TCU students wanting to start new organizations on campus will now have to begin their application process even earlier.
The new deadline to submit an application is May 2. Prior to the change, students had until August to submit applications.
“We want to help organizations be prepared and get as much support over summer as they can,” Director of Student Organizations Brett Phillips said in regard to the changed deadline.
There are currently 240 recognized student organizations at TCU, but that number grows every semester. Phillips said that on average eight to ten new student organizations start each semester and he expects that trend to continue.
TCU’s total of 240 student organizations is actually less than most of the other similarly-sized universities across the state.
Any TCU student can start a student organization as long as the group follows the six steps set up by Student Development Services.
Six steps:
- Meet with Student Organizations
- Secure an advisor
- Find interested students
- Complete online application for recognition
- Attend the mandatory Risk Management Training
- Be approved by The Office of Student Organizations
Senior mechanical engineering major Matthew Antony said that creating a constitution, part of the fourth step, was the biggest challenge when creating the TCU App Club, an organization for people interested in mobile programming.
Every organization must write an original constitution containing the fundamental principles pertaining to the operation of the organization, according to TCU’s student organization website.
There are 14 different categories a student organization at TCU can fall under. The officers of the organizations choose the category that best fits their organization.
Junior economics and political science major Jennifer Tomany and her friend created a student organization called ONE at TCU this semester.
One is part of a worldwide campaigning and advocacy organization of more than 3.5 million people aimed at ending extreme poverty and preventable disease, according the organization’s website. Tomany said the hardest part of bringing to ONE to TCU was funding.
The majority of funding for student organizations comes from the Student Government Association (SGA), which has a budget of $100,000 a year for student organization funding.
Phillips said his department, Student Development Services, has no funding connected to it.
However, new organizations can not apply for funding until being active for a full year.
“So right now we don’t have funding because we are still in our first year,” Tomany said. “It’s kind of annoying.”
Some organizations raise money by collecting membership dues although this is not required by TCU student organizations.
For more information on student organizations go to: http://tcu.orgsync.com/home.
