What is SOC?

Students Organization Council is the governing body of all clubs and organizations, and can guide you in finding the the extra-curricular activities that might be of interest to you.

Who is the SOC, What do We do and What are Our Goals?

The SOC (Student Organization Council) is a student-run group that is responsible for funding a section of student groups and enhancing leadership on campus. SOC office and SALP advisors process student group registration forms and expenditures. The current student staff consists of two Co-Coordinators, Laura Pieroni and Casey Payseno, and one Office Manager, Katie Colgan.

SOC Roles and Goals

The SOC office works on enhancing leadership on campus by holding trainings and workshops throughout the year, as well as being an active voice for student groups. We also keep records of group expenditures and other paper work, so that there is active documentation of student group history and activities. The SOC's general responsibilities include, but are not limited to, advocating on behalf of, disbursing funding to, and keeping the historical records of student groups and/or organizations at PSU.

The goal of the Student Organization Council is to foster greater student participation and involvement at Portland State University and in the greater Portland community. The SOC fulfills this goal by assisting in the formation, maintenance and growth of student groups and/or organizations that are not funded by the Student Fee Committee (SFC).

The Soc Budget Committee

In addition to these wonderful three individuals, SOC also has a Budget Committee which consists of one representative from each cluster: Academic, Fine and Performing Arts, Greek, Multi Cultural, Political, Recreation, Service and Advocacy, and Spiritual. The committee members are elected students that represent each of the SOC clusters. The purpose of this committee is to give student groups a chance to voice their opinions and have some power in setting budget caps and allocating funds to student groups.

SOC basics

The SOC (Student Organization Council) is a student-run group that is responsible for funding a section of student groups and enhancing leadership on campus. This office processes registration and expenditures, along with the advisors, from student groups. There is a committee of students that come out of SOC that do the allocations each term for groups requesting funds. The committee members are elected students that represent each cluster. The SOC office also works on enhancing leadership on campus by holding trainings and workshops throughout the year, as well as being an active voice for student groups. SOC also keeps record of the activities that groups are a part of, so that there is active documentation of student group history and activities.

Advising and Resources

When you register as a student group you are automatically assigned to an advisor through SALP. Your advisor is determined by the type of group you register as (for example, there is one advisor for all of the multicultural groups on campus). Your advisor can be very helpful, especially when first starting out. They are able to answer most questions that you have about processes and resources on campus. Please check with the SALP office or Campus Recreation office to find out who your advisor is. Many groups also have faculty advisors, though it is not required. They are also able to help student groups, especially with community connecting, but are not able to help with some issues, like funding, which is why it is important to know who your advisor is.

There are many resources available to student groups. Once you are registered you have access to scheduling rooms on campus, free use of equipment (like hand trucks, art supplies, TV/VCR, digital camera, and more), access to student fees for funding, free locker space, use and copy and fax machine and more. You are also able to work with other student groups who can provide many useful resources, like funding for guest speakers, free advertising or setting up and running sound systems for your events. The best way to find out about all of the resources available to you is to attend a Nuts and Bolts session/SOC orientation or talk to your advisor.

Email Addresses

You are required to obtain and maintain a PSU e-mail account. On the SOC registration form, there is a section near the end that asks you to request an e-mail address. It says groupname@pdx.edu You will change the “groupname” part to something that reflects your group, most commonly the name of your group. You will be provided with an email account similar to the one you are given when you receive an ODIN account. This process can take a few weeks. When your new account is ready, you will be informed by your advisor.

Your group may also create a listserv. On the application form you must check that you want a listserv and change the groupname@lists.pdx.edu in the same way you did for the e-mail account.

Voicemail

All student groups that receive funding are able to establish a voicemail box through the University, even if they do not have an office. This is a number that will go directly to a voicemail box and can be accessed from any other phone. See your advisor if you would like to set one up. It costs $20 to set up and then $8 a month after that.

Mail and Mail Boxes

When you register as a student group a mail box is automatically set up for you. Most mail boxes are located outside of the SALP office except recreation groups, which have mail boxes in the Campus Rec. office. See your advisor if you are registered but do not have a mail box, this process can sometimes take a couple of weeks. This is a great way to receive notices about leadership opportunities and workshops, campus event, and deadlines. You will also receive any mail or notices of packages that you receive here.

Making Copies

When your group has been funded they have access to the copy machine in the SALP office. To use it you must fill out a copy request form, which are available in the SALP office. When your form has been approved you will be notified by SALP accounting of your ID number and password. The cost of the copies you make will be automatically taken out of your allocated SOC budget.

Room Reservations

Once you are a registered group, you can reserve rooms at PSU with no charge. The form to do this is called the “Campus Event Scheduling” form and is available outside the SOC office, as well as the SALP office. There is also a new process online to register for rooms, which is also efficient, that can be found at www.aux.pdx.edu. If you have any questions filling this out you can ask anyone that works in either of those offices. There are also in depth instructions given during the SALP orientation. For a complete list of rooms available to request and their capacities please check the Auxiliary Services website.

When you have finished filling out the scheduling form turn it into the SALP office. It will be given to your SALP of Campus Rec. advisor, who will sign it, or contact you if there are problems. If they sign it they will give it to the scheduling office, who will process the request and email you with a confirmation. This process will take a few days so please allow time for this when planning your event.

For more information on planning event please contact your advisor.

Leadership Credit

If you are working with your group for 4 or more hours a week you can qualify to earn up to 3 leadership credits each term. The applications for leadership credit are available for the first two weeks of each term in the SALP office. Every four hours worked per week a student can earn one credit. There are also required pre- and post-reflections as well as meeting with your advisor. A student may earn up to 12 leadership credits during their time at PS