Annual Requirements, Training & Re-registration

Organizations must complete a series of annual requirements to maintain their status as a registered student organization and receive access to organization privileges. Officers will also receive more detailed information through email. Opting out, failure to read emails, and/or failure to maintain an accurate listing of officers does not excuse an organization from meeting stated deadlines or requirements. 

If you are not receiving communications about student organization operations or requirements, email orghelpgwu [dot] edu to update your contact information or resubscribe to the newsletter.

Organizations can track their progress toward requirements at any time by visiting the Student Organization Requirements Tracker. [A new tracker will be linked during the fall semester]

Registered Student Organization Annual Requirements

Updated Engage Profile and Officer Listing

At the start of each academic year, every organization must update their profile information, roster, and officers in Engage or other agreed upon system (e.g., DSE for Club Sports). At a minimum, student organizations must designate a primary contact, a president, and a financial officer in Engage. The president and financial officer cannot be the same individual. Organizations may designate additional officers as appropriate for each organization. 

These designated leaders serve as the group’s liaison to the university and are responsible for receiving essential communications from the Division for Student Affairs and ensuring the group retains its status as a registered student organization. 
 

Advisor Meetings

Fall Introductory Meeting

If your organization has an assigned Staff Advisor, the president must schedule time with that staff member to meet at the beginning of the academic year. Additional officers are encouraged to attend.

This meeting is an opportunity to introduce officers, review your constitution and roster, discuss plans for the upcoming year, and establish a cadence for regular communication and meetings. 

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Additional Advisor Meetings

Organizations have different advisor meeting requirements based on their assigned Pathway. The number indicated below includes the fall introductory meeting.

• Red Line - at least 3 times per semester
• Blue Line - at least 2 time per semester
• Orange Line with an individual staff member as Staff Advisor - at least 1 time per semester
• Orange and Silver Live - if assigned to Org Help, you do not need to schedule a meeting 
  • Email oghelpgwu [dot] edu or visit the Org Help desk during drop-in hours for assistance

Annual Training Requirements Overview

More details to come.

Base Requirement	Pathway	Additional Training
All organizations must complete the following training: Org Policy Org Finances Title IX	Red Line	As determined by the sponsoring department, in consultation with Student Involvement.
	Blue Line	At least 2 approved workshops
	Orange Line	At least 2 approved workshops
	Silver Line	At least 1 approved workshop
Any organization with a new member process:		In-person anti-hazing training in accordance with Adam’s Law. All officers, members, and potential new members must attend.
An organization planning to host an event with alcohol:		Designated Risk Managers must attend a training prior to hosting and event with alcohol.

Base Requirements

The president and financial officer for every registered student organization must complete training annually in order to remain registered and retain eligibility for funding, space reservations, and more. 

The available dates and registration information for the training will be shared at the beginning of each academic year. These include training on key student organization management and financial policies and procedures and Title IX.

Note: Medical Center Student Council, Student Bar Association, and associated sub-organizations should work with their school and umbrella organization on finance training as those processes may differ. 

Additional Training

Red Line

• Fraternity and Sorority Life: All chapters associated with IFC, MGC, NPHC, or PHA councils must complete an annual accreditation process (Revolution Accreditation Program), which includes additional training requirements. More information will be provided by the FSL team. 
• Club Sports: Campus Recreation hosts an orientation for all club sports teams. 
• Other Red Line/Department Organizations: Requirements will be communicated by the Division for Student Affairs and/or your Staff Advisor.
   

Blue, Orange, and Silver Line

Student organizations must all attend 1-2 different approved workshops by the re-registration deadline each spring. Participants must complete the workshop post-survey and be listed as an officer on Engage in order to receive credit for an organization. An officer may represent no more than two organizations per session.

At least one officer must attend the workshops to receive credit; however, many sessions are open to all students and are great engagement and training opportunities for your organization’s members and officers. Consider utilizing the sessions for training and on-boarding of members to build their knowledge prior to taking on a leadership role.

Green Line

The Division for Student Affairs will work in collaboration with SBA and MCSC to determine training and meeting requirements for these organizations that account for the unique operations of the representative umbrella organizations and school affiliation. Details will be communicated directly with sub-organizations. 

Events with Alcohol

Any organization wishing to host an event with alcohol must designate a risk manager on their event registration. Risk managers must complete the Events with Alcohol training module prior to the approval of the first event with alcohol request each academic year.
 

Student Org Summit 2025

Presidents and financial officers are expected to attend the Student Org Summit in September. This provides timely training to support organizations at the start of the new academic year. Most organizations will be able to complete their minimum annual requirements at the Summit. 

2025-2026 Deadlines

The deadlines below are established to provide essential information at the beginning of the academic year. Plan ahead. Do not wait until the last day to complete as sessions offerings are limited and are not necessarily offered up until the deadline.

Requirement	Deadline
Introductory Advisor Meeting	October 31, 2025
Organization Policies and Finance Training	October 31, 2025
Title IX Training	October 31, 2025
Additional Advisor Meeting(s) and Training/Workshop(s)	Spring 2026 (date TBA)
Re-registration Application	Spring 2026 (dateTBA)

Student Organization Annual Spring Registration

Registered student organizations must submit a re-registration form annually through Engage. The annual registration process takes place in March or April of each year for the following academic year. For example, a group that is active during the 2024-2025 academic year will need to register in March/April 2025 in order to remain active for the 2025-2026 academic year. 

Updated Constitution with Required Clauses

All organizations must maintain an up-to-date constitution, uploaded to its Engage profile. A constitution is a governing document of the organization -- an agreement among members of how the organization should be structured and how it should operate. A strong constitution provides direction and guidance to the membership and is a resource to resolve disputes about the organization’s structure or operations.

Constitutions are meant to be enduring documents. Items or aspects that are subject to frequent revisions are more appropriately included in an organization’s bylaws. Bylaws are typically easier to amend than a constitution and usually focused on procedures and operations of the organization, as opposed to the mission and structure. For most student organizations, a constitution alone sufficiently serves this purpose.

The following statements must be included in the constitution of every registered student organization. The statements must be included as-is (exact text in italics) and not edited. 

1. A non-discrimination clause:
   • [Insert student organization name] does not unlawfully discriminate against any person on any basis prohibited by federal law, the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, or other applicable law, including without limitation, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.
2. A statement that the organization will abide by university policies:
   • [Insert student organization name] will abide by all university policies.
3. Membership statement:
   • Only currently registered GW students are considered members of the organization; all others (alumni, friends, family, faculty, staff) are considered guests. Guests are welcome to attend events, but they cannot hold officer positions or handle money on behalf of the organization.
4. Conduct and university values statement:
   • The George Washington University values respect, communication, community, and diversity, and our organization and its members are expected to uphold and espouse these values. Members whose actions do not reflect these values may be subject to removal from the organization, according to the processes outlined in the organization’s constitution and consistent with university policy and the Code of Student Conduct.

Review our guide to writing your organization’s constitution for more information. 

Failure to Complete Annual Requirements

Organizations that fail to complete the annual requirements will be placed on conditional status with limited organizational privileges. Organizations must complete additional steps to regain full organization privileges. 

Organizations that fail to fully address their probation status will be considered inactive and must complete the new student organization application process to be considered for reinstatement. In doing so, organizations should be able to demonstrate how they will ensure compliance with annual requirements in the future.