December 6, 2007 Meeting and Semester Summary

1. Applications for Recognition

The Committee has decided to recommend recognition of the following new organizations:

Capoeira (restricted, Sports/Recreation)
Drivers Club (funded, Hobbies)
Emergency Health Services Council of Majors (funded, Academic/Departmental)
Pre-Veterinary Society (funded, Career/Professional)
Tau Sigma Transfer Honor Society (restricted, Honor Society)
UMBC TV (funded, Media)
United States Air Force Reserve ROTC (funded, Career/Professional)

In addition, the Committee reviewed the Men of Strength Club’s proposed constitution and requested clarifying changes.

2. Student Organization Categories

David Hoffman reported that only one organization had responded to the Committee's e-mail about the new system of categories by requesting reassignment to a new category, and even that organization already had been placed in the requested category (but apparently had not read the list carefully).

However, a student leader has contacted the Committee to express his concern about the placement of Alpha Sigma Kappa in the Academic/Departmental category, because he believes ASK operates as a social Greek organization. The Committee agreed that members would confer with Greek Life Coordinator Corin Gioia and develop a process for reviewing the status of existing organizations that may belong in the Greek Life category.

3. Summary: What The Student Orgs Committee Did This Semester

• Developed and published a new sample Constitution for prospective new student organizations
• Revised the system of student organization categories for clarity and accuracy, and sorted existing organizations into the new categories
• Clarified the meaning of the SGA Student Organizations Policy provisions relating to funding status and restrictions on membership
• Worked with prospective student organizations to move them through the process of gaining formal UMBC recognition, and recommended recognition of 16 new student organizations
• Recommended revocation of 60 student organizations’ recognition for failure to comply with the registration requirement or the 5-member rule
  
• Began to address longstanding ambiguities about the boundaries of the Sports/Recreation and Greek Life student organization categories

November 29, 2007 Meeting--Sports Club Issues On The Horizon

1. Student Organization Categories

Chris Najmi and David Hoffman reported that they had met last week and sorted all of the recognized student organizations into the new scheme of categories created by the Committee at its previous meeting. The Committee reviewed the list, made a few corrections, and approved sending it out to all student organizations for their review. Student organizations will be invited to provide feedback and request category changes if needed.

2. Applications for Recognition

The Committee reviewed constitutions submitted by UMBC TV and the Emergency Health Services Council of Majors, and asked Chris Najmi to request that the groups make minor revisions for clarity.

3. Application for Constitution Change

The Committee reviewed and approved the amended constitution submitted by Filmmakers Anonymous. Because the purpose of the organization is to watch and discuss films, the Committee asked me to remind the group about its responsibility to comply with copyright laws and licensing requirements.

4. Sports Clubs

The Committee began what promises to be a series of discussions aimed at resolving longstanding issues regarding the status of Sports Clubs. The Sports Clubs category maintained by the Office of Student Life and SGA has no official definition, but placement in that category has an important consequence: Sports Clubs are not eligible for SGA funding except for events directed at the entire campus, because they are expected to be coordinated and supported by the Athletics Department. Yet the Athletics Department has denied privileges and funding to several groups already in that category, leaving them with very limited campus support for their activities. The Committee discussed the need to get clarification from the Athletics Department about its criteria for supporting a Sports Club, and to develop a recognition process that does not result in the creation of more clubs that exist in name but lack access to funding and campus support.

November 15, 2007 Meeting--New Student Org Categories

1. Applications for Recognition

The Committee decided to recommend recognition of the following new organizations:

Black Artists Society (funded, Special Interest)
Russian Club (funded, Cultural/Ethnic)
Amnesty International (funded, Political/Social Activism)
Women’s Lacrosse Team (restricted, Sports/Recreation)

In addition, the Committee reviewed another draft of the American Studies Council of Majors Constitution and asked Chris Najmi to set up a meeting with its President to discuss needed revisions.

