Searching for a Club or Organization
CatLife is our online portal for all registered clubs and organizations (RCOs). Here, you can learn more about what they do, where and when to attend their meetings, and find links to their websites such as their Instagram pages.
Create a profile on CatLife using your UC Merced username and password to get the best experience using the site. Once you are logged in, you can directly send messages to RCO leaders.
FIND A DEPARTMENT, CLUB OR ORGANIZATION
Note: These are the only student organizations approved for registration with the University of California, Merced. If you have questions about other groups, please contact the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) at clubsandorgs@ucmerced.edu. OSI is not responsible for the contents or administration of these student organizations’ websites. The information presented by the student organizations reflects their own thoughts, interests and activities. Providing links to these websites does not implicitly or explicitly represent official positions or policies of the University of California, Merced or the Office of Student Involvement.
Featured Below: The Business Society
Top 12 reasons to get involved on campus:
- You’ll learn more about yourself. Joining a student organization presents many opportunities to learn more aboutyourself, your goals, and your strengths. You can learn from how other studentshandle certain situations and test your current knowledge. You can also find out what you’re good at, whether that’s multitasking, staying organized, generating ideas, or serving others. This self-awareness will be beneficial in your future career.
- You’ll develop soft skills. Soft skills are essentially “people skills” — they’re the skills that allow us toeffectively interact with others, like communication, attitude, and work ethic. Participating in a student organization not only teaches you these skills, but alsohelps you broaden and improve those you already have. You’ll learn the bestway to communicate with both individuals and large groups, and you’ll gain emotional intelligence as you develop new relationships.
- You’ll learn how to work with a team. Knowing how to work well with a team is an essential skill for any career. Being in a student organization teaches you how to do this by putting you in situationswhere you are required to take advice from others, as well as give yourown.Joining a student organization helps to build your network & can providevaluable skills #BobcatSkills
- You’ll get networking opportunities. Another great benefit of student organizations (and graduate programs as a whole) is that you get the opportunity to network. Meeting new students, making connections, and building relationships will all help down the line when you’re looking for a job. Because you’re all part of the same organization, you know the people you’re meeting have at least a few of the same interests as you,so their connections will be valuable.
- You’ll gain practical experience in a safe environment. Participating in a club or an organization based around your particular area of study will give you practical experience within that field. And what’s great aboutstudent clubs is that while you learn to use skills like project management, eventplanning, and fundraising, you get to test them out in a safe environment wheremaking mistakes is OK. Everyone is there to support you, so there’s no fear in messing up or being wrong.
- You’ll be able to use the skills you’ve learned in class. As business students, you are able to apply classroom experience in your student organizations, and also develop leadership and life skills that help you become more effective in classroom team projects.
- You’ll learn how to engage with diverse groups of people. Chances are, the organization you choose to participate in will include a diversegroup of people — you’ll be faced with the same situation in the working world!Learning how different people respond and react to certain situations will help youdevelop your skills in presenting and implementing ideas. Corbett said student organizations can also provide you with the opportunity to learn about different cultural backgrounds.
- You’ll gain leadership skills. Becoming a leader or an officer in an organization will help you develop leadershipskills that will be invaluable in all areas of life. You’ll be presented with opportunitiesto improve in public speaking, and gain confidence in yourself as an individual.
- You’ll get a break from your studies. Concentrating on schoolwork is obviously important during a graduate program, butgiving your mind a break is necessary (and beneficial). While taking part in clubactivities, you’ll be able to socialize with like-minded individuals and actually learn as much from them as you would your school work.
- You’ll expand your resume.There’s no arguing that organizations and activities look good on a resume. Showing employers that you participated in, or (better yet) lead, a student organization, they’llknow that you’re hard working and can handle multiple responsibilities.
- You’ll be able to give back to the community. Many student organizations provide opportunities to give back to the community, whether through acts of service, sponsoring events, or hosting charity drives. Not only is this good for society, but it will teach you how a future business can give back, too.
- You’ll have fun! Another simple reason to join a student organization is to have fun. Meeting new people, making new friends, and participating in activities will help you make the most of your graduate school experience.
Learn more in our Virtual Hub!
Think about your involvement goals:
What does it mean to “get involved”? Getting involved at UC Merced looks and feels different to everyone.
Answering these questions for yourself will help you think about what opportunities you want to pursue.
- What am I looking for in an organization or activity?
- Do I primarily want to make new friends?
- Do I want to work on something I believe in?
- Do I want to explore something new?
- Should I be in a group that relates to my major or career interest?
- Do I want a break from my academics?
- What skills do I want to learn?
- Shall I continue an interest from high school?
- Do I want to help make things happen?
- How much time do I have for an organization?
- Can I manage any financial obligations?
