Student Organization Resources

Financial Resources for IST Student Organizations

All recognized Penn State student organizations are recognized through the Office of Student Activities. The College of IST further affiliates with recognized student organizations whose mission, programs, and primary membership are intended specifically for the co-curricular experience of IST students.

Recognized student organizations can be funded in part through Associated Student Activities (ASA), University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC), and the Office of the Dean in the College of IST.

Associated Student Activities (ASA) is the financial office for recognized student organizations at University Park. ASA offers many services; however, its primary functions are that of a banker, accountant, paymaster, and adviser on fiscal matters. Contact: ASAoffice@psu.edu, 240 HUB-Robeson Center

The University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC) objectively and effectively allocates a portion of the Student Initiated Fee income toward events, travel experiences, equipment, and other items requested by University Park-affiliated organizations or individuals that will ultimately enhance student life, add value to the out-of-class experience, and/or improve the educational climate at the University Park campus. Contact: UPAC@psu.edu, 208 HUB-Robeson Center

The Office of the Dean in the College of IST supports student engagement by offering financial support to programs managed by IST student organizations that are open to all students. Management of these funds is maintained by IST’s Office of Student Engagement.

IST student organizations may request funds from the Office of the Dean up to 14 class days before a program’s scheduled date. The program seeking funding must be open to all students, regardless of their membership or affiliation to the student organization hosting the program.

Once the funding request is submitted, IST’s Office of Student Engagement will follow up to meet with the requesting student to get additional information about the funding request.

To request funding from the Office of the Dean, complete the online request form. Contact: ISTengage@psu.edu

Corporate sponsorships allow businesses to provide financial support to a student organization’s program, event, or other initiatives.

Corporate sponsorship opportunities are typically solicited with a corporate sponsorship packet. Corporate sponsorship packets include information about the student organization, sponsorship levels, incentives of each sponsorship level, and specific programs, events, or other initiatives that corporate sponsors can support through their donation.

Unless a personal connection has already been made between a student and an individual contact—such as through an internship, professional position, or other partnership—students should not solicit corporate sponsorships without first communicating with the Office of Student Engagement and the Office of Career Solutions and Corporate Engagement. This ensures that relationships between IST and the business are managed appropriately and that businesses are not receiving multiple requests from student organizations.

If your student organization is interested in securing corporate sponsorships, contact IST’s Office of Student Engagement. You will be provided with resources and instruction on how to create an effective corporate sponsorship packet, share examples of successful requests, and distribute your student organization’s information and sponsorship opportunities to business who may be interested in sponsorship.

Corporate sponsorship packets must be submitted before the designated deadline to be included in the corporate partner newsletter and successive semesterly newsletters (January, June, October). All corporate sponsorship packets will be made available online for timely introductions between student organizations and interested sponsors.

Funding from corporate sponsorships must follow Penn State’s student organization financial guidelines, which includes being held in the student organization’s Associated Student Activities (ASA) account. More information about depositing, withdrawing, and spending from an ASA account is available on the ASA website.

Marketing Resources

Recognized student organizations can make use of University resources to reserve campus space and spread the word about their events and initiatives.

Penn State uses 25Live to manage space reservations. Reservations requests can be made through 25Live by selecting your sponsoring organization when making the request. You must be an active member of the organization in order to request space in the organization’s name.

IST’s Office of Events may support large-scale student organization events. Contact the Office of Student Engagement with event plans to coordinate with the Office of Events.

The Office of Marketing and Communications manages digital displays throughout the Westgate Building. Student organizations can submit materials for display that promote their upcoming events that are open to all students.

Digital sign graphics should include:

  • name of event, date, time, and location
  • readable URLs (if URLs are long, convert with a link shortening service)
  • concise information (signs display for 10 seconds on rotation)
  • high resolution and scalable images
  • student organization logo (if applicable)

Signs for digital display can be submitted to IST’s Office of Marketing and Communications at webmarcom@ist.psu.edu. Be sure to include the dates when the sign should be posted and removed from the displays. Acceptable file formats include .psd and .ppt, and should be sized to either 1280 x 675 px or 13.33 x 7.5 in (widescreen 16:9).

If you have questions about digital display process, contact the Office of Student Engagement.

University Recognition

All student organizations must complete an established set of requirements to be recognized by the University. The College of IST has additional requirements to be recognized as an IST student organization.Requirements to maintain University recognition can be found on the Student Affairs website.

Recognized student organizations have many benefits, which include:

  • reserving campus space for meetings and events
  • free webspace and online organization management tools
  • access to potential funding from UPAC and the College of IST
  • access to Associated Student Activities balance and account
  • digital promotion of initiatives in the Westgate Building

To receive recognition as an IST student organization, the following criteria must be met:

  • complete all requirements from Penn State Student Activities
  • submit all/updated officers to IST’s Office of Student Engagement
  • submit regular meeting times for general membership, officers, and faculty adviser check-in to IST’s Office of Student Engagement
  • participate in the Student Organization Retreat and IST Student Involvement Fair
  • designate an officer who meets regularly with IST’s assistant director of student engagement
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Office of Student Engagement

E103 Westgate Building
University Park, PA 16802

Make an Appointment

ISTengage@psu.edu
(814) 865-8947