Organization Recognition
Organization Recognition
When a group of students gets together to support a cause or host an activity, they form a student organization: they have the ability to assemble, express themselves, recruit members and more. Over time, this group may seek different affiliations, such as with a national organization or with the university. When organizations choose to affiliate with the university, they form a partnership. The organization contributes to the Aggie experience and agrees to abide by university rules and, in return, the university provides resources and support to the group. Each year, recognized student organizations are asked to renew their status with the university, as a sign of this ongoing partnership. University recognition comes with privileges and resources, as well as expectations and responsibilities. We primarily outline these rights and responsibilities in Student Rules 41 and 42, as well as in specific topical regulations like appendices 6, 8 and 11.
- Association with Texas A&M University, including the ability to use university logos and trademarks as outlined in the University Brand Guide.
- Free or discounted university facility rental and priority use of campus space.
- Free banking services at the Student Organization Finance Center (SOFC).
- Access to a Get Involved page.
- Organizational consultation, training and resources through the Department of Student Activities via the Student Organization Leadership and Development (SOLAD) office.
- Eligibility for:
- Participation in Club Crawl.
- Special funding opportunities
- Annual student organization awards
- Follow all student rules, policies,and procedures pertaining to Texas A&M University.
- Annual recognition requirements, via the “Recognition Checklist” on Get Involved.
- Adhere to the Texas A&M University nondiscrimination statement in all membership and leadership selection processes, as well as organization activities.
- Conduct all financial transactions through the organization’s SOFC account, unless approved for an on-campus banking exemption by Student Activities
- Seek advance approval to use university marks on commercial products or service promotions, purchase the products from a licensee and have the design approved by the Office of Brand Development.
- Provide the organization’s university advisor(s) an opportunity to review all:
- Student organization events
- Organization contractual agreements
- Obtain university advisor’s approval for all:
- Organization events
- Financial transactions
Understanding Organization Recognition Statuses
Throughout your organization’s time in Aggieland, it may go through several different stages or statuses. These designate the particular nature of the organization’s relationship to the university. They include recognized, recognized with restrictions, renewing recognition, pending recognition, and not recognized. Student Organization Leadership & Development offers a training module called “Student Recognition Overview” that we encourage you to take to get a better understanding of the annual recognition process. You can find this training module in the Get Involved Training Center, log in with your Net ID and password, select “Dashboard” in the upper-right corner, and navigate to the Training Center.
- RecognizedYour organization has all the privileges of being a recognized student organization at Texas A&M University.
- Recognized with RestrictionsYour organization is still recognized by Texas A&M, but it temporarily loses recognized student organization privileges, including SOFC banking, room reservations and on-campus space reservations. When your organization is in a restricted status, that indicates something on its checklist is not completed or has expired (for example – training only lasts a year from when they are completed, so if you did a training in October and your renewal month is in December, you may need to redo your training to go back into a recognized status). An organization must complete any outstanding checklist items within 60 days or it will become “Not Recognized.”
- Renewing RecognitionThis is when your organization is renewing its recognized status with Texas A&M. Privileges are still there, but you will need to complete the items on your checklist within 60 days to stay recognized. If you do not complete those, it will bring you into a restricted status.
- Not RecognizedYour organization did not complete one or more of the requirements on your recognition checklist within the allotted time frame, and you are no longer recognized as a student organization at Texas A&M University. If this happens, and you would like to reinstate your organization, please contact SOLAD and we will help you through the process.
Student Organzation 101
At Texas A&M, we have more than 1,300 active organizations. However, there is a process to create a new organization if you aren’t able to find an existing organization that fits your needs and interests. All new organizations must complete an application process before being officially recognized to operate on campus.
The process for creating a new student organization involves four different steps:
STEP ONE
Complete the self-paced, online NSO Informational Mini-Course via the Thinkific platform. The course will walk you through an overview of the process, as well as requirements for obtaining University-recognized status.
STEP TWO
At the end of the NSO Informational Mini-Course, you’ll be prompted to complete an NSO application. This application will be reviewed to ensure that your organization meets all of the prerequisites for the NSO Course, including identification of at least two student leaders and an eligible University advisor, as well as a unique organizational mission and vision that is distinct from those of other recognized student organizations.
STEP THREE
If your organization meets the prerequisites identified above, you will be enrolled in a six-week, semi-synchronous online NSO Course. This course is intended to equip your organization to be successful on campus, as well as to provide a network of peer organizations that are also just getting started! There will be two NSO courses available in the fall semester, two in the spring semester, and one over the summer semester. More information on these courses is provided in the NSO Informational Mini-Course.
STEP FOUR
At the end of the six-week NSO Course, as long as you’ve completed each of the required elements and expectations along the way, you’ll receive an account number and complete an organizational “recognition checklist” on StuAct Online. We’ll work through this together in your course section; however, you’ll also have some additional time to complete this final step, if you need it. After you’ve completed your checklist, your group will be a recognized student organization.
Did your organization become “not recognized” and you want to reactivate it? Not to worry! Student Organization Leadership & Development (SOLAD) can help with that. Please contact SOLAD at [email protected] or call 979-458-4371 and our office will be happy to assist.
Recognition Checklist
There are several required components of the annual recognition process which can be found below and on your organization’s Recognition Checklist, viewable by logging into Get Involved. This checklist can be used to track your progress as you complete the annual recognition process. By the end of your renewal period, you will want all your items to have a green checkmark.
Student Organization Recognition Checklist
Organization Classification
In 2001, Texas A&M implemented a tiered model of student organization recognition with three levels known as the Sponsored, Affiliated and Registered categories. This model was developed at a time when the campus had around 670 recognized student organizations and placed student organizations within their tiers based upon a combination of perceived mission, advising, space use, funding, risk, and responsibilities. Since that time the size and complexity of our student organization community has continued to grow, with the university currently supporting more than 1300 recognized student organizations. In order to better support the unique characteristics and relationships that exist within this broad community, the Department of Student Activities has developed a new quadrant model of student organization classification that will be implemented in Fall 2023.
The new model is based on an evaluation of each student organization’s unique characteristics on two scales of organization risk and university affiliation, which when combined will identify the organization’s placement in one of four classification quadrants (Registered, Associated, Partnered, Sponsored) as represented in the following chart.
The initial placement of student organizations within these quadrants has been based upon a student organization survey submitted by the chief student leaders of each organization in a previous year, combined with organization characteristics such as established university affiliations and past activities and events. Following initial implementation, organizations’ quadrant placement will be determined by updated organization profiles, activities, and responses submitted each year as part of their recognition renewal process. Many of the expectations and benefits of official organization recognition within the quadrant model will remain consistent with prior expectations and benefits within the former tiered model, however some changes will be implemented.
All recognized student organizations must complete specific training modules yearly to maintain their recognition status. Required training modules for organizations will depend on the organization’s assigned quadrant, which is assigned based on the organization’s responses to their risk and affiliation assessment. An organization’s assigned quadrants are posted on the organization’s Get Involved page underneath the organization’s name under the admin tab. Additionally, organizations can view required training modules here.