[HIDDEN] New Group Proposal Stage

Twice a year, new group proposal applications will open on Rubric. By reading this page, you will be given the detailed step-by-step guide of how to complete the Proposal Stage of the New Group Process.

Details regarding the entire New Group Process Timeline can be found here.

GLO: Foundations - Developing Your Proposal

To aid with proposal quality, Student Group Services has launched the GLO: Foundations module. This learning resource is developed to help students articulate their ideas effectively, and walk through the new group process with a developed 'foundation' preemptively established.

It is required that the module be completed with a passing score of >60% in order for a proposal to be eligible for review. Any proposals submitted without completion will be considered invalid. This module is expected to take 2-3 hours to complete, so ensure that you plan ahead of time; it is unlikely that you complete both the pre-proposal and proposal stage in a single night, and extensions will not be granted based on these grounds.

Self enrol now in Group Leader Orientation: Foundations

Once you complete the module, you will provided the link to the proposal form and can start preparing your Submission...

Rubric Submission - Preparing Your Proposal

Before you submit your proposal, please make sure you have the following tasks completed. This will help you breeze through the submission form and get everything in on time!

New Group Proposal Checklist
Basic Eligibility	Students must look at existing groups and services on campus to make sure their idea doesn’t duplicate an existing group or service. Students can search for groups on Rubric to help them in this process.
GLO: Foundations	This training is mandatory to be eligible to make a new group submission. The module is focused on key training materials to prepare you to start and run a new student group.
New Group Scoring Sheet	We will be evaluating all proposals based on a scoring sheet with specifically outlined criteria (further details below and linked on the page). We recommend thinking about how you will approach each of these items to increase your potential score.
Membership Petition & Endorsement Form	Students will need to submit a membership petition of at least 10 students at the University of Alberta. We recommend finding potential members after you’ve determined if your group will meet the basic eligibility requirements. Students will also need to find two University of Alberta community members to endorse them as the founder of a new student group. This ensures that folks who do want to start a student group are either equipped with skills already or have the capacity to develop them.
(Conditional) External Affiliate Letter	If your group is planning to have an external affiliate, you will need to provide a letter signed by the external affiliate which will outline the boundaries of their interactions with your group.

By this point, you should have assessed your basic eligibility and completed GLO: Foundations. Below is a brief summary explaining the three other elements of a new group proposal. Note, a more detailed summary is within GLO: Foundations.

New Group Scoring Sheet Categories

(1) Pitch

Give us a brief description of your organization! How would you describe the idea to someone who might be interested in getting involved? (500 character limit)

(2) Rationale

Why should this be an independent registered student group, rather than a committee under another group or an informal unregistered group? What specific benefits of student group recognition are you expecting, or hoping to gain? What value will this group bring to students at the University of Alberta?

(3) Unique Mandate & Scope

Please identify and address any overlap in terms of scope, mandate, or activities with existing student groups and campus services. Students can search for groups on Rubric to help them in this process. If overlap does exist, please explain specific ways in which your group is different.

(4) Campus & Community Contribution

Our campus has a vast collection of demographics, which could benefit from student groups. How will your proposed group contribute to the greater campus community beyond your individual group members?

(5) Operational Sustainability

How will your group manage executive and membership turnover? How will your group continue to meet the basic requirements (eg. democratic elections) of student group recognition year after year?

(6) Financial Sustainability

How will your group handle their finances, including budgeting and fundraising? What kinds of income streams have you considered?

(7) Events & Engagement

How will your group engage its members and/or the general campus community?

External Affiliate Letter (Conditional)

Some groups on campus are heavily involved / integreated with external organizations outside of the University of Alberta campus. The Proposal will request the following information for proposals with these element...

(8) Affiliation with External Organization

Is your proposal aimed to start a chapter of an existing organization? (e.g. a chapter of a fraternity or sorority organization; a new chapter/faction of a club at another university; a chapter or student association for a community, political, or charity organization).

If yes, what is the name of the organization? No acronyms, please.
If yes, what contact have you had with the organization already, if any?
If yes, how will your group function independently on campus?
If yes, please provide a signed external affiliation letter signed by the founder and a representative from the external organization. You must use the provided template.

(9) Collaboration with External Organization

Will the student group be working with an external organization in a different capacity? eg. organizing events in partnership or in support of a particular organization; recruiting or supplying volunteers on an ongoing basis, etc.

If yes, please describe.
If yes, how will your group function independently on campus?

Recruiting Prospective Members

Proposals are partially assessed based on a founder's ability to get ten (10) prospective-member signatures. For most people, this can be a daunting task. You're probably asking yourself, how do I get members if I'm not even a group yet?

