YEAR plan
12
Department: Health Sciences Caucus Date Submitted: 19 November 2012
Prepared by: Gabriel Jeyasingham
Administered by:
David Campbell, VP Administration vpadmin@msu.mcmaster.ca
or 905.525.9140 ex. 23250
Date Revised:
Date Approved:
The YEARplan is a way of getting down on paper what you and your caucus or committee intend to accomplish over the course of your year. It will isolate the specific goals that you wish to accomplish, and the objectives that need be achieved. It will give the rest of the organization and students at large an understanding of the direction you wish to take with your caucus or committee, and identify areas where support can be given. When completed, the
YEARplans will collectively reinforce the goals and visions of your department, and allow the respective members to focus their attention on areas of importance within the MSU.
1.
Read over the YEARplan.
2.
Complete your YEARplan in soft copy (on computer).
3.
E-mail the first draft of the YEARplan to vpadmin@msu.mcmaster.ca
by the due date.
4.
The VP Administration will provide feedback on your YEARplan. Use this feedback to revise your draft into a final plan.
5.
E-mail the final draft of the YEARplan to vpadmin@msu.mcmaster.ca
by the final due date.
The final copy will be then be presented back to the Student Representative Assembly, and posted online.
If for some reason you do not believe you can complete your YEARplan by the date indicated, please contact the Vice-President Administration in order to arrange a suitable extension (contact information above).

The Health Sciences Programme is different from other programmes or faculties with SRA representation in that its students and their needs are already largely being met. While course evaluations may be an issue in other faculties, the BHSc programme already implements both midterm and end-of-term evaluations, with the added advantage that the staff actually listens to student feedback. While SRA-constituent disconnect might be a problem in huge faculties like engineering or science, the BHSc programme is a small, tight-knit community with a communication tool (LearnLink) that makes SRA visibility quite achievable. And while students in other faculties may be left to “fend for themselves,” the Bachelor of Health Sciences Society
(BHSS) and BHSc Office Staff provide extensive social and academic support to students.
The main issue, then, is this: how can the SRA Health Sciences caucus help students when it appears that social, academic, and sometimes even personal support already exist? If more common and traditional needs are being met, what are the ones that aren’t?
The advantages of such extensive student support tend to overshadow the disadvantage, at least from an MSU perspective: many Health Sciences students tend to stay inside a “bubble” and only interact with students from other faculties through clubs or residence. Moreover, knowledge of the MSU and SRA is limited. Our mission is to find and implement ways to break the “Health
Sci Bubble” and broaden our constituents’ perspective on the university at large.
Another mission is to increase awareness of mental health issues within the BHSc community. It is surprising that mental health resources or connections to pre-existing, external resources are either not available or are poorly advertised in a program based on the study of all aspects of health. Many students would benefit by addressing this need.
List all positions found within or in relation to your department including full-time and part time staff, as well as one of a few general volunteer roles if applicable and how their role intersects with yours.
3.
4.
1.
2.
Name of Individual
Dr. Delsworth Harnish Professor and Assistant Dean for the BHSc Programme; our
James Bao
Teresa Basilio
Ghazaleh Ferdowsi
5. Penny Losier
6. Andrea Phair
Role(s) link to the university administration
BHSS Chair; an essential collaborator, our link to the BHSS
Program Manager for the BHSc Programme
Administrative Assistant for the BHSc Programme
Administrative Assistant for the BHSc Programme
Student Advisor and Curriculum Assistant for the BHSc
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7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Margaret Secord
Louis Winston
Dr. John Kelton
David Campbell
Huzaifa Saeed
Siobhan Stewart
Programme
Inquiry Coordinator
McMaster Senate student representative for the Faculty of
Health Sciences; another link to university administration
Dean and Vice-President (Health Sciences)
MSU VP-Administration; can assist in any way possible
MSU VP-Education; can provide information regarding mental health and experiential education
MSU President; can assist in determining stakeholders that may have been overlooked
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Copy and paste to add more objectives if required
Objective 1 Increasing Knowledge of the MSU and SRA
Description
As a consequence of the “Health Sci Bubble,” students generally have a weak understanding of what the MSU is and the services it provides. We aim to improve this understanding.
Benefits - More students accessing MSU services
- More students participating in MSU services (e.g. volunteering), and therefore more involvement outside the Health Sciences community
- Reduced apathy towards the MSU
- Increased participation in MSU-related elections
Difficulties - Overcoming student apathy
- Ensuring constituents respond to attempts at communicating information
Long-term This is a process that should continue next year and the years that follow; there
How will always be new first year students and room to improve
- Make something similar to the SRA student leader’s handbook, except targeted towards the average BHSc student
- Provide updates on LearnLink regarding the topics discussed at SRA meetings
Partners - BHSS
- BHSc Office
- MSU VP-Administration
- MSU President
Objective 2 Experiential Education
Description The SRA Humanities caucus has placed a lot of emphasis on experiential education over the past year. In the Health Sciences programme, such experience is limited to the standard 3 rd and 4 th year projects, and the
Embedded Learning Experience specific to the Global Health Specialization.
