As Covey says, "start with the end in mind". What are the objectives you want to accomplish with the organization? Is this purely social? A student "government"? Does the group provide services within the school or the community? Is there a leadership development component?
Sounds like a great start. Good luck.
Loren Kroh
Like you, I agree that building a community in a career college is vital to learning and retention. Many of my students are the first in their family to attend a post secondary school in fact some are the first in several generations to graduate from high school. While I have not had much success in building a club within our program, I've found that open labs to teach the students skills and allow them to practice those skills has helped maintain interest and see the value of what they are learning in their classrooms. Keeping the new and more senior students engaged and focused on their future is sometimes hard with all of the events of life that distract them from their goals, but activities such as clubs and open labs help that process.
I, too, believe that building a community in a career college is necessary. For some of the students in our program, it's their first time attending a post-secondary school or college. They understand the academic demands, but they also expect to have some social activities as well. If the activities are related to the things they are learning, but are not part of the day-to-day curriculum, many would take advantage of them. Clubs or group activities related to their interests will definitely keep them engaged.
