Manning CICS Student Organization Handbook

At CICS, we pride ourselves on fostering a vibrant and dynamic community where students can thrive both academically and socially. Our student organizations play a crucial role in this mission, providing opportunities for leadership, collaboration, and personal growth.

This handbook is your comprehensive guide to navigating the diverse array of student organizations within our college. Whether you're looking to start a new club or learn about the resources available to support your organization's activities, you'll find everything you need below.

We encourage you to take full advantage of the opportunities available through our student organizations. Get involved, make connections, and contribute to the vibrant community that makes the Manning College of Computer Sciences a special place to learn and grow.

UMass Amherst Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) student organizations are academic clubs that may or may not have gone through the UMass RSO process but are recognized by CICS as a student-run group. These student-led organizations, with funding accounts run by the college, are housed within CICS at UMass Amherst and listed on our Student Organizations page.

  • Before filling out the form for a new organization, please check the CICS Student Organizations page to see if you can join another group with similar interests and goals. If another group exists, we may ask you to discuss your interests with that group or join efforts with them instead of forming a new organization.
  • To become a CICS student organization, you will need the following:
    • A common goal for your organization. 
    • A group of four or more interested students.
    • A leadership group of three or more CICS students with defined roles.
    • Willingness to abide by the CICS student organization policies and guidelines.
  • Once organizations have the above information ready, complete the CICS Student Organization Registration/Renewal Form. 

There are no right or wrong ways to organize your leadership roles, but CICS recommends having at least three members in a leadership team to help lighten the load of organizing for student-led groups. It is also best practice to make sure you have leaders at different levels of their college experience; if a group is led entirely by graduating students, important information may be lost between leadership transitions. Below are some examples of roles within a student organization and some ways to delegate responsibilities.

President

  • Oversees the student organization’s mission, activities, and budgeting process
  • Regularly communicates with the group’s advisor regarding group needs and activities
  • Regularly communicates with members through planned meetings to keep them informed of the group’s activities, plans, and needs

Vice President

  • Acts as the President of the organization when necessary
  • Assists in directing the organization’s mission, activities, and budgeting process

Secretary

  • Takes notes at group meetings; distributes notes to membership as needed
  • Records attendance at meetings and events
  • Assists in the oversight of the organization’s mission and activities
  • Maintains policy documents for the group

Treasurer

  • Maintains records and receipts for the organization’s spending
  • Keeps group leadership informed of balances and budget issues
  • Leads budgeting processes for the organization and its events
  • Submits requests for funding
  • Coordinates with Ed Welch and Brian Krusell when opportunities arise for funding from external sources.

Other recommended roles:

  • Event Coordinator
  • Recruitment Officer/Outreach Coordinator

CICS student organizations have a CICS faculty advisor or a CICS staff liaison. These are assigned by CICS upon acceptance as a student organization. Some faculty advisors/staff liaisons are more involved than others, which largely depends on the needs of the organization. Groups should discuss their needs with their advisors through an email, virtual meeting, or in-person meeting.

How can your faculty advisor help?

Advisors and staff liaisons may have different levels of involvement based on the needs of the student organization. Below are some of the things a faculty advisor can do for you:

  • Helping you expand upon your goals and ideas. 
  • Advocating for the group within the university, department, or community
  • Assisting in connecting the group with campus resources

In addition to this handbook, the staff liaison is a source of advice about administrative processes and policies. They will work to remind you of deadlines and recruitment opportunities within CICS. While faculty advisors provide substantive advice to organizations based on your goals and interests, staff liaisons can help you understand requirements for student organizations within CICS and contact you for pending administrative needs (budgeting, renewal, etc.)

Other support staff and organization email

While it is your responsibility to organize all events, including space requests, food orders, building access, and advertising, certain CICS offices will help you with these processes (this includes event staff, communications, financial officers, and others as needed to process your submitted requests). Please follow the procedures outlined within this handbook to access these services. In some cases, students can meet with the Director of Advising to help navigate significant organizational challenges.

CICS student organizations may have a need for a UMass email address. These are created by CSCF (Computer Science IT/Facilities) and can be requested by emailing CICS Student Organizations at cicsstudentorgs@umass.edu. It is against university policy for these accounts to be shared; they are created and designated to one person in your student organization and must be reassigned to a new person when the account holder leaves their position. In addition, a Google group can be formed so that members and those interested can easily be emailed with the organization’s updates.

Meeting with student organization advisors

CICS recommends that an organization’s leadership team and faculty advisor meet as needed to discuss the trajectory of the organization or for help with specific challenges. The regularity that students and advisors should meet will vary depending on the needs and schedules of all involved parties. Staff liaisons may also be invited/attend these meetings as their time and schedule permits.

Once you have your leadership members in place and have been assigned a faculty advisor and staff liaison, you may request funding from CICS for your organization’s events, supplies, travel, etc. You must reapply for funding each academic year using the CICS Student Organization Registration/Renewal Form. The college has limited funds to provide to student organizations each academic year, so please submit your reasonable requests early. Priority funding will be set for requests submitted by 5:00 p.m. ET on April 1 each year.   

