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Volume 41, Issue 13
April 20, 2004
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April 20, 2004
Club approval can be difficult
Delynn Bodine
Mesa Legend
Students at MCC find the process involved with becoming a recognized
club on campus difficult and lengthy, according to club organizers. According
to Greg Reents, director of student leadership for student activities,
staff in the Student Activities office are trying to change that.
“Getting approved took a long time; we constantly needed to make
calls to find out our status in the process,” said Adam Avilez,
adviser for the Mathematics Club.
Although the process does take quite some time, it seems that a slight
problem may lie within expectations students have going into the process.
Students say that when they turn in an application for club status, they
are not told to expect the approval process to take several weeks or even
months before they are approved.
“Lots of changes are occurring to make things easier for students
to get a club started and we’re going to make sure we’re telling
students how long it could take and what they can to do help things along,”
commented Alison Whiting, program adviser of student activities.
In order for a club to become recognized on campus, interested students
must obtain a new club packet, which is found in the Student Activities
office. Various requirements including recruiting a board-certified faculty
adviser, getting 25 signatures from students, and creating a governing
constitution are part of the process, said Whiting.
ASMCC must approve the constitution to ensure fairness and inclusion of
all students who may be interested. The ASMCC Judicial Board is available
for assistance with the writing process, according to Whiting.
“The constitution is definitely the hardest part. I highly suggest
that the initiating students sit down with ASMCC for help writing their
constitution,” Whiting said.
The completed packet and constitution go through six different hands before
becoming fully approved, Reents said. The approval process begins when
ASMCC approves the constitution, continues through Student Activities,
and travels all the way up to the College President Larry Christiansen.
The majority of the staff in Student Activities is relatively new, which
has added to some of the complications, according to Reents. Whiting and
Reents understand that the process can be somewhat tedious and have been
making moves to streamline it. Although both came with previous experience
and qualifications for their positions, they agreed that they are receiving
on-the-job training because every campus is different and comes with unique
situations.
Considering the fact that MCC is traditionally a two-year college, the
turnaround for students is high and many of MCC’s students work,
so it can be hard for a student to become involved when the process is
difficult, which is why the office is focusing on making things easier
and providing more information, Reents said.
“We’re definitely ready to listen and help out as much as
possible; our first priority is the students. We really want people to
be involved,” he added.
The Student Activities office has recently hosted orientation sessions
for newly approved clubs to allow them to meet with older clubs for ideas
and suggestions, according to Whiting. Prospective clubs have also been
invited to these events. Whiting also said considerations are being given
to the idea of having new club information sessions in order to answer
questions and get information out on what students entering the process
can expect.
According to Whiting, the Student Activities office is also making it
easier to remain a club once approved. The office has already reduced
the number of active members that a club must have to four for the smaller
campuses such as Red Mountain, from the standard six here at MCC. The
number of credit hours required for a student to be considered a full
active member of a club has also been reduced.
However, the club listings are currently out of date, and contain contact
information that is no longer valid as well as clubs listed that have
disbanded several years ago.
Thomas Shoemaker, who is listed as the contact for Students and Teachers
of Alternative Religions, says that he has not been involved with the
club for more than 6 years and was quite shocked that he was listed. He
added that he has been involved as the contact for another club since
then, but the website does not reflect that. Shoemaker does not know whether
STAR remains a club on campus.
Whiting agreed that listings are out-of-date and said the Student Activities
website will be revamped and plans are being made to update the club listings
and contacts with current information in the near future.
For information on becoming a club or getting involved with an existing
club, contact the Student Activities office in the Kirk Center or call
(480) 461-7277.
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