2. Student Organization Categories

The Committee agreed on several changes to the system of student organization categories designed to make the categories more accurate and descriptive. The changes will be as follows:

a. The Political/Social Activism and Service categories will be replaced by a category for Political organizations and a category for Service/Social Action organizations.

b. There will be three new categories: Arts/Performance, Career/Professional and Hobbies.

c. The Special Interest category will be eliminated.

As a result of these changes, the entire set of categories will be as follows:

Academic/Departmental
Arts/Performance
Career/Professional
Cultural/Ethnic
Governance
Greek
Hobbies
Honor Societies
Intellectual Sports
Media
Political
Religion/Spirituality
Service/Social Action
Sports/Recreation

The Committee discussed the possibility of dividing the Arts/Performance category into separate Arts and Performance categories, but will wait for feedback from student organizations before making such a change. In addition, the Committee discussed the possibility of distinguishing between groups organized to compete in athletic events and groups organized around members’ interests as sports fans. The Committee agreed to defer any change to the existing Sports/Recreation category until after working with the Athletics Department and SGA to resolve outstanding issues relating to the management and funding of sports and recreation activities on campus.

The next step in the process of changing the student organization categories is to tentatively reassign organizations based on the new system, which the Committee will do at its next meeting on November 29^th. Between now and the 29^th, Chris Najmi, Nayana Davis and I will work up a proposed list of assignments for the Committee to review. Once the Committee has approved the tentative assignments, we will send an e-mail out to all student organizations soliciting feedback and inviting requests to be moved to a different category.

November 8, 2007 Meeting

1. Applications for Recognition

The Committee received no new applications for recognition, but considered revised Constitutions for the following organizations:

Filmmakers Anonymous
Pre-Vet Society
Emergency Health Services Council of Majors
Tau Sigma Honor Society

In every case, the Committee identified minor problems, the resolution of which should result in swift approval.

2. Air Force ROTC

The students seeking to launch the Air Force ROTC organization submitted a Constitution earlier in the month which included the standard nondiscrimination clause:

“Membership in this organization may not be denied because of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, disabled veteran or veteran, national origin or religion.”

The nondiscrimination clause is not required for recognition, but any sort of discrimination in selecting members has an impact on whether an organization is eligible for SGA funding. Chris Najmi had sent the group an e-mail on the Student Organizations Committee’s behalf asking Air Force ROTC whether it planned to enforce the United States government’s policies regarding the sexual orientation of members of the military. As Chris reported at today’s meeting, the Air Force ROTC’s response was ambiguous. Chris will follow up by asking specific questions about whether being openly gay would result in denial of membership in the organization.

3. Record-Keeping

The Committee discussed the fact that the paper files on student organizations maintained by the Student Involvement Center do not contain much of the information that is now routinely handled electronically, including registration forms submitted after organizations have received formal recognition from UMBC. Committee members agreed that it would be useful to have complete paper files on each organization, and Erin Carter will follow up by working with her staff to create paper versions of all information stored in electronic form.

4. Process Change for Recognition Applications

The Committee asked Chris Najmi to develop and provide Sheryl Gibbs with an information sheet to be provided to organizations submitting applications for recognition to the Office of Student Life. The information sheet will advise the organization to send an electronic copy of its proposed Constitution to Chris for an initial review and consultation before it the application is considered by the full Committee. The Committee anticipates that this change will make the recognition process quicker and easier for both the organizations submitting applications and the Committee.

5. Student Organization Categories

The Committee agreed that members would come to next week’s meeting with proposed student organization categories to supplement or replace the existing categories (Academic/Departmental, Greek Life, etc.). Committee members expressed particular interest in replacing the existing Special Interest category with several more accurate and descriptive category names reflecting the various types of organizations now lumped together in that category.

