Dear Reader,

Welcome to the Student Government Association of the University of Vermont. Within this packet is information and directions to help you start the club of your choice.

The Student Activities Committee is your source for one on one help through this process. The "road to recognition" is not a challenging one, but it does take work.

You have already completed the first step by finding an idea for a club. Now that you have the idea you need to go out to within the school community and find other people interested in your club.

The best way to find people is to advertise by hanging up posters and fliers around campus. Then set up a meeting and introduce the school to your club.

Now that you have a contingency and all the paper work that is needed to be completed, your journey continues. Once all the paperwork is done, set up an interview with the Student Activities Committee, to present them with your club.

This is just a brief interlude to the steps to take to start a club, here at UVM. The Student Activities Committee, is your best source for advice and aide.

If you have any questions, you can call the Student Activities Office at 656-8810 or the SGA office at 656-2053.

Sincerely,

The Student Activities Committee

• Create a Mission Statement and Purpose for the club/organization. The mission statement should be 1-3 sentences on the main focus of the organization. The Purpose should be 4-8 sentences on what you plan to do as an SGA Recognized club
• Create a Membership List with all members The membership list should have the names, class, and email addresses of all members of the club/organization
• Create a Constitution for the club/organization The constitution will be the backbone of your organization, it will have all the information on how the club will run, the duties of the officers, and more. (More information within the packet)
• Names of Officers and Advisor The Officer's form is attached, please fill it out completely There are further instructions for finding an advisor, see the attached form
• Schedule of Events, Activities and Meetings This list is tentative but it gives the Student Activities Committee the sense of what you are planning to do.

Once you have completed everything above, bring it to the SGA Office on the 1st Floor of Billings and set up an interview with the Student Activities Committee. You can do this by contacting the SGA Secretary at 656-2053.

Article 1 Name of Organization

Article 2 Purpose and Goals
Section 1. The Purpose of your organization is…
Section 2. The Major Goals of your organization are…

Article 3 Expectations of Members
For this Article, you should include any obligations that your members must comply with, i.e. dues, events, meetings, etc.

Article 4 Officers Section 1. (May include more Sections)-each officer should be a Separate Section in Article 4 to describe the job description And duties of each officer. SGA requires at least a President and Treasurer for each club
Section 2. The Election of Officers-SGA requires that elections take place before April 1st for the next set of officers.

Article 5 Meeting and Quorum
Section 1.Frequency of Meetings-this section should include when your club meets, where your club meets, and how often your club meets.
Section 2.Percentage of members needed to conduct business to have Quorum. Quorum is 2/3rd for all SGA recognized clubs.

Article 6 General Provisions
For this Article, you should include anything that specifically applies to your club that does not fit in another article, i.e. standing committees, etc.

Article 7 Amendments
For this Article, you should specify how amendments to your Constitution are to be made

Article 8 Removal of Officers
There may be a time when your club officers are not acting in the best interest of the club, by a 2/3rd vote of your members you may remove him/her from the position and replace them with another club member by election.

Article 9 By-Laws
For this Article, you should include the specific details which your group had decided will be standard procedure.

****** Please conclude the Constitution with the month and year it is written******

The interview will be setup through the SGA Secretary. Once you have completed all the necessary paper work, go to the SGA Office on the 1st Floor of Billings and see out secretary. She will setup an appointment with you to meet with the Student Activities Committee.

The interview will take place in front of the 7 person committee. The committee will review your Constitution, make suggestions and ask you questions pertaining to your club. Also make sure that you read Article VII of the SGA Constitution (included in this packet) to find out what qualification you meet in regards to recognition. If you have less then 8 members, not including officers, the Student Activities Committee will require you to recruit more members unless the Committee deems it appropriate for the club to go before Senate for recognition. The Committee is here to help you; they will not turn you away.

If you have over 8 members, not including officers, the Student Activities Committee will hold the interview and upon approval of the Committee, will bring your club in front of the Senate for recognition.

Once you are brought in front of the Senate, the Senate will vote to see if you should be SGA recognized. If you are approved, you will be contacted by a Liaison from the Student Activities Committee to receive the SGA Club packet. This packet will have information pertaining to the Monthly Report Forms, Advisor information, and much more.

If you have any questions, please call the Student Activities Office at 656-8810 or the SGA Office at 656-2053.

Section 1. Student Organizations are those groups that the Student Government has granted the authority to:

A. Enroll UVM students who are members of the SGA.
B. Use the name "University of Vermont" and "UVM."
C. Become eligible for funding upon recommendation of the Student Activities Committee.
D. Use space in University buildings and on University grounds.
E. Place notices on University bulletin boards.

