Clubs are a large part of campus life at Utah Tech University. There are over 70 listed on the Utah Tech website ranging from Acapella Club to Psychology Club to Utah Tech Pole Fitness. There is something for everyone.
Keeping a successful club requires much effort from the leadership of the clubs as they plan activities, service projects and recruit new members.
“Club presidents, they’re passionate about what they do, and they’re putting in five to 10 hours a week because they love their club,” Mike Nelson, director of student belonging, said.
To recognize the work these presidents put into their club, a new club tier system has been created that divides the clubs into three tiers. Clubs that lie in the first tier receive priority on A-frames, spots for club rush and more funding. The presidents also receive a scholarship for their work on campus.
“We were like, ‘You know what? Let’s compensate them. Let’s award them a leadership scholarship,'” Nelson said. “Just because they don’t have an official title in a formal university leadership program like the ambassadors or alumni ambassadors or UTSA, doesn’t mean they’re not student leaders.”
Criteria to be a tier one club has to include four of the following:
- 10+ events per semester
- 50+ active members
- 80% inter-club council meeting attendance
- Major campus event contributions
- Two annual service projects
- Effective activity tracking
The last two on the list are required to make sure the number in attendance is known, and the clubs are giving back to their community. Tier two does not include a scholarship, but they receive more benefits, such as priority on funds and promotion, than tier three.
The criteria of tier one ensures that a variety of clubs can earn a spot. They don’t necessarily need a large membership and campus presence to be considered for the tier.
“We wanted to make sure that even if it was a small club, you have just as much opportunity to be a tier one club as a club that has 150 members,” Nelson said.
The tiers are reevaluated every semester to give more students an opportunity to showcase their dedication to their club by earning their spot in tier one. This also is helpful for clubs that have activities primarily in the spring semester, such as the Black Student Union and Pasefika Student Union, whose heritage months are in the spring.
The clubs that were in tier one for fall semester are:
- Club Of Diverse Minds
- Country Dancing
- Sigma Tau Delta
- Table Top
- Writer’s Block
- Birds Aren’t Real
- LGBTQSO
- Pickleball
- InterVarsity
- American Medical Women’s Association
President of the Table Top club, Miranda Keller, a freshman biomedical sciences major from St. George, thinks the tier system is a great way to help students.
“I think it’s really nice how they want to support the clubs that put so much into the community, giving them more support and money to continue giving to the community and to the students,” Keller said.
The tier changes have already helped in increasing club presence on campus.
“Up until this semester, the largest number of clubs that we’d ever had chartered in a single semester was 17. This semester, we’re at 30,” Luke Kerouac, director of student involvement and leadership, said.
The tier system is meant to encourage students to be more engaged within their clubs and to reward the effort.
“So, essentially, the reason behind it is we’re trying to create more opportunities for more students,” Kerouac said. “We want more students to be involved. We want more clubs to have leadership opportunities and then reward those students or incentivize those students for the things they want to do.”
The system was new this semester and is still being adjusted and fixed as new clubs are created and clubs are changed.
Kerouac said he and the rest of his team want students involved in the process to provide their feedback, but there is no specific way to give feedback other than contacting those in charge of the system so they can work to better serve students.
