HOW TO FILL OUT THE APPLICATION +

To Register a New Organization:

1. Go to HoosInvolved (virginia.presence.io)

2. Sign-in on the top right with your UVA Account.

3. Click the "Forms" tab.

4. Click the “Register an Organization” form, which will only appear during the application window. If the link is not visible to you and the application window is currently open, please reach out to studco-orgrec@virginia.edu.

Please read the information below before submitting your application to ensure you're familiar with the process and the criteria your organization must meet.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS +

The president of the organization will submit a completed application on HoosInvolved1 during the application window. The application should be thorough and make a clear argument that the organization meets all the criteria for CIO status. It is better that groups err on the side of thoroughness rather than brevity.

1. The Student Council Organizations Recognition Committee will conduct a preliminary review of the application to determine whether the organization sufficiently meets the criteria and warrants further review. Applications that lack the information necessary to judge the criteria or that demonstrably fail to meet the criteria will be deferred for re-submission with more information at a later date.

2. If the application warrants further review, Student Council will assign each applicant organization to a member of the committee that will serve as the applicant’s primary contact throughout the application process.

3. The committee member will review the application to ensure that the organization meets all of the University’s requirements. Applicant organizations may violate a CIO policy related to use of the University’s name/symbols or fail to include the non-discrimination language in the constitution. Be sure to review all University requirements on this page before submitting an application. The committee member will return the application to the applicant organization to fix these violations in a timely manner before proceeding with the review process.

4. The committee member may also seek supplemental information from the applicant organization to ensure that the group meets Student Council’s criteria. The more thorough an application is when initially submitted, the shorter the review process will be.

5. The committee member may contact you about shadowing one of your organization’s meetings. Organizations should conduct this meeting as they normally would. The Organizations Recognition member will be an impartial observer; they are not there to participate. Be prepared to stay after the meeting for a few minutes to answer any questions that do not come up naturally in the meeting or to clarify further aspects of your application.

6. If the organization is deemed to meet the criteria, the Vice President for Organizations may contact you about meeting to discuss your organization’s application. Interviews are informal and typically held in the Newcomb SAC (room 149B), but there will also be a Zoom option.

7. After speaking with one or two members of the organization’s leadership team, the VPO will make the decision to recommend either approval or denial of CIO status by the Representative Body on the basis of the criteria. If the VPO decides to recommend denial, the organization will have the opportunity to retract the application and to reapply at a later date when they satisfy the criteria; it may also choose to go to vote before the Representative Body.

8. The VPO will submit a bill to the Representative Body containing the names and missions of organizations in the final steps of the CIO application process, accompanied by a recommendation for their approval or denial. Typically, the VPO waits until multiple organizations are ready for consideration and then sends a bill to the floor with multiple pending organizations to be voted on during the Student Council legislative session. The VPO will let organizations know the date and time of the vote. Organizations are not required to attend the vote unless explicitly asked, but are welcome to attend and speak during the public comment. All CIO’s must be confirmed by the Representative Body. If an organization is denied by the Representative Body, it may appeal or wait the requisite one year before applying again for CIO status.

9. Following approval, organization’s application will be approved on HoosInvolved1 by the Student Engagement office.

10. New CIO’s should attend a CIO Orientation with the CIO Consultants committee.

The application process takes multiple weeks to complete in full. The speed of the process is largely dependent on the speed with which organizations respond to the Organizations Recognition Committee. Student Council reserves the right to terminate an application if the organization fails to respond to communication in a timely manner.

CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL +

Applying for CIO status is not the first step after you have an idea for an organization you want to form. In most cases, students should only apply for CIO status after their organization has been established and operating for enough time to meet the following critera.

STUDENT COUNCIL CRITERIA

All students have the right to assemble and form a club without attaining CIO status. Groups that do not meet the following criteria will be asked to apply in later semesters. Applicant organizations are strongly encouraged to visit the office hours of the Vice President for Organizations or the Organizations Recognition Committee Chair to discuss their organization’s standing before submitting an application.