Student Group Services provides the option for new groups to participate in recruitment efforts like Clubs Fair - but this comes after the proposal stage; only offered after a proposal is approved. And until a group is fully recognized (completes the entire new group process) they won’t be able to officially host events, or show up on Rubric.

You will still need to recruit propsective members on your own, so what else can you do in the meantime to get members?

You CAN	You CANNOT
Recruit Your Friends - Chances are, you know some people with similar interests that might want to join your group. Invite your friends to add their names to your membership petition and see your group grow.	Create Social Media Accounts - Only registered student groups have the privilege of using the University of Alberta’s name on their social media accounts. If you would like to utilize social media to promote your group, you are not allowed to use “ualberta” in your account name and must clearly state in your bio that your group is currently unaffiliated with the University of Alberta.
Online Forum Posts - There are many online communities where you can find potential members. Places like Reddit or Discord are great to find folks you may not otherwise know.	Postering - Different buildings have different restrictions on postering, and in some cases, only registered student groups are allowed to poster on campus. Make sure you read up on postering procedures before putting anything up.
Spread the Word Organically - The folks within your network can help you find more potential members! See if your friends, classmates, or even members of another group are interested in helping you spread the word.	Host Events - If you are not a registered student group, you won’t be permitted to book classrooms and meeting rooms on campus, and you won’t have access to the event approval process and proper risk management assessments. You need to refrain from hosting events until you are a registered student group.

Membership Petition and Endorsement

Once you start building interest in your new group, you need to fill out the Membership Petition & Endorsement Form. This is where your prospective members will sign-off declaring their interest in joining the proposed group, should it establish.

All registered student groups must have at least 10 student members in order to register. Collecting a petition helps ensure there is sufficient interest on campus in a certain idea, and can assist the founding student in finding potential executives to help run the new group.

Starting a group requires a time and energy commitment, knowledge of student group operations and procedures, and leadership skills, and it is beneficial for founding members to have these qualities before beginning the new group proposal process

As such, founders must collect 2 endorsements to attest to their ability to start a new student group. These endorsements can come from other student group members, executives, professors, instructors, or any other University of Alberta community member. An endorsement can also be an indication that a community member believes that the founding student has the capacity to develop these skills during the new group formation process.

Please use our template for your petition to ensure we receive all necessary information.

Submission Assessment - Proposal Review

Student Group Services Staff will review the new group proposal during the month following the submission window. The processing times can vary depending on the time of the year and workload. Our staff will read through proposals and evaluate them based on both the basic eligibility requirements and the scoring sheet.

Proposals must score at least 20/30 points (16/26 if your group does not handle money) to be considered for approval. Details regarding the scoring breakdown can be found in the Proposal Scoring Sheet linked in the checklist above. If a proposal does not meet this score cutoff, the proposal will be denied.

As well, if a proposed group:

Is a duplication of an existing group or service or could be confused with one.
Does not have a complete membership petition and/or endorsement form
Does not demonstrate a contribution to or value for the University of Alberta campus or the greater Edmonton community beyond its individual members
Does not meet the requirements of the external affiliation letter.
Was completed by an individual with incomplete training.
Recieves an auto-fail in any applicable scoring sheet categories.

The proposal will be denied. In either cases of denial, and the group will have the chance to resubmit with edits and more details to meet the minimum requirements. Groups will generally be given one week to make requested modifications to stay in the new group process.

Passing Proposals

If the proposal passes the initial (or resubmitted) evaluation, it will then move onto consultation. Groups will be required to book a consultation meeting between the founding student within the following two months after proposals close.

During this meeting, SGS staff will go over the proposal with the group and clarify their final score, and provide resources and recommendations to help them succeed in perceived areas for improvement. SGS staff will explain the necessary next steps that a group needs to complete to become fully registered.

If your new group proposal is approved by the end of the consultation meeting, SGS will unlock the “Student Group Initial Registration Form” on your group’s Rubric page. If you do not have a consultation meeting within this time period and don’t get in touch with us, we will consider your new group abandoned and deny the proposal.

Disclaimer

New group proposals must be submitted on time. Requests for extensions are rarely granted and will only be considered in extenuating circumstances. To avoid setbacks, we highly recommend that you plan ahead, stay on schedule, and communicate promptly if unforeseen circumstances occur.

Approval of a new group proposal does not mean that the group has been officially recognized. To become a fully registered student group, you will need to submit your first registration and complete Group Leader Orientation (GLO) and Event Organizer Training (EOT) Please note that until these three components are complete, you are restricted from submitting events and do not yet have access to student group privileges such as tabling at Clubs Fair or applying for grants, unless otherwise communicated.