it easy for students to understand WUSA’s priorities, monitor achievements, and see tangible progress throughout the plan’s lifetime. The new framework also aims to be highly accessible, helping students easily recognize how action plans and initiatives connect to long-term goals.”

Shaping Tomorrow, Together

While the LRP outlines WUSA’s internal vision, its true strength lies in student involvement. Every objective, key result, and initiative is rooted in student voices — and its success depends on your continued input. You can play an active role by joining upcoming forums and surveys, staying updated through WUSA’s official channels, and sharing your ideas and feedback. Students can use the general inquiries or feedback forms available on the WUSA website’s Contact page. For more direct communication, students may email senior staff members such as Melissa Thomas, Senior Director of Outreach and Engagement (mmthomas@wusa.ca), or Prashant Kumar Patel, Senior Director of Operations (p32patel@wusa.ca). Additionally, the Vice President Remington Zhi (vp@wusa.ca) is also available for student outreach. On campus, the Turnkey Desk in the Student Life Centre remains open 24/7 as a convenient point of contact for assistance and suggestions.