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Frequently Asked Questions

Please use the following resources to assist in planning and facilitating programs/events for your student organization. If you run into obstacles or have questions, don't hesitate to contact the Student Involvement Center at involvement@slu.edu or 314-977-2805.

Setting Up Your Event

Ready to set up your event? Watch a tutorial on setting up a SLU Groups event and read through other important information for SLU events. 

Reserving Event Space

Once your event has been approved, refer to the list below to determine the appropriate department on campus responsible for the space you are interested in reserving. Click on the link to find their event registration form.  To reserve the space, you will need to submit the registration form along with your event approval certificate to the appropriate department. The approval certificate is located on your event's detail page in SLU Groups and can be reached by navigating to your club's page and clicking on the "events" tab. 

Policies

SLU Student Handbook

Political Involvement and Activities

Policy on Civil Discourse, Speech and Expression

Additional Guidelines for PPS

Fundraisers Policy

Financing

SGA Guidelines

SGA Funding Directives

Contracts

There are policies for hiring outside speakers, performers and vendors for Saint Louis University student groups, known as CSOs. The following procedure should only followed after your event has been approved on SLU Groups.

The Step-by-Step Process

  1. Once your event is approved, contact the Student Involvement Center at involvement@slu.edu or 314-977-2805 to schedule an appointment with a SIC staff member to help you create a contract using the online software Agiloft. Drop-in appointments are sometimes available, but cannot be guaranteed.
  2. You will need to have the following information collected ahead of time:
    1. A title and description for your contract.
    2. The name, address and email contact for the entity with which you are initiating the contract. If you are arranging the contract with an existing SLU vendor, this information may already be archived by the contract software.
    3. The amount and terms of payment for services.
  3. The contract and payment will go through an approval process within the Division of Student Development. Please allow a minimum of 20 days before your scheduled event for the contract to be approved and signed.

If you run into obstacles or have questions, don't hesitate to contact the Student Involvement Center at involvement@slu.edu or 314-977-2805.

CSO Advisor Resources

The Student Involvement Center has created the following resources to assist you as advisors in guiding students’ development through co-curricular involvement. While these resources are far from comprehensive, they address a few of the most common issues that advisors face. From working to make sure that events are safe to assessing the development of leaders, we hope that these resources are useful to you.

There are many pieces that make up the role of the CSO advisor at Saint Louis University. In realizing that each group is different and might look for different things from their advisor, and that each advisor will be different in their approach to advising, the CSO Advisor Role document lists the ideal strengths of a Saint Louis University CSO advisor. It is also important to understand the CSO’s responsibilities to their advisor.

Chartered student organizations should submit, to the VP of student organizations, an official CSO advisor agreement.

At Saint Louis University, student group advising is looked to as more hands-on and purposeful than years ago when advising was more about providing the necessary signatures. We first recognize that each student group at Saint Louis University is unique in their make-up and needs and will thus require different approaches from the advisor, but we hope these CSO Advisor Tips will help set the foundation in ultimately creating an individualistic advising approach.

Learn more about advising through the American College Personnel Association, Commission on Student Involvement’s advising manual.

If you wish to provide feedback, or require additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at involvement@slu.edu.

Frequently Asked Questions about CSOs

How do I reserve the P-Card to make purchases for my Chartered Student Organization (CSO)?

Please note: requests should be submitted via the "forms" section in SLU Groups a minimum of 48 business hours in advance of need. This includes requests to take the card off-campus or use for online purchasing.

Fill out the purchasing card (p-card) request form on SLU Groups

  1. P-Cards are designated solely for purchases related to your student organization. NO personal purchases are allowed.
  2. For every purchase made, the original, tax-free, itemized receipt must be returned to the Student Involvement Center immediately when you return the P-Card.
  3. Only the individual who checks out the P-Card has authority to make purchases with it. You are not allowed to pass the card from one individual to another for multiple purchases or from one organization to another.
  4. All P-Cards must be picked up during the SIC Business Hours (Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5 pm) at a scheduled time by the front desk.
  5. When you pick up the P-Card, you will be required to sign it out.  The receipt/P-Card should be brought to the office the following morning.

