SGS Wrapped 2025
Published December 23, 2025
And with that, the 2025 season comes to an end! Student Group Services had a busy year, and we’re so excited to share all of our updates with you. So grab a mug of hot cocoa or masala chai, get cozy, and read on for an overview of everything the SGS team (and our collaborators) have done over the past 12 months.
New and Returning Groups Rejoice: Clubs are Flourishing!
Over the course of the 2025 year, we received 170 new group applications, and 69 were approved. Wondering how that stacks up compared to 2024? Well, in 2024, we had 81 submissions come through, and 36 of them were approved. It’s clear that students are looking for new and innovative ways to get involved, and we’re excited to see how 2025’s new groups grow in 2026!
At the end of 2025, we’re going strong with 427 clubs currently affiliated on Rubric, and a total of 3302 students are serving as executives. There are an additional 66 groups that aren’t affiliated in the system right now due to missed registration deadlines, and 34 new groups that are working towards registering, but SGS is working hard to get in touch with them to bring everyone onto the new platform and get groups (back) up and running. What’s that add up to? 527 total groups in the system!
Wondering what all of those groups got up to? Well, 1533 events were hosted on Rubric in 2025. That breaks down to about 56 events per week from when we started using the platform! 63 groups stopped by for drop-in advising, 108 booked with us in advance, and we received over 4000 emails and helped over 1500 different people who reached out to clubs@uasu.ca. 94 groups joined us for Winter Clubs Fair 2025, and 222 participated in Fall Clubs Fair 2025.
Clubs Fair Facelift
Remember the lineups for check in at Clubs Fair? Well, in 2025, we worked on cutting down on standing around to give you more time to chat up potential members. SGS rolled out a self check-in process during Winter Clubs Fair 2025 and brought it to Fall Clubs Fair 2025 as well, giving groups the opportunity to set up at their tables as soon as they arrived instead of waiting to check in at our table. Groups still had to come by to pick up tabling materials such as lanyards and their Perks QR codes, but the whole process was quicker than previous years.
In Winter 2026, we’ll be upping our game even more to eliminate the need for your group to come to us at all. Staff will come bring you everything you need to table, remind you of the rules, and even help with setup if you’re missing tape or scissors! It’s like ordering delivery on a busy night of studying! Plus, Winter Clubs Fair 2026 will be hosted in University Commons, so even more groups can table with us this year.
New Platforms and Processes
In May 2025, SGS announced that we would finally be leaving BearsDen behind and moving to a new home for student groups: Rubric! Over the course of the summer, 30 student groups helped us test out new features and processes on the platform, and we officially launched Rubric in June for new group applications to be submitted. Previously recognized groups were welcomed onto the platform in July. As of August 2025, we also moved the Group Leader Orientation modules from eClass to Canvas, and we already have over 560 executives enrolled! Our most popular Skills course? Conflict Management & Resolution.
With the shift from BearsDen to Rubric, SGS has been working hard on fine tuning our administrative processes to make sure that we’re taking full advantage of the tools available to us via Rubric. Groups can sell memberships that have different features and expiries, run their elections, send communications to members, and much more. SGS is taking advantage of new features such as a document generator to give your group official documents for registration approvals, which you can share with other offices and organizations as proof of your group’s recognition for the year.
One of the biggest changes that Rubric has given us is the ability to set groups’ affiliation to automatically expire if their registration isn’t approved by their deadline. This has freed up capacity in our department to add new administrative steps in, like giving groups verification letters as part of registration. We are also working on moving our bi-weekly newsletter over to Rubric, which will let us send it out to all student group executives so you never miss an important update. We’re always looking for new ways to make registration and group operations easier for groups, so keep an eye out for new improvements in the new year!
Get Some Change to Make a Change
2025 saw some significant changes for the Student Group Granting Program, which hands out over $100,000 to UASU-recognized student groups each year! The application window for round 1, which was open for applications in May, was extended by a month to give more groups the chance to apply for funding for their Fall events. 134 different groups applied for grants in round 1 and 2, and 47 of those successfully received funding in round 1; round 2 grants are still being finalized so keep an eye on your inbox if you applied in September!
As of May 2025, the UASU’s Finance Committee Standing Orders were updated to place some restrictions on which groups could apply for funding. Ineligible groups previously included groups not registered with the UASU and groups in bad standing as defined by Student Group Services, but this was expanded to include Student Representative Associations receiving a Student Representative Association Membership Fee and entities receiving a Dedicated Fee Unit. This was done to help more diverse groups access funding. So if your group doesn’t reliably get funding from a fee, you’ve got a better chance to score some cash from the granting program now!
A Home For All Our Resources
In early 2025 we started updating our resources and moving them onto Docs.SU, the University of Alberta Students’ Union’s online repository for bylaws, help articles, and much more. We’ve created sections to go over all of the details on student group recognition and registration, walkthroughs for navigating Rubric, an overview of the handbooks and templates that live in our resource drive, and, our pride and joy, the Student Group Resource Hub.
The Resource Hub is a running list of all resources available to registered student groups, based on registration level. There are so many resources available on campus, and it can be challenging to remember who offers them, and how many are offered! Our hope is that this list can help introduce your group to all the perks, supports and resources available to you, and help clarify how to access them.
Right now, we’re working on a terminology list to help you better understand all the terms and concepts that apply to student groups. We’re also developing more Rubric walkthroughs, both in text and video form, to help you get the most out of your group’s Rubric account.
It’s All About Space
In September 2025, we officially launched the Student Group Flex Spaces in lower level SUB. This space contains a lounge as well as a variety of different meeting rooms. If you are having small gatherings of 4 to 10 people, you can book a Student Group Flex Space meeting room. Some common uses of the space include meetings, interviews or student group related work functions.
In October 2025, we also released a convenient resource to help you find your next tabling location! You can find table booking forms and location details for North Campus, South Campus, Campus Saint-Jean, and Augustana Campus by checking out the Resource Hub. We're always working on creating and updating more resources, such as our postering sheet, to help you figure out how to make the most of physical space on campus!
No More Constitution Confusion
Ever wondered how your group’s founders made your constitution? Well, as of Fall 2025, new groups are receiving extra support from SGS in the form of a constitution template and an easy to use Google Form to put it all together. So far, founding students have said it’s made their lives easier so they don’t need to worry about navigating the complexities of governing documents on their own!
Has your group been operating for a while? Hoping to update your constitution? We now have an information update request form on Rubric that lets you submit your constitution amendments to SGS for review! Over the past few years, we’ve pushed pause on annual constitution review for groups, and we know it’s been tough to ensure your group’s constitution is in compliance with SGS requirements. We’re ready to take a look and provide you with feedback! Keep an eye out for requests from staff to take a closer look at your constitution to make sure it’s serving your group and reflects the reality of your operations, all while sticking to the rules.
SGS: Your One-Stop-Shop for Everything
For years, SGS has been your go-to support for everything student group related, EXCEPT for event approvals. Our colleagues in Student Success and Experience, previously known as the Dean of Students Office, currently handle reviewing your event submissions and giving you all the feedback you need to run successful and safe events. Starting in January 2026, though, SGS will be taking over event approvals in UASU-managed spaces like SUB, Room at the Top, and Dewey’s. We can’t wait to get a closer look at your operations from this angle and work on ways to make the event planning process even easier for student groups!