October 25 and November 1, 2007 Meetings--4 New Orgs and a Dispute Resolved

1. Applications for Recognition

The Committee has decided to recommend recognition of three new student organizations:

Modeling Club (funded, Special Interest)

UMBC Executive Club (funded, Academic/Departmental)

Media and Communications Studies Council of Majors (funded, Academic/Departmental)

The Committee also accepted a revised Constitution from the Political Science Council of Majors and affirmed its previous recommendation for the group's recognition as a funded, Academic/Departmental organization.

In addition, the Committee considered applications from the following organizations and asked them to make revisions to their Constitutions:

Amnesty International (1^st and 2^nd submissions)

Black Artists’ Society (2^nd submission)

Air Force ROTC

Russian Club

Pre-Veterinary Society

Also, I reported to the Committee that the dispute between the two organizations claiming to be entitled to the name and/or funds of Filmmakers’ Anonymous has been resolved successfully. One of the organizations will retain the name, while the other—the UMBC Film Crew—will inherit the carryover account. The Committee considered the UMBC Film Crew’s application for recognition and Filmmakers’ Anonymous’ proposed new Constitution, and asked Chris Najmi to work with both organizations on needed revisions to their Constitutions.

2. What Counts as a Membership Restriction?

The Committee has made a couple of initial determinations about membership restrictions in relation to organizations’ funding status. One is that an organization can limit membership based on participation—for example, requiring attendance at two consecutive meetings before allowing a student to vote in the organization’s elections—without losing its funded status. The other is that an organization can place restrictions on the holders of officer positions—for example, requiring officers to have minimum GPAs or junior standing—without losing its funded status. These determinations reflect the Committee’s interpretation of SGA’s Student Organizations Policy.

October 18, 2007 Meeting--Do the Current Stu Org Categories Make Sense?

1. Applications for Recognition

The Committee considered new applications for recognition from the Black Artists Society and the UMBC Executive Club. Representatives from the two organizations attended the meeting, responded to questions about their Constitutions and received suggestions from the Committee. Both will resubmit their Constitutions with amendments based on the discussion.

The Political Science Council of Majors submitted revisions to its Constitution, but the revisions raised more issues than they resolved. Chris Najmi will contact the organization to discuss a resolution to the problem.

2. Student Organization Categories

The Committee discussed the practice of placing student organizations into categories like Religion/Spirituality and Cultural/Ethnic. The primary significance of most of the categories (other than Greek Life and Sports Clubs, for which there are special processes and restrictions) is that they help students to identify organizations they might be interested in joining. The Committee talked about whether a reconfigured category system with different or additional names might better serve that purpose. For example, the existing Special Interest category is a hodgepodge of organizations that do not belong in any of the other categories; maybe it would be possible to rename or reconfigure the categories so the Special Interest organizations would belong in other, more descriptive categories. Committee members agreed to come to next week's meeting (October 25^th) with ideas about potential alternatives to the existing category scheme.

If you have thoughts about how to improve upon the existing scheme of student organizations categories, feel free to share them with the Committee by sending an e-mail to studentorgscomm@umbc.edu.

October 11, 2007 Meeting--What Counts as a Membership Restriction?

1. Applications for Recognition

The Committee voted to recommend recognition of Alpha Phi Omega as a Restricted-Funded Service organization, and the Political Science Council of Majors (which had its recognition revoked last month) as a Funded Political/Social Activism organization. The Political Science Council of Majors recommendation is tentative pending minor revisions to the organization’s Constitution.

The Committee received new applications for recognition from Best Buddies and Women’s Club Lacrosse (both of which had their recognition revoked last month), and from Get Up. Katie Nolan from Women’s Club Lacrosse attended the meeting and responded to questions about the group’s application and plans to resubmit the Constitution with minor revisions. Chris Najmi will follow up with the other organizations regarding issues with their Constitutions.

Based on the usefulness of the conversation with Katie Nolan, the Committee decided to invite the Presidents of all organizations applying for recognition to meet with the Committee when it considers their applications.

