ASB implements new club policies that target ‘college app’ clubs

This year, ASB club commissioners Erica Lee and Prosper Chiu are in the process of implementing several new policies that tighten restrictions on clubs in an effort to better enforce school rules. 

Since the school needs clubs to submit a variety of documents for government auditing purposes, so that the ASB can receive funding for club activities, all clubs are required to abide by a new “three strikes system,” or else face being cut.

Under the new system, clubs will be cut when they amass three total strikes. These strikes can be gained for a variety of reasons, including not turning in said important club documents and not maintaining a required amount of participation. The reason for this change, according to Chiu, is to keep clubs in check, as many clubs last year didn’t follow club guidelines yet faced little or no consequences.

In previous years, the only consequence for a club going against guidelines was the loss of fundraising privileges. However, many clubs didn’t need a budget to function and as a result, they had no incentive to follow set rules.

Chiu hopes that by enforcing stricter rules, clubs will be more likely to follow necessary policies to prevent being cut.   

The club commissioners have recognized that some clubs exist mostly to improve resumes for college applications for their leaders.

To combat this, the club commissioners are requiring club advisers to submit a bimonthly report about the club’s activities. Their hope is that this policy will help to eliminate any clubs that fall into the “college applications” category.

“Last year, club advisers at the end of the semester could just write something, and it didn’t even have to be something that they saw, so we wanted to make advisers more relevant,” Chiu said. This way, weaker clubs, which typically have less active club advisers, will be more at risk of being cut. 

As an additional method to ensure productivity within each of the clubs, this year’s club commissioners have increased the minimum attendance from eight to 12 students per meeting. This policy, similar to the monthly adviser reports, was put in place to cut down on the number of “college app” clubs.

Clubs that don’t follow the proper guidelines will be given a strike for every instance it occurs. Strikes will be given for turning in club minutes or adviser reports late, as well as for not meeting the minimum required attendance.

Although the reforms will take some time to get used to, Chiu thinks clubs that are well organized and competent will ultimately be benefitted by the changes.

“We’re mainly looking to cut the faker clubs,” Chiu said. “A lot of the clubs that are already on top of their stuff won’t be affected.”