Kirkwood supports the opportunity for students to gather and form groups based on like interests that help create a sense of teamwork, collaboration, the sharing of ideas, and an environment for students to expand on their college experience beyond the classroom. The benefits of starting a new group on campus include the opportunity to host meetings and events on campus, the ability to post flyers on designated boards, and the ability to network with other students, faculty, and staff with similar interests.
An active club or organization at Kirkwood is a group of students who have followed the proper guidelines of establishing themselves through an application, constitution, approval from the Student Life office, and submission of relevant updated information (including rosters) each semester.
There are four types of groups that can form as a club or organization. Each group must pick the ONE type that makes the most sense.
Each semester, the advisor must submit an updated roster of current students involved within the club or organization. In the fall semester, the advisor must also certify that the constitution on file (if already submitted) is accurate and up to date; he or she must also update any related information as required by the Student Life office. Roster submission is required by Oct. 15 for the fall semester and Feb. 15 for the spring semester.
On an annual basis (by Oct. 15), each club and organization will adjust their current constitution or confirm it is still up to date. Each year, Student Life will also ask individual clubs and organizations to self-identify which (if any) of the student learning outcomes set by the college best relate to the mission/goals of their group. Note that it is not required that clubs and organizations meet any of Kirkwood’s student learning outcomes. Rather, it’s just the opportunity to gather information and get a sense of how Kirkwood’s clubs and organizations relate to these student learning outcomes. These include:
Information and specific forms that Student Life needs on a semester or annual basis will be requested from the Student Life office and sent to the advisor of each group.
Only registered students or faculty/staff may initiate the establishment of a new student club or organization. A club is eligible to form when there are five interested students and an eligible faculty/staff member of the college to serve as advisor. The process starts by filling out a New Club or Organization Application. Once filled out and signed by the student leader and proposed advisor, Student Life will set up a meeting with a minimum of one student and one advisor to talk through specifics and grant “pending” status to the group.
Pending status can be granted to a club that meets the minimum requirements, has submitted a New Club or Organization Application, and has completed a meeting with the Student Life office but has not yet established a club constitution or submitted a group roster and related information. Pending status allows groups to post one flyer on designated boards and/or reserve one table on campus for the sole purpose of promoting an upcoming informational kick-off meeting. Pending status does not, however, give clubs the approval to host events, post flyers, or table for any reason other than to promote the initial informational meeting. Once the informational meeting takes place, the club constitution can be created, which would help the club move to “active” status upon approval.
Until pending or active status has been granted to a club or organization, the group may not post flyers, host meetings, or otherwise promote the proposed group. Doing so will prevent the group from getting organized, as it would suspend the group before getting started.
Before any group becomes active, a constitution needs to be submitted. A template constitution and examples can be provided by the Student Life office. Each club’s constitution will look different, but all need to include, at a minimum, the information outlined below:
Clubs can add additional sections under each article as long as they come after the sections already listed. Groups may choose to add additional articles as well, but they need to come between articles 7 and 8 listed here (just bump articles 8 and 9 so they remain the last two articles of your constitution).
Groups that fail to meet the minimum qualifications to form a club, or those failing to submit an updated roster and constitution, will be considered inactive. Inactive clubs are not able to post flyers, reserve space, or host any meetings or activities until becoming active.
Any group that has been inactive for longer than the period of one year OR has a new advisor needs to start with a new club application. Clubs active within the last year that have the same advisor do not need to submit a new club application; however, they must update their constitution and complete club requirements before active status is granted. Student Life can grant pending status to any inactive club for the sole purpose of hosting an informational meeting, but the group must meet the minimum qualifications prior to pending status approval.
Any money in a club account can be moved from the inactive club account to an active club account with approval from the Student Life office. Any money remaining in the club account after two years of inactive status will be transferred to a Student Life account.
Clubs and organizations can be suspended without notice for a specified length of time that could range from two weeks up to one year. Suspension of clubs and organizations is at the discretion of the Student Life office. Any suspended club or organization will have any financial accounts frozen and be unable to act as a recognized group which includes, but is not limited to, the ability to post flyers, set up tables, book rooms, travel, and promote their group or activities. The following criteria may be used to suspend any club or organization that has:
The advisor or advisors of clubs and organizations at Kirkwood play an important part in helping to lead each group. The advisor of each club or organization is a member of the full-time faculty or is a full- or part-time staff member at Kirkwood Community College whose primary function is to actively advise, counsel, and serve as a resource to students involved or interested in the group. Note that any students who are also employed part time at the college are not eligible to serve as advisor to any group. Adjunct faculty are not eligible to serve as the primary advisor of any club or organization. Additional staff or faculty (including adjunct faculty) can also be listed as co-advisors to the group.
