B.E.S.T. @ BatesWinter 2015

STARTING AT THE BEGINNING:

HOW TO START OR REIMAGINE A STUDENT ORG

Get together with someone you don’t know or haven’t paired with previously

You will have 3 minutes to learn as much about your partner as possible. Here’s the catch: Person #1: Can only ask questions Person #2: Cannot say anything and must act out responses

silentlyPerson #1 and #2 will switch for 3 minutesYou will have 2 minutes to silently compile your notesEach person will present on their partner to the group

RE-INTRODUCTIONS

1. Identifying your WHYS2. Finding Primary Interest and Stakeholders3. Archiving and Record-Keeping4. Clarifying your core purpose – Crafting a Mission

Statement5. Defining an intentional name6. Identifying structure and creating accountability –

Drafting your Constitution7. Seeking secondary interest and advisors8. Becoming Offi cial – Organizational Review Board

PRE-OFFICIAL STEPS:

WHY? Do you think this is important? Who does it serve? What purpose does it serve on campus?

WHY? Is this personally important to you?WHY? Should this be important for other people?WHY? Does this matter?

Take two minutes to reflect on these.

IDENTIFYING YOUR WHYS

Who’s already interested?Who’s already set to get involved or willing to assist?Goal: to find people who are equally or almost as

passionate about your student group goal as possible If you already have members: who’s invested and

able to help?To Find: Enter similar spaces, call for interested

students

FINDING PRIMARY INTEREST AND STAKEHOLDERS

WHY? To pass along key information to future leadership and to make it easier to pass information to the college archives

Options for doing this: Binder Electronically – Google Drive

ARCHIVING AND RECORD-KEEPING

Goals of a mission statement: To clarify your purpose and desired outcome Sometimes to identify the population you are targeting Clear and Concise

WHAT DO WE DO?HOW DO WE DO IT?WHOM DO WE DO IT FOR?WHAT VALUE ARE WE BRINGING?

CLARIFYING YOUR CORE PURPOSE:CRAFTING A MISSION STATEMENT

How can you make sure you are being inclusive and intentional in your groups’ name?

What might your groups’ name symbolize to others?

DEFINING AN INTENTIONAL NAME

How can you do this? Expectations in your club – community guidelines/ norms Constitution

IDENTIFYING STRUCTURE AND CREATING ACCOUNTABILITY

Preamble Talk about the purpose of your club

Article I: Name Explain your name

Article II: Purpose Tell us the purpose of your club, why it is going to be on the Bates

campus and what events you plan on doing Article II I: Membership

How do people become members? Who is the club open to? Article IV: Offi cers

What’s the leadership of this club going to look like? (i.e. President, Treasurer…)

Article V: Finances How and why are funds necessary for this club?

Article VI: Amendments How will you deal with making amendments to this constitution? Do you

need a 2/3 vote?

ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW BOARD CONSTITUTION FORMAT:

Rights and responsibilities of membersOffi cer positions, terms of offi ce, election times and

procedures, responsibilities of offi cersNumber of members you need to have an offi cial vote

(quorum requirements)

THINGS TO CONSIDER

Reach out to student body to figure out who might be interested in joining your group – emails, personal solicitation, creative ways to get people interested

Would your club benefi t from having an advisor and someone in a slightly diff erent position of power? A professor? Staff member?

You can seek out advisors by sending them an email, requesting to meet in person and then meeting with them. Key information to provide them with includes: Group name, purpose and structure Why an advisor will be useful to you Responsibilities or ideas about how an advisor can do to help

the club What kind of time and energy commitment this will require

from an advisor

SEEKING SECONDARY INTEREST AND ADVISORS

Organizational Review Board Part of the Bates College Student Government that

approves clubs to be formally recognized by the college as a student organizations

Why become offi cial? Business account in Accounting at Bates Ability to blueslip and reserve spaces at Bates Ability to sponsor events Ability to receive funding from the Bates Student Govt. in

budget allocations and co-sponsorships

BECOMING OFFICIAL

What they look at: Submit a list of prospective members (7+) and a constitution the

Saturday before the next ORB meeting (email chairperson)What they care about:

Compliance with Bates College handbook and policies (i.e. non-discrimination)

Clearly articulated purpose, objectives and goals Demonstrated non-duplications with previously recognized

groups in terms of mission/ purpose and similarity Feasibility of the org’s funding Local autonomy (no obligation to parent org., national chapter or

charter) Demonstrated sustainability, benefit to members/ campus.

CommunityYou can appeal their decision within 10 days of the ORB

ruling

THE ORB

1. Creating shared meaning and community guidelines2. Symbols and Branding3. Setting up social media4. Training new leadership - Knowing your resources5. Identifying and mentoring new leadership

POST-OFFICIAL STEPS: