Club Resources

Recruiting New Members

New members are the life of any organization. They provide new ideas, enthusiasm and keep the team moving after graduation. Everyone wants new members. New organizations are starting all the time. As the number of student groups increases, the competition for new members intensifies. Keys to successful recruitment include participation in scheduled Involvement Fairs and Open Houses, planning programs for the beginning of the Fall semester, and submitting your club registration form on time so Student Life & Activities can direct interested students to the current club leadership.

Look objectively at your organization: What is our purpose? What are our future plans? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you define who you want to recruit and how you want to recruit them. Think of the things your organization has to offer to prospective members. Make sure you review your club web-page so that it accurately reflects the message you want to send about your student organization.

Be sure to incorporate what you have to offer into your publicity. Your new members (like your returning members) will need to feel like they belong in the group. Get them involved in the workings of the organization. Get to know them. Help them get to know you. Let them know that their contributions are needed and appreciated. Following these steps will lead to a more enjoyable and rewarding experience for everyone!

Club Executive Board Members

A common executive board is made up of:

• President – presides over meetings, acts as the spokesperson for the group, calls meetings and acts as the overall official for the organization.

• Vice President – usually heads special committees and acts in the place of the President in their absence.

• Secretary – keeps records of the meetings and formal business, as well as writes letters for the organization.

• Treasurer – keeps financial records of the organizations, keeps the officers’ roster up to date and prepares the budget.

There are other positions that could serve on an executive board (parliamentarian, public relations, etc.) If your group needs help determining club needs, don’t hesitate to contact Student Life & Activities for assistance.

Students who serve in these leadership positions must be currently enrolled for a minimum of six college credits (active – not audit status) and must be in good academic standing.

Fundamental Rights of Individuals Involved in Organizations

• The right to maintain close contact in relationships with friends and family members who are not involved in the organization.
• The right to disagree with group members without being belittled.
• The right to say “no” or “I need to think about this,” whether it is about expectations of members, dues, activities, or time requirements.
• The right to ask questions and to express opinions.
• The right to know the history of the organization.
• The right to be respected as an individual.
• The right to withdraw from the organization without fear or humiliation.

Responsibilities of Organizations

• Along with the benefits of becoming a registered student organization at Brookdale Community College, there are certain responsibilities that must be fulfilled. These responsibilities are outlined below:
• All clubs must have an updated Constitution on file in the Office of Student Life & Activities.
• All clubs must have an updated list of officers and advisors on file with the Office of Student Life & Activities.
• All officers must be currently enrolled in six or more Brookdale Community College credits (active – not audit status)
• All clubs must have an advisor who is employed by Brookdale Community College.
• Membership must be open to all full and part time students at all campuses.
• Club meetings must be held in an open and accessible space. If you have a specific ADA request, please contact Disability Services.
• Clubs will follow all Brookdale Community College policies and procedures, as well as local, state, and federal laws.
• Clubs and their members will comply with Brookdale Community College’s anti-discrimination and anti-hazing policies.
• The club’s money must be maintained in an account with Brookdale Community College. No outside bank accounts are permitted.
• Officers will accept responsibility for all program planning functions, from room reservations to the supervision of events and activities.

Officers will develop honest and open lines of communication with the club’s advisor and the office of Student Life & Activities, keeping them apprised of the group’s activities.

Advisor Roles

• Advisors, with rare exceptions, volunteer their time and efforts to student organizations without financial compensation. At all times they should be appreciated and valued for the work they do for students.
• Advisors should be knowledgeable in the nature of the club (i.e. how to assist the club in reaching goals/purpose)
• Advisors must sign off on all requests. This includes room reservations, food service requests and any application for funding.
• The advisors are not the club leader but a consultant that initiates ideas or information applicable to the club’s interest. All decisions must be student driven.
• Advisors should make every attempt to attend club meetings. Meeting minutes must be sent to advisor for any meeting that is missed.
• Advisors will serve as event chaperones. In the event they are unable to attend an event, it is necessary that another Brookdale employee is chosen.
• Advisors should assist students in ensuring the club maintains accurate records of club business.

