Mies Campus Student Organizations: Policies and Regulations

Student organizations must apply for and maintain university recognition with the Office of Student Life. Staff members will work with individuals to form a new student organization and/or register a current one. Organizations in the formation stage will be to meet with a staff member in the Office of Student Life and are required to meet with the Office of Student Life staff prior to arranging a meeting with SGA (sga.iit.edu). After the potential new organization is approved during a Student Government Association Senate meeting, the new organization will need to attend a student organization training with a student life staff member to complete the formal recognition.  The Office of Student Life reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to withhold recognition from those prospective organizations whose purpose is deemed to be in conflict with the institutional mission or operation of Illinois Tech.

Recognized organizations can maintain their recognition by registering the organization with the Office of Student Life at the beginning of the academic year. Registration requires an organization to accomplish to the satisfaction of the Office of Student Life each of the tasks listed below.

Complete the online registration through the Office of Student Life

• Submit a list of all officers and the faculty/staff advisor(s) for the organization on suitable. All organizations must have a faculty or staff advisor in order to achieve or maintain recognition.
• Attend student organization training workshops each semester; topics include programming, finance, event management and more. Presidents and treasurers must attend.
• Remain in good standing with the Office of Student Life; organization status is evaluated by professional staff in areas of finance, behavior, academics and judicial affairs.
• Organization must maintain a minimum of 7 members to be an active organization.

Contact the Office of Student Life via email (campus.life@iit.edu) with any questions regarding the registration process.

Recognized organizations are eligible for support and services, such as reservation of space for meetings and events, send packages to MTCC, account management, advising support from the Office of Student Life, announcements in OCL newsletter, slides on the TV screens around campus (Upshow), and the ability to apply for funding from the Student Activities Fund.

Officers (appointed and elected) and executive board members of organizations must be regularly enrolled students in good academic and judicial standing.  General membership must generally be open to all full-time and part-time students.

The Student Activity Fund (SAF) is derived from the student activity fee paid by each student taking classes on the Mies, Rice, and Moffett campuses. The SAF exists to support and enhance life on campus through events and providing other resources specifically geared toward the student experience at Illinois Tech. The Finance Board, an arm of the Student Government Association (SGA), is charged with reviewing allocations and working with staff to distribute money in a manner that is complementary to the mission of the fund.  

The Office of Student Life is responsible for final decisions recommended by the Finance Board members. Recognized and registered student organizations must be in good standing to be eligible to apply for financial support through the SAF. All purchases through the SAF must support the enhancement of the campus experience, be in line with the mission of the student organization, be accessible and available to Illinois Tech students, and may be considered property of the university (i.e. materials for projects and other capital items).

Throughout the year, the Finance Board conducts workshops to help organizations understand the policies and procedures for receiving funding. More information about the SAF can be found under the Finance Board tab at http://sga.iit.edu/.

All property, equipment and supplies purchased for a student organization by Illinois Tech and/or with organizational funds shall be defined as Illinois Tech property in the care of the organization and organization leaders. Organization leaders and members are responsible for the proper care and appropriate use of such property. If an organization becomes inactive for any reason, the property must be returned and surrendered to Illinois Tech. The Office of Student Life has space available in the basement of the MTCC for the storage of Illinois Tech owned property. Contact a staff member of the Office of Student Life for more information.

Illinois Tech expects student organizations, including fraternities and sororities, and their respective members to accept both personal and group responsibility for meeting recognized standards of good conduct. Organizations are expected to conduct their business in an honest, ethical fashion and to cooperate with Illinois Tech officials as requested. Officers must accept responsibility for control of organization events and ensure proper behavior of students and guests in attendance. Organizations shall operate in accordance with (i) any policy, procedure, process or protocol, temporary or otherwise, that Illinois Tech may adopt, and (ii) any directive of an Illinois Tech official, which is intended to minimize the risk to Illinois Tech and its faculty, students, staff, alumni and visitors from an epidemic, pandemic, other public health matter or federal, state or city emergency declaration. Organizations will be held responsible for damages to Illinois Tech property and/or equipment resulting from their use. Organizations are expected to follow all Illinois Tech and SGA/Finance Board procedures, rules and policies as well as all applicable laws of city, state and federal governments.

Anyone may initiate a complaint against a student organization. (A complaint may be filed using this link: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?IllinoisTech&layout_id=7 and can also take the form of an Illinois Tech Department of Public Safety incident report regarding inappropriate behavior or misconduct.)  Disciplinary action may be taken against organizations, including fraternities and sororities, for failure to follow any of the procedures, rules or policies delineated in this Student Handbook, including, but not limited to, those related to events (as defined in Section G below) and violations of the Code of Conduct. Such action may also be taken against organizations that no longer are fulfilling the purpose upon which their recognition was based. In its discretion, the Office of Student Affairs or Office of Student Life may process infractions that either deems to be minor. If the organization wishes to appeal the decision of the Office of Student Affairs or Office of Student Life with respect to such infractions or if the infraction is deemed not to be minor by the Office of Student Affairs or the Office of Student Life, then an administrative hearing will be held before the Vice Provost and Dean of Students, or designee, in accordance with the procedures for such a hearing established under the Code of Conduct (see, generally, Article II, Section B above for details of such process).

