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Augustana Campus

Expires: April 30, 2028 

1 Facts

  1. The Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta is located in Camrose, Alberta, which means that most Augustana students do not have access to services and resources provided on North Campus.
    1. While Augustana students receive their own study abroad opportunities, they also have access to opportunities offered on North Campus.
    2. Many Augustana students seek summer employment outside of Camrose, particularly in Edmonton, but face barriers accessing information on this employment.
    3. While Augustana students can access an Edmonton job registry, there is no Camrose-specific job registry.
    4. For students who may seek research positions at Augustana, the opportunity for paid research is rare.
    5. Students at Augustana should not have to choose between studying at Augustana and working in their research field.
  2. In February 2020, the Augustana Students’ Association created a proposal for the creation of a Multi-Use Space at Augustana Campus.
    1. Students have very few student-oriented spaces on campus, which creates a barrier for both student socializing and growth of student groups.
  3. Fees paid at Augustana do not include access to a fitness centre.
  4. Students at Augustana campus do not have access to the UPass, nor does the City of Camrose offer its students a similar deal.
    1. Intercity travel between Camrose and Edmonton exists, but can be unaffordable and timed inconveniently.
    2. For many students, access to transit at Augustana may often make the difference between access to off-campus resources, including food, recreation, and health services.
  5. As of September 2023, Augustana Campus has one mental health counsellor who works two out of five days per week, with a total of 12 in person hours per week.
    1. Access to mental health counselling on Campus is also limited through scarcity in overall access. Currently, students must book several weeks, if not months, in advance to access these appointments. 
    2. While student groups on campus exist to fill a group counselling gap, these offer little privacy and professional help.
    3. While online mental health services such as “Inkblot” have been implemented to help Augustana students, students often struggle to navigate these pages.
    4. Since fewer options for on-campus counselling exist, students, Residence Assistants, and instructors are often responsible for crisis intervention.
  6. While the City of Camrose has food bank services, Augustana Campus does not have a campus food bank. Instead they have a Food Pantry run by the Augustana Students’ Association, which is funded by student fees and donations.
  7. Students on campus receive access to a pastoral chaplaincy program. However, other multifaith services are less common, and those available in the city are less accessible.
    1. The Multifaith Centre on campus has a capacity of approximately 5 people.
  8. The City of Camrose does not have any type of sexual violence support centre.
    1. The closest sexual violence support centres are located in Red Deer and Edmonton for sexual violence testing.
    2. The City of Camrose has little to no access to rape kits.
    3. The Augustana Students’ Association has assembled a Sexual Violence Awareness Committee which, amongst other things, hosts Sexual Violence Awareness Week.
    4. While Camrose recently opened a branch office to the Association of Communities Against Abuse, students need to be more informed about it, as well as its location.
    5. Students at Augustana would benefit greatly from access to Sexual Assault Centre services.
  9. Augustana Campus lacks culturally-relevant spaces and supports for international students.
  10. Despite Augustana Campus being a Faculty within the University of Alberta, certain courses are not recognized by North Campus faculties when Augustana students transfer to North Campus.
    1. For students who transfer from North Campus to Augustana, certain North Campus courses are not recognized by Augustana faculties.
    2. For students seeking to transfer to North Campus, access to transfer information may often be hard to understand, either from the University, or from their Faculty Associations.
  11. While some students who start within the 3-11 system find the system beneficial, many struggle in classes where instructors’ high expectations are not well-aligned with the goal of the 3-week class system.
  12. Augustana Faculty has begun implementing a “concentration” program system, as opposed to majors and minors. For students in concentrations, their degrees would note an “Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) degree”.
    1. Some students at Augustana fear that the implementation of concentrations may reduce their employability post graduation, as well as suitability for post-grad programs.
    2. Students at Augustana have also voiced concerns regarding the removal of minors without a suitable replacement
  13. Intervarsity athletics play a large role in the Augustana and Camrose community, but have barriers to accessing funding.
    1. The Athletic Review initiated in 2019 had little student representation.
    2. In 2019-2020, approximately 17% of Augustana students were involved in an athletic program.
    3. In March of 2020, decreased funding at Augustana resulted in the cutting of the Augustana women's hockey team, the men’s soccer team, as well as the golf team.
  14. While Augustana has 6 residence buildings, few are consistently filled, and students often worry about health and safety.
    1. Not including special exemptions, such as physical inaccessibility, or already being Camrose residents, all first years on the Augustana Campus must stay in residence.

2 Resolutions

  1. The Students’ Union will cooperate with the Augustana Students’ Association to advocate for Augustana Campus through existing political policies using a localized lens.
    1. Where contradictions exist between existing policy and this policy, the Students’ Union will defer to the policy in this document.
  2. The Students’ Union will advocate for improved collaboration between faculties, including where it intersects with student life so that students at Augustana Campus are not limited to the scope of their academic programming
  3. The Students’ Union will advocate for increased communication from the University concerning Augustana students’ access to research and work-integrated learning.
    1. The Students’ Union will advocate for the creation of a Camrose and Augustana Job Board
  4. The Students’ Union will advocate for the expansion of intercity travel between Edmonton and Camrose, including but not limited to, adhesion into the Regional Transit Services Commission
  5. The Students’ Union will advocate for an increased presence of mental health professionals at Augustana Campus, with the end goal of holding permanent professional staff for mental health
    1. The Students’ Union will advocate for increased mental health and crisis training for Augustana Residence Assistants, as well as increased support for RA’s when dealing with residents in crisis
  6. The Students’ Union will advocate for expansion of the Augustana Students’ Association Food Pantry, or alternative student-specific supports from the Camrose Food Bank.
  7. The Students’ Union will advocate for the expansion of the Multi-Faith Space, as well as Multi-Faith programming that extends to a wider diversity of faiths
  8. The Students’ Union will advocate for the priority of a Sexual Assault Centre on Augustana Campus
    1. The Students’ Union will advocate for scheduled hours at Augustana by the University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre until a Sexual Assault Centre exists for Augustana students to access
    2. The Students’ Union will advocate that the City of Camrose and the Alberta government increase the supply of rape kits at the Camrose Police Service (CPS), as well as increased training for the CPS inr handling cases of sexual assault
    3. The Students’ Union will advocate for greater publicity of sexual violence services to students at Augustana.
  9. The Students’ Union will continue working with international students when advocating to the University of Alberta for services, programming, and events at Augustana Campus that are created for international students
  10. The Students’ Union will advocate that the University of Alberta commit to easing the difficulty of transferring credits between all UofA campuses.
    1. The Students’ Union will advocate for increased transparency concerning all University of Alberta websites and promotional materials that reflect the current status around credit transfers between campuses
  11. The Students’ Union will support the Augustana Students’ Association in advocacy towards the improvement of the 3-11 system
  12. The Students’ Union will advocate that any new education and athletics changes at Augustana Campus be transparent in their assessment of student interest and feedback
    1. The Students’ Union will advocate for increased funding to athletics programs at Augustana, with emphasis on additional partnerships between the University and the City of Camrose.
    2. The Students’ Union will oppose any cuts to athletics programs at Augustana Campus.
  13. The Students’ Union will advocate that Residence Services in Augustana prioritize filling empty residences, while continuing to zone buildings by cohorts, as opposed to separating cohorts between buildings
    1. The Students’ Union will advocate that Augustana Campus create coherent and updated documents for Augustana students that outline renovation plans for residences, as well as all existing hazardous materials on site.
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