Seton Hall University’s Student Government Association (SGA) is starting up its Fall 2019 Student Organization Advisory Committee (SOAC) soon. The committee reviews new club applications to determine if they will become SGA recognized and become eligible for funding.
For clubs looking to get approved by the committee, there is an entire process that they must go through. First, they must fill out the application, stating what their club is, who is going to be taking part in it and what the club is going to do. After their application is reviewed, the club will be asked to put together a presentation to present in front of the SOAC.
This presentation is a chance for the club to explain their club in more detail and present their case for why they should become an SGA recognized organization as well as receiving future funding. It is also a chance for the members of the SOAC to ask any questions they have for the club. The committee will also be looking for any inconsistencies in the applications and presentations.
All clubs will present on the same day and the SOAC will deliberate and release their final decisions a few weeks later.
The committee is chaired by SGA Secretary, Elise Kerim, as well as two other members of SGA, two students who have no affiliation with SGA, two faculty members and a Senate Speaker.
After a club has been approved by the SOAC, there are many benefits that they will receive. Some of these benefits include access to the administrators of the Student Life department for things like fundraising and access to a network made up of all the other SGA recognized clubs on campus for support and help. Another benefit is a University bank account to keep track of money made through fundraising, and, after a year of being an officially recognized organization, they will receive a yearly budget from the SGA.
When asked why students should consider going through the SOAC process to get their club officially recognized, SOAC chair and SGA Secretary, Elise Kerim said, “Student leaders on the executive board of any of our student organizations here at SHU have been able to take student organizations to new heights by bringing in a fresh set of ideas, and through this, they are also providing leadership training to the members of their club.”
Serenity Thom, a sophomore marketing major and the President of the newly reformed Seton Hall Yearbook Club, recently went through the process of filling out the SOAC application to get the club recognized. She said she thinks the process has been pretty straightforward and easy so far. She did find some difficulty with some of the application, saying, “I understood the need for all the questions they asked though some of them were hard to fill out because as a new club we are not entirely sure what programs we wish to host.”
The application for clubs looking to take part in the Fall 2019 committee and receive recognition of an official SGA club closes at noon on Oct. 18.
Nora El Houssini can be reached at nora.elhoussini@student.shu.edu.
