Students launch Nursing Graduate Student Association

Why work alone when you can work together? At heart, this was the thinking bringing together a handful of nursing graduate students to form the Nursing Graduate Student Association (NGSA) in fall 2023. When students are coming from a learn-where-you live program, or conducting graduate work independently, the students saw the opportunity as one where they could share academic advice, mentor fellow students, and find ways to connect socially.

“We had been thinking there’s something missing in terms of collegiality, the social aspect of graduate studies within USask College of Nursing,” says Catherine Lavigne, the NGSA’s Vice-Chair Administrative and communications liaison. “Studies can be isolating, especially when you are full-time from home at your desk taking courses. You want to get to know your classmates, to get involved.”

After coming together officially in the fall, the NGSA now meets monthly on Fridays over video conference. The association not only holds executive roles, but also ensures inclusive representation by incorporating delegates from each graduate program cohort, as well as invites students to hold special chairs to advocate for a broad range of equity-seeking groups.

After becoming recognized and ratified by the university’s Graduate Student Association, the NGSA started by initiating a student satisfaction survey to send out to the over 200 graduate students at the College of Nursing and learn what their members want in terms of events, support, and representation. They also created a mentor network to connect new students with students further along in their program for advice sharing.

Lavigne, who lives in Winnipeg and is now in her clinical rotation year of the Nurse Practitioner program, has already taken on a mentor role for a fellow student, noting that new students often have questions around placement opportunities. As she helps to develop the NGSA, Lavigne says she hopes the association grows even stronger in terms of its ability to represent nursing graduate students and advocate for their needs.

“Because our population base is spread out across Canada, and across the world with international students pursuing classes from abroad, we want to be able to be a representative for them, to advocate for their needs, and to work with the College of Nursing administration to see what resources would be most helpful.”

To learn more about the NGSA, or to get involved, please visit their website.