What You Need to Know About Starting a Club on Campus

By Brittany Loeffler on November 21, 2018

One of the best experiences you can gain in college is starting a club on campus. Getting involved in extracurricular activities will change the way you learn, make friends, and your entire college experience. However, it can be difficult to get involved in a club if there isn’t one around that matches your interests.

Rather than not joining a club at all, this is a great opportunity to start a club! Chances are high that there are other people who share the same interest and would like to join a club related to that interest. There are a few things you should know about starting a club on campus before you jump in.

starting a club

via Pixabay

Starting a Club

Starting a club on campus is a great way to leave your mark on your school. However, coming up with an idea for a new club may be challenging. The first thing you should do is look through your college’s current clubs to make sure your idea doesn’t already exist and to draw inspiration for your new club. Next, choose something that you and other people are passionate about. It’s also important to think about how you want your meetings to run, what your club will do, and how your club will impact the school and its members. Once you figure out the bare bones of your club, you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Get People Involved

In order to start a club, you need people to be interested in joining. Talk to your friends and other people you know who are interested in your club’s subject matter. Put up flyers or a post on social media gauging how many people would be interested in joining your club. This may be the hardest part of starting a club, especially if you have to reach out to people outside of your current network. However, when you start getting others involved in your club, you’ll feel accomplished and excited about starting a club.

Find a Sponsor

Many colleges require staff members to oversee clubs on campus to make sure they follow school policy and help in any way that they can. So, when starting a club you should have a professor who you would like to work with in mind. This can be a professor you have currently, a past professor, or one you know through a friend. You will get the most out of your staff sponsor if they are interested in your club’s subject matter because they will be more involved with the club.

Look into School Policy

As you sit on the idea of starting a club and have talked to a few people who are interested in joining, it’s time to look into your school’s policy. Every school has a different policy for starting a club, but it typically involves getting a certain number of people to sign up for your club, structuring your club, and pitching it to the extracurricular team at your school. This process can be intimidating, especially if this is your first time starting a club, but don’t give up. If other people have been able to start a club, then you can too!

starting a club

via Pixabay

Establish Your Club

You will need to structure your club and write a constitution to present to your school as part of your school’s policy. This constitution, or bylaws, will include what your club is about, what members do in your club, and how it runs. This is the one document that shows what your club stands for.

Along with writing the constitution, you will also give members titles such as Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc. These are your board members who take care of the back-end responsibilities and help run the club smoothly. Once all of this is done, your club has been established!

Learn Responsibility and Leadership

Starting a club means taking on a lot of responsibility and leadership roles. Not only do you have to worry about your schoolwork, but now you are responsible for keeping your club afloat.  This may require meetings with your school’s student government and training sessions about starting a club. It’s a large commitment.

You’ll also learn plenty of leadership skills. As the founder of your club, you are seen as the leader who makes everything run smoothly. These skills will follow you throughout your career and life in general. It’s important to take a moment and recognize what it means to be a good leader and how you should achieve it.

Go Start Your Club

Now that you know what you can expect when starting a club, what are you waiting for? Once you think of that great idea, get people interested, and follow your school’s policy, you will have successfully started a club on campus!

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