If a student wanted to start a gummy bear club at The University of Memphis, what would that person need to do in order to get started?
The office of Student Activities has recently put up a Web site that allows students to organize a group online by registering and submitting an application. Current Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) can renew online, too.
“The site has been up about one or two weeks so far and a few organizations have started working on it,” said Angie Dunlap, coordinator of Student Activities.
She said any student can start a group online, but there are a few must-haves for the organization to be considered.
“All groups have to have at least 10 members and a faculty advisor,” Dunlap said. “Another important part of it is for the group to have a constitution, which we help them with.”
One U of M student believes this new feature will greatly benefit students and make it easier to manage groups on campus.
“The online process opens the door for students who would not have taken time to fill out paperwork before to form groups,” said Chris Harris, a senior journalism major.
She added that she was involved with a possible Habitat for Humanity chapter at The U of M and was told to wait until the easier online process began.
Another highly-involved student on another campus believes a process like this could yield some not-so-serious groups, however.
Matt Breeden, a sophomore at Rhodes College, likes the idea of an online-based registration process as long as “not just anyone” could get approval.
“It sounds like a good idea as long as nonsense groups weren’t selected,” he said. “(At Rhodes) we have to go through lots of committees, so (The U of M) process seems smoother now, though.”
The site notes that a submitted application does not necessarily mean the organization will be approved.
Along with the submitted online application, a constitution with bylaws must be submitted and forms must be printed and signed by group members and advisors.
“Our department decided to make it online now in order to make it easier to organize and renew student groups,” Dunlap said.
To view the page with application details and information go to: https://saweb.memphis.edu/rsoreg/index.asp
