GESA is de facto associated with the University of Virginia’s Graduate Student Council of Arts and Sciences.
In the fall of 1997, the GESA officers voted to become affiliated with the Graduate Student Caucus of the Modern Language Association, a group within the MLA that looks out for the interests of the graduate student
members, who make up about 1/3 of total membership of the MLA but are under-represented on its controlling bodies.
As of fall 2005, GESA is also a recognized Contracted Independent Organization (CIO) at the University of Virginia.
Although this organization has members who are University of Virginia students and may have University employees associated or engaged in its activities and affairs, the organization is not a part of or an agency of the University. It is a separate and independent organization which is responsible for and manages its own activities and affairs. The University does not direct, supervise or control the organization and is not responsible for the organization’s contracts, acts or omissions.