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Center for Student Involvement

Student Organization Recognition

Student organizations play a vital role in the student involvement opportunities available on campus. Student Programs and Involvement provides student organizations the opportunity to register for recognition with the University and receive benefits such as access to group management technology via OrgCentral, eligibility to request funding through Student Governing Association, leadership development resources and support, and more. 

Student Organization Recognition Policy, K-State PPM 8540

Recognition for the 2024 – 2025 academic year is now open.   

The priority deadline for registration is Friday, May 3rd. Organizations will need to complete registration by the deadline to remain in active status. Returning organizations who do not complete recognition requirements by the priority deadline will be required to contact Student Programs and Involvement at studentinvolvement@k-state.edu to register. 

Student organizations must register for recognition on an annual basis. Registration is generally open April through February. Organizations may choose to register at any time during this period, however, returning organizations are encouraged to complete registration for the next academic year by the priority deadline to remain in active status with the University.  

Check Your Recognition Status

View the Recognition Progress Report to check your student organization's recognition status for 2024-2025. Please ensure you are viewing the 2024-2025 tab on the spreadsheet. 

Registration Progress Report

Recognition Statuses

Active

Organizations which have completed the annual recognition requirements as outlined in the policy.

Inactive

Organizations which have not completed the annual recognition requirements for the current academic year are in Inactive status. Organizations with this status shall have no benefits. To become active the organization must complete the requirements outlined below on this website.

Provisional

Organizations who do not meet the minimum five-member requirement for active recognition may register under a Provisional status. Organizations with this status shall have limited benefits, as outlined below. 

Provisional Status Recognition Requirements

In addition to the general recognition requirements, provisional RSOs must also meet the following requirements: 

  • Organizations in provisional status must demonstrate an active effort to recruit and increase the membership of their organization to meet the minimum 5-member requirement for recognition.
  • At the time of registration, organizations must submit a recruitment action plan outlining events, marketing, and programming to actively increase organization membership to the minimum 5-member requirement.
  • Organization leadership shall meet with the Student Programs and Involvement office, or their designated representative, to review progress and achievement of the plan.

Benefits of Provisional Recognition

  • Access to OrgCentral, including the ability to publicize events, store documents, create forms, develop a public-facing website, and communicate with group members.  
  • Eligible to market organization to current and prospective students through posters, chalking, tabling, digital displays, etc.  
  • Eligible to use approved campus facilities for closed meetings and recruitment activities. External speakers/vendors are prohibited. Facility/Grounds use may be restricted based on capacity.
  • Eligible to submit events and news via SPI’s communication channels including OrgCentral, the CSI update newsletter, and digital displays dedicated to RSOs.  
  • Eligible to participate in SPI’s organization events.  
  • Eligible to request through SPI member eligibility lists to assist in connecting with prospective group members.  
  • Eligible to maintain off-campus financial accounts for funds generated independently from the university.  

Read the policy for more information.

Revoked

Organizations which have had their recognition status revoked due to non-compliance with university policies or at the request of organization leadership are in revoked status. Organizations with this status shall have no benefits. To become active the organization must complete the annual recognition requirements outlined. When an organization’s recognition is revoked, additional requirements may be established which require completion before recognition may be received again.

How to Register for Recognition

All student organizations must meet the registration requirements listed in the student organization policy

Registration Process

Recognition Classifications
Affiliated

Affiliated organizations are those that are, in general, interest groups and provide engagement activities that are primarily for their direct membership. Affiliated organizations are not a department, unit, or agent of the university. Read the policy for more information. 

Sponsored

Sponsored organizations are those considered congruent with the mission and culture of the university and operate as a part of a university department or unit. Read the policy for more information. 

Renew an existing organization's registration
A group officer must complete the re-registration form in OrgCentral

To access and complete the re-registration form, you must currently be listed as an Officer of the group you are wanting to renew. The form can be accessed in two ways:

  • Click on your group’s name in OrgCentral and at the top of The Dashboard you will see instructions for re-registering your group.
  • Visit the All Groups page and search for your organization. You will see a “Group Re-Registration” button next to your group’s name.
Advisors must accept their assigned officer position and complete the assigned checklist 

Anyone assigned as an Officer on the registration form will receive an email asking them to approve or deny their position assignment. Advisors are required to approve their position assignments for recognition approval. The position acceptance email will come from "CampusGroups" and the subject line will read "Membership approval..." 

The Advisor will be assigned a training checklist of actions that must be completed for the organization to receive recognition. Advisors will receive an email from a SPI staff member when the Advisor Checklist has been assigned. This is a manual process facilitated by the SPI staff, and may take 1-2 business days to recevie. Once the checklist has been assigned to the Advisor, they may access the “RSO Advisor Checklist 2024-2025” by logging into OrgCentral and selecting the “My Activity” button on the left navigation menu and then the “My Checklists” button that will appear in the list below.

Presidents must complete the assigned checklist. 

Whomever is listed as the President on the submitted registration form will be assigned a checklist of actions to complete for recognition approval, including:

  • Code of Conduct Training
  • Anti-Discrimination Training
  • Student Org Basics
  • Annual Student Organization Survey

Presidents will receive an email from a SPI staff member when the checklist has been assigned. This is a manual process facilitated by the SPI staff, and may take 1-2 business days to receive.

Presidents may access the “RSO President Checklist 2024-2025”  by logging into OrgCentral and selecting the “My Activity” button on the left navigation menu and then the “My Checklists” button that will appear in the list below.

Sponsoring department heads must approve the registration form.

This step is only required for Sponsored RSOs. 

