Luddy School of Informatics Student Org Handbook

Office of Student Engagement and Success Last Updated August 2025

Contacting the Luddy Office of Student Engagement and Success

As of Spring 2025, the four main contacts at the Luddy Student Engagement Office are:

Tiana Iruoje Director of Student Engagement and Success

Courtland Crenshaw Assistant Director of Student Engagement and Success

Jan Questelles Events Project Coordinator

Wodsander Maxime Graduate Assistant to the Office of Student Engagement and Success

Establishing a New Student Group

Contact Office of Student Engagement and Success

The first step in creating your Student Group is to reach out to the Luddy Student Engagement and Success Office Refer to the student engagement office contacts at the beginning of the handbook

Registering your Student Organization as an USO

Registering your student group as a University Student Organization (USO) with IU Bloomington’s Student Involvement office is not required. However, registering your student group does have a variety of benefits, including the ability to apply for university funding. For more information on how to register your student group as a USO and a complete list of benefits to registering, see here

The requirements for initially registering as an USO are as follows:

[!IMPORTANT] Once your organization meets all the above requirements, contact Tiana Iruoje or Courtland Crenshaw to approve and complete the USO registration form.

Register on BeINvolved

  • BeINvolved is an online service that allows student groups/organizations to maintain a profile that is easily accessible by the Indiana University network. Here, your organization can post events and information as well as utilize discussion boards and group messaging. This resource also allows you to showcase what you are doing as an organization by posting your activities, campus involvement, collaborations, etc. beINvolved also organizes events, organizations, and articles for other groups to view and attend on campus.
  • Tutorials on navigating beINvolved can be found [here](https://engagesupport.campuslabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016011492- Student-Leader-Resource-Guide)

Have at least one faculty/staff advisor listed on your beINvolved roster who is employed by Indiana University (cannot be an undergraduate student).

Have at least five enrolled IU Bloomington student members.

Meet with the Student Organization Registration Committee (if necessary)

  • Submit a Budget to the Office of Student Engagement and Success

Write a constitution

  • Constitution requirements adapted from the “Constitutions” section:
  • All student organizations must create and maintain a constitution. A constitution contains the fundamental principles which govern an organization's operation. The development of a constitution will serve to clarify your purpose and delineate your basic operating structure. It will also allow current and potential members to have a better understanding of what the organization is all about.
  • These clauses MUST appear exactly as written in EVERY student organization constitution:
    • Statement of University Compliance: This organization shall comply with all Indiana University regulations and local, state, and federal laws.
    • Anti-Hazing Policy: Hazing is strictly prohibited. Hazing shall be defined as any conduct which subjects another person, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or psychologically, to anything that may endanger, abuse, degrade, or intimidate the person as a condition of association with a group or organization, regardless of the person’s consent or lack of consent.
    • Personal Gain Clause: This organization, if raising funds, shall ethically raise and distribute profits from organizational functions to either the organization or to members who provide a service that directly benefits the organization. Individual members may not receive compensation from for-profit companies if acting as a representative of a student organization.
  • The following clauses may also be required based on your organization's activities:
    • Programs Involving Children: This organization, when working with children, will be aware of and abide by the university's Programs Involving Children (PIC) Policy.
    • International Travel: This organization, when traveling internationally, will coordinate their travel through the Office of Overseas Study.

For a step-by-step guide to creating a Constitution for your USO, see here

For examples of past ILS Student Group Constitutions, see:

Budgets and Submitting Budgets

All Luddy organizations are sponsored through the Office of Student Engagement and Success.
Student organizations must submit their budgets for approval each semester. Deadlines and submission details are shared via email or during Presidents Meetings, hosted by the Office of Student Engagement and Success. These can be submitted by emailing lsg@iu.edu or by submitting to the LSG form.

P-Card

A P-Card (Procurement Card) is a university-issued credit card used for purchasing approved goods and services outlined in your organization’s approved budget.

Who Can Use a P-Card

Each user must complete P-Card training before use.

Authorized users include:

1The only officers that are permitted to submit requests in the Treasurer's temporary absence (e.g., illness, etc) are the President and Vice President of the student organization. This does not apply to situations where a Treasurer has not been appointed—a Treasurer must be appointed at all times. Prior communication and authorization by Luddy Student Government are required before any officer acts in the Treasurer’s place.

Requesting a P-Card

Once your organization's budget is approved, you can begin submitting P-Card requests for events.

