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Maggie Benston Centre, #2203, 8888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

GSS Newsletter – May 3, 2020

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Job Opportunities

GSS RA position Web & Publication Design

GSS RA position Web & Publication Design (Know Your Rights Guide Project)

Approximately 200 hrs work until August 2020.

$26.59/hr + benefits Starting date: May 15, 2020.

Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QGtCCTXhrZcFTa8qN7vTcp2Lpeya942oEyd2dLHQ7ig/edit?usp=sharing

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Social Events

GSS&TSSU Online Board Game Night: Avalon and Codenames

Are you looking for more social interaction during this time of social distancing? Do you miss the time when you could play Avalon Codenames with your friends at SFU? Would you like to connect with other graduate students who share a common interest with you in board games? Please join us for a GSS/TSSU online board game night event. All of those who RSVP will get a link.

RSVP here: https://sfu-gss.formstack.com/forms/online_board_game_night

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Highlights

COVID19 Survey (5min!) 

We know that many of you are facing specific issues concerning COVID19 and SFU. The GSS is working hard to advocate on your behalf, but we can only work to support you if we know what you are going through. Please take the survey to report on the issues you are facing. We are counting on you to help us help you!

Link: https://sfu-gss.formstack.com/forms/preferences_for_agm_and_gss_space_copy

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SUSPENDING MSP FEE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

The GSS at SFU sent a letter to the BC Health Ministers office earlier this month about the need to immediately suspend the MSP fees for international students. Our email and a background document highlighting the need to suspend the MSP fee permanently is included below.

We ask that you and your student body please support by following this link to email the Health Ministers office todayhttps://sfugradsociety.ca/advocacy/external-advocacy/msp-fee/

Urgent Action on COVID-19 & Student MSP Fee [ April 3, 2020 ]https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HrDAadQl-Bsz_sqWO6FQ53sPzoIu9TDOcvxrZppbr04/edit?usp=sharing

Changes to BC International Student Health Fees: What are the Issues? [ January 2020 ]: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SmSCF_UVF1VGuus4E5Uq21Fr1rcoIPne/view

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FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS:

Following the announcement of support for post secondary students we were informed that international students were not included as a part of the program. As we know, international students are not only impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, just as domestic students are, but they are often under greater stress due to extremely high fees many of them are required to pay, less access to family and community support as well as the inability to travel home.

Migrant Students United has been doing persistent work to pressure the federal government to include international students in their support packages. Here is how you and members of your student body can support:

Sign the petition – and share it with your friends and networks immediately: https://migrantrights.ca/migrantstudents

Join our online action where we speak up!: https://www.facebook.com/events/864094190767729/

Reach out if you want to share your story about how this affects you – email msu@migrantworkersalliance.org

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Your Feedback on Know Your Rights Guide

As part of the GSS’s ongoing commitment to improve the personal, academic, and professional lives of our members, we will be launching a “Know Your Rights” guide. The guide will assist graduate students in navigating the various policies that may apply to their academic and non-academic experiences at SFU.

While some questions still need to be completed we are asking graduate students to please comment on the draft document for the guide with any corrections, suggestions, and questions by following this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNxA2mIrxLQJFdx3MZ2MtRhUqi4am2GjqVaRYqHXths/edit?usp=sharing

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When the Labs Closed: Graduate Students’ & Postdoctoral Fellows’ Experiences of Disrupted Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic

A team at McMaster University is investigating the impact of the COVID-19 research disruption on graduate students and postdoctoral fellows conducting laboratory-based research in Canada. .This study has been reviewed by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (HiREB).

To participate in this study, students and fellows can fill out one anonymous online survey. For those wishing to provide further feedback, they are also conducting optional virtual one-on-one interviews via Zoom. Interested participants can access the online survey at the following link: https://surveys.mcmaster.ca/limesurvey/index.php/484691?lang=en

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The Toronto Science Policy Network has recently launched a survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on graduate students across Canada.

This study will look at the impact of the pandemic and resulting lockdown on working from home, health and wellness, teaching, funding, research and course requirements. The survey may be found here: http://tiny.cc/COVID19gradsurvey.


The data collected from this survey will be kept completely anonymous. The purpose of the survey is to ensure that there is evidence available for student groups/unions and institutions to launch any efforts to support graduate students. Only aggregated and anonymous data may be shared and used by representatives of student associations and university administrations across Canada, including data subsets where appropriate. A summary of the survey data will be made available publicly for the benefit of the graduate student population on the TSPN website. The deadline to complete the survey is May 31.

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If you have events or announcements that you would like to see included in next months’ GSS newsletters, you can share them with us by emailing student-life@sfugradsociety.ca

Follow the GSS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sfugradsociety/