By Jonathan Hiser
Student club formation and disbandment are ordinary occurrences at UP, with the 2007-2008 school year seeing the formation of three clubs and the dissolution of one.
However, approximately 10 clubs currently face the possibility of forced disbandment by Student Activities if they fail to meet end-of-the-year club rerecognition requirements.
Each year, clubs must attend a mandatory club rerecognition meeting to renew their sponsorship. Student Activities Director Jeromy Koffler said the rerecognition meetings are a small but important step in making contact with clubs and any new officers.
"We want to get a clear picture of what clubs we'll have for next year," Koffler said.
More than 20 of the 57 currently recognized clubs failed to attend one of the two scheduled club re-recognition meetings.
"It's not unusual, but it's not ordinary," Koffler said. "Usually three-fourths make it to the meetings."
Student Activities established a third meeting time for clubs that failed to attend the prior two. Koffler said the clubs that didn't attend must now schedule individual meetings with Student Activities.
"We'll probably have to track down the rest of them, or they risk losing their recognition," Koffler said.
Contacting clubs proved particularly time-consuming this year, as Student Activities' Coordinator of Clubs and Organizations, Heather Lee, is out on maternity leave. Koffler said he is filling the staff role until a new person is hired.
Reasons for a lack of club communication vary, according to Koffler, but common reasons include dated contact lists, officer apathy or club dissolution.
Such is the case for the Martial Arts Club, which was created two years ago and dissolved following the graduation of its creator.
"So unless they got new leadership, I wouldn't be surprised they disbanded," said Allison Able, ASUP senator and chair of the Club Recognition Advisory Committee.
Allison agreed that conflict in student schedules can and does create meeting conflicts.
"I think it's a common problem in making the time, and maybe that's something we need to look at for next year," Able said. "But I think it's always pretty much the same problems."
Able and Koffler agreed that in addition to having more days for the meetings, the clubs should understand that the meeting is not optional.
"I don't think that is necessarily emphasized enough," Able said. "Especially with new leadership, sometimes you have no idea of what is going on because the year before you didn't leave good instructions."
A dissolved club is effectively erased from the university. A club's Web site, funding and its description in the UP catalog are all revoked.
"If a club dissolves, it's not a good thing," Koffler said. "It takes a long time for them to build it back up."
