1. Arrange an Informal Meeting
Organise an informal meeting to get to know those interested in your club. This is the opportunity to discuss your constitution, aims and objectives, if you will charge a membership fee and if so how much and what the club activities will be.
2. Committee Roles
Decide on what positions you need to have in your committee (you must have a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer). You are not limited to these positions and may add other positions as needed eg Media Coordinator, Events Coordinator.
3. Draft your Constitution
Prepare a draft constitution for the club. A constitution is a document establishing the club and setting out the purposes and objectives for which it has come together. The constitution also sets out the rules under which the club will operate. Please note that the objectives of your club can not overlap those of any existing club.
The Clubs Coordinator can provide you with an electronic copy of the Griffith University Clubs Constitution template or alternatively you can download one from the resources section of the clubs website. It is intended as a guide only, however some of the sections contained within the document must be included. Other sections may also be added or deleted as needed - for example you may wish to have more positions on the committee or call them different names.
4. Inaugural General Meeting / Annual General Meeting
For clubs who are establishing for the first time, a meeting of the club must be held to elect committee members and adopt the clubs constitution. This meeting is called the inaugural general meeting. The process to follow to organise this meeting is as follows:
Before the meeting...
- Advise the Clubs Coordinator of the time and date of your meeting.
- Should you need a room booked for your inaugural meeting, this can also be done through the Clubs Coordinator. (All new clubs are entitled to a maximum of 2 free bookings prior to registration approval);
- Show your draft constitution to the Clubs Coordinator to ensure that all Campus Life requirements are adhered to and to avoid unnecessary delays later;
- Get a receipt book for recording details of membership payments, and a notebook for keeping minutes of meetings;
- Create a club membership form to collect details from members of your club. At the very least you need to have the members full name and student number;
- Publicise the meeting. Promotional avenues on campus are:
- Word of mouth ? tell everyone you know and ask them to spread the word;
- Posters / flyers ? clubs can place flyers on the poster poles around the campuses. A4 posters can also be distributed to the University's Residential Colleges (contact the Clubs Coordinator for further information and approval).
At the Meeting
For your inaugural general meeting, a suggested agenda is as follows:
- Open the meeting;
- Discuss aims, objectives and constitution of the club;
- Set membership fees (noting the minimum you are required to charge is $15 if requesting assistance from Campus Life) ;
- Collect membership fees and membership forms:
- give out receipts (members details must include student numbers on each receipt);
- Adopt the constitution - via a majority vote;
- Elect office bearers;
- General business;
- Set a date for the next meeting;
- Close the meeting.
* The proposed Secretary should take minutes of the meeting, including members present.
5. Submitting your Application for Registration
Collate the following items and submit them to the Clubs Coordinator.
- Membership list;
- Receipts of membership fees (to be sighted only);
- Clubs contact list;
- Minutes of inaugural general meeting;
- Club constitution;
- A written statement about the aims / purpose / mission statement of the club;
- A written statement about the activities to be conducted by the club;
- Club calendar of events.
Please be aware that applications for full registration are due at the end of week 3 in Semester 1 and Semester 2.
Should you wish to register your club after week 3 you may do so however your club will only be eligible for provisional registration until the next round of applications for full registration are accepted. Provisionally registered clubs will not have full entitlements to club benefits until they are fully registered.