  • If your group will be funded by organizations or departments other than CICS, we can help assist you in transferring the funds from other UMass offices and soliciting gifts from external companies and alumni.  Please indicate this desire for external funding on your annual student organization registration form.
  • CICS discourages student organizations from soliciting funds from companies and alumni without first speaking with their faculty advisor and the CICS Careers office.  
Budgeting for events

Use a spreadsheet or a budget template to plan your events and make sure you are spending your money wisely. Some things to consider when budgeting include:

  • Promotion: Many student organizations advertise their meetings and events through social media, but widening your advertising strategies can lead to improved event success. Consider the costs of adding flyers, posters, and other printed materials to get the word out about your offering.
  • Food and beverages: Adding food to any event can help you attract a larger audience and keep your attendees happy. 
  • Decorations: Some events require no additional decorations, while others utilize decoration to add to the room's ambiance. 
  • Speaker Booking Fees: Though some speakers may participate in your event for free, others may require a stipend for travel or have a set fee to bring them to campus.
  • Facility rental: Check with your advisor to see what charges apply for using campus facilities. Many rooms are free or cheap for student organizations to utilize.
  • Production: Some events require extra services or fees to set up. When utilizing a tent, for example, you have not only the cost of the tent itself but also the permits required to set it up. Consider these kinds of costs as you plan your event.
Working with CICS speakers and inviting guest speakers

CICS Careers works with many alumni and industry partners, and it can be helpful to you and that office if information is shared about visitors to campus/organizational affiliates. When inviting a speaker, please contact CICS Careers about pre-existing relationships and possible assistance.

Booking campus spaces

Student organizations can utilize several event spaces on campus, including conference rooms in the Computer Science Building and the Lederle Graduate Research Center (LGRC). 

Events that occur after 5 pm cannot be held in CICS spaces

At this time, we are unable to supervise evening events and, therefore, cannot approve after-hours room use (unless faculty/staff have volunteered to be present). We hope to offer the USpace and Grad Student spaces for these events in the future.

CICS Conference Rooms

CICS has several conference rooms to choose from for meetings and events. 

Booking the rooms

  • To book a CICS conference room, fill out the form here.
    • You should try to book the room as far in advance as possible to increase the chances of availability; CICS conference rooms are booked quickly during prime hours of the day.
  • All groups should review the conference room policies before requesting a room.
  • For any questions about booking CICS rooms, email room-reservations@cs.umass.edu. 

UMass event spaces

UMass event spaces are primarily run by the Event Sales Office, with the exception of the Mullins Center and Old Chapel.

Other university spaces

  • To view other available spaces on campus, please visit the 25Live Calendar maintained by the university.
  • Once you have a date, time, and location preference, fill out a room reservation request to secure your space with the university.
    • Please note that your location preference may not be available even if it looks available on the calendar. 
    • Requests for university space are approved by the registrar’s office and often take several weeks. Please plan accordingly.
Advertising events

CICS Events Calendar

  • Add your event to the public calendar for CICS to inform potential attendees.
  • Submit your event using the calendar submission form. 
  • Please allow up to two business days for entries to be approved and put onto the calendar.
  • Once your event has been published, it will appear in the This Week in CICS Instagram story, in the Upcoming Events section of weekly CICS Highlights e-newsletter, and on digital displays throughout CICS buildings. 

CICS Highlights newsletter

  • CICS Highlights is an internal e-newsletter for the CICS community, published weekly on Fridays during the academic year. 
  • Deadlines for submitting news and announcements are the Wednesdays before publication dates.
  • Submit news or announcements about your student organizations using the News Submission Form.

Social media

  • Tag CICS (@manningcics) on Instagram and we'll share your news or event on our Instagram stories. 

Digital signage in the CS and LGRC buildings

  • Student organizations can utilize the vertical digital displays that are in CICS building lobbies to promote their events. To download the sign template and submit your sign, please complete the digital signage submission form. 
Ordering food and other items for events

When an organization has an event and needs to order things like food, plan ahead if requesting assistance. We recommend coordinating this two weeks ahead of an event when possible.

Food for events

  • You may request assistance from Jeff Keedy at jkeedy@cs.umass.edu to coordinate payment.
  • When placing a food order, you will need to include the following:
    • The name, phone number, and email address of the person responsible for signing the receipt.
      • Please note that we will need a copy of your receipt after it is signed.
      • Return any receipts to the administrative assistant in the CS Main Office with a note to put the receipt in the mailbox of whoever ordered the food.
    • The date, time, and location for the delivery.
    • An estimate of your group size.
    • The specifics of your order
      • For example, if you want pizza, tell us what kind of pizza you want, the sizes of the pizzas, the toppings, etc.
      • If you don’t care about the specifics of the order, we can approximate the order based on the information you provide.
  • Please note that food orders should be requested with a minimum of two business days' advance notice. We cannot always place food orders requested with less than 48 hours of lead time.

Plates, napkins, cups, and utensils

  • When ordering from a vendor who provides plates, napkins, cups, and utensils, those supplies will be requested from them.
  • When ordering from a vendor who does not provide these items, student organizations can arrange a pick-up for supplies for events by sending an email to events@cs.umass.edu. 
    • Requestors are responsible for picking up their supplies at the Events Office (CS Room 101) during normal business hours (8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday).
    • Requesters should return all unused supplies to the Events Office after their event.

After reading the above, if you still have questions about organizing events or operating within CICS, please email cicsstudentorgs@umass.edu for assistance.