Students Nova Scotia (Students NS), formerly known as the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA), is an alliance of some Nova Scotia post-secondary student associations. Its stated aim is to give students a voice in Nova Scotia with government and the public, helping set the direction of post-secondary education by researching challenges, identifying solutions, and creating the political space needed for these solutions to happen. Its six member associations represent close to 18,000 students on campuses across the province. StudentsNS is governed by a board of directors composed of presidents and vice-presidents from each member association. The executive director manages the day-to-day operations of the organization's staff.

History

Students Nova Scotia or StudentsNS was founded in 2003 as the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA). At that time, students had identified an urgent need for a united voice in Nova Scotia, where they faced the highest tuition in Canada, underfunded universities, no needs-based grants, all leading to a steady decline in enrolment levels across the province. The

Acadia Students' Union The Acadia Students' Union represents the undergraduate students at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. They are a member of the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations (CASA) and StudentsNS (formerly ANSSA). History The Ac ...

, Dalhousie Student Union, Saint Mary's University Students' Association, and the St. Francis Xavier University Students' Union together established ANSSA. The

Cape Breton University Cape Breton University (CBU) is a public university located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the only post-secondary degree-granting institution within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and on Cape Breton Island. The university is enabl ...

Students’ Union joined ANSSA in 2009, the

Atlantic School of Theology Atlantic School of Theology (AST) is a Canadian public ecumenical university that provides graduate level theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taug ...

Students Union became a full member in 2011, the Dalhousie Agricultural Students Association in 2013, and the

Nova Scotia Community College Nova Scotia Community College or NSCC is a Canadian community college serving the province of Nova Scotia through a network of 14 campuses and three community learning centres. The college delivers over 130 programs in five academic schools: Acc ...

Student Association at Kingstech joined in 2014. The new organization was formed to advocate on behalf of students with all levels of government, with institutions, in the media, and within Nova Scotia communities. It was, and is, focused on post-secondary education across the province, not just on single campuses. In 2012, members overwhelmingly approved a funding increase in support of ANSSA, paving the way for the organization to substantially increase research, media and engagement capacities, notably by hiring two additional staff. To better facilitate the use of these increased resources, in 2012 ANSSA also pursued significant restructuring, and renamed itself Students Nova Scotia. On Friday February 27, 2015, the Dalhousie Student Union council passed a motion to disaffiliate from SNS.

References

All references taken from StudentsNS website unless otherwise stated

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:StudentsNS Students' associations in Canada Educational organizations based in Nova Scotia Groups of students' unions 2012 establishments in Nova Scotia