Student Group Platform Transition
Published: May 23, 2025
After many years of hard work and research into our options, we’re excited to announce that student group management will be moving from BearsDen to a new platform: Rubric! As of September 30, 2025, our contract with Anthology, the company that provides the BearsDen platform for student group management, will end. We will be transitioning over to Rubric over the summer.
Timeline
In order to manage this transition, we’ve got some key milestones and dates for groups to be aware of.
May 31, 2025 - Standard registration forms on BearsDen will close to new submissions.
June 1, 2025 - New group proposals will open on Rubric. More details will be available in the Student Group Resource Hub.
Early June, 2025 - Beta testing of forms and functions will happen.
June 30, 2025 - Resubmissions of standard registrations on BearsDen will no longer be reviewed after this date. Groups that have registrations in the queue will need to continue the registration process via Rubric.
July 2, 2025 - Hard launch of Rubric for all groups. Data will be transferred over based on information that has been submitted via registration forms.
Early August, 2025 - All groups’ information should be imported to Rubric by this point in preparation for fall membership recruitment. Training sessions will be held for groups to onboard them onto the platform.
Beta Testing
The decision to move to Rubric was made with student groups in mind, and we want to make sure it works for you. We’d love for you to gain hands-on experience and provide feedback for the platform by participating in beta testing. This will allow us to understand and develop the processes that will best suit the needs and operations of student groups on our campus.
During beta testing, we will be hosting in-person (and online) sessions in June for student group executives to try out the new platform with SGS staff. By participating in the beta-test, you will gain:
- Early access with the new platform to more easily transition your group later in the year
- The chance to select your own Fall Clubs Fair table
- SUBprint vouchers
- Free snacks and refreshments at in-person sessions
If you are interested, please fill out the application form below and SGS Staff will get in touch with you!
What does this mean for groups?
Groups that hold elections in January - April, according to their constitutions, will still need to register via BearsDen if they have not done so following their most recent elections. A registration form must be submitted by May 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM. If this is not completed in time, your student group will be frozen and you will not be able to access a registration form until we have transferred to the new platform. Groups that have already made submissions will still be reviewed and can resubmit until the end of June if their registration is denied.
Groups that hold elections in May and June, according to their constitutions, will need to complete a preliminary registration form via BearsDen to update their executive roster and profile information. The preliminary registration form must be submitted by June 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM. If this is not completed in time, your student group will be frozen and you will not be able to access a registration form until we have transferred to the new platform.
Groups that hold elections in July onwards, according to their constitutions, will complete registration via Rubric following standard timelines. All groups will be expected to shift to Rubric before the beginning of August.
You must not migrate your group over to Rubric independently. Student Group Services will manage moving basic group information such as the group name, president, treasurer (or equivalent), and organization email over to the new platform, at which point you will be expected to develop your group’s landing page, update executive roles, add members, etc.
What’s coming next?
Rubric will become our new home for all things student group involvement! Registrations, event approvals, and request forms will be done through the new platform. The general requirements will be the same as they were on BearsDen, but you will notice that forms and the interface of the platform are different. Training will be available to help you get comfortable with the new platform.
As groups adapt to the new platform, we will roll out additional features, resources, and expectations for groups. Further information, including the timeline for event submissions to move from BearsDen to Rubric, will be communicated to groups throughout the process.
We are very excited to offer this new opportunity for groups to engage with the campus community, and we look forward to seeing how your group utilizes the myriad of features and resources available via Rubric. In the meantime, keep an eye on the newsletter for further updates!