Use of the p-card must be approved before check out. If you have any questions about using the P-Card, please contact us at involvement@slu.edu or at 314-977-2805.

What is the process for getting posters approved?

Student organizations or departments will drop the poster off in the Student Involvement Center, Busch Student Center, Suite 319. An employee will give you a post-it-note to put on the poster, and you will put your name, phone number or email address and how you would like to be contacted on the post-it-note. Our department will get back to you within two business days to communicate when your poster is approved.

Approved posters may be put up by group members around campus, with the exception of Busch Student Center and the residence halls. Up to seven copies of the poster may be given to the front desk of the Busch Student Center to be posted around the building. Publicity for the residence halls must be given to the Office of Resident Life, DuBourg 157, and will be put up by RAs. When your poster is approved, you will receive a sheet that lists all posting policies and approved locations.

If posters are posted improperly, the University has the option to charge your group $50.

If I want to start a new organization on campus, what is the first step?

If you are interested in starting a new organization, please contact SGA’s VP for student organizations at sga.stuorgs@slu.edu to discuss.

How do I plan an event on behalf of my organization? What is the process to get the event approved and reserve space on campus?
Your organization must be chartered, and you must be a member of the group with administrative access (usually the executive board) to submit an event on SLU Groups. If your group is both chartered and you have administrative access to your group, please follow this link to get step-by-step instructions on how to fill out and submit the event approval form . Once this event approval form has been approved electronically by both your advisor and the Division of Student Development, you will receive an event approval certificate and instructions on how to reserve space. You DO NOT have a space reserved until after you submit a request through the Office of Event Services (located on the third floor of Busch Student Center, suite 313) using the 25Live reservations portal. You may not get your first choice of space on your chosen date.
If I am not associated with a SLU organization or department is there a way for me to advertise across campus?
The only bulletin board that is offered for off-campus entities, is the green board in the Quad, between Griesedieck Hall and DuBourg Hall. All other advertising venues are reserved for those associated with Saint Louis University. 
Is it possible to get reimbursed for purchases I made on behalf of my organization?
Yes, come to Student Involvement Center, Busch Student Center, Suite 319. You will receive an orange form to fill out, and you will attach your sales receipt to it. Saint Louis University does not reimburse sales tax. (To avoid taxes being charged to you, obtain a tax exempt form from our department.) 
How do I reserve the banner space in the Quad and what type of banner should I use?

Please come to Student Involvement Center, Busch Student Center, Suite 319. The administrative secretary will check to see if it is available. If the space is available, you will receive a form to fill out. The Quad is reserved in one week intervals, and a group or department cannot reserve it for consecutive weeks. Banners are put up on a Monday and taken down on the next Monday.

We recommend that when you order a banner for the quad that you use a material (web or mesh) that allows air flow through the banner as these tend to hold up better. A full vinyl banner may experience tearing at the corners due to high winds. 

Size requirements: 2' to 3' (h) and 10' to 15' (l). Grounds does have the rope to hang the banners. Make sure that the banner has grommet holes to be hung. 

If you want to keep the banner and change the dates/criteria for each year, order it with a Velcro attachment for the part you wish to change. 

FedEx is a great provider for the banners. you can contact Jason Jarden (jason.jarden@fedex.com) or Joe Polizzi (joseph.polizzi@fedex.com). 

**As a reminder, the banner needs to be taken to the Wool Center, 2nd Floor, Facility Services/Grounds (3545 Lindell Blvd.) by the Friday before the date it is expected to be put up. 

Any questions about the quad banner, please contact Cheryl Kaufman (kaufmanc@slu.edu). 

Where can I pick up the student ID scanners if SGA is requiring them for a large event that my organization is hosting?
Please contact the SGA VP of finance at SGA.finance@slu.edu, and she or he will reserve the scanners for you. 
How do I find out how much money my organization has to spend, its transactions or the total in our SGA Account?
If your organization is an SGA chartered group and not a club sport, please send an email to involvement@slu.edu requesting this information. 
How can I find out about student promotion ticket sales for various events?
Like us at our Facebook page, SLU Student Involvement Center.
How can you change who is listed as executive members on SLU Groups?

