RSO Handbook

ENGAGE, UNMC’s comprehensive involvement platform will help you stay connected to events and opportunities within UNMC and with community partners, manage your group activities, and facilitate interprofessional communication.

Stay better connected to service activities colleagues and classmates with ENGAGE

ENGAGE will help you:

• Promote the visibility of your organization/department
• Advertise your events
• Track event participation
• Share up-to-date news
• Create and disseminate forms
• List contact information and more in one location
• Share and store photos
• Create a transcript of your event attendance
• Access reports

Student organizations must maintain a minimum of 4 currently enrolled UNMC students as members.

Each student organization is required to designate a President and a Treasurer (or some lead finance officer). These two officers will often serve as points of contacts for university officials. If you do not use the titles President or Treasurer for those roles, you can change the title in ENGAGE by selecting “Manage Positions” from your roster and selecting the name of the position you want to edit.

Your organization can also include other officer positions such as a Vice President, Activities Chair, etc. Additional positions aren’t required to be in good standing as an organization.

An organization advisor is an individual who has volunteered to guide and support in the best interest of an organization and its members. To be an effective advisor, one must share and believe in the organization’s mission.

It is required that, at minimum, one organization advisor is a UNMC employee. The role of an advisor could take many forms.

Potential Roles for Advisors

Expectations of the advisor and of the organization’s members should be discussed and agreed upon prior to the advisor accepting the role. It is also important to reflect on whether or not expectations are being met year to year.

• Attend organization meetings and/or events
• Interpret university policies and organization constitution
• Act as a mentor, motivator, educator, devil’s advocate, and/or sounding board
• Liaise between organization and the university
• Assist with leadership development and goal setting
• Manage organization funds through a department cost center (if applicable)

Since each organization is different, an advisor is at liberty to develop a role according to the needs of the organization.egents.

It is the responsibility of the organization to maintain an accurate roster on ENGAGE. It is important that your rosters are accurate with your current members, officers, and primary contact. Your roster should NOT be used as an email list.

Student organizations are required to maintain and follow a written constitution or other sort of governing documents. These documents set up a governing structure that will help provide continuity throughout the years. A constitution template is available on the SLIDO website.

All student organizations must include the highlighted sections of this template in their constitution. Ensure all voting procedures are clear and make reference to the type of vote needed to win (majority, simple majority, plurality, etc.). Updates to an organization’s governing document must be approved by the Student Life Involvement and Development Office during the re-registration process.

Approved registration of an organization does not constitute university endorsement or approval of the organization’s policies, purposes, or activities. It does signify a willingness on the part of the organization to communicate with the Student Life Inclusion and Diversity Office and comply with state law and the rules, regulations, and policies of the university and the Board of Regents.

• All new student groups must meet with SLIDO prior to registering on ENGAGE.
• You must have an Advisor lined up who has agreed to serve in the role. They must be a UNMC staff or faculty member.
• You must have at least four members:
  • President
  • Treasurer
  • Two general body members
• You must have organization bylaws (found on the SLIDO website)

This process usually takes around 15 minutes to complete.

Create an account & sign in

1. Visit the ENGAGE website.
2. Log in using your UNMC Net ID
3. Create or update your profile

If your submission is approved, you will become the Primary Contact of the organization. Complete the following steps only if you are to be the Primary Contact on record for the organization. The registration process can be continued at any time by resuming it from your Submissions.

Register your student organization in ENGAGE

1. Once logged into ENGAGE, click on the Orgs icon in the left navigation bar to go to the Organizations page.
2. Click the Register an Organization button to go to the Register an Organization page.
3. On the Register an Organization page, click the Register a New Organization button at the bottom of the page.
4. When prompted, choose to register your organization under Student Engagement.

Every student organization must go through an annual renewal process at the end of the spring semester.

All student organizations must re-register each academic year. Re-registration is open from March 1 through September 30. It is the responsibility of the organization leadership to complete this process.

Once your organization has completed the renewal process, your group will be listed as “active” and can utilize university facilities, services, and apply for funding via grants or UNMC departments. Organizations subject to disciplinary sanctions may not participate in the renewal process.

If an organization fails to complete the re-registration process, the group will be marked as “frozen” until your organization's leadership formally requests reinstatement. If an organization is deemed “frozen” for two academic years in a row, they will no longer be considered for renewal and the group’s ENGAGE page will be moved to “inactive.” Through this process you may lose historical data as a result.

