Tailor Registration to Organization Type

Your organizations aren’t one size fits all and your re-registration process doesn’t have to be either. Use Engage to group your organizations into types with distinct requirements, different forms and timelines, and even different administrators. In this article we will cover two different re-registration models, both employing multiple organization types in slightly different ways to suit their distinct enrollment numbers and staffing sizes.

University of Houston

With a total enrollment of over 45,000 students, any description of the workload associated with University of Houston’s 500 active organizations would surely be an understatement. As a result, their organization registration process is one of the most comprehensive we have seen. In addition to completing built-in Engage pages such as the Organization Roster that updates the organization’s member list, Houston added several custom forms to their registration process allowing organizations to:

• Request a mailbox and/or locker
• Describe national organization and chapter details, if applicable
• Verify training completion across a series of modules
• Agree to a series of institutional policies

University of Houston separates their registration process by organization type to customize which forms and policies are displayed to submitters. Specifically, individuals submitting a registration for a Fraternity & Sorority Life organization will review additional relevant policies. They also combine many different types of organizations under their general re-registration, as each organization type can be configured independently for unique roster needs under the same re-registration, reducing the number of places the administrator needs to go.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville

What does this kind of process look like on a campus without such a high enrollment? For University of Wisconsin-Platteville (enrollment under 9,000 students), the model of separating organization registration to offer a distinctly separate process for Fraternity & Sorority Life (“FSL”) students works just as well. In addition to having these organizations agree to a hazing statement, another key difference for the FSL registration process is the timing—FSL organizations register shortly after recruitment ends, while other organizations have a much longer registration period beginning in late spring and open through early fall.

The types of forms included in registration also differ for University of Wisconsin-Platteville as opposed to University of Houston’s, including examples like:

• Summary of institutional policies on topics like the organization budget process, fundraiser events and catering
• Notification of organization officer training dates
• Sign-up for the Involvement Fair

Staff in Campus Life are also able to use each registration period as a record of the organization’s state at that date, providing them more information to understanding each organization’s history.

Interested in learning more?

Hear more about the registration processes at University of Houston, University of Wisconsin-Platteville and other campuses in this webinar:

• Browse data insights on organization registration trends across Engage, like “When do student organizations typically conduct registration?”
• Explore Campus Labs Engage