Campus Clubs policy available online

Laurier’s Campus Clubs policy is now available on the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union website. The 10-page document details funding distribution and disciplinary procedures, donations and sponsorship procedures as well as operating policies.

“The Campus Clubs policy is an operating document for all club members to be able to access and use a reference for their daily activities, as well as outline what their responsibilities are and how they can access the resources that are available to them,” explained Lawrence Maclin, assistant vice-president of Campus Clubs and faculty.

Jason Verhoeve, vice-president of clubs and activities, explained that before being made available online, those seeking information about campus club guidelines were required to consult different documents or visit the campus clubs department.

“These policies and rules have always been in place but in different areas. So they’ve been written down but never put into one formalized document that you could say ‘this is the overarching guide for clubs to follow.’”

Alongside programming and services manager Bill Kitchen, Verhoeve and Maclin have been working on creating an accessible, simplified Campus Clubs policy since early November.

Although discussion regarding Campus Clubs policy was brought up at the Jan. 27 board meeting – in which they asked for a board direct inspection to analyze the finances and policies of campus clubs – Verhoeve explained that this document would have been produced regardless of if the board requested the information.

“This document was probably 95 per cent complete prior to the board direct inspection,” said Verhoeve. “This was something that was provoked well before [the board meeting].”

Verhoeve clarifies that there have been little changes made to the actual policy.

“It’s important to say, first off, that it’s not a new policy by any stretch of the imagination. It’s something that we’ve had in place, we just haven’t had it in a formalized document that was easy for club members and people within faculty associations … to be able to actually find online and readily have available to them.”

He further explained that the policy includes two new mandates. The first is the transition policy, which allows for clubs to apply for reinstatement before Sept. 1. This policy will particularly benefit clubs that operate during the summer months, such as Laurier’s Dragon Boat Club.

The second mandate is the rollover policy, which will become effective in January 2011. The rollover policy permits clubs to apply to carry forward fundraised money to be used in organized future events. While in the past clubs have had separate bank accounts off campus, the students’ union is also in the process of having the funds under one account.

The single bank account will facilitate the distinction between student fees and fundraised money. Verhoeve explained that the rollover policy “ensures that clubs are using money in an effective manner and that fits within the guidelines of WLU and of the students’ union.”

Verhoeve is confident that the Campus Clubs policy will have a positive impact on Laurier students. “I think it’s a very effective document in that it allows the students to see that knowledge firsthand and keeps our end in the check and balance,” said Verhove. “It’s ensuring that we as an organization are spending student dollars effectively and in a manner that they’re supposed to be spent.”

Maclin shares Verhoeve’s predictions for the policy. “We’re providing clubs the opportunity to transition and to be able to set themselves up for success in future years.”