This fall, the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development is initiating new rules for clubs and organizations on campus with the goal of making things run more smoothly and efficiently.

There are several registered clubs at Marywood, but many are inactive and others have an unknown number of active members. Also, until recently, clubs were allowed to hold events with no limits on how much money they would cost, as long as the events were approved.

Though basic club rules will remain the same, all clubs will be required to complete and update paperwork in order to be re-recognized and to receive $200 in seed money. Any club that does not comply by Friday, Sept. 20 will not be seen as an official student organization and will not receive funding.

Clubs that comply after this date will receive a 25 percent deduction from their budgets.

All club leaders will also be mandated to attend a leadership training session on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Club leaders who do not attend will receive a twenty-five percent cut from their budget.

Additional club funding decisions will now be made by the Student Government Association executive cabinet. Callie Frieler, the interim director of student activities and leadership development, said that the Student Government Association is behind the changes.

“[The SGA] wanted a better grasp on what money they were giving to certain organizations because right now, they don’t have a lot of tracking resources for that. So this is stemming from [them] wanting a little more hand in where their funding is actually going,” stated Frieler.

Chris Carl, graduate assistant for student activities and leadership development, said that the new rules will improve efficiency.

“With the changes in technology and growth of the amount of clubs, the new rules will make for a more convenient structure and more user-friendly process,” said Carl.

Students who would like to start a brand new club on campus can do so at any time during the school year.