2. Alpha Nu Omega Sorority, Inc.

The Committee met with the two members/officers of Alpha Nu Omega Sorority and answered questions relating to the revocation of its recognition. In accordance with SGA policy, the group’s carryover account will remain in place for two years, and if its officers are successful in recruiting new members and reapplying for recognition the group can ask SGA to restore its access to the carryover funds.

3. What Counts as a Membership Restriction?

SGA’s Student Organizations Policy identifies any organization that is not “open to all UMBC undergraduate students,” or has “selection criteria,” as a limited-funded organization. The Committee discussed the ambiguity of these phrases as they apply to some organizations’ practices. For example, if an organization allows anyone to join but states that only members with certain characteristics (e.g., with a certain major) can hold an officer position, should the organization be considered a limited-funded organization? What about an organization which accepts anyone as a member, but requires auditions to play certain central roles in the organization’s activities? The Committee agreed that this is a complicated issue requiring further discussion.

October 4, 2007 Meeting--Revocation Revisited, 2 Filmmakers Anonymous Groups

1. Revocation Revisited

Erin Hundley and David Hoffman reported that of the 60 organizations that had their recognition revoked last month, only a few have raised questions and just two challenged the decisions. Each of those two organizations had received multiple warnings about their impending loss of recognition and failed to take action before the deadline. One of them—Women’s Club Lacrosse—identified some communication problems involving the Athletics Department, which the Office of Student Life will work to resolve. However, the Student Organizations Committee affirmed its previous conclusion that the organizations received the information they needed and could have complied with the registration deadline. Like any organization that has lost its recognition, they now have the opportunity to submit a new application for recognition.

The Scheduling Office has released all space reservations held by the 60 groups that have lost recognition.

2. Filmmakers Anonymous

The Committee learned that two different organizations submitted budget proposals to SGA under the name Filmmakers Anonymous. Each organization—one that has been calling itself the UMBC Film Crew, the other Image Movers--views itself as the successor to Filmmakers Anonymous, which was active several years ago. An investigation after the meeting revealed that Filmmakers Anonymous has not submitted a registration form since at least 2005-2006, and has not spent SGA or carryover funds at least since 2004-2005, suggesting that both of the active organizations will have to apply for UMBC recognition as new organizations. David will follow up with the two groups.

3. Applications for Recognition

The Committee considered new applications for recognition from the Cooking Club, the U.S. Air Force ROTC and Tau Sigma (an honor society), and from two organizations that recently had their recognition revoked: the Political Science Council of Majors and Pi Sigma Alpha honor society. The Committee asked Chris Najmi to request changes to various clauses in the organizations’ Constitutions (mainly to clarify the process of becoming a member and officers’ duties), and will reconsider the groups’ applications once the changes have been made.

September 27, 2007 Meeting

Registration and Five Member Rule Compliance

Erin Hundley announced that the four organizations described last week as having special issues with their registration forms had worked with Student Involvement Center staff to resolve all problems. Erin also has notified Corin Gioia, Coordinator for Greek Life, about the three Greek Life organizations that remain out of compliance with the Five Member Rule.

Applications for Recognition

The Committee considered the revised constitution of the American Studies Council of Majors, identified one technical problem, and agreed to ask the group to make the necessary amendment.

Carryover Funds

Chris Najmi reported that the Student Affairs Business Services Center's policy is that when an organization loses its UMBC recognition, its "carryover" (private) account is immediately deactivated. The funds are held for two years, then moved to SGA's general account. Chris agreed to ask the Business Services Center a few follow-up questions to inform future Student Organizations Committee discussions about whether any change in this policy is needed.

SGA Finance Board Policy Changes

Joy Adewumi reported that the SGA Finance Board has decided to use its authority as the funding source for student events to discourage organizations from charging UMBC students for admission. Generally, if an organization wants SGA to fully fund the cost of an event through the Student Activity Fee, it will have to let UMBC undergraduates attend for free. This will prevent students from being charged twice for the same event: once when they pay the Student Activity Fee, and again when they pay for a ticket. Joy also reported that the Finance Board will not provide seed money for fundraisers disconnected from events (e.g., bake sales) or for events for which the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to charity.