The responsibility of the club/organization advisor includes (but is not limited to):
Note that the advisor has no vote unless outlined in the club constitution; however, he or she must approve any proposed club activity or expense.
The structure of each group on campus may be drastically different from group to group. While a president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary might make sense for one group, two co-captains or co-chairs might make sense for another. Each group needs to have at least two students listed as officers of the group in some form or another, even if they are just the two main student contacts for the group. Officers must be registered in a minimum of 6 credits during the fall and spring semesters in which they plan to serve. The specific duties of each officer position can be decided by each group and must be described in the club’s or organization’s constitution.
Hosting meetings, setting up a table on campus, or hosting an activity put on by the club is often the majority of what groups on campus do. Student Life can help set up all of these requests for you; the event or activity must have prior approval. The Activity Request Form is the starting point to book rooms, set up a table, or host any other type of activity on or off campus.
Here are some examples of the types of events and activities and some details relating to each:
Each event hosted needs to be tagged with one of these six categories:
One of the most common requested forms of promotion is the use of the college’s approved bulletin boards across campus. Here are the guidelines for posting on approved boards:
Exceptions to any posting guideline outlined here is given on a case-by-case basis by the Student Life and/or Communications and Marketing offices. Additional forms of promotion, such as sidewalk chalk or table tents, will be granted on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Student Life and/or Communications and Marketing offices.
Social media can be a great way to keep club and organization members connected as well as to promote group activities. Groups looking to use social media must follow these regulations:
The Student Life office will also use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to help promote club and organization activities that have prior approval.
Fundraising or collecting money to support activities is an important function for nearly all clubs and organizations. There are a handful of guidelines that will help you through this process to make sure things are being done the right way. All fundraising activities must be approved prior to promotion or hosting the fundraising activity. Fundraisers cannot support individual students unless defined through the student scholarship process (working with Student Life and the Kirkwood Foundation) and laid out in the club or organization constitution. Failure to abide by these guidelines can result in suspension of club or organization status. Here are a few areas related to fundraising that will help guide you through this process:
Payments on behalf of any club or organization expense must come from the club or organization account. Payments cannot come directly from money received from a fundraiser without first being deposited into the club or organization account. Here are a few areas related to payments that will help guide you through this process:
The Kirkwood Foundation supports club and organization activities each year in collaboration with Student Life to offer opportunities for individual groups to be rewarded for participation in various activities throughout the year. Clubs can receive funding for participation in a club and organization recruitment fair, annual food drive, and other activities. Funding information is sent from Student Life to all active clubs and organizations.
Any group of students leaving campus (regardless of whether it is for a class, club, or other reason) must determine if their activity is considered travel. Travel:
If the off-campus activity is not any of the three, an Activity Request Form must be filled out. If one of those three does occur it is considered travel and the group must abide by the Domestic Travel Policy and Practice.
The travel process begins with the advisor (trip sponsor) of the group submitting a Travel Notification – for Student Domestic Travel (found in Employee Forms Plus). It asks “who, what, when, where”-type questions about the travel. The opportunity to continue the process will be approved by that advisor’s/employee’s supervisor. At that point, each student listed on the notification form will receive an email and must log in to both confirm their participation in the travel and enter emergency contact information. Once all students and advisors have completed the process, the trip will be approved. Until that happens, the trip is not approved. Any group traveling before all steps are completed will be in violation of the Domestic Travel Policy and Practice. Advisors must also be aware of and abide by the Vehicle and Equipment Use Procedure, Fleet Vehicles Procedure, Travel and Expenses Procedure, and any other Kirkwood policy or procedure relating to travel.
It is recommended that between two and four students share a standard hotel room while traveling. Students cannot share the same hotel room as staff on the trip, and under normal circumstances, students are not permitted to room with another student who does not identify as the same gender. Exceptions to hotel arrangements can be discussed with the club advisor (trip sponsor) and the Student Life office.
Note: Nonstudents are not permitted to participate in travel activities as part of any club or organization.
Academic organizations can request funding from Student Life to support their travel experiences to a conference, competition, or other learning opportunity that takes place off campus that is considered travel. These funds can only be granted to clubs that operate independently of classes and will not be given to any group traveling as part of a class. Any active academic organization that has been active for a minimum of three consecutive semesters (fall and spring, but not summer) is eligible.
The specifics on the amount of funding received is currently being modified by Student Life. Please reach out to Student Life for more information.
“I like it here because I don’t feel alone. I have met many friends.”
Rebecca Mbali,
The Democratic Republic of Congo