Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students

Student organizations must abide by the general University Regulation and policies appearing in the current edition of Rights, Rules, Responsibilities, Undergraduate Announcement and all of the policies set forth on the ODUS website, http://www.princeton.edu/odus/activities.

• In accordance with the University’s policy of equal opportunity, the organization may not, on the basis of personal beliefs or characteristics such as political views, religion, national or ethnic origin, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability unrelated to program requirements, exclude persons from participation in, deny person the benefit of, or subject persons to discrimination under any of its educational programs or activities.
•   All events must be registered and approved through the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students prior to any preparations being made.  Registration can now be made online at http://studentevents.princeton.edu. 

The primary purpose of student organizations is to provide activities for members of Princeton University, in particular, undergraduates.

• Students on voluntary, or non-voluntary,  leave may not be involved in student organizations in any way.
• Graduate students may participate in activities of the group but may not hold the office of President or Treasurer. 
   
• Occasionally a few non-University people may take part in the activities of the organization; however they cannot hold offices or act on behalf of the group in any official way. 
   
• Student organizations may have connections with national organizations, but those connections do not extend any of the privileges of a recognized student organization to the national organization. 
   
• The activities of fraternities or sororities do not qualify for student organization recognition.

Organizations must maintain the complete financial records covering all financial transactions of the organization for the academic year, in addition to the files kept at ODUS. These records may be subject to an audit by the University at any time. 

Officers of student organizations individually assume responsibility for all expenses incurred by the organization.  In regard to debts incurred other than with the University, officers are responsible for the payment of such debts and may be held personally liable by creditors of the organization for any such debts. Should the University pay any debts to creditors on behalf of the organization; such amounts will then be billed to the officers by the University.  In regard to University bills, officers must be willing to abide by the University policy governing payment of University bills.

Please note that student organizations are required to obtain written authorization from the Development office before soliciting alumni for donations to student organizations. Please contact the Dean's office in order to properly prepare your proposal for review by the Development office. Normally, the University does not authorize any such solicitations during the Spring semester. Student are strictly prohibited from using TigerNet to gather alumni addresses for solicitation lists.

When participating in official University activities or otherwise representing the University, students must conduct themselves in a respectable manner and abide by the terms of Rights, Rules, Responsiblities both on campus and off campus. Individual or group misconduct will result in disciplinary action by the University. Such behaviors include, and are not limited to:

• disrupting organized activities at the University or other campuses,
• intentionally damaging or defacing University property,
• misappropriating University resources.

Actions that threaten or endanger in any way the personal safety or security of others will be regarded as serious offenses. These actions, conducted on campus or while off campus on official student activity business, are strictly prohibited.

When conducting business with staff of the University, students are expected to represent honestly the intentions of their organization. These expectations apply to all communications, both formal and informal, among student leaders and University offices.

Students are prohibited from using University property for personal business.

At Princeton University academics should be every student’s foremost priority.  Involvement in student organization activity does not supersede academic commitments.  Students will never be “excused” from class or coursework even for approved organization events or travel. However, ODUS can verify or confirm a student’s involvement in approved student organization events or travel if such confirmation is required.  Professors or advisers who would like to verify this information should contact Dean Dunne.