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'''Create a new class or academic offering'''For a lesson in “How to setup and teach a new class or academic offering”, we will be walking you through the development of a new on-campus organization. We will discuss some pointers and checklist items that should be considered for each step and then it will be applied to the club of interest.
Gregory Wilson, a second year PhD student at the University of Georgia and former University Innovation Fellow, was interviewed for his experience in founding an innovation and design club known as the What I.F.? club.
'''Introduction'''
*Generate a mission statement
*Ask yourself: Why are you creating this club?
*This statement should be no longer than 3-4 sentences and should be attention-grabbing. It should establish your passion, identify your goals, and present a direction for your club. Much like starting a company, your club must have these components on which to build a foundation.
'''Need and Goal'''
*Identify your need
*Ask yourself: Why is this class/club needed? How are you going to solve that need?
*Hold focus group sessions, attend classes, go to other organization meetings- get to know the audience you are hoping to reach
'''Topic'''
*Determine the expertise of your audience
*Ask yourself: Is this club meant to foster a specific area or skill between like-minded individuals? Or is it meant to bring together diverse groups of individuals for a greater cause?
'''Academic Permission'''
*Understand the limitations, risks, and opportunities associated with the focus of your organization
*Ask yourself: Where do I go from here? Are there requirements I have to fulfill before I can proceed? Where can I find help in answering these and other questions?
*Identify a central source for reference and help
'''Support'''
*Know that you cannot do this on your own- you may think you are the smartest person in the world but even the smartest people in the world oftentimes can’t accomplish a project of this caliber on their own
*Ask yourself: Who has done this before? Who would be good partners to advance this cause?
This club is entirely student-driven. The only faculty support has been in the form of the original mechanical engineering professor during whose freshmen mechanical engineering class the general interest for the club was assessed. This faculty support under the general clearance of the department and college has allowed the club to proceed with meetings until it is officially awarded status as a student organization.
'''Cost'''
*Everything costs money.
*Ask yourself: Where can I go to generate interest in my club? Who would be willing to donate to my cause?
*Think about adjacent groups to your audience.
'''Faculty, Teachers, and Mentors'''
*You will need help along the way.
*Ask yourself: Who do I currently have in my network that would be willing to help? Is there someone I need to seek out who might be outside my network?
*From the start, seek out enthusiastic mentors who want to see you and your organization succeed. No matter if they are or are not already in your network. Bring them in.
An outside mentor is scheduled to come speak at a future club meeting. A community accelerator and technology incubator, Four Athens, will be leading a technology talk that focuses on the growing start-up scene located in Athens, GA. This will expose students to some of the opportunities available for innovations that they create.
'''Audience'''
*Identification of your market audience is critical
Another facet that makes this club unique is that it is not grade specific. Currently, Gregory is promoting his club to new freshmen, but he has had interest from all levels. Cross-disciplinary projects cannot be limited by grade or skill-level. Instead, the best teams identify each team member’s weaknesses and strive to fulfill those weaknesses as a unit. Oftentimes this is achieved through additional team members from different disciplines with alternative backgrounds. It is this notion that strong innovative teams are inter-disciplinary that is the foundation for the What I.F.? club.
'''Timeline'''
*It takes time to find the recipe for success.
'''Lessons Learned and Tips for Others'''
*Getting off the ground is the hardest part. But if you collaborate with other groups, if you go to other group meetings, you see the inner-workings of an organization. All organizations are run slightly differently- take everything in and see what you like and dislike.
*Make your club generation a student-level initiative. Gregory first relied on professors to talk about the club and pass out flyers to their students. It wasn’t until Gregory took the initiative to go talk with the students themselves and self-proclaim the goodness of the club that he started getting an overwhelming response.
*Be patient. This organization will take lots of hard work. Oftentimes faculty, regulations, and requirements may seem like roadblocks but it will make your organization stronger and healthier to have completed things right the first time.
*Pick your team and organization board wisely. You will be spending lots of time together.
*Have fun! This is something not everyone gets to do. Be an entrepreneur. Be an innovator. Change the world. Start by changing your campus.