Project 1 Draft 2 (Deleted and relocated under Project 1)

Luke Sanoba

Maddie Kahl

ENC 2135 Research Paper

Jan-Feb, 2018

Clubbing @ FSU

Creating a club might seem difficult, but clubs and student organizations are seen as a very good avenue to friendships, possible careers, and doing something you truly love. But you may be thinking to yourself, “Is it hard to make a club? Am I a leader?” Well, if you have even the slightest thought of making a club, you should seize the opportunity you currently have. Clubs offer students a release from mundane academic schoolwork. But, is it worth all the time and effort it takes to create a club, establish a student body, and run the club? This begs the question, what does it take to create and manage a club?

Well, first off, you must look at how you are going to create a club. This all begins with an idea and a little research. The club you choose to make must not be a club that is already been created. This means that generic ideas, such as a soccer club, or a tennis club most likely already have been created and aren’t feasible options. Blogger, Katherine Carpenter, says the next step you should look into taking is going around campus, gathering students opinions on the club and whether or not they’d find it interesting and be willing to join. She suggests, “The best way to get a variety of answers and to reach a multitude of students is sharing via social media.” I believe this is true, especially considering technology and social media is so prevalent in today’s society. This will help you advertise your club to people all over campus and get your message out to the masses.

Finding a sponsor is seen as the next big step in forming a club, because without a sponsor, a club isn’t possible. Carpenter suggests finding a, “faculty member you know shares the same interest,” which will, in turn, increase their willingness to sponsor the club, help find financial backers, and also increase attendance and willingness to participate in club meetings and functions. Having a mission statement and an information club is next up on the things to do. A mission statement is crucial, as this outlines what your club will be about and tells potential new members what to expect from the club before they enter the club. Some great characteristics of a mission statement include, “values, an actionable goal, and what separates you” (Arthur, Pg. 1/1). An information hub is one that can be provided online, on a club website and club social media pages. Jessica Albright recommends using Facebook and also states, “utilize your hub/Facebook page to post pictures of meetings and events, it’s like self-made publicity. This way, prospective members can see what you’re all about.” Showing what the club you have created is all about is the best way to find potential students looking to join, as they will look for a club that they are interested in.

After you have laid out all of the basics, you need to get the club recognized by the university you attend. To get this next step done you must talk to university officials. You should treat this like a job interview and Carpenter suggests to, “Dress professionally, and make sure you have some idea of what questions will be asked.” It is always good to be prepared to answer potential questions, as this will help you stay calm during this nerve-racking experience. After the club has been recognized, you must focus on the executive board in your club. Being a lone-wolf and trying to lead the club by yourself is a daunting task to take on, so why not make it easier and have elected officials help run the club? Albright suggests you, ”have the general body vote, but YOU have the final say,” in who you choose for these elected spots. This should be the case, as you run the club and should make these decisions based on merit and how qualified a person is for this position. Potential elected positions can include vice president, secretary, treasurer, chaplain, etc. Lastly, going back to your social media and online presence, you must advertise your club. Get members to post about the club and share posts about the club. Some more great ways of advertising around campus are sidewalk art for the club you are advertising for, posters for the club, or even signs posted in dorms/common areas people will go around campus.

After you have created and established your club, you must now focus on leading the club. Leading the club is all about ________, according to Samuel Hietman, current president of the tennis club here at Florida State University. _____. Leading a club requires you to take charge of most things, as you are in control of the club. Youngstown State University gives some good pieces of advice for club leaders looking on ways to help better themselves for the sake of the club. Meetings are the first thing you must focus on as a leader. The meeting is where you get input/feedback from the group on various different proposals and the clubs feedback is very important, because the members want to feel like they have some say in what the club does. Scheduling out your meetings, according to Youngstown, will allow your meetings to run smoothly, without any chaos. This makes sense, as you can lay out which topics you’re trying to cover and talk about them for an allotted time. The perfect meeting is still in the works however, as Youngstown adds that the perfect meeting calls for a specific meeting place, enough chairs to fit everyone, and calls for you to start the meeting without waiting too late for latecomers. The last important concept of being a leader that Youngstown lays out is the fact that, “you’re the big Kahoona.” With great power comes great responsibility, as your responsibilities include facilitating, initiating, encouraging, orienting, and summarizing. All of these responsibilities just require you, as the leader to guide the group, as a safari guide does on a safari.

Creating a club offers so many new opportunities to better yourself and your community. Leading a club is rewarding and challenging, but taking on new challenges is what betters us as humans.

Annotated Bibliography

Albright, Jessica. “You Can Start Your Own Club in College.” Pearson, Pearson, 7 Aug. 2017, www.pearsoned.com/you-can-start-your-own-club-in-college/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2018.

Jessica is a student currently attending Missouri State University and is very involved in organizations at her school. She is currently involved in SGA, Greek life, centennial leaders, and is the VP of Publicity for the Student Activities Council, and the VP of Social Events in National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Albright wants to make it very clear how important it is that you get involved on campus, and reminds her readers that, “It seems daunting to make your own club, buts it’s a very rewarding experience.” She gives enticing details, such as telling you that you will already be the president of the club if you start it.

In this blog post, Jessica Albright discusses the 6 most essential steps in you must take in order to start your own club. These steps include Discussing the purpose of your club, Talking to your Student Engagement club, Advertising your club to the student body, Time for your first meeting!, Elect an executive hub, Have an information board online, and finally, create after-action reports. Albright mentions how if you start a club, “You get to share your passion with your peers and find other students on campus who share the same interests as you.” This is good because you are not only benefitting yourself, in making a group that you’re interested in, but also helping others in the community, by giving them some place to go and do something they enjoy.

