Starting A Student Group

1. Share Your Idea

Talk to a variety of other students about your idea: with resident students, off–campus students, student government and students in general!

Ask yourself some questions:

• Is there interest for this type of group on campus?
• Is there already a student group with similar goals and purpose as your proposed group?

A list of current campus groups is here. In order to avoid overlap, check out groups that seem to have similar interests.

2. Organize A General Interest Meeting

If you feel there may be sufficient interest in the group you have in mind, organize an initial General Interest Meeting.

Find a place and a time to meet

An option is to hold two general interest meetings at two different times.

Advertise!

Flyers are the most typical way to advertise. Come by Student Activities office for assistance in developing and printing flyers for a general interest meeting. You can also enter your meeting in the “Opportunities and Announcements” email that goes to the entire student body, or the campus calendar online. Include the purpose of your group so people know why they should come to this meeting.
See Publicity and Advertising for more ideas. Of course, you can always drop by the Student Activities office on the main floor of Templeton to talk to us if you have any questions!

3. Plan for the Meeting

You should have in mind the general scope of the group, although much of this is best defined by the group as the group develops.

Define the goals of your group

• What is the purpose of your group? Social, political awareness, service?

• What do you hope to provide (how might the group contribute) to the LC community?

Make an agenda for the meeting

However informal it may be, have a purpose for the meeting and communicate that purpose at the outset of the meeting, as well as in your publicity. People have a need to know why it is important for them to spend ‘xyz’ amount of time at your meeting.

Use visuals or an “expert”

It is often useful to have visuals and or an “expert” in the area or someone who understands the issues come to the meeting (an off campus or on campus resource person, advisor, knowledgeable other)

After the initial meeting…

Let the staff at Student Activities know how your meeting went, and the status of your group. If you have at least five students who are very interested and dedicated to you cause, you may be ready for the Student Organization Registration Form which registers your group with our office and gets you on that great list of student groups and organizations that you now know by heart.

It is beneficial to maintain a regular meeting time and place so students can plan it into their busy schedule. If you have a large group, you may want to create a club email listserv so that you can easily contact everyone at once. Here’s all you’ve ever wanted to know about listservs: Majordomo Mailing List Basics.

4. Lead Your Group to Success

Here’s where it gets wide open. Options are limitless and each group has it own path. Our purpose is to help you focus and get you headed in the right direction. Here are just a few ways we can help and some resources we can provide you with:

• Meeting facilitation and planning
• Advertisement on the Campus Events Calendar
• Organizational Leadership
• Motivating and retaining your members
• Retreat & workshop planning
• Budget planning: Apply to GAB. As always, drop by the Student Activities Office if you’d like more ideas or assistance.