Resources for Leaders

It’s students like you who help build the vibrant, active, diverse culture that is Student Life at Hope.

If you can’t find the information you’re looking for here, please stop by the Student Life office in the Bultman Student Center or give us a call at 616.395.7942. We look forward to connecting with you!

FORMS

AD HOC AND CAPITAL REQUEST FORMS

Student Organizations are funded through student fees distributed by Student Congress Appropriations. If you are looking for money for your organization to host an event, travel to a conference or purchase long-term use equipment, please fill out the corresponding form at the link below.

Examples:

Your organization needs $50 to host an event = ad hoc request
Your organization is traveling to a conference in Virgina = ad hoc travel request
Your organization needs to do significant repairs to the equipment used to compete = capital request

CASH REIMBURSEMENT FORM

Have you purchased something for your organization using your own money? Fill out the cash reimbursement form and bring it by Student Life for a signature.

Helpful hint: The fund number is your 5-digit organization number; the account number corresponds to what you purchased. Let us know if you have questions.

CATERING REQUEST

If you are hosting an event on campus and would like to provide food, we recommend using Hope Dining for Catering Services. You can view the menu on the Catering website and submit your order requests with your on-campus room reservation.

CONCERNING BEHAVIOR REPORT

Are you concerned about a member of your organization or another student who has attended your event? If so, please fill out the concerning behavior report form and a member of the Hope College CARE team will follow up with the person.

FUNDRAISING REQUEST

Before organizing a fundraiser, complete the fundraising request form for approval from Student Development. Please note, raffles are not permitted under Michigan state law.

RISK AND RESPONSIBILITY PAPERWORK

If members of your organization are traveling off campus, they will need to fill out Risk & Responsibility paperwork for the college. There are different forms for day trips, overnights and extended travel. Please stop by Student Life or Student Development to ensure you have the proper forms.

Reminder: Forms are due Wednesday for weekend travel!

ROOM AND TRANSPORTATION RESERVATIONS

If you would like to reserve an on-campus room or a Hope-owned vehicle for travel, please complete your reservation request online. The Events and Conferences Office (ECO) will follow-up via email to confirm your reservation.

Helpful hint: If you need to reserve a room less than 48 hours in advance, please call ECO at 616.395.7222. For car, van, or bus reservations, please call Transportation Services at 616.395.7075.

TITLE IX REPORTS

If you or someone in the Hope community has been a victim of or witness to an incident of discrimination, harassment or assault (based on ability, age, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, race, sex or sexual orientation), please submit the Discrimination & Harassment Reporting Form to the Title IX Coordinator/Interim ADA and 504 Coordinator.

A bias incident is intentional or unintentional conduct that discriminates, stereotypes, excludes, intimidates, mocks, degrades, threatens, harasses or harms anyone in our community because of actual or perceived age, ancestry or ethnicity, race, religion, ability, gender, gender identity, gender expression or sex.

An ADA or 504 Violation is an incident of discrimination, harassment and/or assault based on ability, age, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, race, sex or sexual orientation that has happened to you or a member of the Hope community.

Sexual misconduct includes harassment, sexual assault, interpersonal violence, stalking, discrimination.

Confidential on-campus support is available to you: The following on-campus staff have been designated as confidential resources, meaning they are not required to report actual or suspected discrimination or harassment to appropriate college officials — thereby offering options and advice without any obligation to inform an outside agency or campus official unless a reporting party has requested information to be shared.

VISITING SPEAKERS

Visiting speakers present the campus community with unique opportunities to welcome and engage guests. If you plan to invite a speaker to campus, the visiting speaker request form will help your student organziation provide information with relevant stakeholders to review proposed events and speakers.

VOLUNTEER INTEREST FORM

Interested in volunteering in the Holland or Zeeland communities? Fill out the Volunteer Interest Form and Volunteer Services will help find the right service opportunity for your group!

EXPECTATIONS

STUDENT LEADER EXPECTATIONS

The Office of Student Life provides opportunities to participate actively in the life of the college, foster community, and explore new ideas and interests through a variety of leadership experiences. We are grounded in the tenants of dignity, respect and love. As a student leader for your organization, you have the incredible opportunity to have a significant impact on your fellow organization members and the Hope College community. It is our expectation that you will represent yourself, your organization, Student Life and Hope College well. To aid you in that commitment, we’ve provided a list of expectations for all student leaders to follow.

