An Event in SGA is any formal RSO activity, on- or off-campus, that will require use of SGA and/or university resources, namely space and/or funding.

Examples of events include:

• RSO Travel (local/in-state, domestic, and international)
• Club Sport practices, games, tournaments
• On- or off-campus fundraisers
• Bringing speakers to campus
• Large-scale, university-wide or ticketed events

Every time your RSO does some kind of organized activity off-campus, you'll need to put in some time to plan out the details: 

• What are you doing?
• Where are you going?
• Who's participating? 
• Are you spending RSO money to get there or to partake? 

These details also need to be submitted to the SGA Office via UVM Clubs for review. It's our job to help you make sure your proposed Event is adhering to UVM policies as you represent the university away from campus.

You'll submit those details to SGA by creating an Event Submission (which you can learn more about in the UVM Clubs section of this page). 

From there, we'll work with you to make sure you've addressed all the details needed to get your Event off the ground.

Planning, submission, and review all take time. It's crucial that you allow yourself enough time to plan for any Event, but especially an off-campus Event. We recommend planning at least 6 weeks in advance for smaller-scale, off-campus Events, and at least 10 weeks in advance for Events requiring contracts or traveling.

Off-Campus Event Resources

UVM Clubs Event Submission Checklist and Timeline (PDF)

On-campus events come in all shapes and sizes. Events as small as tabling outside of the Davis Center and as large as SpringFest are all scheduled and managed by one of two offices at UVM, depending on the exact location:

• Events held in the Davis Center are managed by Davis Center Operations and Events.
• Events held anywhere else on campus are managed by University Event Services.

All on-campus events are collected and organized on UVM's Event Management Software (EMS) Portal (links to EMS website). Each RSO has exactly two members (both must be ClubSigners) who need to go through an online training on how to use the EMS Portal before their EMS account can be activated. Once an EMS account is activated, ClubSigners can request to reserve spaces* on campus for their RSO's events.

*Athletic spaces are the only locations that cannot be reserved through EMS. Instead, you can contact Grace Peterson, Assistant Director for Club Sports and Student Organizations, by emailing her at Grace.Peterson@uvm.edu and scheduling a meeting to discuss making an athletic space reservation.

On-Campus Event Resources

• Event Planning Tips and Best Practices (PDF)
• Event Safety Information and Planning (PDF)
• Outdoor Event Planning Guide (PDF)
• Space Scheduling Guidelines (PDF)
• Space Scheduling Catering Contacts (PDF)
• Event Planning Checklist (UVM Event Services)
• Event Planning Tools (UVM Event Services)

Is your RSO going on a trip? We've compiled some resources for travel planning to help get your trip off the ground.

There are so many things to consider when planning your RSO's travel, including: 

• How are you getting there? 
• How long will you be there? 
• Where are you staying? 

We highly recommend starting the planning process as soon as possible, as it can often take 6 weeks or more for payments (for example, to Hertz so you can rent a car) to be made.

Driver Certification

UVM Driver Certification (Risk Management)

Many clubs choose to drive to their destination. Any individual transporting UVM students for UVM-sponsored activities must be authorized to do so by completing the Department of Risk Management's Driver Authorization training (we refer to this as "driver certification").

In addition to making sure your club has at least two (ideally more than two!) certified drivers traveling on your trip, you'll want to consider which type of vehicle they'll be driving:

Personal Vehicles

Students driving their personal vehicles to transport other UVM students must submit a Personal Vehicle Driver Agreement form on UVM Clubs.

Hertz/Enterprise (also known as 3rd party or external vendors)

RSOs choosing to rent from an external vendor, such as Hertz or Enterprise, must submit a purchase order spending request at least six weeks in advance of travel.

SGA Vehicles

RSOs choosing to request to rent an SGA vehicle must submit a Request - SGA Vehicle Rental form within a 2-5 week window from the date of travel (no sooner than 5 weeks from the event, no later than 2 weeks from the event).

Buses

All chartered buses come with a bus driver (students are not permitted to drive these buses). RSOs choosing to rent a chartered bus must submit a purchase order spending request at least six weeks in advance of travel.

More detailed information about driving with your RSO can be found on the SGA Vehicle Rental webpage, linked here.

For distances over 1000 miles from campus, RSOs may choose to fly to their destination. To successfully plan flights for your group members, you'll need to collect the following information:

• Participants' legal first, middle, and last names
• Participants' sex as listed on legal identification
• Participants' date of birth
• Airport of departure
• Airport(s) near your destination

All RSO flights are paid for with SGA credit cards (also known as PurCards), so you'll need to submit a credit card spending request prior to purchasing flight tickets.

Information about flying with your RSO can be found at SGA vehicle rentals.

Any domestic travel where your RSO will be staying off-campus overnight requires travel authorization, which is generated from your event submission.

RSOs may choose to stay in any of the following types of lodging:

• Hotels
• Short-term rentals*, such as AirBnB or VRBO
• Personal lodgings, such as staying in a group member's family home

*Any short-term rentals must adhere to specific safety guidelines.

Recognized Student Organization: a group that has met all the requirements of the SGA recognition process and is responsible for operating their group within the articles set in their constitution.

An active RSO is an organization that has successfully re-registered for that academic year. They have 2 ClubSigners, an updated constitution, and an advisor.

An inactive RSO is an organization that has not successfully re-registered for that academic year or informed SGA that they do not want to be an active RSO anymore.

RSO Officer with financial and/or operational responsibilities (may differ from President, Vice President, etc.). 

Every RSO is required to have 2 ClubSigners. ClubSigners are required to attend all trainings hosted by SGA and are the only ones authorized to fill out forms or spend money on behalf of their organization. RSO’s are allowed to have an optional third ClubSigner.

Every RSO is required to have an advisor; an advisor can be a professor, staff member, or graduate student that will serve as support for the RSO.

Club Officers are any other student led position for RSOs that are not considered ClubSigners. RSOs have full autonomy over their club officers and positions as they are not regulated by SGA.

Re-Registration is a process each RSO goes through every academic year. It consists of filling out a form on UVM Clubs indicating their ClubSigners, Advisor, and other organizational information for the next year.

De-Recognition is a process where the SGA Club Affairs Committee decides that the RSO is not contributing positively to the UVM campus. To de-recognize an RSO, a member of the SGA Club Affairs Committee must sponsor a bill for the Senate Body to vote on.

A club is any student run organization on campus that operates independently of a governing organization. There are clubs on campus that are not RSOs.

Online form found in UVM Clubs used to request use of RSO funds.

A set of numbers that serve as an account number that is unique to your RSO.

The six-digit number that is specific to your RSO. It usually looks like this: 800XXX

Appointment with the Business Office after a spending request has been approved to use RSO funds (mainly credit card purchases).

The method of payment for goods & services over $2,500, or to an individual for any dollar amount.