Student Leadership & Involvement

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Identifying and Validating New Member

What is Council of Organizations? 

Council of Organizations (COO) is a mandatory monthly meeting of all recognized SGA organizations that takes place on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:15pm (unless deemed otherwise by the president of SGA). Council of Organizations provides an opportunity for SGA to update and inform organizations about important SGA and West Chester University information.  

2024-2025 Meeting Dates (links to Presentation Slides available following the meeting)

• September 3, 2024
• October 1, 2024 - SGA Town Hall
• November 5, 2024 - Asynchronous (Budget Q&A)
• December 3, 2024
• February 4, 2025
• March 4, 2025
• April 1, 2025 - Officer Training (7:00pm-9:00pm, Re-registration Requirement)

What happens if an organization misses a meeting?

If an organization does not attend a meeting without a written excuse to the SGA secretary within 48 hours, the organization will be suspended by the SGA until the commencement of the next Council of Organizations. This means that all SSI accounts will be frozen and the organization will be demoted one level within the room reservation rating tier. 

If an organization feels that they have been unfairly suspended, they have the ability to appeal they suspension to the full Senate who will then decide whether or not the suspension will be reversed. 

The organization must express their intent to appeal via an email sent to the SGA Vice President no later than one (1) week after the date of the missed meeting.

Involvement Fairs

Fall Involvement Fair

The Annual Fall Involvement Fair has become the place to be for students interested in joining recognized clubs and organizations.  Organizations have the opportunity to positively showcase what they’re all about and recruit new members! 

Spring Organization Fair 

The Spring Org Fair provides student orgs the opportunity to showcase their student org to prospective members at the beginning of the Spring semester! The spring organization fair has historically been either in-person or virtual. This will be determined by SLI and corresponded with student org leaders. 

Tabling

Reserve a space in Sykes, an academic building, outside, etc. on 25Live

Other Promotion

Graphics Tips

• Design for the platform the graphic will be on (Instagram post vs. story, flyer, small hand-out, RamConnect event banner, etc.)
• Think about who the event is for (only members, all students, etc.) and make sure your promotion includes that
• How will your graphics stand out from others? 

For details about advertising visit the Event Planning page here.

Recruiting tips

Have an elevator pitch about your organization

An elevator pitch is a brief (20-30 second) persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what your organization does. It should be more persuasive than just your organization’s mission statement.

Come up with a recruitment plan

Think about things such as: Who are you trying to reach? How many students are you trying to recruit? What is your timeframe for recruitment? How will your stand out amongst other organizations to potential new members?

Common reasons members leave:

• Lack of communication
• No delegation
• No longer fun
• Organization is stagnant
• Do not feel appreciated 

GRAPE Motivation Theory

G- Growth

• Does your organization provide growth opportunities for all interested members?
• Are there opportunities for members to move into positions of leadership? 

R- Recognition

• Do you recognize your members when great things occur in your organization?
• Don’t wait until the end of the year! People need and appreciate being recognized in a timely manner for their hard work and accomplishments

A- Achievement 

• A sense of team achievement is important. Healthy organizations make sure that everyone feels as if they contributed to the success of the organization
• Recognize the small wins
• When the organization is honored, it is important to realize that everyone has contributed and should have a feeling of accomplishment 

P- Participation

• Make sure your organization is open and willing to accept contributions regardless of how long they have been with the organization
• Think about participation details and how they impact participation – time of day events and meetings are offered, cost of participation, accessibility, etc. 

E- Enjoyment

• Volunteering and working hard in an organization should be fun!
• Bring enthusiasm to the meeting and organization 

25Live

All reservation requests must be made online on 25Live. You must sign in with your WCU username & password to request space for your event. You can book space in Sykes Union or anywhere on campus. With questions, please call Sykes Administration at (610) 436-2984. 

Space is very limited on campus and reserves quickly, you may have to be flexible. Do not forget to take into account the set up and take down time you need when looking at space availability.  

When you submit your space request a notice will be automatically sent to the appropriate facility administrator to confirm that space. If you have waited over one week to hear, please check with Sykes Union Administration and we can follow up with the administrator of the space you requested. 

Cancellation

You are able to cancel an event on 25Live yourself if the event is more than 48 hours away. If the event is less than 48 hours away, you should contact the facility administrator who sent you the event confirmation. 

No Show Consequences

Failure to use a reserved space without prior cancellation by any registered Student Organization or university department will result in the following: 

• 1st Offense – First Policy Violation: warning will be emailed to advisor and event coordinators. 
• 2nd Offense – Second Policy Violation: organization will be charged a $25.00 No Show Fee and will not be permitted to submit any space request until payment is received .
• 3rd Offense - cancellation of events for the remainder of the semester. If there is a charge associated with the policy violation, organization will be placed on “Bad Standing” with account frozen until payment has been made. 

Day of Room Requests

To request a room the day of your event, requests must be made in person with Sykes Administration. For day of requests requiring a different event set up, discretion will be left to the Student Director on duty at the time you need the room. Last minute requests may not be honored. Last minute requests are tracked by Sykes Administration, and organizations are limited to the amount of day of requests each semester, as it is strongly encouraged to submit a reservation request via 25Live. Groups that are not in good standing are not permitted to make day of requests. Attempts to do so may result in extended probation. 

Space Set Up Requests

Set up requests for all meeting room spaces must be received no later than 1 week before scheduled event date. If no set up request is provided, the space will be “As Is.”  All set-ups must observe fire code and ADA accessibility.  Special set up requests will require approval from the administrator that oversees the facility of requested space. 

Visit Sykes' Webpage (Link) for more information.  For questions regarding student organization reservations, please contact Jordan Maxwell (link?) at 610-436-1014. 

WCU has recently updated their branding and branding guidelines. Click here to get all of the information.

Executive board (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) elections should be completed by March 31st. This is so your organization is ready for re-registration in April. 

Click here for info on how to set up elections on RamConnect

Re-registration takes in April for all student organizations (excluding Fraternity and Sorority Life organizations and Honor Societies). Exact dates will be determined by SLI and communicated to executive board members. You must re-register your student organization to be a recognized organization for the following academic year.

Failure to re-register by the date determined by SLI will result in your organization being suspended through the following Fall semester. Your organization's SSI account and reservation privileges will be locked until re-registration is complete. Per the SOPPs, failure to re-register by the last SGA meeting of the fall semester will result in your organization closing.

In addition to filling out a re-registration form, there may be other requirements for re-registration determined by SLI which will be communicated. 

If your organization no longer plans on being active or if you have any questions, please email involvement@wcupa.edu

Check out the Transition Checklist below for a guide to help with successful transition. having a smooth transition from one executive board to the next is important for continued success in student organizations

Transition Checklist