• Members: The organization must have at least ten committed members that regularly attend programming hosted by the organization. These members must be students who are actively engaged within the organization; students who only attend an interest meeting or who are simply subscribed to the listserv will not be considered actively engaged members.

• Sustainability: The organization must show evidence of sustainability, unless the organization’s objectives are short-term in nature. The organization must have hosted a minimum of three meetings/programs that are regularly attended by the required ten members before applying for CIO status. Only events that are directly related to the mission of the organization will count towards this requirement - such as business-oriented meetings, fundraisers, and/or competitions. Interest meetings and social gatherings will not be considered as directly related to the mission of the group.

  • Organizations should keep records of the eligible meetings/programs, including photos, videos, presentation slideshows, and/or agendas. In addition to requesting evidence of events, a member of Student Council may shadow a meeting during the application process. (If there is a privacy concern in your organization please reach out to studco-orgrec@virginia.edu and we will work with your organization to protect the privacy of your members and meeting activity.)

* Organizations should also be prepared to discuss their potential fundraising plans and intended expenditures.

• Leadership: Before applying, the organization must have an established leadership team as outlined in the constitution submitted with the CIO application. At minimum, this must include a president and financial officer, or parallel positions. The executive team of your organization must be entirely composed of students at the University of Virginia.

• Constitution: The organization must submit a complete and up-to-date constitution that reflects current practices. It should contain descriptive instructions of the organization’s procedures as pertaining to its mission, membership requirements, officer positions, elections, meetings, finances, advisor(s) (if applicable), and the amendment process. The constitution must be consistent with the information presented in the application and during interviews.

• Click the "COnstitution Template" button above to download a sample constitution.

• Non-Duplication: A proposed organization may not duplicate the mission of another organization at the University. When evaluating this requirement, Student Council will look to the constitutions of the organizations, their activities, and information registered with @UVA and provided in the annual CIO Census.

UNIVERSITY CRITERIA

In addition to Student Council’s criteria for CIO status, organizations must also meeting the criteria outlined by the University.

• At least 51% of the members of the organization must be students.

• All officers of the organization must be students enrolled on-Grounds at the University.

• The organization name, if it intends to include “University of Virginia” or “UVA,” must be phrased as “at UVA.” For example, it must be “The Harry Potter Club at UVA" and not “The University of Virginia Harry Potter Club.”

• The organization must keep a signed CIO agreement on file with Student Engagement. This is signed digitally upon submission of your application.

• The organization must keep an up-to-date Constitution on file with Student Council (submitted with application), and must include the following non-discrimination clause EXACTLY:

  • “[ORGANIZATION NAME] does not restrict its membership, programs, or activities on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family or genetic information.”

CLUB SPORT STATUS +

Any CIO wishing to gain first-time Club Sport CIO status must go through special steps:

• Be in good standing with the University (active status on @UVA) and eligible to use University facilities and services for a period of one academic year.
• Meet with the Director or Coordinator of Intramural & Club Sports for final approval.

Further questions should be directed to studentengagement@virginia.edu.

FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS +

Greek-letter social organizations or societies must pursue Fraternal Organization Agreement (FOA) status to be in relationship with the University. They do not qualify for CIO status. Although not an exhaustive list, Greek-letter social organizations meet the following criteria:

• The primary purpose of the organization is social in nature, and may include a core component of cultural/identity connection.

• The organization is not primarily professional or academic in purpose, mission, or affiliation (i.e., professional or academic fraternities/sororities and honor societies).

• The organization utilizes a Recruitment/Rush/Intake process to select new members.

• The organization employs formal sisterhood/brotherhood (or equivalent) terminology when describing its individual members as well as its membership network.

• The organization is a member of a national governing body (e.g. fraternity/sorority national headquarters) and/or has a formally structured alumni organizational base (e.g., House Corporation Board)

In all cases, Student Council and the Office of the Dean of Students will make the final determination regarding a student organization’s classification as a CIO or FOA.