Before you re-register:

• Host elections to determine new student leaders. Remember president and treasurer positions are required.
• Review and update bylaws.
• OUTGOING STUDENT LEADERS: Be sure to provide training on your position’s tasks, how to utilize ENGAGE, and provide documentation that was kept from the year prior. Learn how to change positions in ENGAGE.
• INCOMING STUDENT LEADERS: Be sure to upload your group's updated bylaws and re-register your group by the deadline (September 30 at 11:59 p.m.)

After you re-register:

• Schedule a consultation with SLIDO to go over any questions you might have.
• Update your roster.
• Ensure everyone on the executive team has access to update your ENGAGE page.

Re-Registration Process

This process usually takes 15 minutes to complete; email SLIDO with any questions you have.

Prepare the following information:

• Organization purpose and description
• Name, email, and department of organization advisor
• Names and emails for the following:
  • President
  • Treasurer
  • Four other leadership members or general body members
• Rough outline of goals, programs, meetings, and/or events for the upcoming year
• Information on the organization’s finances, if applicable
• Up-to-date copy of the organization's bylaws

Instructions on how to re-register:

1. Log in to ENGAGE and click Register an Organization.
2. Search in the search bar for your organization's name.
3. Click the blue "Re-Register" button.
4. Follow the prompts to complete the re-registration process.

Student organizations that are frozen or inactive can easily be reinstated. These organizations already have an established constitution and a potential advisor who will need to be contacted. Students wanting to reactivate a frozen or inactive student organization will have to establish the basic requirements and schedule a meeting with the Student Life Involvement and Development Office. To find out what organizations are available for reactivation, please contact SLIDO.

Student organization members are responsible for knowing and following all student organization policies outlined in this document. To help the Student Life Involvement and Development Office staff host a Student Organization Advisory and Preparation Council (SOAP Council) meeting each semester to update student leaders and advisors on policy, procedure, or upcoming opportunities for organizations. We require that at least 1 representative from each organization attend this meeting and share information with the rest of the organization. Additionally, you are always welcome to contact the Student Life Involvement and Development Office with questions or to set up a time to come in and speak to your organization.

Your organization is responsible for creating the process in which you hold elections each year. All voting procedures should be clearly framed out in the organization bylaws/constitution as well as reference to the type of vote needed to win (majority, simple majority, plurality, etc.)

While SLIDO office does not dictate the specifics of how elections are to be run for each organization, it is with strong recommendation from our office that your organization holds a clear and fair election each year to vote in new officers or leaders.

Please utilize the guidance and recommendations below as you are setting up your elections:

• Timeline: Determine a timeline in which your elections will be announced and then held. There should be a clear timeline in place that allows members to indicate interest in running before the election campaigning begins. We would also recommend that a campaigning timeline be set before the actual voting takes place.
• Eligibility: Define who can run for leadership positions (i.e., minimum membership in the organization, current on required dues, etc.) and who is eligible to vote (generally the same pool of members).
• Nominations: Establish if members can self-nominate for open positions or if they will be required to be nominated by a peer in the organization.
• Voting Method: Decide the type of vote that will be needed to win (majority, simple, majority, plurality, etc.) as well as the method in which you will hold the vote (in person or online). We highly suggest selecting a method that would allow for anonymous ballots to be cast.
  
  Electronic Voting Recommendations:
  • The platform that we would recommend for an electronic ballot would be Microsoft Forms. With Forms, you can require a UNMC log in to ensure only those within the university have access to vote, but it still allows for votes to be submitted anonymously.
  • Other platforms that could be used for electronic voting include Redcap, Google Forms, Typeform, or Survey Monkey. Some smaller organizations may use polling options with communication platforms like Slack, Discord, or GroupMe. While these platforms provide voting functionality, please be mindful of the limitations in regard to how many responses can be collected, keeping records of the voting results, or restricting outside voters.
• Quorum and tiebreaker votes: create a clear rule regarding quorum (percentage of active members) and determine how tiebreakers will be determined (runoff vote, current President’s vote, etc.)
• Vote Certification: before the election cycle begins, determine an individual who is not planning to participate in the election to certify the votes. Our recommendation would be to ask your faculty advisor, an outgoing officer, or graduating member to verify the election results to ensure there is no bias.
• Transition: hold a clear transition period (2-3 weeks) where outgoing and incoming officers overlap to help with the transition of organization operations.

Providing a clean transition to the new leadership of the organization not only helps for success in the incoming year, but it also helps organizations sustain their operations year to year.