Section 2. In order to be eligible for recognition a student organization:

A. Shall contribute to the cultural, social, educational or recreational welfare of its membership and support purpose of the Student Government as set forth by this Constitution.
B. Shall not allow non-student participation in their organization and activities. However, should a student organization wish to justify a temporary non-student role (as in an instructional function) they may petition the Student Activities Committee for approval.
C. Shall exercise direction and control over its programming.
D. Shall select a full time instructional or administrative officer of the UVM as its advisor.
E. Shall fulfill reasonable administrative and informative responsibilities imposed by the Student Government.
F. Shall provide an inventory of all equipment acquired with SGA funds by April 30 of each year. This information shall be kept up to date and subject to verification by the Finance Committee.
G. Shall provide the Finance Committee with information concerning all financial policies in writing upon request.
H. Shall re-submit a copy of its Constitution and Statement of Purpose to the Student Activities Committee for annual review and approval.
I. Shall remain active. In-activity shall be determined by the Student Activities Committee.
J. Shall Abide by the SGA Code of Conduct.
K. Shall hold officer elections for the following fall semester by April 1.

Section 3. In order to apply for recognition a club must meet the following membership qualifications:

A. A group that comes forward for recognition with a membership greater that eight (not including executive officers) shall be considered for recognition upon recommendation from the Student Activities Committee.
B. An organization must meet the guidelines outlined in Article VII, Section 2, unless deemed unnecessary by the Student Activities committee.
C. Any group that comes forward for recognition with a membership less than eight members shall not be considered for recognition, unless deemed appropriate by the Student Activities committee.

Section 4. In order to apply for recognition, a group must meet the qualifications outlined in Section 3, submit to the Student Activities Committee a Statement of Purpose, a Constitution, and comply with reasonable requests for other information.

Section 5. In order to maintain status as an SGA recognized organization, each organization must submit an official SGA Report Form by the fifth of every month. The report form must be signed by the organization's President and will include information about meetings, membership, projects for the past month, and upcoming projects. Failure to hand in report forms can constitute sanctions as outlined in Section 6.

Section 6. Shall allow for monitoring and participate in the annual review of the Organization by the Student Activities Committee. When the Student Activities Committee finds that an organization is not in compliance with University Policies, the SGA constitution, the SGA Code of Conduct, local, state, or federal laws it shall recommend to the Senate that the student organization be sanctioned. A resolution shall be submitted to the Senate outlining the reason why the student organization is being sanctioned. A majority vote of the Senate shall be required to sanction a student organization.

Section 7. Sanctions and De-recognition

A. The Student Activities Committee shall use the following sanctions at their discretion and when necessary recommend sanctions to the Senate for approval.
  1. The Student Activities Committee shall have the authority to recommend any sanctions, in the form of a bill, they deem appropriate if an SGA organization is found to be in violation of University Policies, the SGA Code of Conduct, SGA Constitution, local, state, or federal law. All sanctions, excluding censure, shall require a majority approval of the Senate.
  2. The Student Activities committee shall use censures to monitor the willingness of SGA organizations to comply with SGA administrative practices.
    a. A censure shall be recorded when a student organization has committed an infraction deemed minor by the Student Activities Committee.
    b. Senate approval shall not be required for the Student Activities Committee to issue a censure
  3. The Student Activities Committee shall have the authority to recommend de-recognition of any SGA organization found to be inactive

Section 8. No SGA organization shall discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, Religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, Age, economic or social class, major, or minor.

Section 9. No student organization may reject any student on any basis stated in Section 7 without providing written justification to the specific student or students and the Student Activities Committee. Written justification is as follows:

A. The student organization must inform the student or students in question with a formal letter. The letter shall only tell the student or students that they are under question by the student organization and to contact the Student Activities Committee for further information.
B. The student organization must inform the Student Activities Committee of the Student Government with a written letter explaining why the student organization would like to reject a specific student or students into their club or meeting.
  1. The student organization's President, Vice-President, and advisor must sign these letters. These people must be the official representatives of the student organization that are currently recognized by the Student Activities Committee.
  2. The letters must be sent to the parties within ten business days prior to the hearing.
C. A hearing must then be arranged. The two parties are to present their cases to the Student Activities Committee at which point the committee will decide if the requests are valid.
  1. If the Student Activities Committee deems the request valid it shall defer the request to University officials.

Before you are ready to meet with the Activities Committee you need to find an advisor that best suits the function of your club, we recommend an advisor that is somehow linked or interested in the purpose of your club. Your advisor should attend club meetings, give council, and be an active member of the club. The advisor is bound to your club and its actions, please keep this in mind at all times.

From your advisor we are requesting a letter of recommendation for your club. The letter's content should express the willingness of the advisor to be a part of the club, show that they understand how they will be bound to the club and should include the advisors recommendation for recognition of the club. Please include this signed letter in the Club Recognition Packet and present it to the Student Activities Committee at your pre-recognition meeting.