Group Start-up and Recognition

Gaining Recognition

Interested in forming a new organization at Albion College? To exist as a club or organization at Albion, every student organization must first go through a formal recognition process. The recognition process involves three easy steps…

1. Register with the CPO office by submitting a current organization registration card, membership roster, constitution, and by-laws. This allows the group to enter a probationary period during which they are considered an “Interest Group” and are able to solicit membership and have introductory meetings.
2. Petition for a recommendation of recognition from Student Senate. This involves a presentation of the group’s constitution and a question-and-answer period with the full Senate. (A recommendation from Student Senate is necessary for the official recognition and authorization of the new organization.)
3. Formal recognition by the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students.

Note: The recognition and activity of organizations are subject to periodic reviews by the CPO office and Student Senate.

Registration

Once recognized, all student organizations must register each fall (and when new officers are elected) with the Office of Campus Programs and Organizations. An organization is considered registered after completing the following

1. All organizations must fill out a registration card and agree to a policy of non-discrimination on the basis of any characteristic protected by law.
2. Membership rosters must be completed at the beginning of each semester and submitted to CPO for student activities data collection.
3. Each group must submit an up-to-date constitution and by-laws every two years stating the purpose of the group, requirements for membership and method of officer selection.

Registration materials are available in the CPO office.

There are a lot of great reasons to be a registered organization at Albion College such as …

• Free PR- See your organization’s name highlighted across campus and in the infamous publication “Getting Connected”.
• Because it really is about “Who” you know - Recruitment is a lot easier when you have staff referring students to your organization.
• $$$ Who wants it? - Become eligible to receive funds from Student Activities Fees.
• Make your mark! - We keep records of all registered organizations and members.
• You’ve got mail -A mailbox for your organization located at CPO.
• Cyber Connections- lets get linked. Got an organization website? All organizations are eligible to receive free web space.
• You’re Invited -To exclusive campus events, programs and other cool stuff.
• Cool cars and exciting adventures -Eligible to apply to use college vans for organization trips.
• Use of the College name.

Goodies Galore

The following is a list of several services offered to all registered student organizations.

Advising

Looking for some new ideas? Feeling like your organization is in a rut? The CPO staff is available to help your organization reach its full potential. Whether you are in need of support on a project or consultation about organizational membership, the staff can provide assistance.

Service Opportunities

Helping others always feels so good. If your student organization is lacking commitment and teamwork, consider involving them in a service project. Service projects can help build a group’s confidence and to develop interconnectedness with the community. Each semester student groups at Albion participate in a wide variety of service projects within the campus and the greater Albion community. If interested in service, contact Reverend Daniel McQuown, Community Service Coordinator, at extension 0492. He will be more than willing to work with your group to find a service project that will benefit your organization and assist in developing a proper method for processing the experience.

Lots O’ Learnin’

Want to learn some new tricks of the trade? CPO maintains a leadership resource library with books, activities, exercises, and other fun stuff. Thinking about planning a retreat? Take the guesswork out of it and come look through the many resources that are on file. Information is available to anyone looking to develop or improve a student organization.

Cruisin’ in Style

Well, we are plum out of BMWs and Lincolns, but how about a nice Chevy Van? That’s right, college vans can be reserved by organizations for group outings at a bargain price of 55 cents per mile. There is just one minor stipulation, all drivers must be college-approved. Instructions for gaining approval are located on the Department of Campus Safety website. Just make sure that you plan ahead because the approval process takes approximately 3 weeks for Michigan drivers and even longer for out of state drivers. Last, if everyone in your group seems to have a colorful driving record and approval is out of the question, visit the CPO office to review a current list of all approved drivers at the college.

Techno Savy

You like computers? We have computers. If you are in need of using a computer to work on a flyer or a color scanner to scan in a picture of a speaker that you are bringing to campus, CPO has the equipment for you. All student groups are welcome to use the computers as long as usage is restricted to work on student organization projects. (i.e., finals projects don’t count)

And just when you thought it does not get any better than this…we have web space. That is right, if your organization does not have a web site, we can work with you to get space on the Albion server and then once created, the CPO office will link up to your organization’s site. What a cool way to advertise your organization. Isn’t technology grand?

Making Copies

Need to produce copies of a meeting agenda in a short period of time? A copy machine is available in CPO for organization use. The cost is only 5 cents per copy and don’t worry about having exact change because all groups may open a charge account. Groups are billed each month for copies made in CPO and are expected to make prompt payments. If you snooze on paying a bill, your group will automatically lose all copy privileges.

Last, if you are interested in making large quantity copies (i.e., more than 100), we encourage you to use Office Max IMPRESS.

Mass Duplication

Sometimes more is better. If you are looking for a cheap place to make several copies of those great flyers you just made advertising your organization or the table tents that will grab everyone’s attention, Office Max IMPRESS is definitely the place for you, we have a contract with Office Max to provide digital printing services. Please click here for more info: Albion College and IMPRESS

Distribution

Listed below are the approximate numbers of copies to make for campus distributions:

• All Students-2000
• Faculty and Administrative Staff-250
• All faculty and All Staff-450
• Departments-90
• Kellogg Center Tables-50
• Organization Boxes-123
• Residential Life Bulletin Boards 80

You’ve Got Mail

Yes, the rumor is true, each registered student organization has a mailbox located in the CPO Office. Many important flyers (such as funding deadlines) are placed in these boxes. There are no prizes given for the organization that collects the most mail, so make sure that you check your mailbox frequently as boxes tend to fill up within a very short period of time.  Groups may have organizational mail and packages sent to the CPO office.  Clubs and organizations should use the following address to do so:

     Name of Albion College Student Organization Name
     Albion College
     Kellogg Center Box 4680
     Albion, MI  49068

If you are looking for a space for your organization to call home, the Kellogg Center may be just the place to lay your welcome mat. Each year organizations have the opportunity to apply for office and storage space in the KC. The process of allocating space begins around March for the following academic year. A group of cool cats, comprised of the Assistant Director for the Kellogg Center, the Director for the Campus Programs and Organizations Office, the Kellogg Center student staff, and a representative of the Student Senate meet to determine the allocation of space to student organizations that have applied.

(Hint: This means that March is always a good month to show your gratitude to members of the KC/CPO staff and candy is a good place to start.)

The group tries their best to assign space based on organization needs and of course reserves the right to take space away from groups who are not properly utilizing the allocated space. In other words, “Use it or lose it”.

Code Word “Golden”

No, we don’t have a high tech voice identity system in place to gain entry in to your student organization space, but we do have a system for key check- out that is easy enough for anyone to follow. First, keys are always available at the Kellogg Center Information Desk for check out to gain access to your organization’s space. It is the responsibility of each student organization to provide the Kellogg Center staff with a list of members that are approved to have access to your space. It is as simple as this, make the list and you get in. This won’t be the first time at Albion you need to be on a list to gain entry in to places, so best learn the system now.

Access to office and storage space is available during regular operating hours of the Kellogg Center: Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m., Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m., Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.