When transitioning operations to the newly elected officers, we would recommend covering these topics to make the process run more smoothly:

• Organization Re-Registration and utilizing ENGAGE
• Funding (where your funding is housed and walking through the current budget)
• Transfer ownership of any applicable accounts and sharing of passwords (email, social media accounts, group communication, etc.)
• Meeting/event expectations
• Individual position responsibilities specific to your organization
• Outgoing and new officers meeting with the SLIDO team for overall student organization transition points

Keeping organized and allowing plenty of time to plan is key to a successful event. Our office is here to support and assist you in your planning and preparations.

The following expectations apply to all events:

• All events by Student Organizations must be approved by the Student Life Involvement and Development Office through ENGAGE.
• Student organizations must comply with all policies and procedures at their event venue
• Student organizations are not permitted to host events at venues whose primary source of revenue is from alcohol sales (e.g. bars, clubs, etc.). If you are unsure

• Pre-plan your events at the beginning of the semester. This will allow you time to order supplies or food, reserve space, and advertise the event. The following resources are available to you when planning an event:
  • Brandwise (UNMC Brand Standards)
  • Center for Healthy Living Facility Rental - To schedule an event, contact the CFHL front desk at 402-559-5254 and schedule a walk-through for your event. Rental approval must be granted by the Center for Healthy Living. Rental fees are subject to change without notice.
  • Engage
  • Marketing Templates
  • Media Authorization Form
  • Printing Services
  • Room Scheduling (EMS)
  • SLIDO Preferred Vendors
  • Sodexo Catering
  • Internal Event Spaces - Internal Event Planning Guide
  • Truhlsen Campus Events Center - Facility Request Form
  • UNMC Social Media Policy
• Outside of planning your monthly meetings, organizations are required to meet with SLIDO to talk through the planning process for your events.
• Purchases need to be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to your event.
  • If your organization funds are housed within Central Bank, you will utilize the forms in ENGAGE linked below to submit your supply or food orders:
    • RSO Supplies Order Form
    • RSO Food Order Form
  • If your organization funds are housed within a department cost center, please work with your advisor to make any orders within the appropriate timeframe.
• Student Organizations are required to utilize vendors that are approved by UNMC. Approved vendors are listed within the ENGAGE order forms and can also be found on the SLIDO website.
  
  If your organization would like to utilize a vendor that isn’t already approved by UNMC, please work with the SLIDO team to start the approval process. Our office will need the name and contact information for an individual associated with the vendor. Please note – the approval process for a new vendor takes a minimum of 2 – 3 weeks. Please plan to meet with the SLIDO team at least a month prior to your event if a vendor needs approval.
• Each event will need a planned form of advertisement (email, flyer, etc.) and plan for taking attendance. Regardless of where organization funds are held, students will need to submit a copy of the event advertisement as well as a list of participants if any purchases are made for the event.

All student organization events must be submitted on ENGAGE at least 2 weeks prior to the date of the event to be approved by Student Life Involvement and Development Office.

Events that are more complex or could pose higher risk for the organization, attendees, or the university should be posted farther out to accommodate for the necessary preparation. If the SLIDO team has reason to submit an event for further administration approval, they will be in touch after your event has been submitted in ENGAGE.

Depending on the kind of event, additional steps may need to be taken to comply with other policies, laws, and requirements.

SLIDO Facilities Use Form

If your organization needs to have a poster/flyer approved, is hosting a chalking event, donation drive, needs permission for yard signs and A-frames, or would like to table in the Alumni Commons of the Michael F. Sorrell building, you will need to fill out the SLIDO Facilities Use Form to receive approval.

Please note: university policy requires that chalking events be submitted for approval 30 business days or more before your event so please take that into consideration when planning your events. All other submissions for using the Facilities Use Form should be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to your preferred event date.

Travel/Conference Reimbursement

The only time reimbursement will be considered for student organizations is if there is any travel or conference expenses that cannot be paid prior to travel. If your organization would like to utilize funds from Central Bank for reimbursement in regard to travel, lodging, meals, or conferencing, you will need approval from the Student Life Involvement and Development Office prior to any purchases being made.

Fundraising

Student Organizations wishing to host a fundraiser (raising funds or collecting donations) must first receive approval from the UNMC Finance and Business Services department. A representative from your student organization will need to submit a Fundraising Form by emailing Amy Lamer (alamer@unmc.edu) and copying SLIDO staff members. Once your organization receives approval, please send a copy of your approved form to SLIDO staff to keep on file.

Contracts

If you are planning an event that requires contract by an outside vendor or speaker, please contact the SLIDO staff before moving forward. Contracts can only be signed by certain UNMC officials so the SLIDO office will assist with the process of getting a contract signed or determining if a UNMC contract needs to be drawn up instead.

