The Student Activities Office (SAO) at Denison University is committed to assisting students in developing their leadership and life skills. SAO strives to fulfill this goal by creating an environment in which students can exercise their individual and organizational skills in the area of activity planning and presentation.  Specifically SAO, coordinated through the Assistant Director of Student Activities for Programming, acts as an informational and at times financial resource to all registered student organizations at Denison University. In order to provide the best possible service to the Denison community, the Student Activities Office has developed the following policies and guidelines for organizations requesting program co-sponsorship with SAO. The Student Activities Office reserves the right to decline any co-sponsorship application. More information about co-sponsorship is available below, but you may also download an application [pdf] here.

Types of Co-Sponsorship

The Student Activities Office offers assistance within two classifications of co-sponsorship, Logistical and Financial.

Logistical Co-Sponsorship - Consists of programming operation assistance including facility, technical and hospitality reservations, contract negotiations, program resources, volunteer training and administrative assistance. This type of co-sponsorship involves no fiscal support of any kind, and is available to any organization, department, or individual member of the
Denison University community.

Financial Co-Sponsorship - Consists of fiscal support.  May also be coupled with logistical support. Financial co-sponsorship is limited to registered campus organizations or departments within the Denison University community. All events receiving financial co-sponsorship MUST (1) have an open admission policy (open to all currently enrolled students), (2) follow all Student Activities Office programming policies, (3) adhere to the Student Activities Office Theme Sensitivity Statement*. The Student Activities Office will not provide more that 1/3 of the financial support for any event.

_{*Theme Sensitivity Statement: The Student Activities Office (SAO) at Denison University, in an affirmation of its commitment to the principles of multicultural enhancement, is supportive of the concepts of non-discrimination, affirmative action and equal opportunity as they relate to race, creed, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age and physical ability. In holding with these tenets, the SAO stresses the importance of eliminating discriminatory and/or culturally insensitive language, behavior and content from Denison University-sponsored events. The statement is not to suggest the SAO supports censorship, but rather urges thought and advance planning so that Denison University and SAO-sponsored events reflect diversity and sensitivity inherent in the University Mission Statement and goals.}

Funding Guidelines and Criteria

• All of the following criteria must be met in order to be considered for SAO co-sponsorship.
• The event is open to all currently enrolled Denison University students.
• The planned event does not specifically advocate a specific political and/or religious point of view (i.e. supporting a particular presidential candidate for speaking engagement).
• The event does not infringe on the Student Activities Office's Theme Sensitivity Statement, Denison University Document on Harassment, the Student Conduct Code, the Denison University's BYOB Alcohol policy, or any other University document.
• The sponsoring organization does not request more than 1/3 of the total operating costs from Student Activities Office for the event.
• The sponsoring organization is registered and in good standing with the University.
• All involved organizations successfully complete the application process (i.e. timely application, signed co-sponsorship application, event evaluation completed and returned to SAO).
• Events that are used as a fundraising source for organizations or philanthropy projects are not eligible for co-sponsorship with the Student Activities Office.
• The Student Activities Office must be listed as a co-sponsor on all event advertising.
• A follow-up meeting to discuss and evaluate the event must take place, between the Student Activities Assistant Director for Programming and the primary sponsoring organization representative within two weeks of the event's completion. The purpose of this meeting is to review the program itself and to discuss the co-sponsorship effort. In order to be prepared for this meeting, the organization representative must have completed the Co-Sponsorship Event Evaluation Form prior to the meeting. Failure to fulfill this requirement may result in the organizations being ineligible for SAO co-sponsorship funding for one academic year.
  

Application Process & Timeline

Due to the nature of successful event planning, a timely application for co-sponsorship must be made. For Financial Co-Sponsorship, an application along with any sample advertising that is being developed must be submitted to the Assistant Director of Student Activities for Programming (Slayter 200 or parianon@denison.edu) at least 14 days prior to the scheduled event date. Upon submitting the co-sponsorship application, the primary organization sponsoring the event must schedule to meet with the Assistant Director to discuss the event and review the request. At this time the final program follow-up meeting may be scheduled as well.

Logistical Co-Sponsorship is on a more informal basis and can be requested at any time. Please keep in mind that a successful program takes time to plan and that coordinating with other campus departments requires specific processes. To schedule a consultation appointment, stop by Slayter 200 or email parianon@denison.edu.

Please note that completing an application for co-sponsorship does not guarantee support.  The Student Activities Office reserves the right to limit assistance to organizations based on Departmental Resources.