CLUB STARTER GUIDE Contents STARTING A NEW STUDENT CLUB... 2 WHAT IS A STUDENT SUPPORT OFFICER?... 2 Student Support Officer Contacts... 3 WHY START A CLUB?... 3 WHO CAN AFFILIATE?... 3 WHY AFFILIATE?... 3 How to Affiliate... 4 Step 1... 4 Step 2... 5 Step 3... 6 EXECTUTIVE DUTIES... 6 President... 6 A Guide to Chairing Meetings... 6 Vice President... 7 Secretary... 7 Meetings... 8 Duties in the Meeting... 8 Membership List... 8 Treasurer... 8 Other... 8
STARTING A NEW STUDENT CLUB If you re looking to start a new club then this information is for you! It contains valuable information on affiliation, funding, accessing money and more. There are a number of Clubs & Societies registered on each campus. Clubs & Societies include sporting, political, recreational, religious, educational, professional, cultural and social groups. Clubs at the University are primarily run by students, which means if there isn't a group of people who are interested in running a club, it won't exist! So, if you have a particular interest (eg. hobby or sport) that isn't currently being catered for, it may be worth forming a new club. The successful formation and administration of a registered club requires time and effort, however involvement can provide many personal and group benefits. Holding an executive position (such as President, Secretary or Treasurer) in a club will give you the opportunity to gain leadership and other skills that will complement your academic program, and will add to your curriculum vitae when you graduate. Additionally, you will have a lot of fun and no doubt make new friends through being involved. The most important thing to remember, not only now but throughout the year, is that if you re having difficulties, all you have to do is ASK. The Student Support Officers within the Division of are willing and eager to help you out. You can get advice on event organisation and printing, help with bookkeeping and managing your finances, legal advice, obtaining sponsorship and more. Just drop in, we want to see your club get off the ground, function well and enrich the social, cultural, sporting and academic life of your campus, and will do all in our power to help your club get on its feet and stay there! This information is designed to help you get your club started. Once your club is established please use the Club Handbook as a reference guide for smooth running of your club. WHAT IS A STUDENT SUPPORT OFFICER? The Student Support Officer (SSO) role is to coordinate, participate and support student activities and programs across the University for Internal, Distance Education and International students in the areas of arts, social, cultural and recreational programs to support the student experience at. There are SSOs on each campus able to assist clubs with all aspects of running and organising a club. Some of the things that an SSO maybe able to assist you with are: club funds, events, venue bookings, barbecue bookings, promotional material, enquiries, bookkeeping and other financial matters. The SSOs signature is required to access all club funds and grants. Some SSOs have an area of expertise that they will be able to assist you with, please feel free to contact the SSO on your campus if you have any questions or require assistance with anything to do with your club, no matter how big or small you think it maybe!
Student Support Officer Contacts Albury Wagga Wagga Bathurst Kerry Read The Student Pavilion Albury NSW 2640 Phone: 026051 9130 Fax: 02 6051 9748 Email: kread@csu.edu.au Peta Bullock (Clubs) Building 20B Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 Phone: 02 6933 2031 Fax: 02 6933 2032 Email: pbullock@csu.edu.au Jean Ryan Building C4 Bathurst NSW 2795 Phone: 02 633 Fax: 02 6338 4304 Email: jeryan@csu.edu.au Orange Wagga Wagga Dubbo Nik Granger Office A.24 Building Admin Orange NSW 2800 Phone: 02 6365 7680 Fax: 02 6365 7837 Email: ngranger@csu.edu.au Roger Ansell (Events) Building 20B Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 Phone: 02 6933 2041 Fax: 02 6933 2032 Email: ransell@csu.edu.au Kevin Faulkner Office 225 Dubbo NSW 2830 Phone: 02 6885 7400 Fax: 02 6885 7410 Email: kfaulkner@csu.edu.au WHY START A CLUB? A club is a great way for students to meet people with similar interests. Being involved is also a good way to improve organisational, decision-making and interpersonal skills. WHO CAN AFFILIATE? Just about anyone! The only restrictions on affiliation: You will be governed by the rules and regulations of the Student Body that you affiliated with. These may differ from campus to campus so please speak to the SSO on your campus about the specific requirements and regulations of the Student Body. Your account must be held within the University accounting system and if your club or society has access to funding from other bodies (eg Young Labor or Young Liberals have access to funding from those political parties), then you must declare this to your Student Representative Committee. Funds are available to the clubs and societies most in need of it - and if you can easily access funds through a parent organisation, then you may not be eligible for additional funding from your Student Representative Committee. WHY AFFILIATE? Because of the enormous organisational and financial support your club will receive and the legal protection for your Club Executive.
