Use This Document If You Are

HOW TO FORM A NEW CLUB- Academic Year ’17-18 Student Involvement & Leadership Development McCarthy Center Room 510  (phone) 508-626-4615  (fax) 508-626-4939  [email protected]

Use this document if you are:

 Starting the process to create a new club at FSU.

 Re-registering or reactivating a previously existing club that did not hold their annual elections last spring.

The last day to submit a completed Intent to Register Form for the 2017-2018 academic year is: Friday, January 26, 2018.

 All requirements below, including general interest meetings, SGA constitution approvals and training need to be complete by Friday, March 2, 2018.

1. Meet with a SILD staff member to review the process, timeline, and policies related to forming a new club. (This should happen before the Intent Form is submitted.)

2. File an Intent to Register Form to officially begin the process and timeline. o The Intent to Register form collects the names of four (4) students that are taking the lead to form the club. They will be considered Founding Officers. It also collects the name of a full-time faculty or staff member that is interested in serving as an advisor. . At least two of the four (4) Founding Officers must be non-senior standing students. . Once the form is submitted, SILD will verify both academic and social standing. Students must meet the eligibility requirements for club officers to file an intent form. o Once you submit the Intent Form, you are considered a Proposed Club and are bound to the guidelines and regulations for Proposed Clubs.

3. Hold a general interest meeting (advertised for at least one week.) o SILD will assist in booking space on campus for this meeting. o Turn in Member List from general interest meeting. o At this meeting, the Founding Officers should discuss the mission and purpose of the proposed club, what club meetings or events might look like, and how members can participate and engage with the club and campus. Founding Officers want to gauge if there is enough interest for the club to proceed.

1 4. Once your initial SILD meeting and Intent to Register Form are completed in SILD (and while you are advertising/hosting your general interest meeting), you may start the Constitution process with SGA’s Constitution Committee. o SILD will confirm with SGA that you have a general interest date secured to acknowledge they can start working with new clubs on constitutional items. o SGA’s guidelines dictate the process and timeline for submitting constitutions for review and approval through committee and Senate.

5. Once your club constitution is approved, schedule a meeting to complete Club Officer Training with a SILD representative. All Founding Officers should plan on attending. o Once you complete training, you will be registered as a Provisional Club. o Provisional Clubs will not be eligible to submit funding requests or hold events until this training is complete.

6. At the close of the academic year, all Provisional Clubs will be considered for full registration and recognition upon successful completion of the Election Verification procedures to transition to the next academic year. o Provisional Clubs must adhere to all registered club guidelines, including submission of April election results. Provisional Clubs may not hold an election prior to the spring semester and/or submit election information until the April election season. (Specifically, as a Provisional Club, there will be no named officers until the new academic year begins- the 4 students listed on the Intent to Register Form will be recognized as the provisional leadership/Founding Officers of the club for its first year.)

Additional Information:  Provisional clubs will receive a club e-mail account, RamLink/Engage page (formerly CollegiateLink), and Founding Officer access to Club Room II following the completion of Club Officer Training. o Email credentials will give access to the room reservation system, 25Live. o Proposed clubs who have not completed the process are not permitted to book their own room reservations. Until provisional status is achieved, SILD will book space on proposed clubs behalf. o Provisional clubs will have accounts set up if they request funding on their RamLink/Engage page to track expenses, however official University accounts will not be created until they successfully complete their provisional year. . Funds allocated through SGA will be managed out of SGA’s unallocated account for provisional years.  Club Locker storage for Provisional Clubs will be offered for provisional years if space is available. The fine print…

2 From the Student Government Association’s Constitution Section 2. Activation of a new club A. Interested students must first file an Intent to Register Form with the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership Development. Students shall follow the timeline and deadlines as outlined by the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership Development. B.The founding officers shall attend a meeting of the SGA Constitution Committee to obtain the aid of a committee member in the drafting of the proposed club’s constitution. C.In order to receive SGA recognition, all clubs and organizations must: a. Comply with all federal, state, local, and University laws and regulations including Massachusetts laws concerning hazing and the signing of the hazing law acknowledgement. b. Include a clause in its Constitution stating amendments to its constitution, which must be submitted to SGA for approval. c. Annually elect an advisor, chosen from the University community. d. Annually elect officers by the general membership each April. e. During recruitment, club members must identify the club or organization, its purpose, and all affiliations. f. At no time will the club or organization be allowed to employ techniques of behavioral modification or coercion.

General terms and definitions: Proposed Club-groups who have filed an Intent to Register form and are working towards registration with SILD.

Provisional Club- Proposed clubs who have completed the steps necessary to register with the University and are recognized by SGA.

Exceptions The above process also applies to clubs who were registered in the previous academic year, but did not complete one or any of the following:  File an Election Verification in the fall semester with SILD;  Come forward during the fall registration period.

Those clubs which are not currently deactivated and do not register within the allotted fall timeline, must still comply with the Intent to Register process for New Clubs. This process will not be made available until the the Registration period has closed, usually the last school day in September.

3 The exception to the above outlined process lies within the election timeline. Due to the club having an active Constitution with SGA, it may, upon completion of an Intent to Register Form, general interest meeting and nominations, hold an election for club officers. The submission of an Election Verification Form Club Officer Information Form and training will, if filed successfully, end the Provisional status of the club.

Reactivation Reactivation is only necessary for those clubs which have been officially deactivated through the SGA deactivation process. These clubs are filed in SGA and are available for review.

To reactivate a club, the Intent to Register a New Club process must be completed with one exception: The Constitution of the reactivated club must be updated, revised, and approved through the SGA Constitution process. It is not necessary to create a new Constitution for the deactivated club; however, if the Founding Officers and/or the SGA Constitution Committee deem it necessary, a new Constitution may be proposed.