How to be a Successful Student Club or Student Organization on Campus

Being part of a student club in college can be a very memorable and rewarding experience, but it can also be a frustrating one. You want your club to be successful, you want lots of members, you want to do great things; but, you’re not sure how to recruit new members, your meetings are disorganized, and you can’t seem to accomplish anything.

I’ve been involved in lots of clubs, and I’ve even led some of them. I’ve been part of some really successful clubs, and I’ve learned what works. I’ve also learned what doesn’t work by making mistakes.

CLUB PITFALLS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM 

Here are some pitfalls many clubs fall into and how to avoid them:

Pitfall: Assuming your club is too small to do great things.

Small clubs can spend (and usually waste) a lot of time trying to figure out recruitment strategies. When you focus too much on recruitment, you don’t accomplish much of anything else. Your club has a purpose and that purpose is not to acquire more members than any other club on campus.

How to Avoid It: Value your current and active members.

Use your current and active members’ talents. Even if you have as many members as you can count on one hand, each person has special abilities and knowledge. Get to know your members well and find out what they bring to the table. Do you have a graphic designer in the group? Does one of your members know a lot about business? There are plenty of great things your club can do that don’t require a small army. Generate event ideas for your current members. If you want to plan an event that requires a lot of hands, team up with other student organizations. The Web Developer Club I’ve been a member of at MPTC has teamed up with the Graphics Club in the past so we could go to a convention in Chicago.

Pitfall: Spending lots of time planning but nothing gets done.

It’s really easy to spend an hour discussing an idea and tabling it for the next meeting to discuss further. It’s also really easy to accomplish nothing this way. Oftentimes no clear decisions are made. Nobody knows who is supposed to do what and when it’s supposed to get done.

How to Avoid It: Create tasks, set deadlines, and ask for volunteers.

First, vote on decisions so everyone is in agreement and on the same page. Break down the idea into smaller, specific tasks and attach deadlines to them. It’s very important to have these in your meeting minutes. Ask for volunteers to complete the tasks. If nobody volunteers, ask a member you feel would do a good job with the task based on his or her talents or background. Divide the tasks evenly. 

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL STUDENT CLUB

Now you know what not to do, here are some recommendations that will help your club to be a success:

Create a club identity.

Design a logo, come up with a motto, and put them on shirts. It will make members feel like they belong (and you’ll be advertising your club). I’ve seen students walk down the hall wearing something really cool or really funny and thought, hey, I’d like one of those shirts. It may even spark conversations with non-members.

Write a club mission statement.

Make your club mission statement clear enough for outsiders to understand. Determine the purpose of your club (educational, recreational, hobby, etc.) For example, the Web Developer Club has chosen the purpose of our club to be an educational, peer-taught club. We take turns each meeting presenting information we have learned outside of class. I know a lot about art, so I gave a presentation about what makes websites aesthetically pleasing.

Communicate clearly.

Explain when, where, for how long, and if people need to bring anything to a meeting or event. It seems obvious to share this information with others, but communication is a big problem in many organizations. Distribute your agenda and meeting minutes to everyone.

Designate someone to be in charge of paperwork.

Most colleges require student clubs to fill out paperwork in order to be recognized as a club. In some cases paperwork needs to be filled out at the beginning and the end of the academic year in order to receive a stipend for your club’s account. I’m not sure how they do it in other clubs, but as the secretary of the Web Developer Club, I was in charge of making sure we had all the forms we needed, that we met the requirements, and turned them in by the deadlines. Talk to your student life advisor to make sure you have everything you need.

Take advantage of field trips and conferences.

For some potential members, the notion of going to new places and doing things outside campus is enticing. I’m all grown up, but I still get excited about field trips. If your club is part of a larger regional or national organization, find out if there are conferences you can attend as a group.

Don’t forget to mix it up.

If you’re an academic-based organization, make sure you include one or two purely social activities during the year. In both the Web Club and Student Senate, we’ve gone out to a restaurant for lunch or dinner. You could have a bowling night, see a movie, go to a sports game, or do something else members like to do.