Some events that may pose increased risk to individual safety or university property (larger events, events open to the community, etc.) that may require security personnel to be present.

• Events requiring security should be scheduled 30 days prior to the event date in order to secure personnel to work the event.
• Organizations should work with the UNMC Department of Police & Public Safety to request security for events.

In an effort to streamline student communication, we recommend advertising your events in the following ways.

• ENGAGE: a comprehensive involvement tool available to all UNMC students, staff and employees. This tool allows you to advertise your event, create news posts, recruit members, track attendance at your event, post and create organization documents.
  
  Post your event for approval in ENGAGE 2 weeks prior to the event date. Refer to the create an event instructions.
  
  Accessibility for posting events in ENGAGE: With new digital accessibility standards under Title II, it is the responsibility of each organization to ensure that their events being posted in ENGAGE are accessible. To ensure each event is compliant, please utilize the following guidance:
  • Avoid using graphics that include a lot of text.
  • If your graphic does include text, that text must be repeated in the event description.
• UNMC Vitals: a Student Newsletter that outlines UNMC student related events and activities. If your event is posted in Engage, it will automatically be pulled into the Vitals newsletter. If your event or organization is looking for additional promotion in Vitals, please reach out to the SLIDO team to determine what options you have.
• Flyers: to have your flyer approved for posting around campus, please submit it using the SLIDO Facilities Use Form. As a reminder, the following policy is in place in regard to posting flyers on campus:
  • Posting areas are restricted to designated bulletin boards and kiosks. Upon approval, a SLIDO staff member will send a list of approved areas to post. 
  • Posted materials must be removed within 24 hours following the event/meeting date being highlighted on the flyer. 
  • Materials should not be taped, stapled, nailed, or otherwise affixed to any light posts, poles, trees, windows, doors, trash receptables, benches, tables, or seating areas. 
  • Distribution of flyers or posters on vehicle windshields is prohibited.

The following expectations apply to all publications by student organizations.

• Organization Name: All publications must have the name of the sponsoring student organization.
• Prohibited References: No reference to the sale or usage of firearms, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or any other illegal campus activity.
• Prohibited Content: No hate speech, incitement to violence, obscenity, fighting words, defamation, direct/true threats, or solicitation to commit a crime.
• Approval Stamps: Advertisements displayed on campus bulletin boards and digital signs must have an approval stamp from the Student Life Involvement and Development Office.
  
  Flyers may be submitted digitally via the SLIDO Facilities Use Form. Submissions will be sent back to the submitter with the approval stamp and can then be printed for posting around campus. 
• Bulletin Boards: After your flyer has been approved, the Student Life Involvement and Development Office will provide a list of approved bulletin boards for student organization use. Postings may only occur on these designated bulletin boards.
  • No more than one poster per event/promotion may be placed on any one bulletin board
  • Posters cannot be larger than 11 x 17

BOSS stands for Benefiting Organizations through Student Senate, and BOSS Proposals are a fantastic opportunity for Student Senate to support you! BOSS proposals are a formal means by which the Student Senate can fund individual events and initiatives planned by student organizations.

Proposals are submitted by individual students on behalf of student organizations. They are accepted, reviewed, and evaluated by the UNMC Student Senate Issues Committee on a rolling basis. We will evaluate these proposals as they are submitted throughout the year and allocate funds as able. We are also using assistance from the Student Life Involvement and Development Office (SLIDO) to help guide you through the BOSS proposal process.

Students are REQUIRED to have one student officer attend a SLIDO info session AND an officer meet with the SLIDO team prior to submitting a BOSS proposal to verify that all funding requests meet BOSS funding requirements.

 

For the Greater Good is a 24-hour giving day to raise money for scholarships, colleges, various programs, clinical partners, and student organizations.

It also gives UNMC students a special opportunity to raise funds that go directly back to your student organization. Money raised during For the Greater Good may be used to further the mission of your student organization.

Advertisement for this event will starting at the beginning of the spring semester each year.

Student organizations are not permitted to have off-campus bank accounts. Should the organization have funds that need to be overseen, they can opt to house those funds in SLIDO’s Central Bank. If your organization’s funds are housed in Central Bank, students will need to work with the SLIDO staff to utilize these funds.

Some organizations are funded through a specific department and therefore will work with their advisor or the staff member that oversees their funds to utilize their organization’s funds.

• Central Bank Deposits: If your organization has funds that need to be deposited into your Central Bank account, please reach out to the SLIDO team to set up a time to bring in the funds to be deposited.
• Department Cost Center Deposits: If your organization’s funds are housed within a department on campus, please work with your advisor or the staff member that oversees your funds to make any deposits for your organization.