Only people who have administrative access to your group on SLU Groups can change the roster. If you are not changing all of your executive members, one of the executive members who is still serving can go to "roster" then "manage roster" and select “edit position” beside members and select the position they are assuming. If an executive member is not yet a part of your organization, choose "invite people," put in the email address and choose "add email address." Then choose the position you wish to invite them to. If your executive board is brand new and no one has administrative access, please contact the Student Involvement Center to have that updated.

Fundraising Questions

Why does my fundraiser need to be registered?

Registering your fundraiser provides the University with information about the people or organizations from whom you're soliciting money or other donations. It also provides SLU with important information on your designated charity, where you will be asking for money, how you are collecting donations, and how you are handling those donations. This creates a level of accountability, security and safety that may have been lacking in some fundraisers in the past. Additionally, registering your fundraiser gives your advisor additional information about your event so that he or she can provide support, guidance and advice on how best to implement your fundraiser. 

Does it matter to whom the funds go to?
Yes. This policy only covers fundraisers that are for your student organization or the University community (internal fundraiser) and fundraisers on behalf of a 501(c)3 charitable organization (external fundraiser). For example, if your fundraiser collects money for your group to travel to a conference, that would be an internal fundraiser. If your fundraiser collects money for the national Children's Miracle Network, that would be an external fundraiser.
What are some different kinds of fundraisers?

The policy outlines six types of fundraisers:
1. Profit shares
2. Sales
3. Solicitation
4. In-Kind donations
5. Collection of membership dues
6. Raffles or prize drawings

Is there any chance my fundraiser won't be approved?

The University does not necessarily see an instance where we would not approve a fundraiser, based on what we know about past student organization fundraisers. However, in some cases, we may ask questions and offer help and support to make sure your fundraiser goes well, people are safe, and accountability measures have been put into place. We anticipate a majority of fundraisers by student organizations will be approved quickly as long as they don't violate any of the stipulations set forth in the policy. 

How do I register my fundraiser?

To register your fundraiser, use the SLU Groups website. Navigate to your organization’s page and click on the "Events" menu button. On that page will be a button labeled "Create Event." Fill out the form and answer the questions to the best of your ability. Make sure when asked for type of program to select "Fundraiser."

Registering your fundraiser should take no more than five or so minutes, depending on the complexity of your event.

Keep in mind that the University does ask that you make these requests 20 business days in advance, which is consistent with registering other types of events at SLU.

A University department sponsors my fundraiser. Does this policy affect me?
No. A University department, whether through an academic, business, athletic or student service unit does not need to follow these guidelines and policy. This only affects fundraisers that are sponsored, planned and implemented by a recognized student organization at SLU. The policy also affects groups of students who are unaffiliated with a recognized student organization and/or unaffiliated with a University department.
My fundraiser is off campus. Does this policy affect me?
Yes. This is the biggest change to the policy. No matter where your fundraiser is, it must be registered. Again, we do not anticipate denying most fundraiser requests so long as they don't violate any of the stipulations set forth in the policy. 
My fundraiser is online, for example an email writing campaign. How do I register that?
An online fundraiser needs to be registered through the SLU Groups system. There is an option for a completely online fundraiser.
I'm raising money as part of a team for Relay for Life (or Dance Marathon). Does this policy affect me?
No and Yes. Teams that are registered as part of a larger student organization fundraiser (i.e. Dance Marathon, Relay for Life) are exempt from this policy. However, if your team plans to do any of the following items listed below, then yes, it would need to be registered:
  • Selling something that has the SLU logo on it
  • The sale of baked goods and other food items requiring preparation
  • Raffles and/or prize drawings
I'm doing a canned-food drive. Does this policy affect me?
Yes. Technically the policy covers something called in-kind donations of goods. You need to register that you are collecting canned food.
I'm doing a profit-share with a local business. Does this policy affect me?
Yes. The policy covers profit shares with commercial businesses. 
Who do I contact if I have more questions about fundraisers?
The Student Involvement Center will help answer any questions you have about the policy and procedures for registering. Please contact us at involvement@slu.edu.