MIT student organizations can only be initiated, organized, and led by MIT students. These groups are expected to comply with the law and adhere to all existing MIT policies and guidelines while upholding MIT’s mission and values.
All recognized student organizations must complete and sign the Student Organization Leadership Attestation & Responsibility Agreement during their recognition or re-registration period. By agreeing to this attestation, student leaders commit to maintaining MIT’s standards and fostering a positive campus community.
New Organizations
The ASA has responsibility and sets the timelines for recognizing new and existing student organizations. Each academic year includes two recognition cycles, one in the fall and one in the spring. Dates and details for each cycle are posted on the ASA website.
Each application is required to identify a president and treasurer—the organization’s core executive officers—who are encouraged to collaborate with the other members of their group to complete the following application requirements:
- A roster of at least five current MIT students (graduate or undergraduate), including a president and a treasurer.
- A student organization constitution, including a mission statement that distinguishes the group from other existing recognized student organizations at MIT.
- The constitution must include all the clauses required by the ASA.
- The ASA has also made a sample constitution available.
- A draft budget that demonstrates how the organization intends to acquire and expend funds annually.
Annual Re-Registration
All student organizations must re-register for formal status every year. Organizations are assigned an annual re-registration deadline that aligns with ASA processes and with organizations’ reported annual executive leadership transition timeframes (fall or spring). Organizations may apply for off-cycle re-registrations if there are significant changes to their purpose, leadership, or structure.
The organization’s core executive officers are encouraged to collaborate with the other members of their group to complete the following re-registration requirements:
- Note names of student organization core executive officers (president and treasurer), who are required to sign and submit a copy of the Student Organization Leadership Attestation & Responsibility Agreement.
- Confirm distribution of Student Organizations Handbook to organization members.
- Report any changes to:
- Name (Requires ASA and SOLE approval)
- Mission (Requires ASA and SOLE approval)
- Constitution (requires ASA and SOLE approval)
- Category (requires ASA and SOLE approval)
- Membership Tags (report)
- Activity Tags (requires ASA and SOLE approval)
- Logo (requires MIT Office of Institute Communications approval)
- Executive Leadership Transitions Timeframe (requires ASA and SOLE approval)
- Report student organization recurring meeting information
- Confirm group officer mailing list on Engage
- Confirm active members roster on Engage
- Confirm officer roster on Engage
- Upload current active participant and advisor roster to Engage
- Confirm student organization office access tags on Engage (if applicable)
SOLE staff and the ASA will confirm that these conditions are met before a group is re-registered as a recognized student organization in good standing.
Training for Core Officers
After receiving formal recognition or re-recognition from ASA, core executive officers (president and treasurer) must complete a required training module to gain access to MIT systems and keep their organization in good standing. The training covers leadership, event planning, campus activism, finances, and Title VI/Title IX policies. It equips leaders to manage their group’s activities, membership, and resources while sharing this knowledge with their teams.
Suspension
A temporary status assigned by DSL or the MIT Committee on Discipline (COD), suspension applies to student organizations that have failed to demonstrate consistent, successful management of their group’s leadership, membership, operations, and/or activities. Suspended student groups lose access to privileges reserved for recognized student organizations. DSL or the COD determines the terms of suspension and reinstatement conditions for suspended student organizations on a case-by-case basis.
De-recognition
Sometimes the interests or issues leading to the formation of a student organization fade. MIT needs a process for de-recognizing organizations that are no longer active. It also needs a process for managing cases where an organization is not being appropriately led or managed. These processes are identical.
When an organization is not re-registered—for lack of interest or because core executive officers failed to complete the re-registration requirements on behalf of their student organization by the communicated deadline—their student organization will be subject to the following processes:
Frozen Status: Student organizations that do not complete re-registration requirements will be frozen on the working day following the ASA application deadline. To become unfrozen, core executive officers must schedule and attend a meeting with a designated SOLE staff member or submit required corrections within a set grace period. Frozen student organizations will be unable to:
- Reserve MIT campus spaces
- Access their student organization financial accounts or process payments
- Access their Engage group page
De-recognition: Student organizations that become idle or whose core executive officers do not complete the unfreezing process for their organization, will be automatically de-recognized on the working day following the grace period deadline.
Upon de-recognition, an email will be sent to the student organization’s group officer mailing list with a formal notice of de-recognition, guidance from the ASA and SOLE regarding the de-recognition process, and information regarding the re-recognition process if the group intends to remain active.
The following conditions will result from a student organization’s de-recognition:
- Loss of all student organization privileges.
- Cancellation of all scheduled pending events.
- Resolution and payment of any pending financial commitments; new transactions will not be accepted.
- Frozen financial accounts; any existing funds will be reallocated after three years if the organization is not re-recognized.
- Loss of access to ASA-allocated space.
- There is a one-month deadline to remove belongings; after one month any remaining items will be donated to other student organizations or disposed of.
- Student organizations de-recognized during the third week of June as part of the spring re-registration cycle will have until the final week of September of the same year to collect items from their ASA-allocated space.
- Student organization property purchased with Institute funds is owned by MIT. The ASA executive board is responsible for the distribution of property from de-recognized organizations; strong preference should be given to allowing either the UA or GSC funding boards to allocate the property to other groups.