SGA’s Guide to Club Making and Club Endorsements
Morgan Ross | maross2@butler.edu
Student life at Butler strives to enhance student opportunities and engagement during their college experience. With over 130 student organizations, there is something to explore for everyone. Activities and programs allow students to become more involved and develop life-long skills and connections.
Students have the option to join a new organization, create discussions, share posts, and network with other students, faculty, and adults. Joining or starting a club can showcase your involvement and record the activities of the campus clubs you belong to and discover new and unique events happening on campus and in the community every week.
If you have an interest or hobby not currently represented among the recognized student organizations, you can create a new student organization through the Student Government Association (SGA).
When applying, first identify leadership. This requires a minimum of four students willing to demonstrate leadership, and understand responsibilities and expectations associated with each position. You must discuss any expectations and select a staff advisor or full-time faculty member who is well-suited to assist your group. The Office of Student Activities is a great resource for additional inquiries regarding endorsement before applying.
Following those steps, your group will then draft documents, primarily a draft of the constitution for your prospectus group. The constitution must contain all required criteria under SGA guidelines, which can be found here. Next, create a list compiling the names of individuals that are interested in becoming members. This allows efficacy to be able to draw an outline for an initial recruitment plan. If the organization plans on having a budget for materials, events, or resources, creating an operational budget is suggested.
The application can then be found through Butler Engage at https://butler.campuslabs.com/engage where you will be asked to enter your Butler ID and password information. Under the ‘Organizations’ header select ‘Register Organization’ and that is it! The SGA Senate Student Activities Committee will begin a review of your group’s application.
Upon submission, an SGA committee member will work on your behalf regarding any initial concerns or questions with the application. A sign-off in addition to a scheduled meeting for a presentation with the Student Senate will be mandated once cleared. Concerning endorsement, SGA Student Senate will give approval following a review of documents created by your group.
Once reviewed by the Director of Student Activities, your group will be officially a recognized student organization. A Student Organization Training will be required to complete for all new organizations each semester to acknowledge university policy and procedures.
On the SGA website, under the ‘Legislative’ header, you will find the ‘Student Organization Endorsement’ tab. Following this step-by-step procedure, SGA provides a detailed listing to begin the process of starting a student organization.
For any questions or concerns, please email the Speaker of the Senate, Cade Chezem (sgasenatespeaker@butler.edu), or Student Activities Committee Chair Reagan Markland (rmarklan@butler.edu).