Start a Club
How great would "Founding Member" look on your resume?
When you start a club or organization, your UAA experience becomes yours to shape, creating endless opportunities for personal growth and establishing a community for fellow students seeking the same experiences you are. Establishing a club establishes your legacy: a space for Seawolves to connect for years to come.
Ready to get started? You're on the right path.
What You Need
Before you can start a club, make sure you have the following:
All registered student organizations at UAA are required to identify at least three students to serve in officer positions:
- President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Club Council Representative
Officer Eligibility
Seawolves filling officer positions must have a 2.25 cumulative GPA and must be currently enrolled at UAA, online or in-person.
President, secretary and treasurer must be different individuals. Any officer may also serve as the Club Council Representative.
All registered student organizations at UAA are required to maintain a faculty/staff advisor. This UAA employee will be your partner in promoting and managing your club or organization.
Advisor Eligibility
Advisors must be currently employed at UAA and may not be on sabbatical.
How to find an advisor:
- Talk to your professors! Every semester, you interact with current UAA faculty in the classroom. If you're establishing an organization with an academic focus, your professors will be a great resource in helping to connect you to alumni and industry professionals. Having a good relationship with your professors is a great place to start.
- Ask your academic or program staff! If you and your advisors share interests in hobbies, heritage or professional aspirations, they may be interested in developing a community of Seawolves that share the interest too.
- If you or a potential advisor have any questions, review our Advisor Support page together.
Bylaws are a written agreement between members to establish how the organization will run.
You can write your own bylaws, or download our Bylaw Template.
We update our template every year, ensuring our orgs have updated provisions aligned with university policies. It's a foolproof way to ensure your organization is on the right track!
Get Started Today
When you've got your officers, advisors and bylaws in hand, you're ready to start the registration process. Student Org Services (SOS) is here to help every step of the way!
- 1. Start Your Registration
Register on UAA Life
UAA Life is the student org management portal where you'll find lots of helpful tools and info for your club. It only makes sense that your new club journey starts there. Here's what you need to do:
- Log in to our student org management portal, UAA Life.
- Click the "Organizations" button on the banner at the top of the UAA Life homepage.
- Click the "Register an Organization" button from the sidebar menu.
- Select the "Register a New Organization" option from the registration menu.
- Follow the steps as outlined in the online registration on UAA Life.
- Upload your new bylaws.
- Identify your organization officers and faculty/staff advisor.
- Click "Submit for Approval" when all information has been included.
- 2. Get Your Advisor On Board
Faculty/Staff Advisor Agreement Form
After you submit your registration, your faculty/staff advisor needs to complete the Advisor Agreement Form on UAA Life.
It never hurts to send them a polite reminder if needed.
- 3. Complete Officer Orientation
Officer Orientation
Every President and Treasurer are required to complete Officer Orientation every year in order to complete the registration process. After reviewing the Orientation, both positions must pass a test with a score of at least 80%.
Remember, you can review the content of Officer Orientation at any point!
- 4. Present to Club Council
Present Your Club to Club Council
The final step of the registration process is presenting your new club to Club Council!
After your registration has been reviewed by SOS, Club Council will contact you to schedule your presentation at an upcoming Club Council meeting. New student clubs will be asked to speak for roughly five minutes to give an overview of your organization, including information such as:
- the club's mission
- planned activities and events
- affiliations with national or regional organizations.
Your presentation will be followed by a short question and answer period.
Club Council offers $100 of seed money to every new club. Be prepared to accept or reject these funds after your presentation.
This step completes the registration process and makes the club an official member of Club Council!
Registration Reviews
- All registration submissions will be reviewed and approved by SOS and the Club Council Executive Board.
- You can view the status of your registration online.
- You can change and/or update any submissions still "In Progress" under My Involvement> My Submissions> Organization Registrations.
- A Student Organization Specialist in SOS will contact you and your advisor with any questions or action items.
Need Help?
Contact SOS for help with your registration.