Collegiate archery teams are generally organized as a Club Sport, rather than as a regular athletic team like basketball or football would be. That means they're basically a student club, but one that competes with archery teams from other colleges at archery tournaments. Most teams have an adult coach and also a faculty advisor who oversee the activities of the team, but it's usually a student-driven organization. You'll usually find information about Club Sports organized under Student Life in the college structure, rather than within the Athletic Department.
Most Archery Clubs are very welcoming of new members without experience, and will provide qualified instruction and basic equipment that you can use. As you become more interested, you will likely want to purchase your own equipment. The more experienced members of the club will likely offer advice about the equipment you should purchase, and may even sell you their old equipment at a good price. Competition is usually optional, and not required for participation in the club. However, competition is strongly encouraged as you learn and develop your skills, because it makes it more fun and gives a purpose to practicing archery.
Most of the above comments probably also apply to fencing, although I don't have any experience with fencing.
See <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.uscollegiatearchery.org/">http://www.uscollegiatearchery.org/</a><!-- m --> for lots more information about collegiate archery, and to find out if the school you're considering has an archery team. If there's no team at your school, you can always start one, but that's a more challenging undertaking than just getting involved with an existing club.
