by Jessica Railey

Ever wanted to start a club but didn’t know how?

“No, I don’t know how to start a club,” said Meghan Brown, a sophomore at Buffalo State College. “I thought a faculty member had to initiate it.”

Hector Gil, assistant director of student life, spoke at a workshop held on March 18 on how to start a club. “It was interesting because the day of the event we had students wanting to start a club, so the information was very relevant,” Gil said.
There are two ways of starting a club or organization. Students can get a club recognized and registered by Student Life. Those seeking funding go through United Student Government (USG).

In order to be registered by Student Life, there are three steps students need to take:

• students must have a faculty adviser
• provide a constitution
• have an executive board with six members (including a president, vice president, etc.)

Once a registration form is submitted showing all three steps, the paperwork is usually processed in 48 hours. These forms can be found at the Student Life office (Campbell Student Union, Room 400).

“The privileges of being registered are tremendous because you have incredible responsibility,” Gil said. “Students have the opportunity to reserve campus space including any classroom, offices in the union, Rockwell Hall, and the smart room in the library (Butler Library, Room 210).”

The funding process through USG takes about 90 days to complete. In order for funding, students must fill out an application demonstrating:

• the number of student members
• a faculty adviser
• a constitution that meets the standards of the USG constitution

After this, the application is reviewed by the rules chair committee of the USG who determines if the organization is appropriate and matches the USG’s constitution and by-laws. The application moves to the USG senate for approval.

There is a question-and-answer period between USG and students wanting funding. “The questions, in general, are how the group will benefit students and what kinds of programs the organization will hold,” Gil said.
“We aimed the workshop for faculty interested in starting a club and interested in working with students,” Gil said. “And for students we aimed the workshop at starting an academic club and how to go about it.

“Mostly students attended the workshop, those who were interested in starting clubs and those that had already submitted all the proper forms and were waiting for their paperwork to move through the USG.”

Gil says there are always ideas coming to Student Life, including a water polo club.
“If I was going to start a club, it would have something to do with music, although I don’t know if I could specify exactly what we would do,” said Sam Haughton, a junior at Buffalo State.

Currently, 75 student organizations exist at Buffalo State and most were initiated by students.

“There is sometimes a faculty member guiding the process, but it’s mainly students,” Gil said.

Some recent clubs initiated are Students and Free Enterprise, Phi Alpha Honors Society, and the Recreation Innovators Organization (RIO).

RIO is the opposite of the Student Union Board. Where SUB brings in talent to the campus, RIO seeks out students with individual talents (such as art, singing, fashion) and gets them from campus out into the public to perform or exhibit their skill.

“My job is to make sure these organizations will be comfortable for students and that students have the opportunity to share their ideas with like-minded people,” Gil said.

Jessica Railey can be contacted at Railjl11@buffalostate.edu
Links: Student Life
List of registered clubs on campus