Individuals listed as the Dean, Department Head, or Unit Administrator of a Sponsored RSO's sponsoring unit will receive an email requesting their sponsorship approval. The RSO sponsor will be prompted via email to login to OrgCentral to approve the group’s registration form. The email they receive will come from: 

From: CampusGroups

Subject: WORKFLOW APPROVAL…

Register a NEW organization

Any group who is not currently registered with Student Programs and Involvement should register as a new organization. Returning organizations should complete the renewal process (see above). 

To register a new student organization for recognition, please complete the following steps: 

Complete the registration form in OrgCentral

To register a new organization, you will need to complete the registration form for a new Affiliated, Sponsored, or Provisional organization on OrgCentral. The registration forms for new organizations can be accessed by logging in to OrgCentral and selecting the Groups button on the top menu of the Homepage. Next, select the All Groups button that appears. The links to the new organization registration forms will appear at the top of the All Groups page.

Additional steps to gain recognition

Completing the registration form is the first step of the recognition process. From there, the Advisor listed on the registration form will need to accept their position assignment; the Advisor will be assigned the Advisor Training Checklist to complete; the individual whom you listed as the President of your organization on the registration form will be assigned a President Checklist that they must complete. For Sponsored RSOs, the head administrator of the sponsoring department will need to approve the registration form.

Recognition Help

Questions about student organization recognition can be directed to studentinvolvement@k-state.edu

Frequently Asked Questions

My group doesn't show up in OrgCentral, how do I renew their registration? 

If your group does not appear on the All Groups page in OrgCentral or via the search, please contact SPI at studentinvolvement@ksu.edu

I can't find the Group Re-Registration form.

Only individuals listed as Officers of a group have access to the re-registration form. If you do not see the “Re-Registration button”, then it is likely that you are not currently listed as an Officer of your group. Please contact the Center for Student Involvement via email (studentinvolvement@k-state.edu) and provide Your Full Name along with the Full Organization Name of the group you are trying to re-register, as well as a short description of the issue you need help with (i.e. I need access to re-register my student organization). A SPI staff member will activate your access or respond with additional information.  

How do I know if I’m listed as an Officer of my organization in OrgCentral?

One easy way to tell if you are a member vs. an officer of a group is to visit your organization’s Group in OrgCentral and pay attention to the information displayed. When Officers visit their Group in OrgCentral, they are taken to The Dashboard, which is an administrative view of your management features. If you are not directly taken to The Dashboard, then you are not listed as an Officer of your group.

What if I’m not listed as an Officer but I need to complete the recognition renewal process?

If you need to complete the re-registration process for your organization, but you are not currently listed as an Officer of you group, please contact Student Programs and Involvement via email (studentinvolvement@k-state.edu) and provide Your Full Name along with the Full Organization Name of the group you are trying to re-register, as well as a short description of the issue you need help with (i.e. I need access to re-register my student organization). A CSI staff member will activate your access or respond with additional information.  

I tried to assign my Advisor as an Officer but they didn't show up in the auto-populated list of people. 

If your organization advisor is a current K-State faculty/staff member, you may want to check the spelling of their name as all currently employees should have accounts created in the system. If you continue to have issues, email studentinvolvement@ksu.edu and we can check further.

I don’t know who my RSO sponsor is.

Your RSO sponsor is the individual that has university authority to assume financial responsibility, risk accountability, and has final authority over the organization. If you are within an academic department, chances are this person is either the department head or a college dean. If your organization is in a department outside of a college, chances are this person is the director of the office your organization works with most closely. If you need additional assistance in identifying this person, your advisor may know, or you can email studentinvolvement@ksu.edu for futher assistance.

My RSO sponsor did not receive the email.

If your RSO sponsor doesn't recall getting an email to approve the organization's registration, email studentinvolvement@ksu.edu to have the email notification re-sent. You might also encourage the RSO sponsor to check their spam & junk folders. The email would come from CampusGroups with the subject line "WORKFLOW APPROVAL..." 

How can I find the President/Advisor checklist on OrgCentral?

The checklists will only be assigned to the individuals listed as the President and Advisor of an organization on the re-registration form.

The checklists are assigned to individuals manually by a SPI staff member after a group’s initial registration or re-registration form has been submitted. This may take 1-2 business days to appear in OrgCentral. The president and advisor will receive an email from a CSI staff member when the checklist assignment has been made.

What are the requirements to be an advisor?

An advisor is a member of the university faculty or staff, on at least 0.5 FTE, who acts as the primary liaison between the university and the recognized student organization. Learn more here.

How can I find an advisor for my organization?
  • Sponsored RSOs will have an advisor assigned to the organization by their sponsoring department.  
  • Affiliated RSOs are responsible for seeking out a University faculty/staff member to serve as an Advisor. A great place to start is within your own personal network. Ask your friends, members, and alumni to help out. Tell your professors, mentors, and academic advisors about your organization and ask them to share your information with anyone they know who might be interested. When chatting with a potential new Advisor, discuss your expectations of the Advisor, such as how often you’d like them to attend meetings and events, and what areas you need their support in.
What if I don't have an advisor when I complete renewal?

All NEW organizations are required to have an Advisor at the time of registration.

RETURNING Sponsored RSOs are required to have an Advisor at the time of registration.

RETURNING Affiliated RSOs are allowed to enjoy the benefits of recognition without an advisor for the first several weeks of the semester. This is meant to give returning organizations more time to recruit advisors when campus is back in full-swing. All organizations must have an advisor who meets the requirements and has completed the required trainings by October 1, 2023 to remain in active status as a recognized student organization.