Student Life
This page is a resource to help current Clubsigners navigate leading your RSO. Here, you can find important dates for the current fiscal year, training videos and tutorials, and helpful forms and links (including contact information).

If you have any questions, please reach out to uvmsga@uvm.edu.

RALLY POINT - Coming Soon!

Rally Point is UVM's new student engagement software!

Questions? Reach out to the SGA Office! Review all active RSOs here.

People to Know

SGA Office Staff

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NamePositionWhat do they do?
Bethany Wolfe (she/her)SGA Business ManagerAdvises SGA Finance Committee
Doug Stewart (he/him)SGA Business AssociateManages credit card purchases, club dues, Fleet cards (gas cards) 
Grace Peterson (she/her)Assistant Director for Club Sports and Student OrganizationsSupports ClubSigners and RSO members, manages coach hiring
Jshauna Tilton (she/her)SGA Business Operations/ HR AssociateManages purchase orders (POs), hiring
Meg McCormack (she/her)SGA Office CoordinatorSupports SGA community, manages the SGA Office and Galaxy Space, manages the SGA vehicle fleet

SGA Committee Chairs

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Chair NameCommitteeWhat does their Committee do?
Cece ChapmanFinance CommitteeResponsible for managing the SGA RSO budgets.
Cameron LaychakCommittee on Legislative and Community Affairs (COLCA)Acts as the student link between UVM and the local, state, and federal communities.
TBDCommittee on the Environment (COE)Promotes awareness of environmental sustainability through communication with UVM administration and by holding informative events.
Nora Carroll-MillinsAcademic Affairs CommitteeAddresses matters of student interest related to academic policy, curriculum, and faculty-student relations.
Rebecca TorresClub Affairs CommitteeManages communication to all RSOs and supports new groups through the recognition process.
Sophie MarcusPublic Relations CommitteeResponsible for SGA's branding, marketing, and outreach to the UVM student body.
César CamachoCommittee on Our Common Ground ValuesCommitted to ensuring that all UVM students are heard, supported, and included.
Abigail Brito Del ValleCommittee on Student Action and Wellbeing (CSAW)Dedicated to helping propel student initiatives and spreading awareness of resources available.

Other Campus Partners

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Department of Student Life - Student Life and Davis Center Operations and Events
NamePosition
Lina BalcomDirector of Student Life
Jared CadretteAssociate Director of Student Involvement
Madeleine AbornAssociate Director for Davis Center Operations and Events
Maddie WhiteAssistant Director for Marketing
Devin FarkasAssistant Director for Outdoor Programs
(vacant)Coordinator for Outdoor Programs
Aimee AlexanderAssistant Director for Civic Engagement
Rinzin SonamCoordinator for Civic Engagement
Sam MorseAssistant Director for Campus Programs
Nina SklarCoordinator for Campus Programs
Natalie CoteGraduate Assistant for Student Engagement
(vacant)Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life
Jason SantiagoCoordinator for Fraternity and Sorority Life

 

Department of Risk Management
NamePosition
Doug ConnellyOutdoor and Student Programs Analyst

Events

What is an Event, according to SGA?

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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

Off-Campus Events

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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. More information on how to do this will be shared soon. 

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

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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:

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

 

Travel

Travel Planning

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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.

The guide linked below is specifically tailored to planning travel with your RSO - please review it.

How To Travel With Your RSO (.pdf)

Travel Mode - Driving

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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.

Learn how to request a vehicle rental from Hertz here. (URL)

Learn how to request a vehicle rental from Enterprise here. (URL)

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.

Travel Mode - Flying

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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.

Lodging

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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.

Approval Timelines

Event Submission Timeline

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Best practice for creating event submissions is to plan early. 

If your event requires you to purchase goods and/or services (think decorating supplies or a tent rental), estimate those costs and submit spending requests for every purchase you intend to make. Purchase orders, for items over $4,999, can take at least 6 weeks to be created. If you have any questions about planning your event, do not hesitate to email uvmsga@uvm.edu with any concern.

We know you want to get the details of your event solidified as soon as possible! Here are some questions to consider when wondering, "Why hasn't my event submission been approved yet?"

  • Did you create your event submission at least 14 days prior to the start date of the event?
  • Have you responded to any comments in the event submission that may be asking for:
    • Participant rosters
    • Updated driver list
    • Personal vehicle agreement forms
    • Agreement to participate forms
    • Other relevant documents
  • Did you need to make changes to your event submission details?

Spending Request - Credit Card

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From the time you submit a spending request to the moment you make the purchase, here is the outline for how long that process can take.

  • After using the form to submit a credit card spending request, it will be reviewed.  This review takes place a few times per week, and most requests not connected to travel will be approved within 3 days.  
  • When a request is connected to an event with travel, there are additional approvals that will need to take place, and the approval can take up to 4 weeks.  The event is reviewed, and the travel for the event is approved early on in the review process so that spending for the travel can be approved.  While this spending my be approved, clubs cannot leave for an event until the entire event is approved.  
  • Any requests to pay for AirBnB or VRBO lodging, do require additional approvals and time.  
  • TL;DR: get your spending requests connected with travel submitted as soon as you can, and keep on top of any comments that are made on your spending requests and/or event submission(s).

Spending Request - Purchase Order

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You'll get the best result when you submit your spending request for a Purchase Order 5 to 6 weeks before you want the purchase/payment to be made.

After your spending request for a Purchase Order has been reviewed, there are many additional documents our office may need from you before the purchase can be made. 

Review the Table of Purchase Descriptions for more information (.docx, downloads in browser)

Things to keep in mind:

When paying an individual (i.e. a referee or a presentation speaker) - Once the PO is created, it can take an additional 30 days for the individual to receive their payment.

For Hertz, Enterprise, Costco, & Market32 - After your first PO request, please submit your PO change request for any subsequent payments 2 to 3 weeks in advance.

Higher-risk clubs/events, purchases over $10,000, or any purchase requiring a contract - Since UVM's legal team needs to be involved in these situations, plan for the process to take longer than expected.

 

SGA Vehicle Rental Timeline

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The reservation request window is open 2-5 weeks before your event. For example, if you're hoping to travel on the weekend of October 18, you'll need to submit your rental request form no later than October 4 and no sooner than September 13.

You should receive confirmation of approval or denial of your request within 1-2 weeks of your travel. The closer to 5 weeks from your event that you submit the form, the sooner you'll know if you can reserve an SGA vehicle.

Definitions of Terms

RSO

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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.

Active RSO

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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.

Inactive RSO

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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.

Clubsigner

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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.

Advisor

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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 Officer

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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

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Re-Registration is a process each RSO goes through every academic year. It consists of filling out a form that indicates their Clubsigners, Advisor, and other organizational information for the next year.

De-Recognition

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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.

Club

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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.

Spending Request

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Online form used to request use of RSO funds.

Chartstring

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

Source Number

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

Spending Appointment

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

Purchase Order

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

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