Working With Your Advisor Effectively

Communicate! Make sure your advisor is informed of all activity of the club, including meeting times, programs, votes, upcoming discussions, and any other pertinent information.

Ensure your advisor is interested with respect to club activity, try to get them engaged and involved as you would any club member.

Provide them with copies of the minutes and agendas prior to start of meetings.

Allow space on the agenda for your advisor, in case they wish to address the club.

Allow your advisor to advise and not dictate the actions of the club – set ground rules with your advisor as to their specific role at the start of each academic year to avoid confusion and potential frustrations.

In some cases, the relationship that develops between Advisor and Advisee is not good or productive. A relationship where there has been no discussion of expectations, no clarification of roles—and everyone is doing a lot of guessing and even more assuming—is a strong indication that this relationship could be in trouble.

These expectations should be discussed and processed at the beginning of the year. After your groups expectations have been laid out, it would be helpful to distribute these to group members. It is also important to update them or reflect on whether or not the expectations are being met throughout the year.

For more information, check out the Advisor Checklist.

Club Registration

Every year recognized student groups must re-register with the Office of Student Life & Activities and the Student Life Board. The registration form includes a request for a list of club leaders, a club roster, an advisor agreement and a request for the most current club constitution (if not on file). Each Brookdale club must have at least 10 currently registered students as members and a Brookdale employee who is willing to serve as an advisor in order to remain active on campus.

Forms are due within the first month of the fall semester. If a club misses the fall deadline, they can also re-register in beginning of the spring semester. The information on your roster is entered into an online database, and is used when you propose events and activities to check membership. Please make sure, as membership changes, that you are updating the roster periodically with the office of Student Life & Activities.

If you have any questions about this process please contact Student Life & Activities.

Program Proposal Process

When starting to plan a program, start by meeting with your club/organization and discuss program details. This should be done at least 5 weeks in advance (for major events even earlier!). After finalizing the details, a member of your club should fill out the online proposal.

Please make sure that you complete this form fully, including contact information or any funding requests. Please fill out the form as completely as possible, as Student Life & Activities and/or the Finance Committee will need to contact you if there are any questions or to give you an answer on the approval.

When you submit the form electronically, it is received by Student Life & Activities. If you are asking for money from the Finance Committee, please submit the form with plenty of time prior to the proposed event date to ensure enough time for Finance Committee review and approval. Please make sure a member of your club is in attendance at the Finance Committee meeting to discuss the proposal.

Scheduling Space

To be sure there is a room available, please schedule a room through the Scheduling department. You want to click on the link for the Online Facilities Request From and fill it out with as much information as possible. Before submitting, please print a copy for your records. You will receive approval via email from the Scheduling office. If you need technical support for your event (a microphone, a projector, etc.) please note this where asked on the reservation form. If you want to go over technical details and your event is in the SLC or Arena you may review your needs with the event management staff.

Note: Just because Scheduling has approved your room, does not mean that the Office of Student Life & Activities has also approved your program proposal. If Student Life & Activities has approved your event that does not mean that you have a room reserved. These are two separate but connected processes.

If you are planning a program at one of Brookdale’s Regional Locations, please reach out to the appropriate Student Services Associate Director.  They will be able to help you make all the arrangements.  Remember, each club/org is required to do one program per year at a regional location.

Program Details

(Catering, Contracting a Performer/Lecturer, Paying Bills)

After you have received approval from Student Life & Activities, you will need to fill out the appropriate paperwork for your event.

If needed, this includes the Student Catering Form and an artist/performer/lecturer contract.

