2025 COCA National Conference

How do we navigate and stay aware of mental health and wellness while eliminating stigma? For Bee, this topic is personal. As someone who has been transparent about her experiences with depression, anxiety, and postpartum depression, Bee has combatted stigma with openness, encouraging others to do the same.

GenWell Education & Engagement Programs are delivered in workplaces, classrooms, community organizations and seniors groups year-round.  We aim to deepen understanding of the growing issues of social isolation, disconnection and loneliness, their impact on individuals and society and the power of human connection to solve for it before a crisis or need for intervention. Are you interested in taking a leadership role for your organization, community or group?

This introductory-level session strives to have information that can be applied to various streams. It will cover basic planning steps: from conceptualization to execution of events. Topics include booking venues, managing budget, strategic planning, managing a team on site, ticketing, crowd management, and more.

Presenter: Mathieu Yuill

You know your services matter—but do your students? In this practical, story-driven session, Dr. Mathieu Yuill unpacks how student associations can stop leading with governance and start leading with value. Drawing from real-life case studies and years of hands-on work with student associations, Mathieu shares how small shifts in messaging—like talking about what students care about instead of what you want them to care about—can drive big increases in web traffic and engagement. You’ll walk away with low-cost, high-impact ways to use your website and digital content to build connection, boost engagement, and help students feel seen and supported. Because clarity cures frustration—and it’s your story, told so everyone gets it.

Tackle various conflicts that exist within and between clubs, as well as externally (e.g. with the college or external partners). Share your experiences and strategies and talk about when it is best to mediate or to get assistance from your Student Rights and Responsibilities departments.

Over the past several years, the team behind Bounce has worked hand-in-hand with student unions, campus clubs, and administrators to support over half a million Canadian students, while also collaborating with major festivals, artists, and venue partners. In this ed-session, they share what that journey revealed about the mechanics of modern student engagement and you’ll hear first-hand from Jovan Popovic, the outgoing President of the McMaster Students Union, about how they identified and implemented best-in-class initiatives to reinvigorate campus life and foster a more connected student community. Packed with data-informed insights and field-tested strategies relevant to staff and students leaders alike, the session explores what it really takes to engage today’s campus communities and how institutions can meet students where they are.

This session covers recruitment, management, training, and best practices for team functionality, including blending personalities, assigning work, assessing performance, and establishing responsibilities and workflows. It will address functional day-to-day operations, such as tabling versus being mobile, keeping your team motivated, and making your team stand out. This session will also address ways to get team members to contribute to promotional strategies, based on their needs as a student, and touch on brainstorming sessions, facilitating pop-ups, and differentiating between general promotion vs. specialized (e.g. Days of Significance).