Coalition | School of Social Work | University of Waterloo

The SSW Coalition seeks to better understand the structures, systems, resources, and support available to students experiencing challenges, marginalization, and harm within the university.

What we're doing

The need

Student support can feel fragmented and reactive, with complex processes that are hard to navigate—especially for students facing systemic barriers.

The vision

A coordinated student support system rooted in equity, belonging, and care—connecting services and people so support is clear, timely, and relational.

Equity
Belonging
Care
Coordination

Current initiatives

Collaboration as a community partner with Map The System competition organized by Centre for Peace Advancement and Grebel Peace Incubator to support blending research, action, and lived experience in mapping silos and gaps and inform coordinated responses within the University.
- Challenge Statement (PDF)
- Poster (PDF)
Promoting voices to the campus-wide call for coordinated student support.
Coalition Meetings: Open conversations with students, staff, faculty, alumni, and partners

Get Involved

Join Map the System for our SSW Coalition Challenge , registration starts on November 1st.
Share the video: [Link to Promo Video]
Share your story: Tell us what support should look like and contact us.
Invite us to speak: In your class, unit, or student group. [Email us: evelyn.morales@uwaterloo.ca]

Principles of Radical Care

Care is not control; it’s standing beside one another in a coordinated network of support.

Collective action
Relationship-centered
Systemic change
Shared power

(Hobart, 2020; Milligan, K., Zerda,J. & Kania, J. 2022; The Care Collective, 2020)

Experiences

This is about equity, belonging, and care

Student participant

Coordinated support means no one falls through the cracks.

Faculty member

Resources

Policy Brief — Summary of the coordinated model and recommendations. [Policy Brief (PDF)]
Map The System Poster — Overview + how to participate. [Challenge Statement (PDF)]
Challenge Statement — Focus of the mapping inquiry. [Poster (PDF)]

Contact

For inquiries, please contact evelyn.morales@uwaterloo.ca.

In partnership with the Centre for Peace Advancement and the UWaterloo Map the System initiative, in collaboration with the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA).

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