New RSO renewal process takes effect

     The phones in the campus life office rang constantly last Thursday as the Registered Student Organization (RSO) five o’clock deadline approached.
     The entire RSO renewal process has undergone huge changes. The changes are only for current RSOs that are attempting to renew their status, not organizations that want to become an RSO.
     Jason Long, Captain of the Ski Team, explains the importance of becoming an RSO.
     “Without RSO status, the group doesn’t really stand a chance,” Long said. “RSO status allows for more members, funding and privileges.”
     Tom Miles, director of Campus Life, is excited about the new process.
     “Everything is integrated in the new system,” said Miles. “It is one stop shopping.”
     For RSOs renewing their status, instead of filing out stacks of paper, everything is now online at the campus life website.
     “As the technology advances, we have to keep up with the trend,” Miles said.
     To prepare students for using the new software, club manager, Miles helped direct several training sessions.
     “It took some time getting used to the new process,” said Miles. “I believe it is much easier to use.”
     Jason White, chair of the College Republicans, finds the new RSO registration method a little tedious.
     “I don’t like the online registration,” said White. “It leaves a lot of doubt.”
     White has mixed feelings on the website as a whole.
     “It’s easier to register for fund raisers and keep track of your members,” White said. “However, it’s very impersonal and confusing.”
     Although he has experienced a few problems, White is still hopeful that the new system will prove to be an asset in the end.
     Both campus life and the RSOs themselves have been experiencing problems with advisors not being tuned into what is going on with each organization. In the new process, Miles wants to avoid that confusion.
     “Now when an organization posts an event, it goes to the advisor first and, once reviewed, the event is sent to campus life for final approval,” said Miles. “We are hoping this new system will keep both the advisors and RSOs in sync with each other.”
     Jason Long finds this feature one of the strongest with the new system.
     “We (Ski Team) have had trouble in the past keeping our advisor informed about all the events and meetings,” Long said. “Good communication is key and the new system will help with that.”
     Student response to both the training sessions and the new website have been extremely positive according to Miles.
     “I have trained over 80 organizations and about 60 advisors in the past few days,” said Miles. “I’m very excited to take this website to the next level.”
     None of the qualifications for becoming an RSO have changed, only the registration process. Once a group receives RSO status from the Student Government Association, the organization has that status for life.
     Miles stresses that the new process makes it easier for all students to find out what is going on at GCSU.
     “When a student goes to the website, the first thing that they will see is a calendar with all the events going on at GCSU on any day,” Miles said. “The site is one stop shopping.”
     The new campus life website is located at: http://info.gcsu.edu/intranet/campuslife.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 12 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry