Month: March 2026

RSO Transitions

Transitions between outgoing and incoming executive boards are crucial to maintaining organizational consistency. To facilitate easy transition, officers should start, maintain, and update a living set of documents. This can be created in the form of a binder or digitally in a Google Shared Drive.

Before the newly elected officers of your organization officially assume their responsibilities, it is recommended that the old and new officers get together for a “transition meeting.” This meeting can be conducted in person or digitally to allow the new officers to learn from the experience of the outgoing officers. Officer continuity is a key to growth for your organization, and having a casual, open atmosphere is encouraged. This type of meeting allows for an honest evaluation of the accomplishments and problems of the previous year.

Don’t forget to Transition:

• Involvement Link (see below)
• Banking Information – EIN, Account Numbers, Switching people on the account
• Agendas and Minutes
• Relevant Policies and Procedures 
• Login Information to the org’s email and social media accounts
• Storage Locations
• Important Contacts (including your advisor)

All RSOs are strongly encouraged to make their RSO advisor the owner and/or manager of Google Drives, Google Groups, etc., in case of sudden turnover. This should be in addition to your organization’s primary contact.

If you would like to learn more about completing a smooth officer transition, consider attending our upcoming HuskyLEAD. Information about the event is listed below.

Updating Your E-Board Positions on Involvement Link

Presidents are required to fill out the E-Board Position Update Form when an officer (President, Secretary, or Treasurer) transition happens. As we approach the end of the semester, new officers will be assigned but not required to complete training. Training for the next academic year will be available in August.

Please note: Only required officers (President, Treasurer, Secretary, Advisor) need to complete training. All non-required positions can be changed on Involvement Link by your officers.

Quick Updates/Reminders

• RSO Travel 

RSOs traveling over 50 miles from Tech’s campus are required to fill out the RSO Travel Form. More information can be found on SLI’s Travel page

If you request a Verified Absence Letter, please submit the names of all possible travelers 7 days in advance on the RSO Travel Form. Please include anyone who might be traveling. It is much easier for your professors to adapt to additional people in their classroom/exam room than for them to find last-minute alternative exam accommodations for students who decide to travel at the last minute.

• RSO Roster Verification and Enrollment Forms

RSOs that compete in official collegiate competitions often need to verify their roster with their conference administrators. To verify your roster, please submit the conference roster verification form to the Registrar’s office at least 14 days before the due date. All students who need verification must be listed on your Involvement Link roster. Any paperwork sent to the Registrar should only include the players’ names and any required specific conference information (e.g., how many semesters each player has participated, conference ID number). All other information should be left for the Registrar to fill out.

• Officers Tag for Monthly Emails

Historically, our Monthly Officer Emails have gone to RSO Presidents, Treasurers, and Secretaries. We are now including Vice Presidents and others with an Officer tag in the email. If you would like additional people to get the monthly email, please give them the “Officer” tag on your Involvement Link Roster.

HuskyLEAD: Managing Organizational Conflict

Join us for a practical workshop on managing organizational conflict aimed to help you navigate conflict in any groups you’re a part of. Through guided discussion and real-life scenarios, you will explore strategies for addressing disagreements within their organizations, even when those conflicts involve friends. This session will equip you with tools to communicate effectively, manage tension, and strengthen relationships while working toward shared goals.

• Monday, March 16th from 4-5 PM
• Location: Fisher 132

HuskyLEAD: Effective Leadership Transitions

Join this workshop to learn practical strategies for retaining documents, maintaining relationships with campus partners, sharing important information, and running effective transition meetings. Resources and sample documents will be provided. 

• Wednesday, March 18th from 4-5 PM
• Location: Fisher 129

Preview Day

During Admitted Student Preview Day, admitted students are invited to join us on campus and decide if they want to commit to Michigan Tech! It’s a great time for you to share about your organization and help these likely huskies see if this is the place they want to call home. 

SLI and Admissions are looking for RSOs interested in sharing information about their organization and recruiting incoming students before they even move in! This opportunity is only available to the first 40 organizations. Please sign up here. Registration closes on Sunday, March 15th. The RSO tabling sessions will be on Saturday, March 21st, from 11:30 am-1:15 pm in the MUB Commons. Coffee and donuts will be provided. 

The Wahtera Center is Hiring

Are you—or someone you know—still looking for a summer job? Do you have a passion for helping others? Do you want to promote your RSO to the incoming freshman class? If you answered yes to any of these questions, a position with the Wahtera Center and Orientation might be perfect for you!

We are currently hiring for:

• Summer Session Ambassadors & Resident Assistants (with free summer housing available from mid-May to Late June!)
• Orientation Team Leaders
• Peer Teaching Assistants
• Success Coaches
• Husky Connect Mentors

Interested? Reach out to Dawn Corwin at dmcorwin@mtu.edu or visit our hiring page: https://www.mtu.edu/success/now-hiring/

Have a great day!

RSO Officers,

Thank you again for your continued patience on the release of these details! We recommend reading the entire email as it contains important information about the March 18th USG meeting and next steps for RSO budgets!

Allocations Released w/ Appeals

The Public Allocations Spreadsheet has been updated to include Column D for the appeal results. If an organization appealed and received a higher amount than was originally allocated, then the box shows as green! Organizations that did not partake in appeals have no change to their allocation and row.

The Ways and Means Committee has various factors that we based our decisions on for appeals. In total, 28 organizations appealed their allocation or a Line Item strike. In general, organizations that brought forward new, pressing, or details that would otherwise bring up a question of fact that leans in favor of the organization received an increased appeal. In addition, organizations that failed to participate in the regular Budget Hearings may request a budget during appeals.

Once again, to clarify, the Spreadsheet is shared via a public link, and you are permitted to share this outside of the RSO officers that are included on this email list. Allocations are not private information, and we are looking to take steps to make the Student Activity Fee more transparent and highlight what it’s being used on.

Final Appeal Opportunity: March 18th, 2026

On Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 (7PM in the MUB Alumni Lounge), we will be holding our Undergraduate Student Government meeting where we will be approving both the budgets and the allocations towards RSOs. This is the final opportunity to appeal (regardless of if you’ve appealed before), and we’ve set up a couple of key details. If you do not believe that the Ways and Means Committee has fairly represented your organization in the allocations, this opportunity will be for you to appeal in front of all ~29 USG representatives.

If you plan on appealing, please indicate that you will be appealing on this Google Form. You do not have to send in your appeal details beforehand – we simply just need to know who is appealing so we can call organizations in alphabetical order when we reach the item of business. Organizations that do not fill out this form can still fill this out at the meeting, but if we do not receive visual aids before 5PM on March 18th, we cannot put any visual aids on the slideshow.

Appealing Struck Line Items

If you disagree with the Ways and Means Committee striking a Line Item on your budget, you may appeal specifically to unstrike the Line Item. You will need to inform USG during your verbal appeal of which Line Items that you would like to be unstruck.

You will receive 5 minutes maximum of a verbal uninterrupted presentation and up to 5 slides of visual aids if you choose to use them. Slides must be sent by 5PM to usg-treasurer@mtu.edu on March 18th.

This appeal will happen first, as if USG decides to unstrike a Line Item, you will then have the opportunity to appeal your overall allocation if the striking of a Line Item made a difference.

Appealing Your Allocation

If you disagree with the Ways and Means Committee’s decision on how much money your club will be allocated, you may appeal specifically for a certain amount with reasoning behind what you are arguing for. You will need to inform USG during your verbal appeal of how much you are appealing for. USG reserves the right to deny, partially fund, or completely fund your appeal.

You will receive 3 minutes maximum of a verbal uninterrupted presentation and up to 1 slide of visual aids if you choose to use it. Your slide must be sent by 5PM to usg-treasurer@mtu.edu on March 18th.

You may appeal on any grounds, however, we would recommend coming with new and pressing information similar to the regular appeal process.

Extra Notes and Asterisks

There are some procedures as USG that we have to follow, and we have set up this overall process (with time and slide restrictions) to fairly represent all organisations that wish to appeal. Please see the additional notes that are hard to fit elsewhere.

