If you are interested in creating your own student group — be it a new Reading Group or Club, an intramural sports team, or something else entirely — the GEA would love to help! We’ve put together the following list of steps to help you on your way, and you can also contact the GEA President or another member of the Executive if you would like to discuss your plans.

1. Check if your group already exists.

The University has over 900 recognized student groups across the three campuses, from “A Moment of Science, Please” to “Zero Waste UTM,” so there’s a decent chance that there’s already a club or organization that’s pretty close to what you have in mind. If so, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it too (or do it a bit differently), but you do have the option of joining an existing group instead of starting your own.

2. Decide on your scope and level of formality.

Do you want your group to be open to the whole student body or just English grad students? Are you picturing regularly scheduled and planned meetings, or more of an ad-hoc structure? These questions will inform the processes for establishing your group.

For example, if you plan on running a campus-wide group or organizing large events, you’ll probably want to apply for official recognition. Recognition by the University of Toronto affords groups a number of useful privileges, including the right to use the University’s name in conjunction with your activities, use of University facilities and meeting spaces at reduced or no cost, access to group email accounts, and listings in the Student Organization Portal and event directories. However, recognition requires that your group have a constitution, elected leadership, annual general meetings, and more.

If you plan to keep things pretty low-key and stay within the Department, then there’s probably no need for official recognition. Establishing your group could be as simple as setting up a group chat or Discord, and the GEA can help with promotion and logistics if desired.

3. Recruit your first members.

To get your group off the ground, you’ll want to know for sure that at least a few other people are on board. Tell your friends, classmates, or members of your cohort about your plans and ask if they would be interested in participating (or even helping to found and organize the group; sharing the workload is always good). Having a handful of members from the outset will help kickstart your group — plus, then they can tell their friends and peers about it.

4. Go for it!

Time to launch the group for real! You can post about it on the GEA’s listserv and social media (or share it more widely if applicable) and start planning meetings or events. Make sure to let people know who they should contact if they’re interested in joining or participating.

Depending on your plans, the GEA may be able to provide logistical or (limited) financial support. Contact the President or Treasurer with the details of your group/event and what kind of assistance you’re looking for and we’ll do our best to help.