UNMC holds Tax Exempt Status, which means when making purchases for official university business, we are not required to pay sales tax.  Inform the vendor that you are tax-exempt prior to placing your order or requesting services.

Student Life Involvement and Development Office requires student organization to us a  UNMC preferred food vendor for making all purchases. These are vendors who have a relationship with UNMC and will direct bill/invoice for food/catering expenses. These vendors are aware of our tax-exempt status.

If you are interested in working with a vendor that is not already on our approved vendor list, please reach out to the SLIDO office to initiate that process. Please note, the process of getting a new vendor approved can take 2-33 weeks so that timeline needs to be factored into your overall planning timeline.

Student organization funds cannot be used to purchase alcohol, drugs or weapons.

Registered organizations can request an unmc.edu email account. These emails can be accessed through the UNMC’s Office 365. Please request an email for your student organization through the Service Now Portal. Log into Service Now using your UNMC credentials. Once logged in, you will request an email address be created by choosing the Shared Mailbox service.

Please note that IT Services may periodically reset your password for security reasons.

Mail for your student organization can be sent to the Student Life Involvement and Development Office. The organization President, Treasurer, or Advisor will be notified when mail is available for pickup. Use the following address model to receive organization mail:

[Name of Organization]
UNMC SLIDO
984275 Nebraska Medical Center
WSH
Omaha, NE 68198-4275

The annual iTEACH Awards recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations who demonstrate exceptional dedication and achievements in the UNMC community. The student organization awards are three awards which recognize achievements in and by student organizations and their members:

• Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award
• Student Organization Initiative of the Year Award

These awards are awarded annually in the spring semester. Keep your eyes on your email for updates.

Student safety is the responsibility of student organization. A student organization is responsible for conduct that the organization engaged in, facilitated, or authorized, whether expressly or impliedly. Whether an organization engaged in, facilitated, or authorized conduct is a factual question that requires an evaluation of the totality of the circumstances to determine whether it is fair and reasonable to hold the organization itself responsible. The relevant circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Whether the conduct was planned, approved, or engaged in by one or more officers or authorized representatives of the organization who were acting in their capacities as officers or authorized representatives.
• Whether the conduct was the result of a policy or practice of the organization. c. Whether a significant number of members were involved or engaged in the conduct.
• Whether the conduct occurred at or in connection with an activity or event funded, sponsored, publicized, or advertised by the organization.
• Whether the conduct occurred at a location over which the organization had control at the time of the conduct.
• Whether the conduct occurred at an event that reasonable people would associate with the organization.
• Whether the officers or authorized representatives of the organization could have reasonably foreseen that the conduct could occur and, if so, whether they failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the conduct.
• Whether the conduct is attributable to the organization under the organization’s own policies, including local or national risk management guidelines.

In accordance with UNMC’s Student Code of Conduct, defined as:

Any action taken or situation created that intentionally or recklessly endangers the physical or mental health or safety of a student or other individual or which destroys public or private property when that activity is performed:

• in the course of a student organization member considering the student or other individual for membership, continued membership, or affiliation with the organization;
• in the course of a student organization considering the student or other individual for membership, continued membership, or affiliation with the organization;

• in response, either in whole or in part, to an expression of interest by the student or other individual in becoming a member of the organization; or

• during the course of student organization activities when a power differential exists.

The Student Life Involvement and Development Office takes very seriously its obligation to safeguard student contact information. The emails of the primary contact for every organization will be made via ENGAGE. The primary contact name will be visible to the public, but that person’s contact information will only be available to the individuals logged into ENGAGE. 

Any requests for lists of emails or other contact information for officers and members of student organizations:

• Will not be provided to organizations or individuals outside the University of Nebraska system
• Will only be provided by request of a University of Nebraska System employee at the Director level or above
• Will be provided at the discretion of the Student Life Involvement and Development Office

The Office of Student Success adjudicates and may impose sanctions and consequences for violations to the Student Code of Conduct of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Violations to other policies listed here are adjudicated by the Student Life Involvement and Development Office or another designee, which may include, but is not limited to:

• Office of Student Success
• Student Government

Consequences for violations are determined by the adjudicating party with the advice of the Student Life Inclusion and Diversity. Consequences for student organizations include, but are not limited to:

• Forced cancelation of events
• Period of suspension of event hosting
• Loss of use of university facilities
• Loss of recognition with the university

Failure to meet or to attempt to schedule to discuss potential violations will be considered admittance of violation.