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.