Have you checked our Clubs Directory to see if the club you have in mind already exists? If not, please check here.

After checking the Clubs Directory and any possibly-related club, if you feel like you want to start a new club anyways, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Check to see if any clubs in the Clubs Directory are closely related to the club you have in mind. When contacting them, make sure to check your junkmail folder. If your Club is too similar to another club’s purposes, goods, and/or services. We may use our discretion to decline your Club Recognition application because it is too similar.

Step 2: Please review the Student Club Operations Handbook available for public viewing. Get familiar with all of the information on there.

Step 3: Determine student interest and demand for the club. If you mention the idea to other students (classmates, friends, etc.) and nobody seems interested then you will have a harder time with launching your club idea off the ground.

Step 4: If you have found people interested in your club, ask if they would like to become a club member or club executive (if you would like extra help or trust them to help). You need to gather at least 7 undergraduate students who are UMSU paying members and 3 other members to be considered eligible to have a club recognized by UMSU. These 7 students can be a member and/or an executive of the club. UMSU requires at least 10 full names and 7 student numbers to check the validity of your club members before issuing recognition.

Please note that International College of Manitoba students and Graduate students are not considered UMSU members.

Step 5: If your club is not similar to other clubs, attempt to gather a team of motivated people to assign them club executive roles. Ensure you and this team of people are undergraduate students at the University of Manitoba. If you cannot find people then you can do it by yourself but be warned, it will be very difficult to accomplish tasks by yourself. It is recommended you have a few executives in your caucus (2 – 4+ people) to assist you in the management of the club. Depending on your needs and objectives of the club, you can determine how many people you need.

Step 6 (the very hard part): Now that you have determined your team of club executives and have a list of members (includes executives) – you need at least 7 UMSU members.

• At this step, think of a Club Acronym! Many club names tend to be long and having an easy shorthand name makes it better for referral in conversation especially while making a constitution.

You now must create an original Club Constitution for your club. Please review our Tutorial Package for creating Student Club Constitutions here. We have a constitution template that prospective clubs can use to make a club constitution. It is estimated to take 1 -2 hours based on this template but it depends on the needs of your club. A constitution acts like a sort of legal document and thus, clarity and thoroughness is absolutely essential. This document will set the direction of your club for months – years to come!

• At this step, once you have finished the Club Constitution, you will be able to have a description of your club to be put on the Club Directory!

Step 7: Create a Student Club Contact email for your club. DO NOT USE YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS. Why? You can cause MANY club transition issues as many club executives use their personal email address and sometimes does not update the contact with UMSU when new executives are appointed. As a result, a lot of lost communications occurs and if your club does not renew, it may lose its club recognition.

This club email address will be your main line of communications between your club and UMSU. Many clubs utilize Google Mail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, custom webmail addresses, etc. If your club has official recognition from the University of Manitoba (@umanitoba), you can use that email address as well… but be aware that if IST decides to remove that email address then we may not have an updated contact on file. As a result, a lot of lost communications occurs and if your club does not renew, it may lose its club recognition.

Step 8 (OPTIONAL): Create a website and/or social media pages for your club. Everyone is on social media! If you would like to have more students look at your club, have it on social media!

Step 9: You finally did it, you got all of the people and tasks completed! At this point, you have…

• [Required]
  • a list of club executives to help manage the a club.
  • a list of club members (includes executives).
  • a club constitution draft for review by UMSU.
  • a club email address.
  • a club acronym and club description for your Club Directory page.

• [Optional]
  • a website and/or social media pages.

Step 10: Submit the information and fill out the Club Recognition form at this page.

Step 11: Email Student Group Services that you have submitted the application because Microsoft Forms have glitched in the past. Then, wait for the Student Group Services to review your Club Recognition application.

Step 12: At this stage your application & constitution has been submitted for review. After you get confirmation that they are approved, your club must attend a Consent culture workshop hosted by Bringing in the Bystander or Justice for Women.

Their contacts will be available upon a pre-approval email from UMSU Student Group Services.

Step 13: Once everything is approved and you have been verified to have attended the consent culture workshop, then your club is now officially recognized by UMSU for the school year. Congratulations!!

Please remember that your club status expires every year and you have to renew every Summer!