There are over 300 student organizations at the University of North Dakota run and organized by students. Each organization offers unique opportunities to become actively involved on campus. However, it is impossible for each of these organizations to represent the interests of the entire student body on campus. That is why it is easier than ever to start up your own student organization if you have adequate support to follow your cause.  

The first place that you will want to visit, if you are thinking about starting a student organization, is visiting the UND’s student involvement page “https://und.edu/student-life/student-involvement/student-organizations.html,” which outlines in detail the necessary steps to cartelize the exciting process of starting up your own organization for yourself and others to get involved on campus. 

The first step that you will want to take is visiting one of the numerous in person “How to Form” a student organization sessions that will be taking place at the Memorial Union in Room 103, which highlights the expectations you are expected to meet prior to starting a student organization.  

After attending one of these sessions and deciding that your potential student organization will benefit the UND community, you should submit an “Intent to Organize” form to the student involvement office. Following this step, you must attend a constitution meeting by setting up a formal meeting with the Student Involvement and Parent Programs Staff council.  

With their guidance, you will now be able to submit a draft of your organization’s constitution. Upon preliminary approval of your constitution, you will then have to go through the process of obtaining signatures verifying interest in your club and submitting a finalized version of your constitution prior to registering your organization through UND.  

Registration for student organizations is currently open, and the set deadline for new organizations this year is set to be Wednesday, September 18. Upon the completion of the mandatory training and paperwork that coincides with starting up an organization, you should be set and ready to embrace the challenges that coincide with starting up a new club.   

I had the opportunity to speak with the current president of the Roundnet Club, Zane Wahlstrom, and asked him about his experience in forming an organization. “Starting a student organization was scary at first, but worth it in the end,” Wahlstrom said. “Between meeting new people who share similar interests as you and the lifelong skills you develop by running an organization from scratch has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” and he encourages others to do the same.  

If you are thinking about starting your own student organization for something that interests you, I encourage you to take the same leap that Wahlstrom took with the Roundnet Club as it offers an invaluable experience here at UND.  

Daniel Silva is a Dakota Student General Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].