We are starting to get more questions surrounding clubs and associations. Being a member or holding a leadership position in a club or association is something we commonly see in the application. We also occasionally see applicants list that they have founded a club or association. Therefore, I think it’s appropriate to give everyone some guidelines.
- If you are listing involvement in a club or association in your top 10 it should be something we can verify not only with the verifier but ideally with another source. Campus clubs and associations should be officially recognized by the university or the student union. For example, at the University of Calgary we can find this information at this website: https://www.su.ucalgary.ca/programs-services/students-union-clubs/start-club/ or for the University of Alberta here: https://www.su.ualberta.ca/services/studentgroups/registration/newgroup/
These types of policies are commonplace at major academic institutions around the country. We will be checking on whether these affiliations exist. Similarly, when listing leadership positions within clubs or associations it’s ideal if there is a documented organization chart. Whenever possible, verifiers should be faculty advisors to the club . In the absence of this, then it should be the highest ranking official. In line with section 4.7 of the applicant manual, our preference is that verifiers also have a professional email address.
2. If the club or association is not a campus related one, ideally it should have some sort of presence on the internet that is searchable. whether it be a web page, twitter account, or the like.
3. In general, we don’t recommend using club members as referees.