Albright’s blog post is very similar to the post of Carpenter. Both ladies give necessary steps to starting a club on your college campus.

“Recognition Process.” Oglesby Union, The Florida State University, union.fsu.edu/sac/involvement/get-recognized/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2018.

This website, created by The Florida State University, offers an insight into how to create an RSO (Recognized Student Organization).

Within this brief description of how to create a club at Florida State University, the site also outlines the process of recognition and how this process, “must be completed annually by all student organizations to receive and maintain privileges on campus.” This process of recognition needs to be undertaken by any club that wishes to maintain the status of RSO on the campus of FSU. Later the author outlines the process by which you can create a new RSO, which can involve making an organization that has not previously existed at FSU, an organization that has existed, but obtains funding from a different source, and an organization that is being reinstated, as it hasn’t been recognized in at least 3 years.

Due to the nature of this informational article, I do not believe there is any conflict with any of the other authors.

Carpenter, Katherine. “6 Tips for Starting a Club or Organization.” OCM Blog, On Campus Marketing LLC, 3 Feb. 2015, www.ocm.com/blog/6-tips-for-starting-a-club-or-organization/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2018.

Katherine Carpenter writes blogs for the Our Campus Market website. In her blog, she provides 6 helpful tips in order to start up a club or an organization at any school.

In her blog, Carpenter outlines 6 essentials to starting a club on your campus. Her list begins with taking a poll to see whether or not students around campus will find the club interesting/be willing to join the club. Next, she suggests finding a sponsor to fund the club, because money doesn’t grow on trees. Laying out a mission statement is next, this will, “show how your club would improve the life and/or education of students and the school.” This is important because there isn’t a point of having a club if there aren’t any positives about it. Next, you must begin recruiting a team. This doesn’t mean you need to have all elected officials determined before you begin the club, but a leader is needed to start the club and some potential members of his/her cabinet. After this, it is time to meet with university officials to discuss the club. During your meeting, Carpenter says, “Dress professionally, and make sure you have some idea of what questions will be asked.” This is of utmost importance, as you will need the university to give you permission to start the club. Lastly, you must share and promote your club. This is the most important step, as you need to have members to have a club and to get members, you must get the word out that your club is around.

Carpenter’s blog post was very similar to that of Albright. Both mention some of the same steps you must take in order to start a club at your university. This means that these steps are most likely most important and should be followed in order to start a club.

Wischnia, Beth. “5 Reasons Why You Should Start a Club at School.” Brit + Co, Brit + Co, 23 Aug. 2015, www.brit.co/why-to-start-a-club-at-school/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2018.

Beth Wischnia attended Arizona State University and received her BA in Journalism, Public communications, Political Science, and mass communication. She is now a beauty editor at Brit + Co.

Within this piece, Wischina makes her message very clear from the start, as she states, “start a club at your school!” She follows by listing 5 reasons this idea is a good one. She mentions how you should start working on your “personal brand” while in college and starting a club is a great way to do so. Finding your expertise and owning it is her first reason she believes having a club is great. This allows you to establish yourself as the leader and determine the direction the club will head. Next, she gives another benefit, which is forming worthwhile connections. She mentions how the people who join your club are likely interested in the club, which means you are interested in at least one thing they are interested in, which can help build new friendships. Be inspired to turn your interest into a career is her next benefit, as this allows some to pinpoint what they love and to make a living doing what they love. Taking your studies outside of the classroom- This allows you to learn in another place besides a classroom, as those can get boring and tiresome. Lastly, she mentions how you can challenge yourself in a new way. Challenging yourself is crucial to learning and growing as a person. Break out of your comfort zone and try something new. Wischina states that you don’t have a lot of time the, but managing time wisely always leads to a, “feeling of fulfillment after you accomplish something in your club will all be worth it in the end.”

Wischina’s post about positives from clubs offers an insight into the potential upside of putting in time to make the club and manage the club that Albright and Carpenter speak of.

“How to Be a Success as an Organization President.” Youngstown State University, cms.ysu.edu/administrative-offices/student-activities/how-be-success-organization-president. Accessed 6 Feb. 2018.

Youngstown State University is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio. In this piece, we learn how to be a success as the president of an organization.

Throughout this article, different ways on how to be a great club leader are discussed. One of the main themes I noticed throughout the article is that you are the president and you have say in every matter. You can start the meetings, stop the meetings, change meeting times, butt in and give your opinion, etc. This means that you will always be able to voice your opinion on what is best for the club, even if it doesn’t come to fruition. Meetings are one of the most important aspects of the club, so you need to make sure you put special attention towards meetings. This is where all of the announcements are made, as well as where people can voice their opinions and concerns on certain matters.

The set-up of this article is very similar to that of the blog posts seen previously, as there are points given and then each is expanded on, however, this article discusses the leader individually as opposed to the club as a whole.

Arthur, Luke. “What Are the Points to Make in a Mission Statement?” Chron.com, Hearts Newspaper, smallbusiness.chron.com/points-make-mission-statement-17698.html. Accessed 11 Feb. 2018.

“Florida State University Campus Recreation.” Form a Sport Club | Florida State University Campus Recreation, Florida State University, campusrec.fsu.edu/sports/clubs/form-a-club.

“FSU Alumni Association.” Start a Seminole Club or Chapter, alumni.fsu.edu/community/seminole-clubs/start-a-club.