Creating a New Student Group

If you wish to establish a new student group, you may do so through the Student Affairs Office through this Google Form. You are expected to reach out to Dean Sanchez (vmsanche@bu.edu) and Royisha Young (youngra@bu.edu) after submitting the form to discuss your group’s goals. Please consider whether your mission and goals are already addressed by one of BUSM’s preexisting student groups prior to creating a new organization.

After preliminary review by the SAO and SCOMSA’s Executive Board, you will be required to present your group to SCOMSA at the last General Body Meeting of each semester (see ‘Meetings’). Typically, a very short PowerPoint with your main goals and logistical organization is sufficient and you should expect this presentation to last 15 minutes, including a Q&A session. SCOMSA will vote on recognizing your group at the conclusion of the presentation and if the vote passes, then you will receive notification from the SAO on next steps.

Groups recognized by the SAO and SCOMSA are eligible for SCOMSA funding, including a Semester Budget, Adhoc funding, and a Marketing Materials Fund. If you have any questions on the process, please reach out to SCOMSA@bu.edu.

Group candidates can receive one of three decisions during the initial review phase from either Student Affairs or SCOMSA’s Executive Board:

  1. Rejection: the group’s candidacy will stop and no further action will be taken. Changes that need to be made are too great and SCOMSA/SAO does not believe there is a path forward at the present time. A reason specific to the group will be given to the students listed on the group application. No appeals will be accepted and the group can re-apply for consideration next semester.
  2. Conditional scheduling for a General Body Meeting presentation: Student Affairs and/or SCOMSA’s Executive Board has identified areas of concern that must be addressed comprehensively by student leadership. If the group’s student leaders are able to demonstrate sufficient improvement prior to the final General Body Meeting of the semester, they will be scheduled for a presentation to the SCOMSA General Body. If they fail to make that timeline, they will be deferred to the next semester.
  3. Schedule for presentation at a General Body Meeting: The candidate group has displayed careful thought and adequate development and will be scheduled for a presentation to SCOMSA’s General Body for approval. However, the student leaders should continue to work with SAO to finalize details and iron out small challenges.

After a presentation to the General Body, a group may either be accepted or rejected. If rejected, the General Body will forward a recommendation to either defer until the end of the next semester in order to allow for time to improve areas of concern, or to reject and end the group’s candidacy. The decision of the General Body is by secret ballot and is considered final. No appeals will be accepted though the Executive Board is available to act as representatives of the General Body and share its reasoning.

 

Student groups are evaluated against the following rubric:

 

Highly Likely to Approve

Improvements Needed

Reject Application

Mission Statement and Impact
  • Mission statement is wholly separate, different, and unique from all existing organizations
  • Organization meets a significant need on campus, and will have a strong, positive impact on the community
  • Mission statement is similar to existing organizations, but approaches the overall topic and statement from a different angle
  • Mission statement might be achievable
  • Organization meets a need on campus and will have a moderate to positive impact on the community
  • Mission statement is identical or very similar to an already existing organization
  • Does not demonstrate a need that is being fulfilled, or will not likely have an impact on the community
  • Organization is primarily a faculty/staff initiative and not student-driven

Structure
  • By-laws are detailed, organized, and actionable
  • Structure is suited to the needs of the organization and has enough officers to successfully run operations
  • Certain fixable errors or gaps exist in the by-laws or organizational structure but overall is well-defined
  • By-laws and structure is inefficient, unorganized, and needs significant work to fix

Sustainability
  • Organization fills a long-term need and is very likely to maintain relevancy
  • Organization is likely to continue to grow and exist even after the departure or graduation of its founders
  • Organization may only meet a shorter term need or a specific topic that is unlikely to be relevant in the near future
  • Organization may have trouble continuing its growth after the departure of its founders
  • Organization will become irrelevant in 1-2 years
  • Organization will likely cease to exist after the founders depart

Action Plan
  • Clearly defined plan for the year’s activities exist
  • Appropriate clearances have been received from Risk Management, Student Affairs, or other relevant organizations for activities that require approval
  • The plan requires some work or clearances are in-progress
  • No plan exists or the plan is substantially lacking
  • No clearances have been sought despite planned activities clearly requiring them