  • P-card Requests must be submitted at least three weeks before the event date.
  • As of Fall 2025, the p-card request form is available at the top of the Clubs and Organizations channel in Luddy Student Government Teams Channel, or through the Luddy Student Government Sharepoint Page.

After submitting a P-Card request:

A member of the Office of Student Engagement and Success will contact you to either:

  • Confirm your request and next steps.
  • Deny your request based on incorrect fields, structure, or failure to follow guidelines

Purchasing Guidelines

  • Purchases must be from an approved vendor. Approved vendors are listed on Buy IU.
  • If purchasing in-store, online, or by phone, ensure no sales tax is added.
  • The P-Card is tax-exempt (If needed, obtain our tax-exempt information from Jan Questelles.)

Receipts

All receipts must be itemized and include:

  • Each item purchased
  • Tip amount (if applicable)
  • Final payment total
  • Attendance Documentation
    • Attendance QR code is provided in LSG Teams and must be turned in within 24 hours of the meeting or event.

Reconciliation & Record-Keeping

  • All receipts and documentation must be reconciled within 30 days of the purchase date.
  • On the 4th Monday of each month, the LSG Treasurer and Jan will meet to review all expenses and transactions for accuracy.
  • Treasurers must maintain a detailed spreadsheet of all organizational transactions and current balances. Spreadsheet columns should include:
    • Receipt-to-transaction match
    • Reason for purchase
    • Date of purchase
    • Date of event
    • Amount of purchase
    • Organization and purchaser’s name

Student Organizations Funding

Corporate sponsorship

Communication between sponsors and students will be mediated through the office of Student Engagement and Success.

Other than Budgets, new student organizations need to submit more documents to have access to funding. These documents include:

  • Constitution : This is the document you drafted when registering your student org. For existing orgs, resubmit one when you change your constitution. As of Fall 2025, constitutions should be submitted in the Luddy Student Government Teams channel under: Files → Student Org Constitutions.
  • Logos : This is your student org official logo. For existing orgs, resubmit your logo when you change it. As of Fall 2025, logos should be submitted in the Luddy Student Government Teams channel under: Files → Student Org Logos.
  • Member list : This is an official roster of club officers. As of Fall 2025, logos should be submitted in the Luddy Student Government Teams channel under: Files → Member List.

Annual To-Do's

Submitting Budgets

All student Orgs need to submit their budgets semesterly for approval to the office of student engagement.

Updating beINvolved and Member Roaster

You need to update beINvolved with the current board and board members.

Student Involvement Fairs

All groups must attend at least one (both recommended) student involvement fair. IU hosts one fair in August and one in January of each academic year. Information about each semester’s involvement fair is typically posted on BeInvolved a few months in advance

Students are also encouraged to set up a table each year at the ILS Fall Orientation as well as Luddy Red carpet days to promote their organization/group to incoming students.

Elections

While there are no formal requirements for student group elections, it is recommended that your student group hold elections for all executive board positions (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc.) once per academic year.

Typically, student group elections involve a nomination period, where any member of the organization can recommend themselves or any other organization members for one or more board positions. The nominees are then allowed to accept or reject the nomination before being put on the election ballot. Once all nominees have responded, the ballots are sent out to all members of the group for voting. When the voting period has concluded, the votes are tallied, and whichever candidate has the most votes is offered the position they ran for.

Most student groups use a virtual form that collects anonymous responses as their election ballots. Some tools for creating forms for elections can be found below:

  • Google Forms
    • Google Forms is one of several free tools available in Google Drive. It allows individuals to create surveys with a variety of response types and automatically compiles responses. It is particularly useful for organizations who use Google Drive to manage their internal documentation as surveys created in Google Forms can be saved to Google drive folders.
    • Tutorials:
  • Qualtrics
    • Qualtrics is a survey software available for free use by IU students, faculty and staff.
    • Tutorials:

For additional information on how to run an election and different voting methods, see the following election guides:

Creating an Organization Email

All organizations should have a group email that all executive members have access to.
Information on how to create an organization email at IU can be found here.

Establishing Internal Communication

Email Lists

Creating an email list allows you to easily email your group’s membership and masse by typing in a single address. For information on how to create a group on Outlook, see:

Discord

Discord is a platform that allows users to create servers that function as text, video, and voice chat spaces with highly customizable channels. While the platform was initially designed for gaming, it has become extremely popular across a wide range of demographic populations and is a common choice for communication within student groups. However, because the platform is so feature-rich, it does have a steeper learning curve than many of the other internal communication options.

GroupMe

GroupMe is a group text platform that allows the creation of group chats that can be used across any phone and computer platforms users may have.

