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Student Organization Event Resources

Need materials for an upcoming organization event? Need to make a sign to advertise your organization? The Center for Student Engagement can help.

The Center for Student Engagement is excited to release a brand new catalog of reservable items for student organizations available in our resource room. From tables to computers, to bubble machines and 5K materials, we have what you need to make your next meeting or event successful. Across the hall from these incredible resources, our craft room is stocked and ready for your organization’s next project! From paint and markers to a button maker and cricket machine, we have what you need to market your organization all over campus.

Check out the policies and process for how to take advantage of these spaces below or visit the center for student engagement today to learn more.

  1. Organizations/Staff/Departments submit reservation form.
  2. Pick up items 24 hours before your event between the hours of 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  3. If you check out an item that is currently checked out or unavailable, you will be alerted by email and can pick up the rest of your items.
  4. When you arrive to pick up materials, go to the front desk of the Center for Student Engagement, Suite 174 of the Student Union to get help from the student assistants
  5. If you would like to add any items to your reservation, please alert the student assistants upon pickup
  6. Bring items back to the front desk of the Center for Student Engagement Suite 174.

  • All materials should remain in the craft room at all times.
  • Student organizations may only access the room by requesting access through the student assistants in the Center for Student Engagement.
  • All organizations must check-out of the room when they leave with a student assistant.
  • The Cricket should only be used with the help of a student assistant.
  • For button maker materials, please inquire with the student assistants at the front desk of the Center for Student Engagement.
  • If any material is running low, please alert student assistants to restock or order more.
  • Individuals are responsible for cleaning up after themselves in the craft room. The student assistants ensure the cleanliness of the space and inspect the space after use by student leaders.
  • Organizations can be banned from the craft room space if they do not respect the space or violate any of the posted policies.

Click Here to Reserve Resources for Your Organization

Fundamentals of Event Planning & Space Reservations

To make the event planning process easier, we’re providing you with the “Five W’s and one H” questions. This is a series of questions that will help you and your organization establish a firm foundation on which to plan your event.

The question of who is involved in the event is two pronged, concerning planning and attendance. And it’s important you answer this question early on as it will help you and your student officers more successfully organize your event.

Planning

  • First, you need to consider who’s involved in planning the event. For instance, does the event need a committee? If so, who should be on the committee? Finally, who needs to approve the event? (Note: The answer to that last question will be addressed in the Solicitation Requests section.)

Attendance

  • Now that you have your planning group, the question becomes: who do you want to come to this event?
  • Determining who your audience is will help you determine what kind of event you want to have and also give you a better idea of what kind of budget you’ll need. For example, if your event is only for members of your organization, that may be less costly than an event that is open to anyone to attend.
  • Whether your event is open only to members of the organization or to everyone, you and/or your student leaders will need to engage in some research about the campus and your target audience.
  • What do they like? What is popular among the student body? This research can be accomplished by reviewing successful events that other student organizations have put on, asking other event organizers about their experiences, or even conducting surveys of students (online or in person).

Why and what build on the foundation you’ve already established with who you want to come to the event. Now that you’ve done your research into your target audience and what’s hot on campus, you should have a general idea of what people will like. Maybe that’s a lecture or maybe it’s a pizza lunch or an international fair.

Regardless, once you have your event idea, you need to ask additional questions such as: What are your goals? In other words: Why do you need to have this event? What is your organization trying to achieve?

You can also start thinking about your budget. We’ll discuss budgeting in further detail a little later, but you can start planning by asking what your basic costs are with regard to renting a venue, buying supplies, creating advertising, etc.

Once you answer the first three fundamental questions (who, what, why), it’s time to tackle when and where. This means determining a date and time for your event and a location.

When determining the date and time, you’ll want to make sure your event doesn’t conflict with any major exams or holidays or other campus events.
Your location may be on or off campus. If you want to hold your event on campus, there are a number of rooms and venues available. You can find a list of on campus venue resources and place reservations on the Office of Campus Events website at events.utk.edu.

While determining and requesting your location is one of the last steps you’ll take in your initial planning, remember: the earlier you submit your location request, the better off you’ll be!

Finally, you need to determine how people will know to come to your event.

This is a question of marketing. How are you going to get the word out? There are numerous ways to market your event, both traditional and non-traditional, online and off (think paper flyers versus email). We have made resources for marketing student organizations and student organization events.