Starting a Club or Organization

Confirm your organization is unique. Search the Club & Org directory on GatorXperience. If a similar club exists, we recommend reaching out to them first. If your vision is distinct, move to Step 2.

• Note for Sports Clubs: If your organization involves competitive sports, please contact the Sport Clubs Coordinator, Adeboye Adeyemi (aadeyemi@sfsu.edu) directly before proceeding, as additional safety and insurance requirements apply.

Email activities@sfsu.edu to formally state your intent to start a new organization. Your message should include:

1. Name of the Organization
2. Purpose of the Organization
3. What will the organization do?
4. Why do you want to start this organization?

Requests to start a new organization are reviewed by the Director and Assistant Director of the department. 

You are welcome to begin drafting content for the next steps while you engage in this step. However, we advise you receive our confirmation to proceed before getting to far. 

To be recognized, your club must maintain 5 minimum members. Additionally, the CSU requires that recognized clubs maintain 5 officer positions throughout the year. If the club only has 5 members, they must all serve as the officers of record. The CSU requires the officer roles of President and Treasurer, but the remaining 3 officer positions may be defined by the organization itself (i.e. Vice-president, Secretary, Communications Manager, Historian).

To serve as an officer of record, students must meet the following criteria:

• Degree-seeking undergraduate or graduate student at SFSU
• In good academic and conduct standing.
• Have a minimum SF State GPA of 2.0
• Undergraduate must maintain active enrollment in  6 units or more; Graduate students must maintain enrollment in 3 units or more.
• Students cannot exceeded the maximum allowable completed units  (Undergrad: 150 units, Graduate: 50 units)

Every RSO must have a dedicated faculty or staff advisor who is a part-time or full-time SF State employee. Student employees and graduate assistants are not permitted to serve as the advisor. 

The advisor will be required to sign annual recognition forms. As a part of the recognition process, the advisor will sign an agreement to serve for one full academic year. 

To serve as an advisor of record, advisors must meet the following criteria:

• Employed by SFSU in a full-time or part-time position. (AS and Ucorp employees cannot serve as the advisor of record)
• Cannot be a student enrolled in undergraduate or masters level courses at SFSU. (Doctoral candidates who hold fulltime faculty/staff employee positions at SFSU may serve as advisors)
• Must be able to serve the full 1-year term.

Your constitution is the governing document for your club. It must include specific CSU-mandated clauses regarding non-discrimination and democratic leadership.

The CSU provides a pre-approved template which new clubs can use to establish a founding document. 

Clubs must submit an application for official university recognition. In this application, you will upload your constitution, membership/officer roster, and provide information that will appear on the club's GatorXperience Profile Page. Additionally, this application will initiate the Ucorp Bank Account Authorization and Faculty/Staff Advisor Agreement. This will be done inside the application itself via Adobe Acrobat Sign (an online document signing service similar to DocuSign.)

Application period are typically during the beginning parts of the fall and spring semester. Dates and deadlines will shift year to year based on the calendar. 

Instructions: Log-in to the website, then navigate to the "Orgs" tile on the left side and select, “Register an Organization,” and then “Register a New Organization” on the next page. 

The 5 officers of record  are required to attend a meeting with a Student Activities staff member to finalize the club's application approval. Once the application is submitted, our staff will reach out to schedule this meeting. It is mandatory that all 5 officers attend the initial meeting to confirm the club.