Once your club has affiliated with the Student Body on your campus, you can access a range of resources through. You can use venues free of charge to stage your club events, hire the BBQ to raise money on a bar night and on some campuses you can book a room to hold meetings or events, just check these details with your SSO. Affiliation allows you access to funding, as well as staff support and assistance in event organisation, desktop publishing, financial matters and more. You also get access to a photocopier. Check out this list: SERVICES Funding grants Staff support and assistance Desktop publishing, ticket/poster design Access to publicity (eg. Communicator, Hungappa, Velocity etc and Website) Funding and support for special weeks (eg. Women s Week, Mission Week etc.) Funding and support for special events (eg. Start Party, Wild Life Festival etc.) Entertainment and event organisation support Financial advice and assistance FACILITIES Uni Bar Bus BBQ hire Meeting rooms Club pigeonholes Photocopier If you re after something that s not on the list, come and talk to the SSO. They ll help out as much as possible, and if they can t provide what you re looking for, they ll help you find who can. How to Affiliate Step 1 The first thing you need to do when starting a club is to establish whether there is enough interest within the student population. You can gauge the amount of interest around by holding a sign up day (club day), publicity on campus, through your campus specific publications, posters or on forums. Once you have gained enough interest/members, there are a couple of steps that you have to go through. The information below is to assist with these steps so that all of your affiliation paper work is up to scratch when you decide to submit it. First Meeting The club must advertise a time and date for the first meeting and then set an agenda for the Club s Inaugural General Meeting. An example agenda for the first meeting is attached so that the club has a basic outline to follow, if you require assistance with this meeting, please contact your SSO for more information.
Minutes Minutes are a record of the meeting and should be written up by a club member (secretary, if the club has one) and should be typed and then kept on file. Exact wording of motions/resolutions passed List of attendees and apologies Summaries of any debates and decisions reached Minutes are extremely important, as they help next years executive with decisions and remind future club executives of decisions made in the past. Chairperson The chairperson (usually the President) decides who is talking and when and keeps the meeting going along in order. Motion Generally, a motion is a decision that is voted on by your committee. Any decision (or motion) should really be moved, then seconded, debated about, and finally voted on. If the vote has a majority of yes votes, the motion is passed. Usually, you can get a consensus from the club, but if there is lots of fighting about a decision, it s always quicker to put it to a motion vote. The following are items that should be included for discussion: Executive Positions Each club must elect a minimum of two office bearers. Attached is some information about the types of duties of each office bearer. The contact details of each office bearer must be included on the Club Contact Details form, attached. Club Aims & Objectives The clubs aims and objectives should be achievable and realistic. This is what the club plans to do and why it is being created. They could then help develop a program for future meetings, events and functions. Cost of Membership The clubs should discuss the structure of membership and the cost that will be charged to members. This is a great way to start the clubs bank account. BUT you must make sure that the members get something for the fee! Step 2 Once enough interest has been established and the minutes of the Inaugural Meeting are available, a submission should be made to the relative Student Body on your campus for affiliation. The submission should include the Affiliation form attached with the following supporting documents: Copy of the Minutes of the Inaugural Meeting or documentary Proof of formation Membership list, minimum of 10 members to start a club or under the discretion of the Student Body Copy of the Club Aims and Objectives List of Executive Members and Club Membership Please see the SSO on your campus if you need any assistance with getting your affiliation submission in order.
The Board may refer the application back to the person submitting the proposal for further information or amendments. Once the Board feel they have all of the required information they will decide if the club meets the criteria for affiliation. If affiliation is granted the club then needs to submit a budget request to the appropriate governing Student Body. Step 3 You have now become an affiliated club with the Student Body on your campus. Your club will receive a Club Handbook that has all the information you need to run your club successfully. If you wish to receive funding for an event or something else associated with your club (e.g. equipment) you will need to lodge an application for funding and this usually requires a budget. Please see the SSO on your campus to get more campus specific club information and any other assistance you may require. EXECTUTIVE DUTIES President The President of a club is a very important position that can be a very rewarding experience. It can be a hard position with lots of work or it can be relatively easy position if you have a good reliable executive and a hard working and willing committee. The duties of the President are many and include: Calling meetings on a regular basis (required by Campus Committee). Chairing General and Annual General Meetings. Attending meetings held by the organisation that runs your competition or you are a member of, e.g. District Association. If unable to attend personally make sure the club is represented at the meeting. Be the representative of the club at all official functions. Co-ordinate any fundraising ventures the club undertakes (or delegate these duties). Ensure that office bearers are performing their duties correctly and effectively. You may be called upon to seek advice and/or resolve any problems that arise in this area. Be aware of what has been allocated in the budget and how the club is going financially before making any decision on functions you would like to hold or activities the club would like to participate in. Regularly liaise with the staff members. A President should have the following attributes:- A sound knowledge of the club (its rules, history and general running) Good communication skills Ability to deal with a wide range of people Approachable by all club members Able to chair meetings Able to delegate tasks without being seen as pushy A Guide to Chairing Meetings To keep the club moving in the right direction there must be effective meetings held. A meeting can be easily sidetracked if the chair does not keep the momentum going in the right direction.
