There are three steps to creating a new club/organization. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail SGA Vice President Riley Waggaman (riley.waggaman@gmail.com).
Step One: The Basics
A club or organization can be founded by any full-time matriculated student at Wheaton College. According to the SGA Constitution, Article VII, Sec. VI, the following are elements and guidelines that compose a Club and Organization:
1) Clubs – Active and recognized SGA entities whose duties and functions are limited to activity during the academic school year.
2) Organizations – Active and recognized SGA entities that need to function throughout the calendar year in order to fulfill legal or institutional requirements. These entities require operational funds during all times of the year, not just during the academic semesters.
You’ll need to specify if your group is a club or organization in your constitution. Additionally, All new clubs/organizations are placed in a ‘Tier’: Educational, Intercultural, Recreational or Communications.
Each Tier has a chair that can help you write your constitution (the exception being Recreational). For example: If you think your group would be placed in the Intercultural Tier, you can contact the Intercultural Board Chair for assistance/feedback concerning your new group. (The Chair of the Communications Tier is the SGA Secretary.)
After you have carefully done your personal research and formed a group of people who would like to be part of your Club/Organization, it’s time to write your club/organization constitution! This is not as hard as it sounds if you use the simple template below:
Preamble
This section states the purpose of the club and/or the reason for founding it.Article I – Name
This section declares the name of the club.Article II – Sources of Authority
This section states where the club derives its power. A good statement is this: “XYZ Club shall function under the auspices of the Student Government Association and is subject to all rules established thereof.”Article III – Governmental Structure
Write in eloquent detail what the leadership positions in the club are and what responsibilities of each position are. Refer back to the requirements that the SGA imposes on clubs as a guide towards efficiency.Article IV – Procedures
This section explains how decisions of the club are made. Generally the elected officials, or a majority of members make them.Article V – Elections
This section should be very clear on how the positions in Article III are elected.Article VI – Impeachment
Again, this section ought to be very clear as to how elected officers can be impeached.Article VII – Amendments
It is absolutely necessary for a club constitution to detail how it can be amended. Always include a clause that states the SGA Senate must ratify all amendments.
You can delete articles not relevant to your club/organization’s purpose. Be sure to emphasize the type of organizational/leadership structure your club will have in your constitution.
Step Two: Find An Adviser/Consult With Student Life
It’s important that you find a faculty/staff adviser for your new club or organization. Ideally your adviser should have some sort of personal experience — professional, academic or otherwise — that your club/organization can benefit from. For example: a new sports club might ask Director of Intermural Sports Dave Begley to serve as their adviser.
All new clubs and organizations are strongly encouraged to talk with Andrea Holden, Assistant Director of Student Life (e-mail: aholden@wheatoncollege.edu). She’s a tremendous resource and has helped lots of new clubs get off the ground.
Step Three: Club/Organization Ratification And Funding
If you’ve found an adviser, met with Student Life and written your constitution, it’s time to have your new club/organization ratified by Senate! E-mail SGA Vice President Riley Waggaman (riley.waggaman@gmail.com), and he’ll put your club/organization proposal on the next possible Senate agenda.
After your club has been approved it will be assigned to a Tier. In SGA terms, a Tier is a larger group of Clubs/Organizations that all have similar intentions in a larger scope of things. There are four (4) Tiers; Communications Tier, Intercultural Tier, Educational Tier, and Recreational Tier. Please know which Tier you were assigned.
The last thing is a two step process. In this packet you will find the template for creating a Club Budget. In creating a Club/Organization it is obvious you will incur operating expenses. As an SGA entity your Club/Organization is eligible for funding. In applying for these funds there are certain guidelines you must follow.
**Make sure to UNDERSTAND this before you proceed…**
i) PLEASE BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE AS THIS WILL ONLY HELP YOU.Be sure to itemize your yearly expenses. An idea is to plan the events for individual semesters and come up with an approximation of each. In other words, plan your activities and budget them by semester as this will be a better estimate than for the whole year. When you overestimate you will only decrease your chances of getting the necessary amount.
ii) After you have created your budget and money has been allocated to your Club/Organization it is the club treasurer’s duty to keep records of the clubs income and expenditures throughout the year. Under The Wheaton College Honor Code your Club/Organization will undergo an audit of these records to check for efficiency and appropriate use of funds. Your club should not overspend its allocated amount.
If you do not meet the budget proposal deadline (Tuesday, September 21st at 5:00PM) then your club will not undergo the Tier Funding process. Or if in any case your club seems to be in need of more funding for additional projects there are other sources within SGA you can apply for. These are Senate Fund, Venture Fund and Speaker Fund. For more details on how to apply for these contact the Treasurer.
