At our school the "robotics society" still a brand new organization, occupies some kind in-between status. We don't need a particluar GPA or anything to qualify, and naturally we are open to everyone, like a club. Yet the school has been VERY generous in outfitting us for our rookie year with funding, tools and a place to set up shop. That is partly due to the marketing abilites of our head coach (Thank you Dale!) and the good history he already has with the school after establishing FLL
a few years ago. In this way we were lucky and avoided the challenges many rookie teams face getting equipment and funding for their rookie year. For now, this team/club staus works fine for us.