• Every attempt will be made to expedite the meeting to allow for appeals to come early. The official start time of the meeting is 7PM, but we are required to get through our officer and advisor reports before getting to appeals.
• At its discretion, USG may vote to permit an organization extra uninterrupted time if it believes that the extra time will be helpful to the body
• To discourage passing out physical papers during the meeting, any time spent on passing physical materials will be counted as part of the “uninterrupted time” that you receive. A spot has been left in the Google Form linked above for publicly viewable digital documents that USG representatives will be given access to during the meeting.
• Every attempt will be made to set up USG to make decisions in a financially responsible manner with any excess “appeal” funds. However, USG has full power to grant as much or as little in appeals as it would like to. In that manner, USG may increase or decrease the allocation of any RSO before approving the allocation.
• The Treasurer (so, myself) will be responsible for representing the decision of the Ways and Means Committee. If you are appealing, you are appealing to all of USG, regardless of who was in the room during your Budget Hearing or appeal. Ways and Means Committee members have been informed that they do not have to uphold or defend their personal vote or committee position. Any and all questions that an organization would like to direct to the Ways and Means Committee should be directed to the Treasurer.

Questions, Concerns, or Whatnot

As always, I’m happy to help with any questions, concerns, or otherwise that arises from this email. If anything is confusing or unclear about the process at the USG meeting, please let me know, and then I can work with our E-Board to correct those confusions. These are uncharted waters for anyone who’s been on USG in recent years, and we appreciate your patience as we work to establish a process for fairly hearing out appeal requests during our general body meeting.

RSO Officers,

Thank you for your patience on the delivery of initial allocations for the RSO Budget Hearing process! We truly appreciate every single organization and officer that took the time to prepare their materials, answer our questions, and present their budget to us.

TL;DR

Please read the entire email as it’s all important information and context

• It’s impossible to fund all requests – over $1,000,000 was requested and we only have ~$400,000 to allocate
• Appeal signups are here – if you do not agree with your allocation, sign-up for a slot
• There were questions about policies that came up during Budget Hearings – we’ve clarified them below so that all organizations are aware of the standing policy
• Initial allocations are linked below along with general notes
• I will be sending out individualized emails shortly – I apologize for the delay in doing so. Budget Hearings have been immensely taxing on all of our personal schedules.
• Plug for USG: Vote in the USG E-Board Elections (including Treasurer)

Impossibility of Funding

I do want to address an inherent impossibility to fund organizations to their fullest amount. USG’s allocations depend solely on the level of the Student Activity Fee, which is currently $80 per semester for undergraduates and $50 per semester for graduates. Simply put, it is impossible to fund all organizations to their fullest amount, and the Student Activity Fee is not meant to be the only source of funding for larger organizations.

This is a historic year for us. For the first time, over $1,000,000 have been requested in organization budgets from the Student Activity Fee. USG not funding your organization to your full request is not a sign of the student government or the Ways and Means Committee (WAM) not supporting your organization or seeing its purpose – every organization on campus is crucially important and impacts a wide variety of students. We simply are unable to allocate more money than has been paid in by students and thus must make cuts. We understand that this increases dues, increases strain on officers to find external funding, and decreases organization activity as not all events or travel can be covered.

For organizations looking at other funding sources, please see this RSO Funding page. Please reach out to us or rso@mtu.edu if you have any questions regarding funding from sources outside the Student Activity Fee. We’re happy to help you find a solution!

On a personal note, I can say that the WAM has worked very hard to deliver allocations that are as fair as they can be. A cumulative 324 hours has been spent hearing, deliberating, and re-evaluating all of the organizations. While I cannot say that I’m jumping for joy that we cannot fund 60% of requested funds this year, I am personally satisfied with the work that was done to ensure that each organization’s needs were considered under the circumstances that we find ourselves in with the high requests each year. 

Appeals & Next Steps

If you are comfortable with your allocation, no further action is required on your part.

If you do not feel comfortable with your allocation and wish to appeal to the Ways and Means Committee, please keep reading. You are eligible to participate in another 10-minute hearing where you can voice your appeal and new request.

