Advisor and Student Life Resources

Student Life

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Advisor and Student Life Resources

Role of the Club Advisor

• Attend and supervise activities that your group sponsors.
• Attend as many meetings as you can and assist the club / organization’s officers in planning their programs, meetings, activities, and budgets.
• Ensure your club stays in “Good Standing”as defined below:
  • Attendance at one general body senate meeting per month by at least one club representative
  • Community service requirement (as outlined in club start up packet), must be either planned or completed by 2/3 of club membership.
  • Have one Event that is open to the SUNY Niagara student body
  • Meeting attendance and minutes from all previous meetings turned in to Vice President of Student Government Association (SGA) or Heather Trumble, SGA Advisor
• HAVE FUN! Although you are the Advisor, it is you who will get your students going and excited about events and activities.
• Maintain current records of the club / organization to include a list of current officers with a minimum of five (5) current members and an updated club constitution.
• Supervise financial procedures and the expenditure of funds, including travel of the club / organization.
• Work closely with the Student Life Staff. Please help them help you by following their requests, particularly as it concerns deadlines for paperwork, budgetary concerns, and current information.

Quick Links

Tips for Success

1. Discuss how and when your organization would like feedback. Should you speak up in meetings, or only jump in if things get off track? Determine the best way for you to communicate what the organization is doing well and what could use improvement.
2. Familiarize yourself with policies and procedures to effectively advise your organization’s decision-making.
3. Get to know the members of your organization outside of their role. Ask about their classes, interests, and what their goals are for the future. Take an interest in their overall well-being, and remind them to take care of themselves. Developing a rapport early on will help the organization’s operations to run smoothly all year.
4. Sometimes the hardest thing to do as an advisor is to do nothing. Growth occurs from making mistakes and learning from failures. Determine the line between a safe failure and a complete meltdown. Remember: we let students walk toward the edge; but we never let them fall over!
5. Ask about the organization’s mission and purpose. Ask how things have been done in the past. Ask what they would like to accomplish this year. Ask to read the group’s constitution. Ask how things are going. Ask how you can help. When they tell you they have thought of everything, keep asking questions.
6. Organization officers move in and out of SUNY Niagara every few years. Oftentimes, the group advisor serves as the histori- an, with longstanding knowledge of group operations. Keep important reference documents like the organization’s constitution, policies, procedures, event calendar, annual budget, and officer roles/expectations.
7. Keep in regular contact with your group. Attend group meetings and events throughout the semester. Know what is happening and what is coming up.

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