Sanctions for infractions may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:

Conduct Warning.  An official written notification that an organization’s behavior is in violation of Illinois Tech regulations or standards, which also clarifies expected behavior in the future. This sanction may or may not carry with it conditions or restrictions of privileges.

Conduct Probation.  This is a form of probation placed upon an organization for its misconduct.   The intent of Conduct Probation is for an organization to correct its behavior and return to good standing within the Illinois Tech community.  Certain restrictions and/or educational sanctions may also apply to this form of probation.  Conduct Probation is to be designated to remain in effect for a specified duration.

Disciplinary Probation:  This is the most serious form of probation issued by Illinois Tech. A student organization placed on Disciplinary Probation is required to correct their behavior immediately in order to remain a member of the Illinois Tech community. This form of probation may also include additional restrictions and/or educational sanctions and is designated to remain in effect for a specified time (e.g., one semester, one academic year).

Restitution.  An organization is required to make monetary restitution for theft of or damage to Illinois Tech property or to that of a member of the Illinois Tech community, or for expenses incurred as a result of the organization’s actions.

Fines.  Illinois Tech reserves the right to assess against an organization a fine for misconduct.  The amount of any fine will be determined based on the severity of the infraction(s), whether the organization has been found responsible for prior infractions, and the need for deterrence of future infractions.

Suspension of Social Event Privileges.  An organization may not sponsor or partner in any event involving alcohol on or off campus. Any proposed event involving guests in affiliation with the organization, with or without alcohol, must receive approval from the Dean of Students at least 5 calendar days in advance. Guests are defined as any non-member of the organization; new members, initiated members and organization alumni are not considered guests.

Suspension of Event Privileges. An organization may not sponsor or partner in any event on or off campus. Suspension of event privileges is to be designated to remain in effect for a specific duration.

Mandatory Educational Programming.  An organization may be required to attend, as a whole or in part, educational programming assigned by the Office of Student Affairs.  An organization may also be required to host and to facilitate its own programming under this sanction.

Substance Free Organizational Space.  An organization may not operate a facility where members are allowed to possess or consume alcohol or legal but controlled substances.  Any combination of substance revocations may be assigned, dependent upon the offense.

Removal of Recognized Student Organization Status or Charter.  An organization may be fully unrecognized by Illinois Tech, resulting in the complete severing of all ties as a registered organization or recognized fraternity or sorority organization.  Thereafter, the organization may not function as an organization; maintain or recruit members; host or co-host any activity, event or program; use any Illinois Tech property or facility; use the Illinois Tech name, any associated name or suggest any affiliation with Illinois Tech; or operate any facility on or off campus in relation to Illinois Tech or for members of the Illinois Tech community.

Any sanction may carry additional conditions as deemed necessary by the Vice Provost and Dean of Students, or designee, Decisions rendered by the Vice Provost and Dean of Students, or designee, against an organization may be appealed as provided for in the Code of Conduct.

Illinois Tech reserves the right to hold both individuals and organizations, including fraternities and sororities, responsible for their actions. A student may be held individually responsible while, concurrently or consecutively, an organization may be held responsible for the same violation. The two processes are separate and independent. Charges against individual students will be processed in accordance with the provisions set forth in Article II, Section B.

Student organizations may have recognition revoked for failure to pay any debt due and owing to Illinois Tech. Organizations are responsible to reimburse Illinois Tech for any negative balances in organization accounts held by Illinois Tech. Additional financial repercussions may apply to student organizations that do not fulfill financial expectations as communicated by the Office of Student Life each year.

As used in this Student Handbook, with respect to an organization, including a fraternity or sorority, any social event (an “event”) is defined as any gathering, whether on or off campus, that includes (i) members and/or guests of one or more organizations at which alcoholic beverages are in any manner offered or served, including, but not limited to, self-service or service by a third party vendor, or consumed and (ii) has been arranged, scheduled or announced in any way by an organization. Events may be co-hosted by organizations. Organizations must fill out an event space request form to book space on campus.

Organizations are accountable for all of their events regardless of the location of such events. This includes, but is not limited to, locations such as classrooms, offices, common areas, fraternity and sorority chapter houses and chapter rooms, and any locations off-campus.

Organization events with guests in attendance are limited to an attendance maximum of two guests per active or new, initiated or alumni member attending the event. Guests are defined as any non-Illinois Tech students. An organization and its members are responsible for the actions of their guests at all times.

Organizations wishing to have events that exceed the 2:1 guests per member ratio may propose to do so by contacting the appropriate department (either Office of Student Life or Residence Life) and submitting an event registration form at least 30 days in advance of the proposed event.  In addition, the following rules shall apply to such event: a third-party vendor must be used for any alcohol service; private security if the event is to be held off the Illinois Tech campus or Illinois Tech Public Safety if the event is to be held on the campus, must be hired, at the organization’s expense, for the duration of the event; and any additional event-specific rules required by Student Life, Residence Life, the Office of Student Affairs and/or Public Safety must be followed.