Remind Texts

Remind is a service that allows users to send text message reminders to multiple recipients at once. While this service is great for reminding members about upcoming meetings and events, it does not allow for group communication between members. So, it is best to pair Remind with another platform that allows for group communication to help build community in your student group.

Joining the Student Org Teams

The Student Org Teams is a place where leadership from all Luddy student groups can communicate with the Office of Student Engagement. It is also a place where the announcements and updates concerning your student org will be posted. You can also use it to collaborate on events, meetings, and other activities. It is highly recommended that all board members of a Luddy student organization join the Teams.

Maintaining Internal Documentation

It is essential that your student group has a way to keep any documents you use organized and backed-up to a cloud-based service. This not only ensures that documents are accessible and secure, but it also makes the transition of power after elections far easier. A few document storage and sharing solutions commonly used by student groups are listed below:

  • Microsoft Teams
    • Microsoft Teams is IU’s main supported collaboration tool. It allows organizations to share files, work on documents simultaneously, and chat internally.
    • For information on how to create a team at IU for your student group and how to use Microsoft Teams in general, see here
  • Microsoft SharePoint
    • Microsoft SharePoint is a platform that allows for maintenance of shared file repositories. A ‘site’ is created on which to host files, which can be held under various levels of permission.
  • For information on how to use SharePoint at IU, see here
  • Google Drive
    • For information on how to use Google Drive at IU, see here

Officer Roles

Adapted from this.

President:

  • Presides over meetings of the organization
  • Facilitates executive board meetings
  • Prepares and files any report required
  • Appoints committee chair people Represents organization at official functions
  • Maintains contact with organization adviser, alumni, university, and (inter)national organization

Vice President:

  • Assumes the duties of the President in his or her absence
  • Directs Constitutional updating and revisions
  • Facilitates election of officers & recruits new members
  • Serves as a spokesperson for the organization
  • Serves as a secondary signatory on financial accounts
  • Assists all executive officers
  • Coordinates executive board officer transitions
  • Represents organization at official functions
  • Remains fair and impartial during organizational decision-making processes

Secretary:

  • Obtains appropriate facilities for organization activities
  • Keeps a record of all members and activities of the organization
  • Prepares an agenda with the President for all meetings and notifies members of meetings
  • Prepares organization's calendar of events
  • Keeps the organization informed of both organizational and university business
  • Keeps and distributes minutes of each meeting of the organization
  • Creates and distributes agendas for each meeting of the organization
  • Maintains attendance at all meetings
  • Maintains organizational records, storage, and office
  • Handles all official correspondence of the organization

Treasurer:

  • Is familiar with accounting procedures and policies
  • Serves as the primary signatory on financial accounts
  • Serves as chair of the finance committee
  • Pays organization bills and collects organization dues
  • Keeps all financial records of the organization
  • Prepares an annual budget and all budget requests for funds
  • Prepares and submits financial reports to the members
  • Maintains a financial history of the organization
  • Provides advisor with summary of financial records at the end of the academic year
  • Advises members on financial matters (i.e. vendors, ticket selling procedures)
  • Prepares purchase orders, requisition forms, or supply requests
  • Coordinates fundraising drive
  • Coordinates solicitations
  • Maintains an inventory of all equipment and its condition

All executive members also:

  • Represent organization at official functions
  • Remain fair and impartial during organization decision making processes
  • Performs other duties as directed by the President

Other Optional Roles:

  • Parliamentarian
  • Programming
  • Recruitment
  • Marketing/Public Relations
  • Community Service Director
  • Historian

Using IU Technologies

IU offers an array of IT training resources available here. These resources offer training on design and media, publishing, presentations, web design, video, IU systems, etc.

Tutorials for using other campus technologies (ex. printing) can be found here. Some campus-wide tools can be found below:

  • Canvas
    • Canvas is the enterprise instructional software used by IU. A Canvas Course includes features such as discussions, file sharing, quizzes, announcements, drop boxes, and modules.
    • Get started with setting up a Canvas Course
  • Microsoft 365
    • Microsoft 356 is the enterprise productivity software predominantly used at IU. It includes cloud-based versions of Microsoft Office Suite software, including the collaboration tool Teams. 365 also includes the online collaboration platform SharePoint, which is primarily used for shared file spaces.
    • Microsoft 365 at IU
  • Qualtrics

Optional Activities

Applying for Student Organization Awards

If you feel that your student group has done exceptional work during the academic year, consider applying for a Student Organization Award! Receiving a Student Organization Award is a fantastic way to make your student group better known on campus and can be a fantastic resume builder for your organization’s executive board.

