Interested in starting your own club? Check out what's involved below. You should also take a look at the Clubs Manual (you can download it now) and refer to this document regularly throughout the year when you are in any doubt regarding club related issues.
Firstly you need to get a group of people with similar interests who would like to start a club. You need at least 10 current DUSA Access Members to form a club - get the students name, telephone number, student ID and signature. All this information needs to be filled out on the New Club Sign Up Sheet.
All clubs must adhere to the Clubs Charter. This ensures that the club you wish to establish is in the best interest of the students and does not already exist.
Write a club constitution - you will need to use the DUSA model constitution (above right) unless your club plans to become incorporated. There are inherent differences between an incorporated and unincorporated club. It is important you understand the legal ramifications for both, in particular the responsibility for the Executive of an incorporated club.
From your list of potential members you need to elect an Executive Committee to administer the club. You must elect a President, Secretary and Treasurer as a minimum. Careful consideration should be given to this and the people should possess the skills required to fulfil the roles. Brief position descriptions can be supplied by your Clubs Officer. Furthermore it can be a good idea to not have students all in their last year of study so that a level of stability can be created at your executive level to carry through to the next year.
The club must then meet with the executive to create a budget (you can download the sample budget template in the top right corner of this page) and a calendar of events for the year ahead. These should be realistic and you may need to do a little research to establish realistic expenses.
All information must then be presented to the Clubs and Societies Officer for approval. Accompanying all of this should also be a covering letter that gives an overview of the proposed club and its purpose. The following checklist will help in gathering all the necessary information required:
Once the Clubs and Societies Officer has approved or rejected the application for a new club, the club will be notified in writing. If the club is approved, the club must then get at least 10 current DUSA Access members each paying the advertised club membership fee. This should be collected by a member(s) of the club executive. Once the list of financial members along with the money for the membership fees has been presented to DUSA, the club will then be granted funding according to the funding guidelines.