Role Model

Be a positive role model both on and off campus; lead with integrity, and conduct yourself in an honest, conscientious, respectful and professional manner.
Refrain from activities that detract from your position or reflect negatively on your organization, Student Life or Hope College.
Maintain appropriate boundaries with others and encourage your organization’s members to do the same. Pass important and sensitive information up, not out.
When addressing conflict or inappropriate behavior, consider the appropriate time, place and manner of doing so.

Be proactive

Take time to reflect on the needs of your organization and its members. This includes taking the initiative to try new ideas, procedures and programs.
Commit to learning about others, how to be inclusive and accepting of those that share different identities or beliefs from you.
Keep your group’s advisor and Student Life informed. We are here to be resources, feedback providers and listeners and to care about your well-being.

Prepare and Follow Through

Be prepared for meetings by creating agendas, bringing discussion items and questions, and notifying others of the agenda items.
Adhere to deadlines and notify others on the executive board/in the organization of those deadlines to create a shared sense of accountability.
Ensure forms are procured and submitted in a timely manner to Student Life; forms could include: fundraising form, risk and responsibility paperwork, re-registration forms, etc.

Ask for Help

Communicate programmatic concerns, organizational or member conflict, and other issues to your advisor and Student Life early. Your group advisor and Student Life staff members are here to support you!

Delegate appropriately to your members — you don’t (and shouldn’t) have to take everything on by yourself.

Communicate

Check your organization’s Student Life mailbox and inbox on a regular basis. Respond to emails within 24–48 hours and be sure to copy your advisor on the communication.
Take care to ensure all communication (phone calls, emails, letters, verbal) is proofreadand professional in tone and content.
Notify executive board members and advisor of any time conflicts, or extended time away in advance.
Maintain ongoing communication with your group’s advisor. Invite them to attend at least two meetings each semester.

Development

You are a person first and a student second. Make sure you are taking care of yourself and your academic responsibilities.
Challenge yourself to think and lead outside of your comfort zone. Take the time to process your growth, as well.
Actively lead and participate in discussions, decision-making and goal setting.
Take advantage of opportunities to grow in your position through new leadership roles, conferences and student organization professional development.
- Attend all student leader training sessions, including student leader training in the fall and budget training in the spring.

STUDENT MEMBER REQUIREMENTS

To be a member in any student organization at Hope, a student must:

Be a degree seeking student
Be in good standing with Hope College, both academically and socially
Have a minimum of 2.0 GPA for leadership positions

Part-time students may participate in groups, as well as hold leadership positions, as long as the minimum requirements noted above are met.

STUDENT CONDUCT AND JUDICIAL AFFAIRS

Should an incident occur within an organization, or pertaining to an an event hosted by the organization, which warrants a conduct review and/or judicial action, those listed in the report and/or the president of the organization will be called upon for a judicial review through Student Development. Organization presidents will also be required to meet with a staff member from Student Life.

For a more detailed explanation of the Student Conduct Process, please see the section of the Student Handbook titled Overview of the Hope College Student Conduct Process.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

EMAIL GUIDELINES FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Email Access

Determine which group members will have access to your group’s email account. Student Life office recommendations:

At minimum: the group’s president/director, vice president, secretary and treasurer
At maximum: the group’s current executive board members

Do not share your group’s email password with anyone not approved to have access.
Change your group’s email password at the beginning of each new academic year to ensure that only approved members have access.
Check your group’s email at least once per week during the academic year.

Determine how you will respond to and organize messages

Email Messages

Which ‘recipient field’ should you use?

To: the main person or organization you want to connect with.
Cc: it stands for ‘carbon copy’ so this in addition to the ‘To’ field and will go to anyone you want to have the same information.
Bcc: it stands for ‘blind carbon copy’ so people in this field will see the same information, but anyone in the ‘To’ or ‘Cc’ will not know that the ‘Bcc’ people also received the message. *Use this sparingly and for confidential information for your advisor or college administrators.

