Have an idea for a new club?
Student associations form the backbone of student life at Concordia, hosting a wide range of social events, speakers, competitions, activities, and other projects throughout the year. CSU clubs afford students an excellent opportunity to get involved and take a direct role in student life on campus. If you can’t find a group that you’re interested in joining, then perhaps you’d like to start your own club!
The first step is to ensure that there isn’t already a club or association on campus with a similar mandate or focus. The CSU will not approve new clubs whose mandates overlap with those of existing clubs, and it is the student’s responsibility to confirm that their proposed club is unique by consulting the Active Clubs list on the CSU’s website. If you do not find any clubs that overlap with your proposed club, you may still want to contact the Clubs Administrators at clubs@csu.qc.ca to confirm that your proposed club has a unique mandate.
Next, you can move on to complete the new club application, which will require the submission of several documents:
- Petition: To start a club, you need to collect 50 signatures from undergraduate students on a petition supporting the creation of your proposed club. This demonstrates that there are enough students who are interested in seeing a club like yours be made. Students can be assured that this is by no means a registration or membership to the club, unless they would like to join your Executive Team. A petition will be created automatically once you start your application through the CSU Portal and will include a shareable link to make it easier to collect your signatures.
- Cover Letter: This acts as the proposal for your new club. The cover letter is the main document used by the Clubs Committee to decide whether or not your club should be approved, so make sure that it accurately reflects your vision for the club. Make sure that your cover letter clearly explains the goals and mandate of your club, how you differ from other clubs on campus, how your club would contribute to the Concordia community, and why you feel your group should be granted club status. If you need a hand getting started, you can refer to the cover letter template found here.
- Constitution: Every club requires a constitution which is the foundational document that governs its mandate and procedures. When drafting your club’s constitution, it’s very important to consider not only the immediate needs of the club, but future ones as well, particularly when determining the composition of your club’s Executive Committee. It is also important to ensure that your constitution adheres to the requirements of the CSU’s Policy on Clubs; to this end, we strongly recommend that you use the template club constitution prepared by the Clubs Department as a starting point.
- Affiliation Letter: If your new club is a campus chapter of or otherwise affiliated with an external organization (like a political party or a charity foundation), you will be required to submit a letter from the organization. This letter must confirm that the organization recognizes your club and explain how your club will be connected to and supported by the organization (e.g., Will they provide you with funding? Are you required to provide them with your membership list? Do they require any specific provisions in your club’s constitution?).
Once all the necessary documents are ready, you will upload them through the Clubs Portal for assessment. Your application will first be assessed by a member of the Clubs Department. At this stage, you may be asked to make corrections or changes to your proposal before it is brought to the Clubs and Space Committee, a standing committee of the CSU’s Council of Representatives for consideration.
You will receive an invitation from the Internal Affairs Coordinator (who chairs the Clubs and Space Committee) to attend the meeting at which your club’s proposal is to be considered. You are not required to attend this meeting. If you do, you will have up to ten minutes to present your proposed club to the committee.
After hearing your presentation and discussing your proposed club, the Clubs and Space Committee will render one of three decisions:
- Approval: If the committee thinks that your proposed club will make a positive contribution to the student body, it will be granted official club status. Congratulations!
- Request for Modifications or More Information: If the committee is unsure of whether or not to approve your club after reviewing your proposal or believes that only minor modifications are required before they can approve it, they may request that you provide more information or make modifications to elements of your proposal. Your proposal will be taken up again by the committee once you have answered their questions or made the necessary modifications.
- Rejection: If the committee determines that your proposed club’s mandate overlaps too closely with that of an existing CSU club or is too narrow, that your proposed club violates CSU regulations (particularly the Policy on Clubs), or is otherwise unsustainable, it will not be granted club status. You will be informed of the reasons for the rejection and may use these to further develop your original proposal to re-apply. Please note that if your proposed club is rejected, you cannot re-submit an application until the semester following the rejection (not counting the summer semester).
Ready to get started? Start your new club proposal here.
Have any questions? Contact us at clubs@csu.qc.ca.