We reserve the right to grant partial appeals or to not grant an increased allocation based on your appeal and the level of the appeal funds. If we receive more appeal requests than we have in the appeal budget, then we simply will not be able to grant all appeals.

Appeals will take place on Thursday, February 26th and Monday, March 9th with slots that can be signed up for. You may only sign up for one of the two days – results will not be released until after March 9th. Participants may be the same or different to those in Budget Hearings. We still ask that only MTU students are presenting or answering questions. We highly encourage you to bring some new reasoning to your appeal, as we’ve written down most of the information you’ve given us before.

The deadline to sign up for an appeal is Friday, February 27th at 5:00PM. This will be a hard deadline, as we have to schedule our time around the number of appeal requests.

On Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 at 7:00PM in the MUB Alumni Lounge, we will vote on the final allocations in the USG meeting. You are also welcome to appeal here as it’s your right as a member of the Student Assembly, but there is no set / defined process. The entire USG body will be voting on the allocations, so if you feel that the Ways and Means Committee has misrepresented you, this is your opportunity to appeal to a larger body of students.

Policy Clarification

We wanted to clarify the current Bylaw and standing policy from the Ways and Means Committee. This has been clarified in the Information Packet and throughout individual hearings, but this is your official notice – any Purchase Requests that do not follow this policy will be denied.

• Items or food purchased by the Student Activity Fee cannot be sold – that is your organization acting as a “business” and you should aim to make a profit over expenses. For example, Parade of Nations food sold at the cultural exchange at the Dee will not be reimbursed by the SAF.
• Any Line Items making use of the “direct educational, artistic, and cultural experience” rule change introduced this year must be reasonably open and advertised to all students.
  • “Reasonably open and advertised” at a minimum looks like posting the event on Involvement Link, creating digital and physical advertisements, and pushing information out to the student body well in advance of the event.
  • Food or giveaways that accompany travel events (such as a cultural meal while out at a conference) are not permitted expenses, as the opportunity is not reasonably open or advertised to all students.
• Direct giveaways that are intended to support individuals who are not students at Michigan Tech are generally not permitted. If the expenditure provides some service, experience, or professional development to students at Michigan Tech, then it is permitted (such as funding a hotel for a speaker on campus or materials that will allow students to run workshops at local schools).
  • The main things we are attempting to avoid are expenditures that do not invest in the student experience. For instance, we can’t fund movie tickets for children or relatives of students, and we can’t pay recurring costs that don’t directly impact students. 

We would rather you ask than find out afterwards that something is not reimbursable. Please reach out to me at usg-treasurer@mtu.edu if you have any questions about these policies.

Initial Allocations Spreadsheet

Linked is a Spreadsheet that contains all of the initial allocations for each Registered Student Organization that applied during Budget Hearings. We’ve also included the following data points for convenience and transparency:

• Initial Request (or updated during hearing)
• Percentage of Request Granted
• Delta From FY2025 (last budget that you had)
• Delta From FY2026 (current budget that you have)
• Increased / Decreased “Per Student Cost”
• Approximate Request Towards Social Events*
• Approximate Request Towards Giveaways / Food* (under Bylaws: Article XV, Section 4.4)
• Notes
  • Please see the second sheet including detailed explanations about the description left in the “Notes” column
  • If you see a note saying “Expect Additional Email”, I will be sending that shortly. Unfortunately, special circumstances cannot be addressed in a large email or automatic template, so I need time to draft a custom explanation.

*Due to organizations being able to adjust the amount spent on each line item without approval from WAM, we do not enforce the amount spent on each line item relative to the allocation given.

While not anticipated, the Undergraduate Student Government reserves the right to make modifications to allocations based on student enrollment projections and related budget constraints. Modifications will be communicated in writing to RSO officers as soon as possible if enrollment projections change substantially from current estimates and necessitate adjustments. Please remember that these budgets apply starting on July 1st, 2026.

Information not included within this Spreadsheet are individual Line Item strikes that the Ways and Means Committee voted on. If you had items struck from your budget (or significant changes), you will receive an email with reasoning behind the strikes sometime during the upcoming week.