  • Additional information on available Student Organization Awards and the application process can be found here

Participating in Leadership Programs

Leadership programs can be an excellent way to help improve your leadership skills or those of individuals on your executive board. For information on leadership programs and courses offered at IU, see here

Reserving Spaces

All room reservations must done through beInvolved 25live, unless booking the community center.

  • The community center booking form can be found under the LSG SharePoint. If you do not have access to this page, be sure to contact LSG

If you wish to reserve a space not included on this list, reach out to the Luddy Student Engagement Office for information on how to reserve other spaces.

Using the IU Fleet Service

Using the IU Fleet Service If your event requires travel outside of Bloomington, it may be a good idea to use a vehicle from the IU Fleet Service.

To use a Fleet Service vehicle, reach out to the Office of Insurance, Loss Control & Claims (INLOCC)

INLOCC will assist you with creating a Fleetcommander profile. Once your Fleetcommander profile is created, your faculty sponsor will be able to request vehicle(s) for your student group.

For a list of vehicles offered by the IU Fleet Service and their rates, see here

Class Shoutouts

During the first few weeks of the semester, it is highly recommended that leaders from student groups advertise their student groups in classes in order to help recruit new members.

There are two options for how your student group can do a class shoutout. First, a representative from your student group’s leadership team can make an announcement at the start/end of class. Second, if a member of your student group’s leadership team is unable to be at the class to do the shoutout, you can reach out to the professor of the course and ask if they would be willing to talk about your group at the start/end of class. If you opt for this option, it is recommended that you have a prepared statement written out for the professor to read off of.

You should always reach out to the professor of the course you’re doing a shoutout in well before the semester begins. Be sure to explain what student group you represent, how that student group’s work relates to the course you’re hoping to do a shoutout in, and what week/class session you were hoping to do the shoutout.

When doing your in-class shoutout, it is recommended to include the following information:

  • The name of your student group
  • The mission/purpose of your group
  • Your group’s meeting schedule
  • Information on any upcoming events
  • Your group’s social media pages and/or website
  • Next steps students can take to get more involved
    • Ex. Joining the beINvolved, following the group’s social media account(s), joining the group’s Discord/email list
  • Try to have a QR code and/or Bitly link set up so students can take out their devices and join your organization right away rather than having to remember to do it later!
    • Both bitly links and QR codes can be set up on the Bitly website for free. For more information, visit the Bitly Help Center
  • Contact information for members of your group’s leadership team

The exact classes student groups choose to advertise in are left up to the group’s leadership, but some recommendations are below:

  • Classes in which at least one member of the student group’s leadership is enrolled
    • These are the least effort-intensive option for class shoutouts because you already have someone in the class who is able to do the shoutout!
  • Classes taught by the student group’s faculty sponsor
  • Classes that cover topics relevant to the student group’s stated mission or activities
    • Academic Bulletins list all courses offered in a department. (Note that some courses listed in bulletins are inactive or infrequently/irregularly offered)

Developing an Online Presence

It is recommended that all groups have at least one central page online in addition to their beINvolved page updated with all current information and events. This can take the form of one or more social media accounts, a website, or both. Social media accounts are typically quicker to set up and provide enough functionality for brand new student groups, but websites can be a great option for more established student groups.

Flyers

Handing out flyers to classes can be a great way to give individuals a physical reminder about your shoutout after class time ends. The flyer should reiterate the same information said in your shoutout and/or provide a link to a page that has that information.

Please note that Self-Governed Student Organizations (SGSOs) are not permitted to use Indiana University’s trademarks, symbols, logos, mottoes, or depictions of campus buildings and landmarks. There is an official SGSO logo available here.

A few tools you can use to create flyers are listed below:

Social Media

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the most prominent social media website exclusively for the professional sphere. Like other platforms, it allows for the posting of text, videos, and images. Because it is predominantly used for networking and recruitment, individual’s profiles are inaccessible by default unless they have ‘connected’ with your account.

TikTok

TikTok is a short-form video platform that allows users to create and share engaging content with a wide audience. It is particularly useful for student organizations looking to promote events, share highlights, and engage with members through creative and interactive videos.

  • With TikTok’s trending sounds, challenges, and hashtag system, student groups can increase their visibility and attract new members. The platform is ideal for showcasing behind-the-scenes footage, event recaps, and fun, engaging content relevant to your organization’s mission.
  • TikTok Tutorials:
  • Note: It is NOT recommended to engage in paid social media advertising for your student group, but leveraging organic reach through trending challenges and collaborations can be highly effective.

