Privileges, Procedures, and Guidelines

Student Organizations that have officially been recognized through the TCU Judiciary hold certain privileges and are responsible for certain guidelines. Other student organizations operating through the support of a department are also held to these standards.

• Use of the Tufts University Name, along with organization websites and social media
• Approval to register as a student organization on JumboLife
• Listed on University Lists of Student Organizations
• Participation in Annual Student Organizations Fair
• Access to Post Events on the Student Organization Calendar
• Access to Space Reservation System and Ability to Reserve Space and Host Events
• Access to Services from University Departments
• Option to Apply for TCU Treasury Funding (TCU Recognized Student Organizations Only)

• Must comply with regulatory and procedural guidelines contained on this Office for Campus Life website, the Code of Conduct and the Student Handbook, as well as the TCU Judiciary, Senate and Treasury rules and regulations for student organizations
• All recognized and department sponsored student organizations must be open and accessible to all full-time undergraduate students including those on an approved Study Abroad program or those on an approved remote semester of study. Note:  students on a Leave of Absence are not members of the TCU, Tufts Community Union, and therefore not eligible for student organization involvement and services.
• Members must comply with the rules and regulations of their student organization
• Officers of student organizations must be in good standing in matters of discipline and academics. A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required. Students on leave are not eligible to serve as an organization officer or participate as an active member
• Register with the Office for Campus Life each year and adhere to the TCU Judiciary annual re-recognition guidelines.
• Attend annual mandatory student organization meetings and trainings.
• Agree not to obstruct or interfere with any regularly sponsored or official function of the University. Violations could lead to disciplinary action against the organization and the students involved
• Organization officers and members have a responsibility to report an instances of hazing. This can be done through EthicsPoint, where one can anonymously report student organization hazing, or by contacting the Office of Community Standards directly. When registering a student organization, officers must – and do – sign off on the University Anti-Hazing Policy.

The Office for Campus Life publishes the status of all recognized and formerly recognized student organizations, not including the statuses of fraternities and sororities, which are published by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. We include a summary of any findings of responsibility and sanctions made in student organizations cases next to the name of each student organization on our List of Organizations. (Those in good standing and with no recent disciplinary history, have no status information listed). This information is updated regularly to reflect organizations’ disciplinary histories and current statuses. Please consult the Student Conduct Resolution Procedure for the definitions of particular sanctions and statuses.

• All student organization events must go through the event registration and approval process.
• TCU Senate funding is not an event approval process. All funding approvals are subject to final event approvals through the event approval process. Should an event that was granted funding through regular budgeting or the supplemental funding process not be approved, the organization may come back to ALBO regarding alternate use of the approved funds.
• Events and programs will not be approved until the first day of classes each academic year. Student Organization events are not allowed during Undergraduate Orientation unless approved through the Undergraduate Orientation Office as a part of Undergraduate Orientation programming
• Events and programs will not be approved following the last day of classes each semester. Events will not be approved during reading days or final exam periods
• The final dates to make requests for space reservations each semester are early December and mid-April, dates TBD.
• The final dates to post JumboLife event requests each semester are late November and mid-April, dates TBD.
• Student organizations do not have event privileges during the summer months or semester break.  Budget and finance processing for student organizations also ends on the final day of classes in the spring semester and will not resume again until the first day of classes in the fall semester.

The Committee on Student Life (CSL) oversees recognition of all student groups and empowers the TCU Judiciary (TCUJ) to make recognition decisions based specific guidelines approved by the CSL. The CSL delegates enforcement of general organizational policies and minor complaints of misconduct to three groups: TCUJ for non-club sports groups, Athletics Department for club sports teams, and the Graduate Student Council for graduate student organizations.  The CSL hears all serious complaints against student organizations.  A complaint is deemed serious at the discretion of staff members in the Dean of Students Office or the Co-Chairs of the CSL.

All student groups have the right to an impartial hearing following the student judicial process. Decisions of the TCUJ, Athletics Department, or Graduate Student Council related to general policy violations or group misconduct may be appealed to the CSL. Any initial decision made by the CSL (i.e., in cases of serious complaints) may be appealed to the Dean of Arts & Science or Dean of Engineering. For more information related to the hearing and appeal process, please refer to the student judicial process.

Recognized Student Organizations are governed through the TCU (Tufts Community Union) Constitution, TCU Senate bylaws, as well as the TCUJ (Judiciary) bylaws and the guidelines of the CSL (Committee on Student Life).