Services

Advocacy

Advocacy &
Student Services

Athabasca University Graduate Students’ Association (AUGSA) strives to enhance Athabasca University graduate student life through a number of services, by primarily through advocacy.

AUGSA is your advocate to Athabasca University, the provincial government, and the federal government. You can learn more about our advocacy efforts here as well as by visiting the Alberta Graduate Provincial Advocacy Council (abGPAC) site to learn more. 

Some additional services we offer include:
  • Hosting in-person networking events for our students
  • Hosting online peer-to-peer discussion forums to allow students to connect
  • Producing regular e-newsletters for our members to keep them in the loop of what is happening around the university
  • Providing awards to graduate students, such as the Outstanding Distinction and Graduate Citizenship Awards
  • Encouraging excellence in AU faculty and non-academic staff via providing awards to AU staff who exceed in serving graduate students
  • Improving library funding for graduate research via an annual library donation
  • Advocating on behalf of AU graduate students for any issue that may impact graduate student life

To view additional services, please visit our Services page. 

Advocacy
Advocacy is an important priority for Athabasca University Graduate Students’ Association.

The AUGSA acts an advocate on behalf of graduate students to the university as well as to all three levels of government. By representing AU graduate student interests, AUGSA hopes to improve the overall quality of graduate student life at Athabasca.

AUGSA is a member of the Alberta Graduate Provincial Advocacy Council (ab-GPAC), which forms a major part of our advocacy services. 

Some of our advocacy priorities include advocating on childcare, the university creating Research Assistant opportunities for AU graduate students and working to ensure the provision of adequate graduate student services. In addition, we would also like to see AU providing better career services for students (for example, assistance writing resumes, cover letters, etc). We are also hopeful that one day, there will be two seats for graduate students on all university Board of Governors or Governing Councils.

The Alberta Graduate Provincial Advocacy Council (ab-GPAC) was founded in 2015. They are a non partisan, non profit advocacy group that strives to improve the graduate student experience. Membership includes the Graduate Students’ Associations of the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, Athabasca University, and Concordia University of Edmonton. Collectively abGPAC represents approximately 20,000 graduate students.

We also work cooperatively with other graduate student groups and associations across Canada.

Student Awards & Bursaries
See if you are eligible for our student awards and bursaries!

AUGSA offers a number of student awards and bursaries on an ongoing basis throughout the year. To see if you are eligible, or to apply please visit the student awards page here.

Research Conference
We are proud to host the annual Athabasca University Graduate Student Research Conference.

This conference is held in October each year. This is an opportunity for graduate students to present their research in a formal setting to peers and faculty, gaining valuable exposure and feedback for their work. To learn more about the annual GSRC, please visit the official GSRC website

Follow our social media pages to get up to date information on all things AUGSA.

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Student Wellness
& Lifeline Services

While AUGSA administers a Health and Dental program through Student VIP, we are also pleased to announce a wellness support service for our members available through Athabasca University. Carepath by BayShore services are for our students in need of counselling, advice or assistance. This service is offered by Athabasca University effective November 1, 2018.

Get Involved with AUGSA today!