This spreadsheet is open to everyone with the URL, and you are welcome to share it if you would like to. My main goal as Treasurer throughout my term has been transparency, and while I understand that the result of Budget Hearings may not be what you have hoped for, I hope that you feel that we have been transparent and open about the process, data we use, and your status. We don’t intend on making this data private. I would encourage you to reach out to me directly if there’s something about this process that you feel is not transparent – we can work together on a way to ensure that the entire process is open for students to see. After all, it’s your Student Activity Fee.

Questions

If you have any immediate questions, please directly respond to this email and I can assist you! Otherwise, please feel free to reach out any time at usg-treasurer@mtu.edu!

We cannot overstate the importance that you all contribute to Michigan Tech as officers. Regardless if you’re a new organization, an organization seeking new heights, an organization shifting gears, or an organization powering through another successful year, we truly appreciate the time and effort that you’ve put into campus this past year. Thank you.

Preview Day

During Admitted Student Preview Day, admitted students are invited to join us on campus! They attend information sessions designed to help them prepare to enroll and move in, tour academic departments, and talk with faculty, advisors, and current students. It’s a great time for you to share about your organization and help these likely huskies see if this is the place they want to call home. 

SLI and Admissions are looking for RSOs interested in sharing information about their organization and recruiting incoming students before they even move in! This opportunity is only available to the first 40 organizations. Please sign up here. The RSO tabling sessions will be on Saturday, March 22nd, from 11:30 am-1:15 pm in the MUB Commons. Coffee and donuts will be provided. 

The MUB has space for your RSO! 

As you begin planning events and meetings for next semester, this is a friendly reminder that Memorial Union Building (MUB) spaces are available to reserve now. In most cases, MUB spaces can be reserved up to one year in advance. To submit a room request, please use the MUB reservation request page here. Not sure how to fill out the form? Follow this guide! Have questions? Email mubrooms@mtu.edu for support! If you have any further questions or need additional support, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team or stop by during our office hours. Thank you, the MUB looks forward to hosting your organization! 

HuskyLEAD – Fundraising Fundamentals

Robert’s Rules of Order can make meetings more effective, but only when everyone understands how to use them. Join us for an engaging, interactive workshop that demystifies this widely recognized system for running orderly, productive meetings.

• Thursday, February 12 (Today!) from 4-5 PM in Fisher 326

HuskyLEAD – Managing Organizational Conflict

Join us for a practical workshop on managing organizational conflict aimed to help you navigate conflict in any groups you’re a part of. Through guided discussion and real-life scenarios, participants will explore strategies for addressing disagreements within their organizations, even when those conflicts involve friends. This session will equip you with tools to communicate effectively, manage tension, and strengthen relationships while working toward shared goals.

• Wednesday, February 18th from 4-5 PM in Fisher 129

Student Group Awards at the 32nd Annual Student Leadership Awards

Nominations are open to celebrate and recognize the individual and group efforts of students involved across campus at the Student Leadership Awards! There are 4 awards to recognize student groups: 

• Exceptional Civic Engagement Award
• Exceptional Program of the Year
• Most Improved Student Group
• Student Group of the Year

If your RSO hosted a great event, participated in civic engagement, or is just overall fantastic, you can nominate your RSO to win an award! Nominations close on Monday, March 9th at 11:59 PM.

Risk Management Plans

When organizing any event, identify potential hazards, evaluate risks, and develop strategies to mitigate them. The safety of your members and participants is of utmost importance. Planning to manage risk helps to keep all those involved with your events and/or organization safe. If people feel safe, they are more willing to come back and continue to participate in your organization.

Risk management plans are required for any on-campus event that involves risk as well as any University Sponsored off-campus events, such as Keweenaw Day. An event that involves risk means an event or activity that a reasonable person would consider to have an element of risk. This would also include events/activities that could be less risky for advanced participants, but more risky for novice participants.

Just because an event is off-campus does not mean that there is less risk involved. It is encouraged that you create a risk management plan to ensure safety and success at any risky or potentially risky events.

How to create and submit a risk plan, as well as sample liability waivers, can be found on our website. 

Have a great month,

Student Leadership and Involvement