The Student Catering Form was designed to cut costs for club/organizations, and in return, the food ordered will need to be picked up in the Student Life Center across from Navesink III. If you plan to order food for your event or meeting, the Student Catering Form is due to Student Life & Activities at least 3 business days before your event.

In the event that your club/organization is looking to have a larger-scale event, please utilize the Catering Menu and Catering Form available. Print and fill this form out, have your advisor sign it and then bring it to Student Life & Activities. Culinart catering needs these forms submitted two weeks before an event.

The artist/performer/lecturer contract can also be picked up at the Office of Student Life & Activities, SLC room 101. (It is a triplicate form so we cannot provide it online).  You will need your artist/performer/lecturer to sign the form, including social security/tax ID number (we cannot submit the form unless this is included). Anyone who is contracted also needs to complete a W-9 form, which must be submitted with the contract in order to process payment.

Submit these forms to the Office of Student Life & Activities in SLC 101.  They will be reviewed by Student Life & Activities, who will then submit the contract for payment. Remember: checks take at least SIX WEEKS to process.

Showing a Film

(Public Viewings of Movies and Videos and Copyright Law)

If your organization intends to show a video for a social event, meeting or other purpose, please be advised that it is required by Copyright Laws that your group purchase the licensing for the film. It is a violation of the law to pick up the movie at a local video store, regardless of whether or not you charge a fee. Neither the rental nor purchase of a video/DVD carries with it the right to show that movie outside of a home.

Obtaining a public performance license is relatively simple, but does come with a fee. For assistance with acquiring the appropriate licensing, please talk to Student Life & Activities.

Advertising & Promoting Your Event

After approval, you are welcome to start publicizing your event. Please do not advertise any event prior to its approval by Student Life & Activities.

If you are planning a major event that you believe needs the support of a professionally designed, printed flyer, Student Life can work with the College Relations Design and Production creative team to create flyers, posters, etc. This process takes about six weeks, so plan accordingly and work with Student Life.

Another way to promote your event is via flyers or posters that you create. You can always make up to 50 black and white copies at any college copier using your Club’s copy code. If you want to print on color paper see Student Life & Activities for a supply. To make color-ink photocopies you must submit your flyer electronically to Student Life & Activities so that they can forward the flyer to the college Print Shop. It usually takes 5 business days to get a color flyer back from the Print Shop.

At any time you may submit 6 of your flyers to the Student Life Center Ticket Window for the Student Ambassadors to post on bulletin boards controlled by the office of Student Life & Activities. These postings are done every Friday.

Things to Consider When Planning an Event

When student organizations are planning an event, there are a number of items to be considered:

• Is this the event for us?
• Is this something that will be of interest for the audience you hope to attract or does it appeal to only one or two members of your group?
• Is this an event that will enhance the group’s image?
• Do we have enough people to pull this off and is everyone committed to the idea?
• What about our finances?
• How much will it cost to put on this event?
• Will there be a fee for a speaker or performer?
• Will we have to pay for food, sound, lights, audio-visual equipment, a DJ, College police?
• What about publicity expenses?
• Do we have enough money in our budget to cover expenses even if we don’t make a dollar on ticket sales?
• How will we publicize?
• Who is our target audience?
• How will we advertise to reach this target audience?
• Have we reviewed the campus advertising policy?
• Will we be able to do this event?
• If it is something other than a meeting, have we met with Student Life & Activities to get approval for and assistance with the event?
• Once we have approval, is there a facility we can use to have this event? Do we have a confirmed reservation for the facility?
• Are there other events happening that night/day that could adversely affect our attendance?
• Who will be responsible for placing all the work orders (for tables, chairs, etc.) and requests for food and/or audio-visual equipment?
• Who will assure that clean up is done?
• Who will be the advisor on duty for your event?

Programming Time Line For Major Events

Modified from “Steps required for a successful college concert” from Krogen and Fritz.

