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Student Org Registration Policy & Steps


Student Organization Registration Policy

At GW, Student Organizations must register annually with the Student Activities Center in order to be considered active and fully eligible for all student organization benefits (reserve space, request funding from Student Association, host events, etc.). Click here for a full list of benefits for registered organizations.



 A Note About Membership

In order to form and maintain a student organization at GW, there must be at least 5 currently enrolled GW students who want to become members of the organization. Alumni, members of the public, or family can be guests of the organization and attend organization events, but are not allowed to handle money on behalf of the organization or hold an officer position in the organization.

Important Things to Know about Student Organization Registration at GW
 
-While a student organization is in the process of registering their organization they will be able to complete the following steps:
     -update their list of organization officers themselves
     -update their list of schedulers themselves
     -upload a new constitution
     -update their org address, phone, website and email address themselves.
-When student organizations have completed the registration process and need this information updated, they must contact their SAT Advisor to do so.
-Updating student org information while registering/re-registering or contacting one's SAT Advisor to do so after the registration has been completed for the organization is the only way to ensure that the studentorgs.gwu.edu website will accurately reflect your organization's information.
-The steps of the registration process and more information can be found below.


2009-2010 Student Organization Registration Steps*

In order to operate and receive the full benefits of a registered student organization, all groups operating as student organizations at GW are required to register annually with the Student Activities Center. The registration process for the '09-'10 school year will be open from 8-17-09 at noon through 4-28-10. The following steps must be completed in order to become fully registered:

  • Attend a Financial Management Meeting
    This meeting will offer all kinds of helpful information to navigate how to stay on top of student org finances at GW. All organizations are required to send their Treasurer or a representative to the meeting.  Meetings have been set at varying dates and times for your convenience, beginning August 24!  The Treasurer must also pass an online Financial Quiz (more info below) which is based off of information presented in the Financial Management Meeting. For a list of all fall Financial Management Meetings which will begin at the end of August, please click here.
  • Online registration
    Use your GW email username and password to log into the bottom right side of the screen at studentorgs.gwu.edu and click on the  "Awaiting Registration" link next to the name of the organization that needs to be re-registered. If you are registering a new org, click on "Register New Organization" to begin. Fill in all requested information and submit. Online registration includes the following steps in addition to entering basic information about your org:
    • Responsibility Statement
      Two officers of your organization must read and electronically sign the Responsibility Statement.  Click here to see the content of this form (Responsibility Policy).
    • Constitution
      During the online registration process you'll be asked to upload a copy of your organization's constitution.  If you need help, please reference the       Guidelines for Writing a Constitution.
    • Budget
      *NEW THIS YEAR! All SA Operational Funding requests are processed through the online budget form that orgs fill out as part of the annual registration process!  Use the electronic budget form in the registration process to request annual funding from the Student Association (SA). More information will be available at the       Student Association Website.
    • Online Quizzes
      There are two quizes that need to be completed in the registration process. All student organizations are required to have an officer successfully complete a general Registration Quiz. The Treasurer must also pass the Finance Quiz based on information presented in the Financial Management Meeting. This Finance Quiz will only be available to the org member who has been identified by the org as the Treasurer/Finacial Contact for the org.  Both quizzes contain randomly chosen questions. In order to pass both quizzes you must receive a score of at least 85%. If you do not pass the quiz, you must allow 24 hours before taking it again.
  • Await final SAT Advisor review and approval
    Upon completion of these steps, your SAT (Student Advisory Team) Advisor will review the documents you have submitted. Constitutions will be reviewed to ensure that the following statements are included:
    • A non-discrimination clause (click here for an example)
    • A statement that the organization will abide by University policies
    • A statement that explains that only registered GW students are considered members of the organization; all others (friends, family, faculty, staff) are considered guests. Guests are welcome to attend events and vote, but they cannot hold officer positions or handle money on behalf of the organization.

If the above listed statements are not included, your SAT advisor will email you noting what statements are missing, asking you to revise your constitution and email it back to your SAT advisor with the appropriate changes.


Please allow at least five business days from the day your organization completed their steps to hear about approval. You will know that your organization has been approved when you receive an email from your advisor stating your registration is complete

Please note that review of an organization's information may require consultation with other University departments such as Risk Management and General Counsel in order to ensure the safety of GW students. Please allow more than 5 days of review time in these cases. Upon such a review, your SAT advisor may contact you with additional steps that may be required before your organization can be fully operational. These steps may include:

·         Signing an operational agreement with specific safety precautions or requirements that your organization must abide by.

·         All members signing safety and liability waivers.

·         Other measures deemed required and appropriate by General Counsel or Risk Management.


**In extreme cases when students' safety is of the utmost concern, the University reserves the right not to approve an organization.