The Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) is undergoing a significant transformation aimed at improving its effectiveness and responsiveness to student needs. This shift aligns with the newly unveiled 2025-2030 Long-Range Plan, titled Turning Capacity into Impact: Powering Student Voice, Building Community, and Leading Change.

In May 2025, WUSA implemented a new organizational structure, marking its first major restructuring since 2017. This change introduces two senior director roles, Senior Director of Operations and Senior Director of Outreach and Engagement, who report directly to the Executive Director. This change allows the Executive Director to concentrate more on governance and board support, while the senior directors oversee day-to-day operations and strategic coordination.

Hannah Wardell, WUSA’s communication and media relations manager, explained, “Our new organizational structure is already helping us act more quickly and effectively. For example, we finalized our Long-Range Plan before the 2025-26 Board started, already started building our Annual Plan, and had our budget ready to go at the beginning of this term – things that haven’t always happened in the past.”

The reorganization aims to support leadership capacity, improve coordination across student groups and campus departments, and align daily operations with WUSA’s strategic goals. By doing so, WUSA seeks to better support student leaders and enhance the delivery of events, advocacy, and services that matter to students.

According to Wardell, “By 2030, we aim to be more student-centered. This means better understanding student needs, amplifying student voices, continuing to build stronger communities and effective partnerships, supporting student advocacy, and creating a positive, responsive workplace.”

Each year, WUSA will develop a new Annual Plan to identify specific priorities for that academic year. Wardell shared that the plan for 2025-26 is expected later this summer.

You might’ve already seen one change in action – new signage around the SLC about upcoming space improvements. Wardell says these upgrades are part of a broader effort to reflect student feedback and make shared spaces more useful and vibrant.

WUSA is doubling down on making sure students feel seen, heard, and supported. Over the past year, the organization has hosted student roundtables on big issues like co-op and campus safety, with more planned for the coming terms.

“We are planning to host more roundtables this year as part of our ongoing collection of student feedback,” Wardell said. “We also expect to publish the result from our Events and Athletics survey later this term.”

WUSA will continue to use the Representative Survey Platform (RSP) and other feedback tools to track student needs and respond accordingly.

Another major goal of WUSA’s new structure is to work more collaboratively with the university itself.

“With more leadership capacity, we’re better positioned to coordinate joint initiatives, shared services, and advocacy efforts,” Wardell explained.

A great example of this collaboration is WUSA’s upcoming partnership with the Office of Indigenous Relations for National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 19. It’s part of a broader push to make student priorities more visible and integrated across the entire campus.

For the student body, these changes signify a more responsive and proactive WUSA. With improved leadership and a clear strategic direction, students can expect more effective advocacy, improved services, and increased opportunities to engage and influence decisions that affect their university experience. 

As WUSA continues to evolve, the organization remains committed to its mission of serving, empowering, and representing undergraduate students at the UW.