Two to Three Months Prior To Event:

1. Check availability of desired space and equipment.
2. Establish budget and arrange the funding for the event, working with the Student Life Board Finance Committee.
3. Review and develop an understanding of the ticket policy and any other relevant policies, regulations or laws.
4. Establish a publicity plan.
5. Negotiate with performer for date, time, place and compensation (do not make any promises at this point).
6. Contact the Student Life & Activities office for procedures in contracting performer(s).

Eight Weeks Prior to Event:

1. Arrange for advance ticket sales (if any).
2. Begin implementing the publicity plan.
3. Submit a program proposal if you have not already done so, requesting additional funding as needed.
4. Order promotional and other printed material that will be needed, particularly if working with College Relations.

Six Weeks Prior to Event:

1. Revise budget as actual costs become known, working with Student Life & Activities to process any invoices or payment needs.
2. Send any promotional mailings for event.
3. Submit fliers about the event to Student Life.

Four Weeks Prior to Event:

1. Revise budget as actual costs become known.
2. Confirm room and equipment needs of performer with Student Life & Activities.
3. Confirm performer’s travel plans and setup needs.
4. Check to ensure that performer payment is being processed.

Two Weeks Prior to Event:

1. Check advance ticket sales (if any).
2. Implement any last minute publicity that may be needed.
3. “Walk through” the event and double check that everything has been arranged and requested.
4. Confirm staffing needs.

Week of the Event:

1. Publicity plan completed.
2. Budget revision completed.
3. Last minute publicity completed.
4. Final arrangements and double checks on all aspects of the event completed.
5. Make arrangements to meet the performer upon arrival.

Day of the Event:

1. Check all arrangements early. If a change is needed you will need time to make or request the change.
2. Be available for the unexpected.
3. Meet and greet the performer upon arrival.

Follow Up – Within One Week After Event:

1. Thank you letters to all involved groups and individuals.
2. Clip and save any press coverage.
3. Make final actual budget review and pay all remaining bills.
4. Write an evaluation of the event outlining your process, recommendations for the future and final budget.

Initial Allocation

All active clubs will receive $600 in their allocated budget for the current fiscal year (Fiscal Year runs July 1 – June 30). Clubs that have not been active the previous year will receive $300 in their allocated budget for a one year probationary period. Any funds that are collected (through fundraisers, membership dues, etc.) are considered income and will carry over year to year. New clubs will be allocated through Club Reserves (if available) until the end of Fiscal Year.

Allocations and income are not blank checks for programming – all events need to be proposed and approved by Student Life & Activities before funding is available.

ASBCC Funding Guidelines can be found here.

Fundraising/Approaching Donaters/Bake Sales

All fundraisers must be pre-approved by Student Life & Activities. Games of chance (50/50’s, raffles, etc.) are lawful activities in the State of New Jersey when, and only when, the sponsoring organization is registered with the state and licensed with the local township in which the drawing takes place and prizes are awarded. At this time student clubs and organizations are ineligible to hold games of chance. See Student Life for other fundraising ideas.

All requests for business donations must be approved by the Brookdale Foundation before you can approach any businesses. If your club wants to solicit any type of donation (monetary donations or the donation of food, supplies, etc.), please submit a list directly to Student Life & Activities for approval.

All bake sales must follow the guidelines as set by Dining Services.

Making a Deposit

All clubs should deposit any money collected the same day it is received. Club deposit forms can be found in the Office of Student Life & Activities (this is a triplicate form and can’t be posted on-line). Deposits can be made at the SLC Ticket Window (lower level) with our Student Ambassador staff. The student making a deposit will receive a copy of the deposit form and receipt.

