Start a New Org
Beginning the 2024-2025 Academic Year, Student Involvement will not accept new organization applications or having meetings after Thanksgiving Break and after Spring Break, in order to allow semesterly compliance checks.
Below are seven steps to guide you through the process for starting a new student organization. A new student organization is an RSO that has been officially functioning as an RSO at SJSU for one (1) year or less and has never before existed on SJSU's campus. You can also find a detailed explanation of the New Student Org Formation process by using the Step-by-Step for Student Office Holders document as a guide.
Step 1: Submit a New Student Organization Interest Form.
Students interested in starting a new Recognized Student Organization should begin the process by submitting a New Student Organization Interest Form. This form collects information about the prospective organization and notifies Student Involvement staff of this new interest.
A. Minimum requirements to begin a new student organization:
Organizations must maintain a membership of at least five (5) matriculated, currently enrolled students at SJSU. Open enrollment students are not eligible to be included in the minimum number of members and/or serve as officers.
B. Officer Eligibility:
The President and Treasurer must:
- Have a minimum 2.00 Institution SJSU AND previous term (Fall/Spring) 2.00 GPA
- Be currently enrolled in at least 6 credits (3 credits for graduate students)
- Not have completed over 150 units or 125% of the units needed for their major
- Be in good judicial standing with the University as confirmed by the office of Student
Conduct & Ethical Development
C. On-Campus Advisor:
Recognized student organizations must have an SJSU faculty/staff member serve as an Advisor (California State University Executive Order 1068).
D. Advisor Eligibility:
- Full-time and/or part-time SJSU faculty or staff member. Currently, advisors are also able to be an employee of an SJSU auxiliary department (e.g. Associated Students, Spartan Eats, Student Union, Research Foundation, Tower Foundation, Spartan Bookstore). All advisors are verified by Student Involvement.
- Be able to serve as a Campus Security Authority (CSA) and complete the required
online module through the SJSU Clery Office.
- Provide continuity from year to year.
- Commits to providing direction and support for your new organization
Constitution.
Step 2: Meet with a Student Involvement RSO professional staffer.
After submitting a New Student Organization interest form, you must schedule a meeting with a Student Involvement team staffer to review the prospective new org's mission, purpose, goals, functionality, and to review applicable training content and the new org formation process.
Please email studentorgs@sjsu.edu to inquire about scheduling a meeting with a Student Involvement RSO team member.
Step 3: Develop the new org's constitution/bylaws document
Begin developing the prospective new org's governing documents. Please use Student Involvement's Template for Constitution/Bylaws to help you and your team start building your new org's constitution/bylaws.
- The constitution must adhere to all guidelines outlined in CSU Executive Order 1068. - This includes but is not limited to:
- Name, purpose, membership, officer duties, etc.
- Membership being open to SJSU students.
- Membership must be composed of at least five (5) currently enrolled San José State University students, including president and treasurer.
- Eligibility for membership or appointed or elected student officer positions shall not be limited on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability. Only fraternities and sororities with federal documents on file with Student Involvement are permitted to discriminate on the basis of sex, as outlined by Federal Law in Title IX. The organization shall have no rules or policies that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability.
- This organization shall comply with Title 5, Section 41301, Standards for Student Conduct.
Step 4: Student Involvement's eligibility review.
Student Involvement will review eligibility of the prospective new org's President, Treasurer, and Advisor/s. Ideally, while Student Involvement completes eligibility checks (Per CSU EO 1068), the new org's student leadership should be building the org's constitution/bylaws document.
Please note in this step, if ineligibility of the above three positions is found, it is the student leadership's responsibility to find replacement for these positions. Minimum qualifications for student office holders can be found in CSU EO 1068.
Step 5: Complete the Recognized Student Organization application.
After the new org's constitution/bylaws document has been approved by Student Involvement, the organization can move begin the RSO Application for Recognition. The new org's President should complete and submit this application. The following pieces of information are needed to complete the application:
- President, Treasurer, and Advisor information.
-
Name
-
SJSU ID Number
-
SJSU Email Address
- Membership Roster
-
At least 3 other individuals, including SJSU Email Addresses.
Step 6: President and Treasurer begin the RSO Canvas Course.
Once, the RSO Recognition Application has been submitted, the President and Treasurer will be added to the RSO Canvas Course to complete. This course is an online, self-paced course in Canvas that is required for all RSO Presidents and Treasurers to complete as part of the RSO Re-Recognition process. This is the last, and most important, piece of the New Student Organization formation process, as this course includes information about key campus resources that can help your new student org be successful.
While the President and Treasurer are required to complete this course, if other officers are interested in receiving information about taking this course or would like to be added to the course, please contact studentorgs@sjsu.edu, or you can contact the Student Involvement staffer with whom you have been working.
Step 7: Receive a "Letter of Recognition" from Student Involvement to complete the new org formation process.
Once both officers have completed the RSO Canvas Course and the RSO Recognition Application has been reviewed and approved, Student Involvement will send a Letter of Recognition to the organization. Once the new org receives this letter, the org can begin functioning as a Recognized Student Organization at SJSU.
Student Involvement also realizes that new student organizations might need extra support and guidance within the first year of functioning as a RSO. Student Involvement encourages student leadership of new student organizations to stay in touch with the Student Involvement team to discuss "Next Steps" that your org can take to better ensure that success is achieved.
Additional Steps for Club Sports and Fraternities & Sororities:
