Student: This is the administrative office, right?

Employee: Uh-huh. How can I help you?

Student: Well, I am stopping by to reserve a place for my school club to meet and work, pretty much on a regular basis.

Ideally, our preference would be to have our own office.

Employee: Hmm…well, we are out of private offices.

But we do have some semi-private options still available.

Student: What do you mean?

Employee: Well, it’s a setup where you’ll have a larger workspace shared by two other clubs.

In other words, each club would have its own work area within that one room.

Student: Oh. Are there any divider, walls or anything?

Employee: Oh, yes. There will be a couple of dividers, so there’s some privacy.

Student: Um. We’ll work with that then.

I wouldn’t want to be without an office.

Employee: OK. Here are the two forms you have to fill out.

Why don't you do it now while I set that up throughout computer system?

Student: OK.

Employee: So what’s your club’s name?

And the last name of the club president.

Student: Oh, it’s the photography club.

And it’s Williams.

That’s me. John Williams.

Employee: Hmm…that’s not pulling up anything on my screen.

Um…let me try something else.

Uh, how about your faculty adviser’s name?

Student: Sarah Baker. She is in the Arts Department.

Employee: Hmm…No. Strange.

You know your club is just not showing up in my online records.

Is this an established club?

Student: No. Actually it’s a brand-new one.

Employee: Hmm… have you completed the registration process?

Student: Yeah, last week. That was my very first step.

Employee: Right. Well, for my purposes, a club definitely has to be registered before I can proceed further.

At the moment, however, it appears that there’s no record of your club’s registration.

Student: Really? I thought everything was finalized last week.

Employee: Well, it is surprising.

Usually there’s a 24-hour turnaround in our computer database.

So then do you have the registration approval letter from the review committee?

That'll give me the verification I need.

Student: Yeah. I do. I mean, well, I don’t have it with me.

But… I… I, uh, can get it from my dorm room, bring it back with me and submit it with those forms you need from me.

Employee: Great! That’ll work. And just so you are aware, there’re lots of benefits to being registered.

Student: Oh, yeah. I think the university will give us permission to set up a website, right?

I want to get students sharing their ideas on the website, you know, establish a photography blog.

Employee: Yes. You’ll be able to do that.

And…um…actually there’s more.

You’ll be allowed the use of audiovisual equipment at no cost.

You’ll receive a club mailbox and a club email address.

You’ll be allowed to post your flyers and posters around the campus for publicity.

And you could be eligible for funding for club events.

Student: Well, we are definitely interested in hiring a professional speaker at one of our campus events at some point in the semester.

And speakers almost always charge a fee.

So I’ll definitely follow up on that.