The Office of Student Programs & Leadership Development (OSPLD) held their annual student leader orientation on September 10th to provide student leaders with necessary information that will help lead to the success of their organization.

The student leaders consisted of presidents and financial officers from fraternities and sororities, sport organizations, academic organizations, and any other organization which was started by students.

“The orientation was very useful,” said Erica Contreras, Sigma Pi Alpha's vice president and pledge director, “it brought awareness to all the different organizations on campus.”

At the beginning of the orientation, all of the student leaders introduced themselves and the organization that they were representing. Joey Greenwell, the director of OSPLD, discussed the benefits and responsibilities of being a student organization as well as the requirements needed to become or remain a successful organization.

Greenwell said that all student organizations which are continuing, re-activating, and starting for the first time must register every fall semester by September 30th.

“We will be taking organizations who have not registered on time off of the website on October 10th,” said Greenwell.

According to OSPLD, to be a student organization, there needs to be a president and financial officer in the organization with at least a 2.0 grade point average. Both officers must either be a graduate or undergraduate at SF State. The organization must also have a faculty adviser who attends the meetings.

Benefits of being a student organization include a general use of facilities at little to no cost, financial subsidy from the Associated Students Inc., the right to use the university as its mailing address, the use of an SF State website and e-mail account, and a bank account with Cal State 9 Credit Union.

“The social aspect of the orientation was good,” said Vered Weiss, president of the Comparative and World Literature Association. “But most of the information (he gave us today) we can go online and read for ourselves.”

For organizations that were being organized for the first time this year, the orientation illustrated and gave plenty information on what an officer must go through every year to become and remain a student organization on campus.

“I liked how broad it (the orientation) was,” said Ryan McGuire, president of the new Rugby Appreciation Society, “it helped me get an idea of what it is to be a student leader and it was well organized.”