Research and volunteer opportunities are available, but are largely unadvertised. Following the lead of the SRA Humanities caucus, we will look into the possibility of expanding and increasing awareness of experiential
Benefits education opportunities in the Health Sciences programme.
- Increased student involvement in the greater Hamilton community
- Help students find ways to apply their university education in related fields
- Help students find a practical purpose for their university education
Difficulties - Logistics of connecting university administration to external 3 rd
parties
- Logistics of potentially altering the programme curriculum
Long-term - A project of this magnitude may take longer than a year to be completed
- Even if it were completed within a year, experiential education opportunities can always be expanded
How - Create a list of currently available volunteer or work opportunities related to the field of Health Sciences
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Partners
- Talk to Humanities Caucus, who has experience with this
- Consult with the BHSc office staff and find out what things are feasible
- BHSS
- Humanities Caucus
- BHSc Office Staff
- MSU VP-Education
Objective 3 Maintaining and Improving Communication
Description LearnLink is a great tool for communicating information, as it is used by all
BHSc students. Communication should be maintained and improved throughout the year.
Benefits - Help with Objective #1 by increasing awareness of the SRA
- Verification to students that their student representatives are working
Difficulties - Overcoming student apathy
Long-term - Updating constituents and keeping them involved is a never-ending process
How
Partners
- Make SRA meeting summaries and post on LearnLink
- Make LearnLink posts when important issues arise (e.g. student levies, etc.), or when feedback is needed (e.g. surveys)
- Make any posts or advertisements more professional-looking to attract attention
This does not require partnership; it’s all on the Health Sciences caucus to keep constituents updated
Objective 4 Mental Health Awareness and Resource Provision
Description Various groups and organizations, such as the MSU, are currently targeting mental illness and the stigma associated with it, as it has become a growing issue on campus. Moreover, resources for dealing with mental health issues are available yet poorly advertised. Given the high prevalence of mental health issues, and considering the BHSc community is rather small and tight-knit, advertising current mental health resources and/or providing new resources to constituents could be extremely effective. Furthermore, this could help reduce stigma, as mental health is rarely discussed openly, even in the BHSc programme.
Benefits - Increased access of mental health resources across campus
- Potential to reduce stigma simply by facilitating discussion on the topic
Difficulties - Advertising and publicly talking about mental health issues may or may not be met with hesitation from administration and/or students
Long-term - A long-term process again; anything implemented would be re-evaluated for usefulness, as well as for successes or failures
How - Research other universities and how they are working to increase mental health awareness
- Creating a mental health resource guidebook
- Creating a website, or a page on an existing website, for easy access to
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Partners information
- Assistance from the BHSS and BHSc Office Staff
- MSU VP-Education
- SHEC
- Potential to get other constituents involved
List 3 things you would like to have completed during the fall term (1 st
)
1) Continued communicating via LearnLink
2) Begin work on mental health awareness / experiential education by meeting with BHSc Office
Staff
3) Begin work on increasing awareness of the MSU (i.e. a handbook)
List 3 things you would like to have completed during the winter term (2 nd
)
1) Continued communicating via LearnLink
2) Have some system in place where students can more easily access mental health resources and learn about mental health issues in general
3) Have reduced student apathy towards the MSU and SRA
If you could jump to the end of your term and were asked to tell someone the highlights of what your caucus or committee did over the course of the year, what would that include?
Highlights would include:
establishing a system through which students can easily access or find ways to access mental health resources on campus
making available new opportunities for experiential education, whether it be as simple as creating a guide to job/volunteer opportunities, or as significant as implementing new experiential education opportunities in the BHSc programme itself
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Summer
(preparation)
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
- Begin research on objectives (e.g. experiential education, mental health)
- Meet with members of the BHSc Office Staff and BHSS, and discuss objectives
- Determine course of action to meet objectives
- Begin working towards objectives based on discussions in December
- Evaluate what has been accomplished and determine whether or not objectives can be met by April
- Revise objectives and course of action
- Work towards reaching objectives
- Evaluate accomplishments and failures
- Determine what the incoming Health Sciences caucus should pursue next year (i.e. make a transition report, outlining successes, failures, and areas for improvement)
Weekly - BHSS
- Biweekly SRA meeting summaries posted on LearnLink
For the topic on mental health awareness, collaboration with the Student Health Education
Centre (SHEC) could be helpful. We can consult with SHEC to find out what strategies they have been using in this area, and whether or not they have been successful. We can then find ways to implement such strategies to increase mental health awareness in the BHSc community.
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By making mental health resources better advertised, we can also increase awareness of SHEC direct more students there for counseling, etc.
Nothing much to say except that any feedback (from the VP-Admin or even other SRA members) would be helpful!
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