The updated guidelines were introduced this year with the goal of making clubs more effective and accessible to all students around campus. According to last year’s Associate Student Body (ASB) clubs commissioner, Maria Poveromo, the intent was to significantly strengthen opportunities.
“The goal is to make them more accessible and easier to understand for students to join,” Poveromo said.
Poveromo explained that the changes included combining some clubs for efficiency and creating clearer standards. She believes this will help clubs foster a more effective environment.
Poveromo describes that these adjustments came after several years, when numerous clubs struggled with attendance and direction. As ASB club commissioner, she developed a more effective structure for rechartering clubs, which now includes filling out more detailed forms, attending information seminars, and maintaining records.
“We have more efficient systems now with Five Star and Canvas for assignments and rosters,” Poveromo said. “It makes it easy to discipline club presidents when needed, but most are doing everything correctly.”
Still, the regulations have created challenges for existing club leaders. Junior Camille Reyes, president of Helping Hands, shared that her club had to go the extra mile to prove its uniqueness when recharting this year. “In order to maintain our club this year, we had to highlight how our club stands out in comparison to other ones. We did this by providing new ideas and demonstrating our commitment during [all] of our previous year,” Reyes said.
She explained that the new process requires consistent documentation, attendance tracking, and a crystal clear presentation of the club’s purpose — something that can be difficult for a large club. She acknowledged that while the rules help track participation more effectively, they put more work on club presidents.
“Clubs require more time, effort and commitment to keep the community active due to the process of holding and setting up events becoming more difficult.”
Her club has continued to adapt by coordinating earlier in the semester and using the new system to stay organized. She noted that these new regulations have encouraged her officers to be more intentional about each event they plan, thus making Helping Hands events more meaningful for their members.
For some presidents, the new rules have not changed day-to-day operations as much as expected. “Not much has changed from last year’s operational system. We still hold bi-weekly meetings…and submit monthly minutes,” president of the Finance Club, Joshua Rhee said.
However, he stated that clubs must now participate in school-wide events such as the spring carnival, which allows students to support clubs. Rhee explains that while some of these guidelines are completely new, they help clubs stay connected to the broader school community and promote their work on a broader scale. At the same time, he expresses concern that constant requirements could discourage some clubs from hosting activities.
“Some of the new regulations may dissuade clubs from hosting official activities, as they have to constantly wait for approval from the club advisor and ASB,” Rhee said.
He said balancing efficiency and creativity is challenging, but communication with ASB ensures smoother transitions. Despite mixed reactions school-wide, many club leaders agree that the new regulations are in response to key issues in previous years. Poveromo reflected on this, talking about how student accountability was a priority.
“It’s so much easier to pinpoint who runs each club because a new measure we included this year is that you can only be the president of one club, and every teacher can only advise one club,” Poveromo said.
She firmly believes that this structure will reduce duplicate organizations and make clubs more meaningful in the long run. ASB hopes to create a club environment that is broader, but also more stable than in previous years. As the year continues, students at Woodbridge High and club leaders will adapt to these changes, and time will tell whether the stricter rules will strengthen student involvement or create new challenges for participation.