Instagram

Instagram is a platform that allows users to post stories, short videos, and stories (posts that stay on the profile for 24 hours). The platform emphasizes visual storytelling and can be a great place to share flyers for upcoming events/meetings as well as photos from after events/meetings.

Facebook

Facebook is a social media platform that allows users to share text posts, photos, videos (short and long), and event information. While Facebook has the capability for stories and reels like Instagram, they are less frequently utilized by users. Compared to Instagram, Facebook’s demographics skew slightly older. For student groups, Facebook’s main strength is its event sharing capabilities.

Speaking at Luddy Student Engagement Involvement Fair

An Involvement fair for incoming Luddy students is typically held the week before classes start each semester. At the fair, incoming students can learn about current student orgs in Luddy. At least one member on the leadership team of each student group is encouraged to come in and speak directly to new students and answer questions about their group.

Website

WordPress

WordPress is a drag-and-drop website creation service that focuses on being highly customizable and having plenty of features. Of the three services presented here, WordPress has the steepest learning curve. The service has free as well as paid options. It supports paid custom domains as well as the option to have a free x.wordpress.com domain. It is highly recommended that student groups stick to the free version of WordPress and use the free domain option.

Wix

Wix is a drag-and-drop website creation service that focuses on being userfriendly and visually appealing. The service has free as well as paid options. It supports paid custom domains as well as the option to have a free x.wix.com domain. It is highly recommended that student groups stick to the free version of Wix and use the free domain option.

Google Sites

Google Sites is a drag-and-drop website creation service that is highly simplistic and extremely easy to integrate with other services created by Google. Google Sites is a purely free service with no paid options. It supports paid custom domains and well as free x.??.com domains. It is highly recommended that student groups use the free domain option.

More Advanced Edits

If you want to make more advanced edits to your website, it can be helpful to have a basic grasp of HTML. Below are some HTML tutorials and resources:

Additional Advanced Website Tool

Additional Tips for Running a Successful Organization

Make Your Meetings Interesting/Appealing

Host speakers, provide food, make it a potluck, play ice breaker get-to-know-you games. This will not only boost club morale, but it will also keep attendance high and help recruit new members. Also, student organizations are innately social, so enjoy yourselves while you promote your common interests!

Create and Maintain Active Websites and/or Social Media

By doing this, you can showcase what you’ve done in the past as well as post and update events, ideas, and message boards for students to have a go-to place for all important and interesting information. You can appoint a member of your club, or you can make the page collaborative and allow all members to post. Just make sure to keep it up to date, fun, and interesting!

Take Full Advantage of All Funding Opportunities

This will allow you to host more events, create some savings in your SOA account for a rainy day, travel, and collaborate with other organizations.

Sell swag!

Get creative and create and sell apparel that people want to use/wear. This is a great way to show your presence on campus, build camaraderie with a team look, and recruit new members. Underground Printing, located on Kirkwood Ave. in Bloomington is a good starting point for creating custom designs. They work well with Indiana University affiliates, have a brilliant design team, and sell at reasonable prices

Program, Program, Program

Be ACTIVE. Collaborate with other groups, bring in speakers, travel to other schools, host panels, the list goes on. This is one of the best parts of student organizations: you get to have fun, learn, and spread the love. Come speak to us for examples of events if you are stuck.

Ask Your Members What They Want!

It takes a team to tango, and without knowing what all members want, well… there’s no dance floor. Take advantage of survey monkey to gather data on opinions and to help make decisions between ideas. Give everyone a voice in your organization and extend this campus wide – find out what your community needs. How can you give back to the communities you care for?

Maintain Documents for Future Officers.

This is incredibly important for smooth transitions when executive members change. This is also a common courtesy to help your successors pick up where you left off. A great way to maintain a thorough history of your activities, plans, goals, and finances is to take meeting minutes and set up appropriate documents for each member of your executive board to maintain.

Meet With Your Executive Board Frequently!

This will help create a vision for you and your members and will allow you to remain organized and able to facilitate group meetings efficiently.

For Additional Tips

Other helpful resources:

Is there additional how-to information you would like to see? Is there a question you have that this document doesn’t answer? We want to hear from you! Please contact Luddy Student Government!

Starting the Process of Reviving a Student Group

If you are interested in reviving a student group that is currently defunct, reach out to the Luddy Student Engagement Office