Rory Norris, our Vice President, Government and Stakeholder Relations here at WUSA, is also a valuable member of a larger student advocacy group, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA). As the Treasurer for CASA, Rory shares his thoughts and experiences, providing a deeper insight into the realm of student advocacy across Canada.  

What is CASA and what are its goals?

CASA is a group of student associations from across Canada who come together to advocate for students, at the federal level. With 26 member schools, including universities and colleges, and varying member organizational sizes, CASA aims to collaboratively represent and address key issues for over 400,000 students from across the country.  

What is Rory’s new role at CASA?

As the Treasurer, Rory explains how his responsibilities take on the more operational side of the organization. 

“The role of Treasurer is to be that financial analyst on the Board of Directors, to give advice when it comes to things like budgeting, setting aside funds for certain projects, and reviewing structures for investments, including whether companies are meeting the ethical requirements we want.”

Day-to-day responsibilities can vary for this role. In the present, as well as for the upcoming years, Rory explains that the focus will be on financial sustainability. He acknowledges the tough times student unions are currently going through, when it comes to student financial aid as well as funding provided to the universities as a whole, across the country. 

“A combination of these two factors really put student unions in a tough place where there are concerns about CASA membership but also, about finding the money to support the organization and the work that’s required,” Rory shares. “That’s going to be a big piece this year for CASA, with consultation of all of the members, on how financial sustainability is going to look like for the organization.”  

Other aspects of this role include keeping the organization up-to-date on where the money is being spent, ensuring that CASA stays within the budget, and conveying financial information to students in a way that empowers them to ask questions and provide their insight.  

What spurred him to take on this role?

“Jumping back three years now, which seems crazy to say, I was actually involved with WUSA as the President…that gave me that first insight into what a student union does,” Rory recalls with a laugh.  

During his first presidency, WUSA joined CASA as an observer at first, with no ability to vote or run for the board. However, he was able to observe how the organization operates and look into whether becoming a member would align with WUSA’s goals.  

As WUSA experiences the second year of full membership within CASA, member students have the opportunity to run for the board. Rory believes his previous experience as a previous president and the accounting experience that comes with his Biotech CPA program, enables him to fulfil his Treasurer role to his best ability. Ensuring that he has enough time to dedicate not only to CASA, but also to WUSA, also played a role in Rory’s decision to take on this role.  

“When it comes to CASA, one thing that is very, very interesting in my mind is getting to work with schools that operate on so many different ways of decision-making. Because you’re dealing with student unions from both across Canada but also of different sizes, it’s cool to see their different governance and perspectives.” 

What does he hope to accomplish in his year as treasurer?

After reflection, Rory hopes to leave the organization in a better spot than he had found it. This year, his hope ties directly to the financial stability of the organization – setting it up for success so that it has the money to continue advocating into the future.  

Another crucial accomplishment Rory highlights, is making sure the organization has a better understanding of openly communicating with members. With past concerns from members on the same issue, Rory hopes to address it during his term. 

He acknowledges the direct steps and how it would impact the next board, “I want to make sure we’re providing that ongoing information and updates to the membership so they’re aware…so you know the next treasurer somewhere in the audience is able to take up that information and run in the next year.” 

When asked about what he thinks CASA does a great job at, Rory praises its ability to advocate effectively, work with different organizations, meet politicians, and ‘getting wins’. He also notes CASA’s transparency on funding, allowing students to know where their money is going and how the advocacy fee is used. Rory also elaborates on something he believes CASA can improve upon, such as turnover rate among CASA staff.  

“I think taking a look at how to set up the organization so that we can maybe get a couple more years from each staff member, to retain that institutional knowledge that they bring, is important.” 

What are some issues at the federal level that CASA finds important?

Issues that students often put forward include the affordability of housing, cost of living, transit, and other areas that students are passionate about. Such issues tie back into the common struggle of students nowadays on affording post-secondary education.  Rory puts such a struggle into a different perspective by highlighting the intersectionality of student issues.

“We want to make sure that [students] can afford a post-secondary education while not putting themselves at risk, or having to skip meals, or that sort of thing.” 

He notes that research funding is also an issue of interest, particularly for graduate students. Ensuring that CASA helps in setting up Indigenous students up for success in post-secondary education is another notable issue.  

“Supporting the intersectional view and talking about the work the federal government has been doing for reconciliation, and other such topics are prioritized as well.” Rory explains.  

Another big priority is employment and work-integrated learning, and ensuring the federal government is providing that. In particular, ensuring that not only a multitude of co-op jobs exist, but also discussing employment after graduation.  

Rory addresses how such advocacy ties back into Waterloo students’ issues.  

“I think there are some areas we are working on that align and connect to CASA – a lot of these issues are big in the way that they impact everyone…it would be very difficult for Waterloo to stand alone and voice an issue as opposed to with a larger group like CASA.”

Congratulations to Rory on being elected Treasurer for CASA! He looks forward to applying everything he’s learnt, and would love to hear from students, whether they want to reach out directly or just see him walking around SLC! 

Anusha Akella

Copywriter