Requirements for CLOGs (Clubs and Organizations) have become significantly stricter for the current academic year, Activities Director Deana Querubin said. This decision was taken after she spent a year evaluating the old systems in place for CLOGs, she added.
With the new academic year, the goal was to increase accountability and visibility for CLOGs on campus, Querubin said. More opportunities for CLOGs to be recognized were needed, which is why this year the CLOG Catalog is public and CLOGs were asked to host one big event or two little events, she said.
“Sometimes people just make clubs because it looks good on the transcript (college applications),” Querubin said. “We didn’t want that. We had 130 clubs before I got the position, but now we’re closer to 80, because that is the real number that actually operate, and we wanted to make sure that those numbers were honest.”
Together with the current CLOG Commissioners, seniors Mary Kanoon and Owen Song, the goal was to support CLOGS as much as they could, Querubin said. In regards to event forms, the title of the event listed on the form sometimes gave little information about the actual event, and this new form (which includes space for event info) is important to understanding what is going on at MHS for both ASB and administration, Querubin said.
“There’s the event proposal and the fundraiser proposal, that is above me (coming from admin) because the feedback was, we don’t know what’s happening on campus, and I didn’t either sometimes,” Querubin said. “Now we have a binder with everything that’s been approved in ECAB (Executive Cabinet) and with all the events that are happening so that if someone asks me about an event or about a fundraiser that happened or is going to happen, I know how to respond.”
This system is equitable since there would be no CLOGS competing for resources, Querubin said. For example, in a scenario where two CLOGS wanted to do a fundraiser at the same time and place, the new system would prevent this conflict and ensure CLOGS are not competing against each other, she added.
“It (facility use form) requires my signature, but it just has the event title and who the group is,” Querubin said. “So you can have a title for it but I don’t know what that is. So that’s why the event proposal was created.”
Having meeting minutes helps keep CLOGs accountable, Song said.
“Having meeting minutes ensures that meetings will happen and getting a wet signature will ensure that the meetings did happen and that the advisor is aware that the club is active and doing what they need to be doing,” Kanoon said. ”It’s also helpful for CLOGs to see what goes on during meetings, for them to remember or have a record of what goes on during meetings just in case they forget something or forget business that they talked about.”
When it came to the new presentations each CLOG had to do before getting approved, CLOG officers did not have enough context on what their CLOG would be like, Querubin said. CLOG officers need to show commitment to the CLOG and that was measured through the willingness to come and do a presentation, she added.
“I knew that there were some people who were upset when they didn’t get approved, when we did the presentations.” Querubin said.. “They were new charters with the same vision and purpose as a club that already existed. We didn’t want to create competition between clubs. We want people to be unified.”
“Another reason why I wanted presentations was when you’re up there and we have questions, now we can ask you, and you can respond (immediately) and tell us,” Querubin said.
ASB has been understanding of any issues that arise and has given exceptions for CLOGs when unexpected delays arise, Oxfam President Anish Gopala said. While the timings for some presentations were inconvenient, the presentations were useful in making sure that CLOGs would stay active after being approved, he added.
“Before school started, there was a CLOG orientation in which two officers were required to come in person during summer break,” Gopala said. “I was dissatisfied with that. I did think it was a little bit demanding on clogs to have two officers per CLOG come in during the summer break. It was definitely something ASB should have done differently in past years.”
Although sometimes the presentations got really intense (in terms of rapid questioning, almost like an argument), CLOGs will need to expect these presentations again for chartering next year, Querubin said.
“In the future, I think that people will get used to it, and it will just be part of the norm, Querubin said. “And then I think more visibility on campus is definitely what I would like for CLOGs to do. I want there to be more for you as clubs so that people can see that they’re not just meeting in classrooms. There’s a lot more that they do. So that’s the next step, the next big part of what we want to see from clubs and organizations.”
CLOGS were mostly denied due to a CLOG with the same concept already existing, according to Ms. Querubin. It was never about not liking a CLOG for external reasons, she elaborated.
“These are necessary expectations that we need from the clubs. It’s not busy work,” Querubin said. “If you say you’re a club, our only expectation is you meet once a month. That’s it. If you’re gonna say you’re a club, meet once a month and have minutes. I feel like that’s not too hard to ask. You’re literally asking for five sets of minutes (in a year).”