New Organization Application Process

Starting a new organization or re-activating an old organization is an exciting opportunity! Campus Activities wants to help you and your organization be successful. 

Before starting the application process, let’s determine if your organization is eligible to apply by answering the following questions:

• Recognized Social Fraternities or Sororities: Is your organization a recognized social fraternity or sorority affiliated with the Sorority & Fraternity Life office?
• Single Event or Officer Election: Are you registering a group to sponsor a single event and/or elect an individual to an office?
• Non-Cornell Members: Do more than 50% of your members consist of non-Cornell students, such as individuals from the public or faculty/staff?
• Similar Organizations: Is there another organization with a similar mission, purpose, or title?

If you said yes to any of the above questions, your organization may not be eligible for approval as a student organization. We encourage you to thoroughly review and address these considerations to ensure a successful application process. Please contact Denice Cassaro ([email protected]), if you have any questions.

As you prepare to begin the New Student Organization Application Process, you will need the following:

• Names and Net IDs of your President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Diversity & Inclusion Chair
• Advisor’s name, Net ID, contact phone number, and department they are in
• Proposed organization name (branding policy)
  • If using Cornell in the name of your organization, these are the options:
    • Your group name followed by “at Cornell” (e.g. Chromatic at Cornell)
    • Name must include “Club” (e.g. Cornell Chess Club)
    • If affiliated with a national or larger organization, add “Cornell Chapter” (e.g. Habitat for Humanity Cornell Chapter)
• Proposed acronym for your organization
  • Be sure to check the existing list of student organizations and their acronyms to be sure your proposed organization acronym is not already in use.
• Proposed organization mission and goals
• Constitution - Must use provided Constitution Template
  • Be sure to follow the directions provided in the template.
• Logo (branding policy)
  • May not use the university’s trademarks as part of your logo.
  • Alterations of Cornell’s trademarks are not allowed.
• Organization’s email address
  • This email CANNOT be an @cornell.edu email or be a personal email address. It must be an email address solely dedicated to communication for the organization.
• If your organization has a national or regional affiliation, be prepared to provide a dated and signed document from that affiliated group acknowledging the relationship between your student organization and the national/regional group.

Prior to submitting your application, your President and Vice President are required to take the online Event Planning 101 class and successfully pass the exam.

Once your application is submitted, Campus Activities will review everything.  We will contact you with an update on the progress and work with you to ensure all requirements are met. Once your application is accepted, you will move to the final stage.  In the final stage, your President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Advisor will complete a form and need to pass a quiz.  There will be a final review to ensure everything is order.  If it is, your group will then be registered!

• Email Denice Cassaro for any questions related to new organization registration - [email protected].