Student Life > Graduate Student Organizations

Society of Graduate Students (SOGS)

^{www.uwo.ca/sogs}

SOGS is a student group established in 1964 to work on behalf of all graduate students at Western. It consists of an executive body and a council that includes more than 100 representatives from graduate departments across campus. SOGS administers a number of benefits for full- and part-time graduate students including health, dental and vision coverage. In addition, SOGS offers its members several bursaries and subsidies including travel, child care, and thesis subsidies, and Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund, Outof- Province, Grad Club, and travel bursaries. SOGS coordinates the Western Graduate Review, an online publication highlighting graduate student research at Western, and works with the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to organize the GraduatemStudent Teaching Awards. SOGS also partners with the Canadian Federation of Students tomprovide benefits such as the StudentSaver discount card and the International Student Identity Card (ISIC) which provides discounts on airfare, train and bus tickets. Finally, SOGS owns and operates the Grad Club, a restaurant and bar located in Middlesex College for graduate students, faculty, and staff. The Grad Club features a big screen TV and live entertainment.

Graduate Teaching Assistants Union

^{www.gtaunion.com}

The UWO-GTA Union is composed solely of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) at The University of Western Ontario. Although the UWO-GTA Union is a Local of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC - www.psac.com), only GTAs establish the priorities and policies of the Local. Through periodic negotiations with the University, the Union establishes a Collective Agreement which defines GTA working conditions, compensation, and benefits. The Union works to ensure that all GTAs are aware of their rights under this agreement, and that the terms of the agreement are honoured by the employer. The Union also provides assistance to individual GTAs in instances where the Collective Agreement is violated, and works with other groups within the University community to promote the concerns of GTAs and to ensure that community concerns are reflected in the Union's policies and priorities.