Revocation Recommendation Approved

Lee Calizo, Acting Director of Student Life, has approved the Student Organizations Committee's recommendation to revoke UMBC recognition from 60 student organizations (see list in previous post).

September 20, 2007 Meeting--60 Groups Recommended to Lose Recognition

Members present: Chris Najmi and Nayana Davis (SGA), Erin Hundley and David Hoffman (OSL).

1. Update on initiatives relating to student organizations.

Chris Najmi reported that SGA's Student Organization Advocates are planning a dinner for student organization leaders on November 9th. At this dinner, the Advocates plan to distribute a new Event Planning Handbook and announce the launch of a new student organization collaboration blog.

Nayana Davis reported that she is corresponding with student leaders on various campuses in Maryland about student organization management issues, including whether it makes sense to require student organizations to have faculty/staff advisors. She plans to pull a statewide group together and develop recommendations which she will present to the Student Organizations Committee later this semester.

Erin Hundley reported that she is guiding the development of an online Student Organization Resource Center, which will be accessible to student organization leaders through the OSL web site and myUMBC.

2. Revocation of student organizations' recognition.

Erin Hundley provided a list of student organizations that remained out of compliance with the requirement to submit a registration form (58 organizations) or the 5-member rule (9 organizations) despite repeated warnings and the announcement of September 14th as the deadline to correct these problems. Of these 67 organizations, 3 are in the Greek Life category (which is subject to slightly different rules) and 4 had special issues that the Student Involvement Center staff will work with the organizations to resolve in the next week.

By unanimous consent of the members present, in accordance with the SGA's Student Organizations Policy, the Committee formally recommended revoking UMBC recognition from the other 60 non-complying organizations. By this e-mail, this recommendation is being delivered to Lee Calizo, Acting Director of Student Life, who will make the final decision on revocation.

The 60 organizations for which the Committee recommends revocation of UMBC recognition are:

Alpha Kappa Delta (Sociology)

Alpha Nu Omega Sorority, Inc.

American Sign Language Club

Ancient Studies Club

Baseball (men's)

Best Buddies

Big 2 (Card Game)

Buddhist Club

Campus Freethought Alliance

Cinema Afrique

Collegiate Entrepreneur's Organization

Commuter Relations Board

Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Col.

Computer Science Council of Majors

Cross Country Club

Esperanto Club

ESTEEM

Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance

Figure Skating Team

French Club

Friends of the Goodfood Collective

Gender Variance

German Club

Green Party

Honors Students Association

Irish Student Association

J.E.W.E.L.S.

Lacrosse (women's)

Lambda Alpha (Anthropology)

Machining Club

Macintosh Users Group

Meditation Club

Modern Languages/Linguistics Council of Majors

Moot Court

Music Council of Majors

Order of Omega

Paintball Club

Parliamentary Debate Society

Performance Club

Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Lambda

Pi Alpha Theta (History)

Pi Mu Epsilon (Mathematics)

Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science)

Political Science Council of Majors

Retired Gymnasts Association

Russian Club

S.I.S.T.E.R.S.

Sakhu: The Black Psychology Club

Society of Inspiring Stud. w/Individual Abilities

Somethin' Good

Spanish Club

Students Against Global AIDS

Students Against the War on Terror

Students Making an Impact on the Lives on the Elderly

Tai Ji Club

UMBC PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Undecided (magazine)

Virgin Pride

Writer's Guild of Students

3. Student organization carryover accounts.

The Committee discussed the issues raised when student organizations with carryover accounts lose or forfeit their UMBC recognition, especially when a new group of students wants to re-start an organization that had funds in its carryover account when it lost recognition. The Committee agreed to investigate current practices and, if needed, clarify policies relating to this issue.