Form Your Club or Organization

The process of forming a new student organization or reactivating an existing organization is designed to help you build a solid foundation so that your group can succeed and provide valuable experiences for your fellow students.

The formation and recognition process includes several steps. You’ll need to consider the purpose and membership expectations for your organization, recruit members and officers, find a faculty or staff adviser, and write a constitution. These and other details must be documented, and you should familiarize yourself with all requirements before starting the process.

To have your organization recognized for an upcoming semester, you must have completed all requirements by the following deadlines:

  • August 15 for the fall semester
  • January 2 for the spring semester
  • May 1 for the summer semester

Forming a New Organization 

When preparing to form your organization, you should consider a few important questions and review the requirements you’ll need to meet.

Thinking about your answers to these questions will help you prepare to follow the process of forming an organization.

  1. Is there another group on campus that exists that meets the interests you’re looking for in a student organization?
  2. Will you be able to recruit a minimum of 10 members for the group?
  3. Do you have the time to work on all of the requirements and/or are others helping you?

To begin the process of forming your organization, you should first complete the Intent to Organize form. After your form is received, Student Affairs staff will contact you to discuss your next steps.

You will need to meet all the following requirements to have your organization considered for official recognition:

  • Create a constitution. Student Affairs will provide you with a sample constitution as a Word document that you can edit to create your organization’s constitution. You should follow the sample constitution closely to ensure that you include all of the required language. You must provide your organization’s constitution along with the other required forms when requesting official recognition.
  • Secure a University faculty or staff adviser and complete an Adviser Approval Form (included in the Student Organization Recognition Forms Packet). This includes the name, department, campus address, phone number, email address, and signature of the adviser.
  • Identify Officers and complete the Officer Report Form (included in the Student Organization Recognition Forms Packet). This includes the names, email addresses, phone numbers, and signatures of both a president and a faculty or staff adviser.
  • Recruit a minimum of 10 members and provide a membership list including the Penn State user ID (e.g., abc1234) for each member who has one. Note that 50%+1 of the membership must be registered Penn State World Campus students — graduate or undergraduate, depending on whether it is a graduate or undergraduate organization.
  • Attend a New Student Organization Orientation session (contact the Student Affairs Office for the schedule of available sessions).
  • If the group is a local “chapter” of a national organization, provide documentation affirming they are recognizing the Penn State organization.

Once all requirements have been met, Student Affairs will review the organization’s request and notify you of the outcome of the review.

Note that there are several reasons why organizations may be denied official recognition, including the following:

  • the purpose, mission, and/or activities violate federal, state, and/or local laws
  • the purpose, mission, and/or activities violate the Penn State Code of Conduct, University Policies, Policies and Rules for Student Organizations, or other University policies and procedures
  • the criteria to establish a group are not completed and sustained as stated in this document
  • the group duplicates the purpose of an existing recognized group, except in the case of a religious or political organization

Reactivating an Existing Organization

If you would like to reactivate an existing organization that has become inactive, you will need to meet several requirements and provide updated documentation to Student Affairs.

You must meet all of the following requirements to have your organization considered for reactivation.

  • Create an updated constitution if the most recent constitution on file is more than two years old or is undated. Student Affairs can provide a copy of your organization’s most recently approved constitution or a sample constitution as a Word document. You should follow the sample constitution closely to ensure that you include all of the required language. You must provide your organization’s constitution along with the other required forms when requesting reactivation.
  • Secure a University faculty or staff adviser and complete an Adviser Approval Form (included in the Student Organization Recognition Forms packet). This includes the name, department, campus address, phone number, email address, and signature of the adviser.
  • Identify Officers and complete the Officer Report Form (included in the Student Organization Recognition Forms packet). This includes the names, email addresses, phone numbers, and signatures of both a president and a faculty or staff adviser.
  • Recruit a minimum of 10 members and provide a membership list including the Penn State user ID (e.g., abc1234) for each member who has one. Note that 50%+1 of the membership must be registered Penn State World Campus students — graduate or undergraduate, depending on whether it is a graduate or undergraduate organization.
  • Attend a New Student Organization Orientation session (contact the Student Affairs Office for the schedule of available sessions).

Once all requirements have been met, Student Affairs will review the request for reactivation and notify you of the outcome of the review. 

Note that reactivation may be denied if the requirements for reactivation are not met or if any concerns are identified regarding compliance with laws, the Penn State Code of Conduct, or any University policies or procedures.