Clubs

A club is a group of students and a teacher advisor with some sort of shared interest that they engage in at Gunn.

Tiers

Tier 1

Tier 1 clubs are the lowest tier. They do not receive any funding and are technically not allowed to raise or own money, though of course money for supplies can be informally raised. Tier 1 is the only tier that is not required to submit monthly meeting "minutes" to document their actions. Tier 1 clubs are typically more informal and don't go through many technicalities. An example of this tier is Card Game Club.

Tier 2

Tier 2 clubs are allowed to spend and raise money as well as organize events. They must submit meeting minutes monthly to track their decisions.

Tier 3

Tier 3 clubs can, in addition to spend/raise money and hold events, have field trips. They are typically larger and more prestigious clubs, like the Debate Club and Math Circle.

Clubs in Theory

These are the official rules governing clubs.

Applying for a charter

A club must charter each year, and the application requirements for a club are as follows:

• 10 Charter Members, people who support the club and will ostensibly become full-time members, though this is not a requirement
• a Constitution, which provides for:
  • Officers, with President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer being required positions. (The latter two may be combined in Tier 1 clubs as they don't spend money have no use for a dedicated treasurer).
  • A process for choosing officers that occurs at least once a year. (These are the "term limits" referenced in the Gunn Club Bylaws; there are no actual term limits in the traditional sense.)
  • A process for removing incompetent officers.
  • A process to amend the constitution.
  • The time during which the club meets.

Occasionally, the SEC will reach out to clubs about some deficiency in their constitution and will charter the club only if it is amended.

Running a club

To keep their charter, a club will need to:

• Meet on the days set out by their constitution,
• Meet at least twice a month under normal conditions (i.e. no no-school days),
• Maintain an average of at least 10 members per meeting and track this by filling out an attendance form of members in attendance every meeting

Clubs in practice

An ideal club as described by the SEC is quite different for a club in practice.

Firstly, many Tier 1 clubs would be better characterized as "cliques" instead of clubs, consisting of a close group for friends and a "warm body" club advisor rather than just a bunch of like-minded folk with an enthusiastic advisor. Such clubs are often created by friend groups trying to pad their college applications by becoming some club officers; consequently, they often die out soon after the members of the clique graduate. Even so, not all Tier 1 clubs follow this path. As Tier 1 clubs are easier to charter and have less restrictions (for example, meeting minutes aren't required for all meetings and secretary and treasurer positions can be combined), being a Tier 1 club is the best option for many newer general interest clubs without tons of members and thus, don't require school funding and events.

Second, the Club Constitution for Tier 1 clubs serves mainly as a ceremonial document. Many Tier 1 clubs use no formal process to make decisions since the members are already friends, and are capable of working things out by themselves without a constitution to dictate how they should act. Although the SEC stipulates that the constitution should guide how a club is run, this is impossible to enforce.

Third, in the same vein, attendance is rarely enforced. Even clubs significantly underpopulated in the fall are often allowed to continue their activities in the spring.

Finally, since clubs must charter at the start of each year, a club can act basically however they like in the spring since they'll have to re-charter the following fall anyways.

Club government

Jacob Chiu posits the following principles for club government:

1. A club is made for the benefit of its members, and, more generally, the student body. If a club cannot operate in such a way that it fulfills that purpose, it ought to be disbanded. As such, a club should avoid having the will of the SEC, school administrators, and students trying to harm the club forcibly imposed upon it.
2. The job of a club government is to ensure the club runs smoothly. Governmental functions should not interfere significantly with the normal activities of the club.
3. There are three sorts of decision-making processes: 1) informal consensus, in which all members/officers come to an agreement or compromise on decisions; 2) rules-based, in which clearly defined rules dictate how the club operates or how decisions are to be made; and 3) deadlock, when members are unable to come to a consensus and no decisions can be made. Informal consensus is better than rules because it is more adaptable, and often, more efficient. However, if a club grows too big, its members/officers aren't friendly, or a very important/controversial issue is being decided, this can lead to deadlock if there aren't clearly written rules to keep things moving. The purpose of a Club Constitution is to leave as much flexibility for the current officers while avoiding deadlock. For example, a Constitution should usually lay out how to elect and impeach club officers because those are highly contentious issues.