Annual Registration/Re-Registration of UWSoM WWAMI Medical Student Groups
The deadline to begin the registered student organization (RSO) process with UW coming up at the beginning of October 2024. The process must be done with UW Student Activities Office for any student group wishing to access rights and privileges through the university. (Office of the President Executive Order No. 23; Student Governance Policies Chapter 201). This includes all UWSoM.
If you are an EDI-related student affinity group or considering starting one, please email us at somequity@uw.edu.
Why register through UW?
The University of Washington recognizes that self-governing student organizations can and do contribute to the educational, social, recreational, and personal development of its students. While a student group is not required to register with the University of Washington, if they are seeking to exercise certain privileges and rights under state law or university policy, they must become a registered group.
Although not an exhaustive list, these privileges include:
- access to university owned or operated facilities,
- ability to sponsor a non-university speaker,
- access to UW funds available to student groups (e.g., MSES event funding),
- access to university or department support programs and services for RSOs,
- participate in the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS), and
- use of UW trademarks and logos (e.g., UWSoM logos and name useage).
If your UWSoM WWAMI medical student group seeks access to any of the above privileges for the 2024-2025 academic year, UW requires you to complete the annual registration process with the UW Student Activities Office to become a registered student organization (RSO).
NOTE: If your organization primarily includes officers and members who are from a specific regional WWAMI Foundations Phase campus, you may also be required to register your student group with our partner university to exercise rights and privileges on that campus. If the partner university rejects your application for registration (e.g., state law or university rules bans your EDI groups), please contact our team right away for support.
Are you a UWSoM Medical Student EDI Group? We want to hear from you!
Our office is working to pull together a definitive list of EDI-related medical student organizations (i.e., affinity groups, interest groups, etc.). It includes all voluntary student organizations that support community building, mentoring, networking and engagement for UWSoM medical students from culturally, economically, environmentally, and educationally UiM backgrounds (e.g., race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, disability, socioeconomic, first-generation college student, faith communities, etc.). It also includes UWSoM medical student groups that advocate health equity/health justice related activities (e.g., reproductive health equity, environmental health equity, etc.).
We will require UWSoM medical student EDI groups throughout the WWAMI to complete the annual RSO process with UW Campus Life to access the privileges of RSOs including support from the MSES team in the Office of Student Affairs. In addition, these groups will then be eligible for requesting “affiliate status,” which is a separate official sponsorship process for RSOs that is offered by UW schools or departments (e.g., Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity, Graduate and Professional Student Senate, etc.)
If you are an EDI-related student affinity group or considering starting one, please email us at somequity@uw.edu. We will respond with more information about registration as well as information about support for completing the registration steps, including drafting a constitution and other organization documentation needed for your group.
Sincerely,
Erik D. Malmberg, Ph.D., J.D. (EH-rihk MALM-berg)
Assistant Dean for Equity and Medical Student Engagement
Associate Teaching Professor, Family Medicine
M. Yvonne Taylor, Ph.D. (Em Ee-VON Tay-lor)
Director, Medical Student Equity Services
Pronouns | She, Her, Hers
Michele Nucci, MPH
Medical Student Equity Specialist
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers