Every semester, the NAIT Students’ Association (NAITSA) provides students opportunities to be involved with school-based communities through accredited campus clubs. Keen observers may notice, however, that while there are highly visible clubs, there are also those that seemingly show up for a few semesters before slowly fading away. This leads to the question, what makes some clubs more successful than others?
According to NAITSA Campus Clubs Manager Rose Martin Baumgartner, the current Campus Clubs Department is the product of nearly two decades of evolving approaches to student club programming at NAIT. In addition to registering clubs, the department provides preliminary funding and ongoing support through regular consultations. In some cases, clubs can even be given additional funding through existing grants.
Program clubs vs. interest clubs
The most basic way to categorize NAIT campus clubs is by distinguishing between clubs based on academic programs on one hand, and those that are purely interest-based on the other.
Baumgartner observes that program clubs tend to last much longer — decades even. This is partly due to NAIT instructors who act as program club advisors.
“They’re our greatest asset in the sense of helping students discover clubs,” says Baumgartner. “And then we can start grooming them to keep the club running.”
As for interest clubs, Baumgartner estimates they last up to seven years long, and even less if the interest type is more nuanced, “like a hacky sack club,” says Baumgartner. “I love that they started, but they have to find some folks that want to take that over.” It is easy to see why this is the case. Academic programs have a vested interest in supporting the continued existence of their corresponding club — these same clubs help increase attendees or volunteers for their own events. Most interest clubs do not have the same level of continuity support from NAIT faculty.
A sense of purpose is required
However, Baumgartner believes that regardless of the type of club, certain factors ensure a club’s success. “The real difference comes down to the club’s leadership and their sense of purpose,” she says. “Clubs that have strong organized executive teams and have a clear identity or purpose of what they want to do, whether it’s program-based, cultural interest, they tend to thrive.” Thriving clubs also tend to take advantage of Campus Clubs resources to hold consistent events, keeping members interested.
This corresponds with the sentiments of Gavin Kuang, President of the Hip Hop Dance Club (HDC) of NAIT. He even uses the term “unhealthy obsession” to describe the HDC leadership’s dedication. This approach has certainly reaped rewards for the club. It might be one of the most consistently visible clubs at NAIT, and with a very dynamic membership base.
Kuang is well-connected with the dance community and says leaders with a vision put their “heart and soul” into their craft, taking inspiration from Shaolin masters. “And by heart and soul, I mean like, sometimes even skipping studying, sometimes skipping meals, skipping sleep, right? And even I do that sometimes,” Kuang said. “That’s just all in the spirit of trying to make sure we’re doing everything right.”
Baumgartner references two other interest-based clubs she believes have what it takes for continued success: The Board Game Club and the Book Lovers Club. “Those two are the ones that have shown consistent use of going through their training, using all the resources, the equipment and the grant funding,” she explains. According to Baumgartner, this is based on the strength of their leadership. “They’re trying to bring more folks into their core group to build that.”
No leadership transition? Your club won’t last
Many NAIT programs are only two years long, resulting in a mostly transient student population. This means they might not be interested in investing Shaolin-master-level time and effort to lead a club. When campus clubs do not transition into new leadership, they are not dissolved right away. Instead, they enter a state of dormancy.
This is the current status of the Filipino-themed club Bayanihan at NAIT. John Tejerero, immediate past President of Bayanihan, opened up about this challenge: “I think what we failed to do, or at least what we failed trying to do was to create the succession planning,” he says. It is worth noting that Bayanihan under Tejerero’s leadership seemed visibly successful. The club had highly-involved members and well-attended events. “But it’s just that it’s hard to create a succession plan when there’s no interested people to step up,” Tejerero explains.
It’s all about planning
It appears that there are two main marks of success for clubs. First, how a club’s leadership both fulfills — or exceeds — their stated goals. And second, how they are able to develop a segment of their membership to take over the club’s reins in the future.
But I’d go a step further and say the former is more important than the latter. In fact, it is even possible that placing pressure on members to take over some day might actually be turning them off. The reality is that NAIT’s environment is probably not conducive for the longevity of interest clubs. I consider short-lived clubs that prioritize making a meaningful impact on the lives of their members as more successful than ones that have been around for decades, content with just “existing.”
Feature image by Dylan Nicholson / The Nugget
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in our October 2025 print issue. Read it online here.
