Trying your hand at starting a club - The steps may seem overwhelming, but the results are rewarding

Don't be disheartened by the fact that Hopkins doesn't have a fly-fishing group, a group dedicated to appreciating French food, or even a student-run magazine -- it really is within reach to make these ideas a reality. Yet while it is certainly possible to begin the group of your dreams, it is an arduous task that needs to be well thought out.

Be assured, it will be an incredibly daunting task to navigate through the various procedures necessary to be recognized by the University as an official student group, and to receive funding by the Student Activities Commission (SAC) that will be necessary to run a new student organization. And this doesn't even begin to take into account how to organize a new group, how to create leadership for the group or how to attract members.

There are two levels of registration that most University-supported groups need to go through in order to become active groups. The first involves registering your group with the Office of Student Involvement.

After being recognized as a University-supported group, the group will be included in official student group lists that are given to the administration and others, will be able to reserve rooms for meetings, and will be able to reserve Hopkins-owned equipment.

You simply need to go online to the Office of Student Involvement Web site and include the mission of the group, events that are planned for the group's inaugural year and contact information for the group's leadership.

Whether or not a new group will gain approval is based on issues including how similar the new group is to an existing group, along with an assessment of the contribution the group would make to the Hopkins community and to the surrounding community of Baltimore.

Becoming an SAC-affiliated group and receiving money from the student council to support your group can amount to quite an undertaking.

Despite the complexity of this process, for most student groups the fund money provided by the SAC is essential to the club's formation. When planning to start a new organization, it is important to keep in mind that it will take about two years for a group to actually begin to receive money from the SAC.

The new group must draft a constitution, prove that membership in the group is at a certain level and that all officers must be in good academic standing. If the SAC approves these elements, the group is then able to enter into a trial period, referred to as the "green light period."

Getting funding from the SAC is notoriously difficult. For groups to effectively apply for funds, it is important for them to understand the SAC funding allocation process. Even those groups with well-written proposals to the SAC have lost out because of misunderstandings.

For example, to found a volunteering and charitable student organization you must take a slightly different route. While it is still necessary to register the group with the Office of Student Involvement, the group must then register with the CSC (Center for Social Concern.)

Approval from the CSC means that your new service organization will be able to receive University money, use the CSC van for group outings and even garner tax exemption status for purchases.

While it is certainly a long process to formulate a new student organization, your work will be long lasting. Established groups like the Barnstormers and the Octopodes all, at one time, had to go through it, and their efforts have had a continuing impact.