All new RSOs are required to have at minimum (10) current Georgia Tech student members. The officers of your organization (President, VP, Treasurer, etc.) are included in the total number required; for example, if you have four officer members, you'll need 6 additional student members. The policy describes student membership in the following ways:  

• Students that pay the student activities fee and are eligible for participation in extracurricular activities as defined by the Georgia Tech student handbook. 
• Co-Op students in the Atlanta metro area may be considered full-time Georgia Tech students for the purpose of membership 
• Students from institutions affiliated with the Georgia Institute of Technology who also pay the GT student activities fee are considered Georgia Tech students for the purpose of this policy.  

The Georgia Tech Catalog requires the following for a student to be eligible to participate in Extracurricular activities (including student organization membership or officer positions)  

Be enrolled in a degree program and be registered 

• for Fall and Spring semesters, maintain a schedule with at least six credit hours on a for-credit basis or be a student registered with the Center for Career Discovery and Development on a work term 
• all student organization officers must be enrolled in Georgia Tech classes with at least six credit hours on a for-credit basis or be a student registered with the Center for Career Discovery and Development on a work term in Atlanta 

RSOs are required to maintain a Faculty/Staff advisor to their organization. While organizations may have multiple advisors, all RSOs must have at least one advisor who is FULL-TIME and EXEMPT (is not eligible for overtime pay) employee of Georgia Tech. If you or a potential advisor are unsure whether they meet these eligibility requirements, Student Engagement can verify their eligibility. Send us an email at engage@gatech.edu with the Advisor's first and last names.  

For GT employees who are new to advising, there may be some additional questions regarding the role of an advisor, expectations, and more. When you make your pitch to a potential advisor, you can send them the Advisor Guide on our website which answers some common questions they may have. 

New RSO Advisors must meet the following requirements:  

1. Be full-time employees of Georgia Tech or the Georgia Tech Alumni Association 
2. Be exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (Cannot receive overtime pay) 
3. Receive annual supervisory approval to serve as Advisor to one or more RSOs

In general, we typically suggest leaders look in the following places for advisors:

1. Your professors or academic advisor: Tell your professors/advisors about the RSO you are looking to start and see if they recommend any colleagues that may be interested.
2. Other RSOs: Reach out to your friends/contacts in similar RSOs and see who their advisor is. Then, reach out to their advisor directly to see if they’re interested or can recommend someone else who may be interested.
3. GT Staff Members with similar interests: Have you met any staff members that share an interest in the RSO you hope to create? Reach out and see if they would be interested in advising you.

The constitution for your organization is the blueprint of how the group is structured and managed, how it must be run, what the roles and privileges of members and officers are, and more.  

When building a constitution, you'll want to think about how the constitution is not only guiding your organization now but also how it will guide the organization in the 5, 10, 20 years to come. With this in mind, we want your constitution to be clear about what must happen (e.g., we must host officer elections each Spring), what must not happen (we cannot have a vacancy in the President's role), and guidelines for how to achieve each item that must or must not happen.  

To support new student organizations in developing a constitution, the CSE team offers a model constitution* that meets all requirements.

Each semester, CSE hosts at least 3 in-person chartering training sessions. All new student organizations are required to attend a New Organization Charter Training in the semester they intend to charter. Learn more and RSVP for a Spring 2024 Mandatory Charter Training here.