Student society


A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university, college, or other educational institution, whose membership typically consists only of students and/or alumni.
Early notable types of student societies include the medieval so-called nations of the University of Bologna and the University of Paris. Later Modern era examples include the Studentenverbindung in the German speaking world, as well as the evolvement of fraternal orders for students and Greek-letter student fraternities and sororities internationally.
Aims may involve practice and propagation of a certain professional hobby or to promote professional development or philanthropic causes. Examples of common societies found in most universities are a debate society, an international student society, a rock society, and student chapters of professional societies. Not all societies are based around such a large area of interest and many universities also find themselves home to societies for many obscure hobbies such as a Neighbours society.
Student societies often have open membership, although some are invitation only including honor societies, secret societies, and certain traditional fraternities. Students typically join societies at the beginning of the school year when many societies present themselves in a societies fair and campaign to attract new members. The students may pay a membership fee to the society, while some may not. Since the societies are non-profit organizations this fee is often nominal and purely exists to cover insurance or to fund society events.
Student societies may or may not be affiliated with a university's students' union. Student societies often aim to facilitate a particular activity or promote a belief system, although some explicitly require nothing more than that a member is a present or former student. Additionally, some are not affiliated with a specific university or accept non-university students. Moreover, most student run organizations tend to depend heavily on collaborations with externals for their credibility and their success.

Examples

Typical examples are:

Armenia

The Armenian National Students Association and the National Youth Council of Armenia are the two most prominent student societies in Armenia.

Australia

In Australia, student societies play an important role in university life by bringing together like-minded students to engage in activities the society seeks to promote.

Belgium

Flanders

In Flanders, student societies play a unique role in student life. Student societies there have traditionally been politically active, and they played a significant part in the 1960s division of the Catholic University of Leuven into separate Flemish and Walloon universities.
A student society in Flanders is led by a praesidium. The head of the praesidium is the praeses. Alternative spellings are presidium and preses. For most positions, Dutch names are used nowadays.
Other positions include:
  • vice-praeses: assists the praeses where needed.
  • Quaestor: takes care of the money.
  • : the secretary of the student organisation.
  • Cantor: Leads the cantus.
  • Vertor: Organises cultural activities.
  • Scriptor: Is responsible for creating a Magazine.
  • Bacchus: Is responsible for alcoholic beverages.
  • Dominus morum: Is responsible for keeping order at a cantus.
Positions are flexible, and change to meet the needs of the student organisation.
Student societies used to be politically engaged, but are now more focused on organizing parties, cantus, and cultural activities.
Student societies also exist at polytechnics.
New members go through an initiation ritual before becoming full members of a Flemish student society. A new member is called schacht and has to undergo a baptism. The baptism is the first step to integration in the student society. The next step to becoming a full-fledged member is the ontgroening. After the ontgroening, one becomes a normal member or commilito of the organization, and can join the praesidium if one so chooses. Normal members are also referred to as anciens.

Francophone Belgians

In Wallonia and Brussels, several types of francophone student societies exist:
  • A cercle regroup students from the same faculty
  • A regionale regroup students coming from the same location
  • An ordre regroup students around some aspects of the student folklore or traditions. The most famous is arguably ANLO.
  • A kot-à-projet regroups students sharing the same passion for diversified projects : sports, arts, culture, sustainability or social issues...
These societies sometimes have traditions dating back a hundred years, such as wearing one of the two traditional student hats: the Penne or the Calotte. Their main activity is organising and attending parties or festivals.

Canada

The Alma Mater Society at Queen's University is the oldest such organization in Canada, and currently the most extensive in regard to student involvement. It is currently a multi-million corporation employing over 500 students. The day-to-day operations of the AMS are overseen by the AMS Council which includes an annually elected three-person executive and Vice-President, five commissioners who are each responsible for a specific aspect of student life, and three directors who are responsible for overseeing the AMS’ 14 corporate services.

Denmark

Student organizations in Denmark are often interchangeable with the students' unions, as the local organizations at the universities are concerned about matters related to political interest and social activities. The political interests of the students are nationally represented by The National Union of Students in Denmark, which mandate is democratically given by the local organizations.

Estonia

is the largest and oldest all-male academical student society in Estonia, which is similar to Baltic German student corporations. It was founded in 1870 at the University of Tartu. It has over 900 members in Estonia and abroad.
In Estonia are 10 academical male student corporations. They are joined in League of Estonian Corporations, which was founded on March 28, 1915, by Vironia, Fraternitas Estica, Sakala, Ugala and Rotalia. Estonian student corporations have hundreds of members and alumni worldwide, because after the Soviet annexation of Estonia many members fled to Western countries.
Added to them there are one female student society: Estonian Women Students' Society, five female student corporations: Filiae Patriae, Indla, Lembela, Amicitia, Sororitas Estoniae.

European-wide

In Europe, there are several continent-wide student organisations fostering exchange among students of different nationalities and Culture, such as
There is also the National Unions of Students in Europe, a representative student organisation at European level, notably within the Bologna process.

Finland

In Finland, there are many various student societies, ranging in variety based on education and ethnicity. By law all Finnish universities must have a statutory students' union and membership in these unions are often required for undergraduate students. The most well-known of these is the National Union of University Students in Finland, who aims at improving student conditions, with them representing around 135,000 students. All Universities of Applied Sciences must have a statutory student council and union, however membership in these are not mandatory. All student unions in the University of Applied Sciences are under the Umbrella Organization;. Among these, the traditional osakunta or student nations exist as well.
In secondary schools, high school students can join the and both high school and vocational students can join the, which is made for Finland Swedes.