BONUS TIP: Recruitment

As I said before, don’t spend so much time recruiting that you forget your purpose as a student organization. If you follow the suggestions above, you should be drawing people into your club (as well as retaining members) naturally. But since this is something every struggling club is interested in (I’m not going to lie, I’ve Googled the topic in the past), I do have a few tips I’ve picked up on from experience:

• Ask your club advisor and class instructors to promote your club. Our Web Club advisor has done an excellent job promoting our club to other students. He makes an announcement at the beginning of each semester to his classes to let them know what we do, when and where we meet, and the benefits of joining our club. It’s a two-minute spiel and it has gotten us the exposure we needed to reach people who are most likely to be interested in joining our club.
• Be visible on campus. If other students see you doing awesome things and getting involved on campus, you'll attract attention and possibly new members. Go to Student Senate meetings. At MPTC, each club is required to send a representative to these meetings. You’ll get to share what your group is planning, and then other students at the meeting might be interested in attending your upcoming event.
• Explain specific benefits. Why would someone want to join your club? What’s in it for them? You should ask yourself these questions before speaking with perspective members. Most, if not all, clubs are great for networking and resume building. One thing that I think makes the Web Club appealing is that it is peer-led education. Members are not required to do anything more than come to the meetings and listen to other members. When I talk to someone who’s interested in our club, I explain to them it’s like taking an academic class for free.

If you have any suggestions for turning a student club or organization into a successful one, please share them in the comments!

The End is the Beginning

Week in Review: A Reflection of May 13 – 19

There were a lot of “lasts” this past week. I had my last class and my last Web Developer Club meeting. The club has some exciting news. It looks like we will be having a prominent individual in the mobile application development industry as a speaker on campus. I’m not sure if it’ll be in the fall, but definitely keep an eye out for this opportunity if you’re in that field.

As secretary of the club, I was in charge of getting our paperwork together. Clubs have validation forms to fill out at the end of the academic year to confirm that we are an active club. We listed the activities we were involved with on campus, our community service projects, any fundraising activities we did, and any field trips we attended.

After the meeting many of us went out to dinner at a local pizza place. I called ahead for tables to be reserved so we had enough space for everybody to sit together. A couple of us were graduating, so it was going to probably be the last time we were all together; although, some are coming back to complete other programs. Speaking of future plans, my original plan was to be finished with my education this semester; however, I came across something on Moraine Park’s website.

I was given the opportunity to film and edit my own videos for a few classes and for this blog. By doing so, I have found out that I really enjoy video editing, and I would like to pursue it further. I know the basics of creating videos, but I don’t know about lighting or sound mixing. I would really like to learn from a professional and make high quality videos.

So, while I was on MPTC’s website, I found that the college has a new Audio-Video Certificate program. This is great news because this certificate means I can learn exactly what I want to learn in a short amount of time. But first I need to see whether it is plausible for me to pursue this certificate right away or to wait a semester or two. I’ve been going on interviews lately and I think one of them will pan out soon. My last interview went very well. If I can fit them into my schedule, I will start those classes this fall.

No matter what the future brings, I know that I’m a life-long learner. Whether I earn another degree, take a few enrichment classes, attend seminars or conferences, learn on my own, or learn from others, my life and my future will always include some form of education. You are never truly done learning. The end is just the beginning.

The Web Developer Club’s Plans for This Semester

The Web Developer Club finally had its first meeting of the semester this past week. We meet the third Thursday of every month when school is in session. Since the semester started the fourth week of January, we didn’t have one last month.

As a student club, we do at least one service project each year like toy drives or blood drives or anything that makes a positive impact on others in the community. We’ve narrowed down our community service project options to three choices. Some of the members are going to get more details on each of them, and we’ll be voting during our next meeting

Next month we will most likely be visiting a business in the West Bend area for a tour. This is a great way to learn how businesses in our field function and to meet professionals. All the club members that went on the tour to SparkNET last year really enjoyed the experience.

In the future, maybe even this semester, we’d like to bring in a guest speaker to talk about mobile application development. Since it’s such an important topic in the technology field right now, we want to open it up to the entire campus, not just the club members.

What is the A.R.T.S. Club at MPTC?

