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Student Org Resources Frequently Asked Questions

The Office of Student Leadership, Involvement, and Civic Engagement (SLICE) is the primary resource for our campus student organizations.  The staff is here to answer all of your organization questions, and have compiled some that we get often on this page as a resource. If you do not find an answer to your specific question here, please email the Office of Student Leadership, Involvement, and Civic Engagement (SLICE) or call 412-268-8704.

Explore the FAQs

Organization Management

Designate a Space Access Administrator on your organization's TartanConnect page via Admin Tags and have them fill out the space access request form. Once the form is submitted, access will be granted within 48 business hours. Visit Organization Space Access & Management for more details.
We recommend that you first make sure your organization's webpage on TartanConnect is fully updated with your current leadership’s contact information for students who search TartanConnect and want to contact your organization. Each organization is also invited to participate in THE FAIR, the second Wednesday of each semester.
Organizations may request an organization email address and shared google drive from Computing Services.
Stop by the SLICE front desk or email SLICE for your organization’s copy code, or to get one created if your organization is in need of a code. Please let us know if the printer ever runs out of paper and/or ink.
The SLICE Office manages two mini-vans which can be used by student organizations and departments to fulfill their mission for only the cost of gasoline. Learn more about how to reserve a SLICE van.
You can find guidelines for how to use the Carnegie Mellon trademark on the University's branding website. Any merchandise that contains the official Carnegie Mellon logo (wordmark, plaid, Scotty dog, etc.) needs to be approved by Jay Marano from the Trademark Licensing Office via email.
Congratulations! First, make sure your contact information and leadership position are updated on TartanConnect, so you get all SLICE communications. Then, make sure you’re registered for the appropriate REACH: Resources, Education, and Campus How-Tos trainings. If you still have questions, set up a meeting with SLICE.
Student government and the Director of Organizations (DoO) recognizes all new student organizations via approval from the Committee on Student Organizations (CoSO).  Check their website to understand requirements including number of officers, constitutions, etc.
Complete a Meet with SLICE request to schedule an appointment.

Event Management and Promotions

As per the Policy on the Protection of Children, programs and events involving minors must submit a registration form at least 45 days in advance with Child Protections Operations and all individuals interacting with minors must complete Act 153 background certifications every 60 months.

Reserve a large outdoor space on CMU's campus, such as The Triangles near the Cut and The Fence, East West Walkway, Legacy Plaza, Merson Courtyard, The Mall, CFA Lawn or the Tepper Patio and Green Space by completing the Outdoor Event Request Form.

If your supplier sends you a contract to sign, please do not sign it. Set up a meeting with SLICE to review the agreement and consider what you agree with and what you would like to negotiate. SLICE will walk you through the steps while working with the University Contracts Office and obtaining financial paperwork for the supplier, which typically takes around 6 weeks to complete. Read more about the SLICE speaker/performer process.

Student Government maintains several bulletin boards around campus managed by the Graffiti and Poster Policy Administrator, where student organizations can display posters. Locations can be found listed in the Graffiti and Poster Policy.  Please note:

  • Posters are not permitted to be on doors, walls, and/or windows.
  • Chalking is only permitted on sidewalks and not permitted in areas that are not directly exposed to rainfall, including covered sidewalks and vertical portions of outdoor stairs.
  • No spray chalk should be used. 
If your organization is providing food, you must follow the Cohon Center’s Food Safety Policy, completing the steps at least two days in advance. Steps include a food safety quiz and a food event registration form.

Step 1: All banners and posters must be approved by the SLICE Office before hanging. Banners across Doherty Archway must be a width  of 14'-6" with a height no more than 30". It is recommended that wind slits are added to the banner to prevent tearing at the corners.

Step 2: Student organizations must submit a work order to FMS for banner installation. There will be a fee through FMS - work orders will need an organization's oracle string from the organization's authorized signer.

Step 3: After submitting installation work order, submit the take-down order. Banners must be taken down either 48 hours after an event has passed OR 30 days from initial installation.
Note: Student organizations may leave banners at the 1st Floor SLICE Office for banner pick-up from FMS. Please note this on your work order.