Checks should be made out to Brookdale Community College and reference your club, the student ID number and telephone number (if applicable) in the memo line. No starter checks will be accepted (all checks must have the address imprinted on the check). Clubs should not hold on to any money collected, especially checks. If a check bounces, the fee assigned by the bank will be held against your club’s account. Please do not collect cash and then use it to directly pay for something. This is considered a slush fund and it is illegal! Please deposit the money collected and request a check if needed.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee is a subcommittee of the Student Life Board chaired by the SLB Treasurer. They assist the Office of Student Life in the management and supervision of ASBCC funds. The Finance Committee is tasked with the distribution and allocation of funds to Clubs and Organizations for events and programs. They meet roughly every other week to approve proposals. All proposals should be submitted through the appropriate online form before the Finance Committee meeting. Please plan to send a representative of your club to the meeting where your program proposal will be discussed.

If you ever have questions or concerns, members of the Student Life Board, including their Treasurer, are available for consultation. The Student Life Board office is located in room 110 of the Student Life Center. They may also be reached by calling 732-224-2647. As always Student Life is also a great information resource.

Any decisions by the Finance Committee may be appealed directly to the Director of Student Life. All appeals must be in writing (e-mail or hard copy) and presented to the Director within 72 hours of the Finance Committee’s decision.

Proposal Process 

Any Club that plans to travel needs to coordinate their event with Student Life & Activities. You must fill out a Travel Proposal.

If you need additional funding for your trip, the proposal you submit will be sent to the Student Life Board’s Finance Committee for review. If approved, funding will be given following the guidelines just below.

Whether you are using your own funds and only need Student Life approval, or if you are requesting funds from the Student Life Board after approval, you need to schedule an appointment with the Administrative Assistant in Student Life & Activities in order to process payment and receive trip waiver forms.

If the travel is to occur out of state, or overnight, as per Brookdale policy, the office of the College President must approve the travel plan. Please use the ASBCC Miscellaneous/Travel Advance Form to get approval. This form will be given to you when you meet with the Administrative Assistant.

Because the approval process needs to go through the Vice President and College President, we suggest submitting the appropriate forms at least 6 weeks in advance of your proposed travel date. Travel cannot be approved without enough time to process

Work with Student Life & Activities to develop the best cost estimate for your trip. If your proposal is approved, the Student Life Board’s Finance Committee will fund the cost of one (1) advisor per every ten (10) student attendees at 100%.

Clubs who travel for regional events (Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington, DC) will be funded for ten (10) students.  National/International travel will be funded for five (5) students.

The following table explains the amount of any trip that will be funded by ASBCC.

Brookdale Vans

To reserve a van for a trip please contact Administrative Assistant Mary Jo Burkhard at 732-224-2391.

Any current Brookdale employee may drive a Brookdale van, but a copy of his or her driver’s license must be on record with the office of Student Life. Only current Brookdale students, faculty, and staff are allowed to be passengers in the college van fleet. Community members are not allowed to travel via the Brookdale vans. Your Club must fill out a van reservation sheet that lists who is going to be on the trip, as well as an emergency contact number. These forms are available from Mary Jo Burkhard in the Student Life & Activities office, SLC room 101.

If driving a Brookdale van, be sure the van is clean of all trash and that you leave gas (at least ½ tank) in the tank when you return to campus. Turn in any gas receipts for reimbursement. The office will work to ensure that all vans given out are at least 3/4 of a tank full before any trip.

Buses or other Mass Transit

The office of Student Life & Activities can work with your Club to request a charter or school bus for trips. As charter bus companies’ schedule fill quickly, particularly in December and April, please work early to reserve a bus.

We can also get tickets for NJ Transit or the Sea-Streak ferry. At all times a trip chaperone must accompany students, even when using mass transit, if Brookdale funds are being used for travel. After talking to Student Life and receiving approval for the trip, Mary Jo Burkhard may assist you with the bus or mass transit ticket purchase process.

Driving Your Own Vehicle

Advisors may be reimbursed for gas and tolls OR mileage (beginning/ending mileage must be written down) – not both. Mileage reimbursed will be at current IRS recommendation per mile. You may only drive your own personal vehicle for Club travel if approved as part of your organization’s original travel proposal.