When emailing Hope faculty or staff, or someone at an outside organization:

Put your group name and request in the subject of the email (Example: HARPA Rocket Launch)
Begin your email by addressing the person by name, just as you would address them in person. Examples:

1. 1. 1. Hi Professor Smith,
    2. Hello Ms. Smith,
    3. Good morning, John,

Close your email with a friendly greeting and your preferred name. Examples:

1. 1. 1. Thank you,
    2. Looking forward to hearing from you,
    3. Be well,

Be clear and polite in your message, no matter if it’s a request or complaint.
If you are requesting to meet with the person, offer a few days or times that work well for you, but do your best to be flexible if they are not available during any of those times.

Large Listserv Emails

Use this option when you need to email a large number of people.
Put all recipients in the ‘Bcc’ field so that email addresses are not visible. This also helps so that if someone hits ‘reply all’ the email will just go to the sender, not all recipients.
For internal Hope College emails, when you want to send your email to the entire student body, you can email studentmail@hope.edu and request that they send it out on behalf of your organization. If you want to send your email to the entire student body AND all faculty and staff, email campusmail@hope.edu and request that they send it out on behalf of your organization.

SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Adapted from Hope College Social Media Brand Guidelines

Your organization’s social media account plays an integral role in Hope College’s storytelling. Social media allows us to preserve moments, engage conversation, promote events, and share enthusiasm for the work done by students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Hope College. What you post on social media represents not only your student organization, but also your organization’s advisor and Hope College. Please represent your group well!

Public Affairs and Marketing is available to provide support and resources for managing social media accounts, and can make recommendations that meet the College’s (or your organization’s) branding and social media best practices. Additionally, if your organization has a social media manager or PR chair, they are always welcome (and encouraged) to reach out to Hope College’s Digital Strategist for a quick session on digital content management.

CONTENT
Good social media content is relevant and timely for your audience. The content you publish should vary slightly depending on the audience you are addressing. Similarly, how often you decide to publish and the content you share should be unique to your organization’s personality, yet maintain a consistent theme that aligns with your organization’s mission and Hope College student organizations.

BEST PRACTICE TIPS

Always include a photo, video or a website link to more information in your post or tweet.
Ask yourself: Are you adding value or are you adding noise? The content you share should mean something to your followers. Consider how you can add value to your followers’ timelines.
If you have an organization blog, be sure to share all blog posts on your social media channels. Additionally, if a blog post is written about your organization, share that too!

AUDIENCE
Consider your audience when thinking about what to share on social media. Who are you talking to? If you are unsure who your audience is, consider the purpose of your organization and the people you would most like to engage with.

While your audience likely consists of current students, recent alumni, faculty and staff, prospective students are utilizing digital resources including social media to vet the strength of student organizations at colleges and universities during their college search. As a student organization, you should primarily focus on engaging with current students.

BEST PRACTICES

Sharing a photo or video along with your content will help engage your audience. Whenever possible, include a photo, video and/or link to additional information found on Hope’s website or credible external sources.

Use discretion in how you reference third-party content or external websites.
Be sure to cite your sources!

Consider what your organization is known for. Does your organization’s social media activity represent this?
Public Affairs and Marketing can assist you in an audience analysis if you would like to dig deeper into understanding your audience and your presence on social media.

POLICY

Per Hope College guidelines, users should understand that, when sharing to social media, they are expected to follow acceptable social behaviors and also comply with regulations set by the federal government, the State of Michigan and Hope College.

The following social media activities by Hope College accounts are not acceptable:

Violation of any policy within the Hope College, student, faculty or employee handbooks.
Disclosure of information that is confidential by law or regulation under FERPA — www2.ed.gov/ferpa/.
Use of obscene, threatening, harassing or discriminatory language.
Advertisements or promotions of commercial products, services, entities or individuals.
Violations of the host site’s Terms of Service.
Violation of copyrights or trademarks (see Hope's Copyright Infringement Policies and Sanctions).
Endorsement or opposition of political candidates and ballot initiatives.
Duplicative comments by the same or multiple users, or repeated deliberately offensive or provocative online posting, also known as “trolling.”
The NCAA enforces rules regarding social media interactions between any extension of a college or university with a prospective student athlete.

IMPORTANT NOTES

All students, staff and faculty must comply with Hope College’s technology policy.
If content is sensitive in nature and/or could be triggering or disturbing to your audience, please include a content warning before displaying images.
Communication through social media in no way constitutes a legal or official notice to Hope College, its offices, faculty or staff.
Hope College social media administrators reserve the right to hide or remove user generated content or comments in accordance with these guidelines. Content may be removed for violation of the above, at any time.