Students Face Obstacles in Creating New Organizations on Campus at Catholic U.

By Paige Wearmouth

To create a new student organization on campus, one that is recognized by the Office of Campus Activities (OCA), a student must complete a four step process. Also, the proposed club must be non-discriminatory and open to the entire Catholic University community. Furthermore, the club must adhere to the missions of the University and conform to the principles of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Student Organization Proposal and Registration Process, which can be found on the Student Organization Resource Center website, outlines the four steps and provides important deadlines for each part. The review process takes approximately three months.

To begin, a student must submit an organization proposal to the Office of Campus Activities through the Nest. A proposal must be submitted the semester prior to when the organization plans to commence activity. The proposal must be approved before any further action may be taken.

Next, if the proposal has been approved, the founding student must arrange for one meeting to be held with potential members, for the purpose of recruitment and general organization.
Following this, the organization must be registered on the Nest, with the inclusion of six members, one advisor, and a constitution.

The last step of the process includes a final review of the organization by the Office of Campus Activities, which will ultimately lead to approval and campus-wide recognition, or denial, and mandatory training sessions.

The in-depth approval and registration procedures have raised some concerns about the Office of Campus Activities and their registration process in general, among students who have tried to found student organizations.

Conor Mittelstadt and Jackson Etting, both junior Politics majors, are currently in the process of having their bipartisan non-profit organization, No Labels, recognized on campus by the Office of Campus Activities.

“It took a lot of work,” said Mittelstadt, referring to his experience of working with OCA to get No Labels off the ground.

According to Mittelstadt, the required paperwork was submitted, within the deadline period, to OCA for authorization at the conclusion of the last spring semester. However, the organization is still in the beginning stages of the registration process.

After waiting for over a month with no response, Mittelstadt was informed that the No Labels proposal had been denied by the Office of Campus Activities. No explanation was provided for the denial.

“They didn’t see the request, so they denied it,” said Mittelstadt. “We were denied with no explanation.”

Following further pursuit, OCA allowed No Labels to move on to the next step of the recognition process, but Mittelstadt was left displeased with the system used by OCA to approve clubs.

“I think it is very restricting on new organizations on campus,” said Mittelstadt. “There is too much red tape; everything should be case by case.”

Although Mittelstadt is continuing the process to start an organization, the length and regulations of the required procedure has prevented some students from completing, or even attempting, to found a club.

Michael Poll, junior Anthropology major, attempted to start an archery club, but decided the process set forth by the Office of Campus Activities was too overbearing.

“You would exhaust yourself trying to get it up and running to not have enough energy to continue it, or you would see the mountain in front of you and just kind of back away,” said Poll.

To begin a club sport, the University requires a probationary period of one academic year. During this period, the proposed club must go through the procedures required by OCA, maintain at least fifteen members and a coach, provide documentation including health exams, consent waivers, and hazing contracts, and become identified with a regional or national league.

“Club sports, I can definitely see why there would be a longer process, but no one should be so deterred from the process that they don’t go to make any action on it,” said Poll. “It took away from being the social atmosphere to being a real sport, I wanted to have both, in a sense, but have the real sport idea be a little bit smaller. That was not the main focus, it was to enjoy something.”

For more information regarding regulations, deadlines, and forms to start a new student organization, visit sorc.cua.edu/NewStudentOrg.cfm.