Q&A with Student Life Student Orgs. Coordinator Carmen Bao

Student Organization Coordinator Carmen Bao answered some questions through e-mail about how clubs work at OU:

Question: Can students register new clubs throughout the school year?

Carmen Bao: Yes, they can. The benefit to registering before the fall deadline is eligibility for UOSA funding for the next fall. A student organization has to be registered for a year before applying for UOSA funding.

Q: What can student organizations at OU offer to new students (this includes both freshmen and transfers)?

B: Student organizations offer students a place to foster current interests or develop new ones. They also bring students with common interests together.   

Q: What do a lot of student orgs. have in common as far as activities, exposure, membership, etc.?

B: While each student organization is unique and created to fit a certain set of students' needs, I have noticed that many of our student organizations take up philanthropic projects and fund-raise to help benefit a nonprofit or charity.

Q: Why do clubs have to re-register constitutions, and why are registration deadlines staggered by year? Do some clubs not re-register constitutions?

B: Every organization must re-register every fall to maintain its active status and remain eligible for UOSA funding. We do stagger the submission of constitutions because we found it was not necessary to resubmit a constitution every year. 

   We ask organizations to resubmit constitutions every three years. Every new organization must submit a constitution upon registration.

Q: What would inspire someone create a club, for groups ranging from Christians on Campus to Latin Dance Club?

   Students form organizations to meet their interests and to create a place to meet other people with a common interest. Many student organizations also wish to share their interest to others on campus who aren't a part of their organization.