Some ideas for good chairing are: 1. Know your agenda work out what the most important items are and get an idea of how long you have to get through them. 2. Know your rules and be clear about the procedures or way your group usually runs its meetings. 3. Take the lead introduce each agenda item by giving a quick summary of background points. You don t need to say what you think about the topic you can start the discussion by asking someone else what they think. 4. Stay neutral. If you feel strongly about an item and want to join in the discussion a lot, leave the Chair. Ask someone else to chair for that part of the meeting. 5. Encourage discussion by asking questions but keep it under control. Don t let everyone talk at once, but let everyone have their turn. 6. Involve everyone. Ask the quiet people what they think. 7. Keep the discussion on the topic. If people start talking about something else, suggest it be put on the agenda and discussed when you get to it. 8. Listen carefully, so that you can clarify and summarise where necessary. 9. When a topic has been discussed enough, summarise and put it to the group for a decision or vote. Ask if anyone can put forward a motion. Make sure everyone is really clear what they are deciding on/voting on. 10. If there is a conflict between members stay in the middle and let each person explain their point without interruptions. 11. Make sure everyone is aware of the decision that has been made and that it is written down in the minutes. 12. Be democratic. You don t need to be autocratic. You can be strong yet open and flexible. In many ways the chairperson or facilitator should reflect the wishes of the meeting and guide them through a process which they have agreed to. Vice President The duties of the Vice President are to assist the President in any duties requested, and to act on behalf of the President in the event of the President being unavailable. The Vice President may be allocated certain tasks specific to the club on behalf of the President. These duties will be the responsibility of the Vice President and should be reported regularly to the Executive. Examples of tasks delegated may include articles for publications, club newsletter, equipment inventory list, educational issues, club clothing. A Vice President should have the following attributes:- Good communication skills Approachable by all members of the club Ability to assume another persons tasks competently Secretary The duties of a secretary are varied and involve: Organising meetings Create Action Sheets from meetings and distribute these within 48 hours of the meeting. Keep up to date with correspondence
If the President is unavailable, the Secretary should represent the club at other organisation's meetings that your club is affiliated to or any official functions that require delegates A Secretary should have the following attributes:- Be able to think clearly and positively Good communication skills Be able to write effectively A good knowledge of the club Meetings Book a meeting room and inform members of date and time of the meeting. In preparation for club meetings, the Secretary and President should examine and discuss topical issues likely to be presented at the meeting. Following this the Secretary will set the agenda for the meeting and ensure the previous meeting's minutes are prepared ready to be read at the meeting. Duties in the Meeting Take the minutes at meeting and prepare them for the club file. Ensure there is a list of all people present - use an attendance sheet. Report on the club's activities and correspondence since the last meeting. Create Action Sheets from meetings and distribute these within 48 hours of the meeting via e-mail or by mail. Membership List It is the duty of the Secretary to keep an up to date list of all members, the Treasurer should compile the list based on information provided by Finance via your SSO and the Secretary should retain a copy of this list. In addition the Secretary must liaise with any group or association the club is a member of. For sporting clubs it is the secretary s responsibility to ensure all registrations are up to date and correct and all players are eligible to play. Treasurer This is an extremely important duty. If this position is not taken seriously - the club can find itself in financial turmoil. A Treasurer should have the following attributes:- Well organised Able to keep records of transactions Accountable with public money Able to work logically. Other A club may wish to create new positions for its club as it grows. It is quite common for a club to have members in positions such as Webmaster or Media Liaison Officer. These are more specific roles that require either specific skills or more time than an executive person can allocate towards them. Additional executive members should have the following attributes:- Well organised
Possess the skills required for the position Able to work with other members to help achieve club objectives Posses initiative and the ability to work independently