How To Run A Successful Student Organization- A student organization is a group of students (undergraduate or graduate) who are united in order to foster or promote a common interest. Student organizations are formed with the aim of uniting students together, helping them get adapted to university life, connecting them to alumni and also helping them develop important transferable skills. Here are some tips on how to run a successful student organization.
10 Tips On How To Run A Successful Student Organization
- Set clear goals and objectives: You should set clear and achievable goals/objectives for your organization. Be specific in your goal setting, clearly defining what you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve such.
- Build a strong team: Highlight dedicated members of the organization, students who believe in your vision and are ready to go all the way. Form a team with them and assign different roles to them.
- Promote and foster diversity: Let your organization be one that values, respects and welcomes people irrespective of their ethnic background, religion, gender, race, economic status, etc.
- Build strong relationships with your school authorities: Ensure that in all you do, your organization is in strong compliance with school rules and regulations. This will make the school authorities to always look favorably on your organization.
- Get involved in community service: Let your student organization get involved in community service, this will increase the organization’s popularity and attract new members. Some of the community service you can get involved in include: cleaning the environment, assisting the traffic warden in times of serious traffic jam. You can also hold health talks/ seminars with students and also women of the community. Women and youth empowerment is also another good community service you can be involved in.
- Organize engaging programs at regular intervals: You should regularly organize events for your student organization. Such events should be engaging and one that every member will be able to participate in. Such events not only would benefit the members but would also increase your group’s awareness and attract more members.
- Be highly organized: To run a successful student organization, you must be highly organized. Have short and long-term plans for the group. Also, have strategies in place to execute those plans.
- Communication should be open and effective: To run a successful student organization, communication system must be effective enough. You should communicate the organization’s goals, plans, events and other necessary information to your members. You should also allow room for feedback, questions, suggestions and complaints from the members. You can take advantage of the social media, email , etc. to create an effective communication system with your members.
- Network with other organizations: Don’t let your student organization be like an island. You should form good relationships with other student organization. You can collaborate with them to organize big events and other activities. This will help to grow your organization and further increase its reach.
- Regularly evaluate your progress: Regularly evaluate your organization’s progress. Check to see that all activities being done is in alignment with organization’s goals and objectives. You will also be able to see different setbacks and how things can be adjusted for improvement.
Pros And Cons Of Running A Student Organization
Pros Of Running A Student Organization
1. Offers a sense of belonging to students
You derive a sense of belonging being a part of a student organization. You will enjoy support from other members of the group too. Also, you will get to connect with students with similar backgrounds, interests and hobbies.
2. Opportunity for professional and personal growth abounds
Members of such groups are opened to different opportunities for growth; academically, professionally and personally. There are opportunities to build critical skills, gather experience in your field of study. All these will be instrumental when building your resume.
3. It fosters academic success
Some student organizations actually offer academic support to their members. For instance, tutorials could be organized during examination period to assist students in their weak areas.
4. Promotes diversity
Belonging to a student organization is quite interesting in that it fosters diversity. You will find members of an organization with differences such as background, ethnicity, social status, etc.
5. It encourages civic engagement and activism
Members of a student organization can get more inspired to be more engaged in their communities and advocate for positive change in the communities.
6. Offers platform to explore and acquire new skills
Some students may never know the innate abilities in them until they join student groups, participating and taking up leadership roles. Also, active participation in student organization help to develop critical skills for life and career in you.
Constraints Of Running A Student Organization
1. Resources could be limited
Because it is a student organization run by students, resources may be limited. Understand that resources are needed to organize events, community service, etc. Most of the students still depend on parents and guardian for upkeep. Resources (in this case money) is a critical set back that could be faced by a student organization.
2. Time constraints
This is another serious setback that can be experienced by student organization. The academic calendar is usually packed with a lot of academic work, extra curricular events and others. Students can get so busy, that they may not find time to commit themselves to some student organization.
3. There could be difficulty in recruiting and retaining members
Trying to gather and keep members is another constraint that can be encountered by a student organization. It involves a lot of planning, strategies and resources sometimes.
4. Limited access to facilities
Student organizations may not be given access to certain facilities on campus. For instance, meeting space or equipment for meeting may not be readily available. This can bring about a limitation in the activities of the group.
5. Difficulty in managing conflicts and communication
In a situation whereby students of different background, belief system and so on are being gathered together, conflict can come up sometimes. The leaders of the group must be able to manage these conflict well, so it don’t escalate and hinder the organization.
6. Compliance with school policies and regulations
Sometimes, school policies and regulations can be so complex , that organizations go through hard times trying to comply. Whatever the case, school policies and regulations must be complied with if you want your organization to keep on existing on campus.
Final Note
Student organization usually comprises a set of students coming together for a common interest or goal. To run a successful student organization, there must be clear goals and objectives. Also, there should be unique strategies to recruit and retain members. Organizing of event, community service/ projects are some of the ways to create awareness of the group and attract new members. For the students belonging to such organizations, they get to enjoy networking with others, acquiring new skills and also have a sense of belonging.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I set up a student organization on campus?
For start-up of a student organization, the following tips will be helpful:
You should have aims/objective for that student organization
Talk to your inner circle (friends and colleagues) about your intentions
You should get a staff advisor (most likely a lecturer in your campus)
Pick up a registration form for your organization
Draft out a constitution for your club
Start recruiting pioneer members
How can a student make impact in a student organization?
As a student, you can make impact in a student organization by being actively involved in meetings and discussions. Let your opinions be heard and support other team members too. However, it does not mean you should monopolize discussions and meetings, such that you don’t want the opinion of others to count.
How do one recruit members to join a student organization?
There are different ways to get students to join your student organization:
You can invite people one-on-one. Let them understand the benefit of being a part of the organization.
Set up advertisement campaigns through fliers, social media posts, public announcements in lecture rooms, etc.
Offer bonuses and incentives to new members e.g shopping vouchers, etc.
You can also set up a booth around your campus, with your organization representative ready to attend to people’s questions
What are the main objectives of a student organization ?
A Student organization is set up to bring students together, assisting them to acclimatize to university life, connecting to alumni and also build some critical skills in them. A student organization usually comprises students with a common interest or goals.
What are the benefits of belonging to a student organization?
Belonging to a student organization gives you opportunity to meet with other students, make useful connections and also build some critical life skills such as leadership, interpersonal, teamwork, etc.
References
- https: //blog. campusgroups. com- Students Organizations: How To Attract And Retain Members
- www. linkedin. com- Building a Legacy: How To Run An Effective Student Organization
- www. bestcolleges. com- How To Start A Club In College: 8-Step Guide
- www. wikihow. com- 3 Ways To Advertise School Clubs- Wikihow
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