My meeting was canceled; so since I was already on campus, I decided to check out this new club. A.R.T.S stands for Adults Returning to School. Along with meeting new people, I also met the Vice President of Student Affairs who stopped by to speak with us.

The club members introduced themselves to me. I heard a little bit about their bake sale fundraiser and their plans to decorate trees on the West Bend campus. They’re trying to come up with a community service project to undertake, hopefully before the end of the semester.

Everybody had the chance to talk about what was going well and what wasn’t going well. It’s good to know that others are having similar difficulties you’re having so you don’t feel alone.

Something great about the club is that you can still be part of it if you aren’t able to come to the meetings. There is an online portal you can have access to if you ask for it. It is the same system we use for our online and blended classes. There is supposed to be lots of resources and a place for online discussion.

The A.R.T.S. club meets approximately every other Wednesday on the West Bend campus in the afternoon. Look for flyers around campus or contact Kathy VanDemark for more information.

We May Need a Bigger Room

We may need to move to a bigger room next month. We had nearly 20 people show up to our first meeting of the Web Developer Club this semester. Just about everybody from last semester was there along with quite a few new people. I think the diversity of our members’ skills, experiences, and knowledge this year will allow for a very educational experience for everyone.

I was reelected for another year as the secretary of the Web Developer Club. As the secretary, it is my job to record meeting minutes.  I keep track of attendance at the meetings. I also like to send out an e-mail reminder to members two days before we meet each month. We elected a president, vice-president, treasurer, and a club representative during the meeting. A “club rep” is responsible for going to the Student Senate meetings and reporting to the senate what the club is doing. If we need additional funds, they fill out a form and request the funds during the senate meeting.

We had a lot of business-related things to discuss during the first meeting. We started off introducing ourselves, and the returning members shared stories about what the club has done in the past. There was some paperwork to fill out that we needed to send to the student life advisor so we are recognized as a campus club.

Spring 2012 New Student Orientation

Tuesday was the new student orientation of the spring 2012 semester at Moraine Park’s West Bend campus. Four other club members and I came to represent the Web Developer Club. It was nice to see them again after nearly a month being apart. We talked to new students about the benefits of being in a club, and we had some people who are interested in joining our club.

The poster I made listed some of the benefits of joining the Web Developer Club. What all clubs have in common is that they are a place to network with people and make friends. Our club emphasizes learning about web-related topics that may not be covered in class. We’ve had the opportunity to learn from professional guest speakers who are in the field and know what it’s like to work with clients. They were able to give us a few tips before we begin our internship hours. The club is a good place to get leads on those internships or possible jobs. If you’re a student and haven’t looked into joining a club associated with your program yet, you should take a look: http://www.morainepark.edu/services/student-life/student-clubs/

To all those beginning their academic adventure at Moraine Park Technical College this spring I would like to say welcome, good luck, and enjoy every moment because it’ll be graduation time before you know it!

Plenty of Activities at Moraine Park Technical College

Our West Bend Student Senate meeting was held outside this week because the weather was so nice. We sat just outside the cafeteria at the tables. MPTC President Dr. Shelia Ruhland joined us as well.

We discussed a lot of topics at this meeting. Representatives from clubs shared what they are planning. The Graphics Club will be doing a poster sale, which I believe they did last year, outside the library. Business Professionals of America are having a brat fry, and the Chiropractic Club is going to be fundraising by selling candy bars. I like hearing what other clubs are doing this semester. It may give me ideas for my own club’s events.

The week of November 7 is Club Week at the West Bend campus. Students can check out clubs they may be interested in. I hope to represent the Web Developer Club that week. Keep your eye on the events calendar for more information.

October 10 – 22 is the First Annual United Way – Moraine Park Technical College Disc Golf Tournament at the new disc golf course also at the West Bend campus. Money from the event is going to United Way and there will be door prizes. I’ve never played disc golf before. I’m not even sure what it is, but it sounds like fun. Now is the time to use the golf course before it’s covered in snow.

Student Senate is the place you want to be if you want to know what’s happening on campus. It also a place where you can share ideas, get in contact with administration, and have a voice as a representative of the student body. I haven’t been a part of planning any events yet, but I hope to sometime soon. If you have any event suggestions, please share. What would you like to see at MPTC?