The Fence does not have a formal reservation process. Policies and procedures related to the Fence are managed by Student Government and the Poster and Graffiti Policy.
If you reserved space in an academic building and it is more than two weeks into the semester, email esrooms@andrew.cmu.edu. For reservations in the Cohon University Center, email ucres@andrew.cmu.edu. For Simmons in Tepper email simmons-res@andrew.cmu.edu. 

Event Planning Training

You can enroll in SLICE's event management course to get the most up to date guidance through your event planning process. 
Link coming soon. 

Financial Management

Venmo cannot be connected to a CMU bank account and thus has to route through a personal bank account. This violates the Student Government Fiscal Policy and introduces a lot of risk to the person who collects the money and to the student organization if that person does not make the deposit. An alternative to using Venmo is CashNet or CarnegieMellonTickets

A Donation is a contribution where the donor does not receive anything in return. Donations can be processed online.

Sponsorship is a contribution that meets one or more of the following criteria:

  • $5,000 or greater sponsorship amount;
  • Has a sponsorship agreement;
  • Has substantial benefit(s) to the sponsor;
  • Advertisement is offered to the sponsor.

In order to receive a sponsorship, please connect with SLICE’s Finance Team to go over the potential tax implications, determine if your sponsorship can go into your Gift account, and help you with any paperwork needed to receive the funds.
If you are listed as an officer on the roster of your organization’s TartanConnect webpage, you will be able to navigate to the Money/Accounting Book section of your page once you are in “Manage” mode. From here you can navigate to the FY24 operating and capital requests for your organization, as well as the list of accounts that hold individual transactions. Historical budgets can be found here.
In order to reallocate funds in your current budget, you will need to request a line item change by completing the JFC Budget Reallocation form which is approved by the Student Government Director of Finance.

Student organizations can set meetings with SLICE to use our office pcards for goods/services, hazardous materials, or travel. You can also visit SLICE on Thursday afternoons 1-4pm for open pcard purchasing hours. Use the Amazon form for us to make an Amazon.com purchase for you without needing to come to the office.

Each year about 35 organizations are approved by student government to hold their own pcard or travel card, based on their historical volume of spending and fiscal responsibility.

TartanConnect is updated nightly with transactions that have officially been debited or credited to your accounts. The system only notes a transaction that has fully traveled the financial system and a payment has been issued. Please wait to email about a missing transaction until 4 weeks after you submitted paperwork to SLICE. At that time, you can email the SLICE Finance Team and we can check on the status of your transaction. If you see a transaction that you think might be incorrect, please email us. We will work with you to get more information and to remove the charge if it does not belong to your organization.

SLICE estimates that expense reimbursements are processed 4-6 weeks after they are approved by your authorized signer. This is due to the approval process within SLICE, as well as the processing and approval time needed in Accounts Payable.

If a student has a position in Workday, they are still required to submit a direct deposit form because Oracle is a separate system where expense reimbursements are processed. Students who wish to receive reimbursement via direct deposit should complete the direct deposit form and email it to the SLICE Finance Team.

Please email the SLICE Finance Team to see if a supplier is currently in Oracle. Please include the full vendor name. It takes 2-4 weeks to establish a new supplier in Oracle, because the information, including tax and banking information, needs to be verified.

University Contracts is required to review and approve all contracts for services being performed on Carnegie Mellon University property.  A contract is required for services to ensure that both parties are aware and agree to the terms and conditions of the service provider and ensure that the University and our students are protected.

Student organizations should NOT email the Contracts Office directly, and should email SLICEFinance@andrew.cmu.edu to start the process. 

There is an application process every year for student organizations who are interested in participating in crowdfunding via TartanFunder. Please visit the Annual Giving webpage for more information and how to apply. You are also able to crowdfund for your organization during Giving CMU Day in November.
Cash prizes and gift cards of any amount are considered taxable income. Non-cash prizes and gifts valued at more than $75 are also taxable. Tax forms are required for tax reporting purposes.