Announcements
The fall recognition application has closed. Officers of groups who submitted applications receive updates and requests for modifications via the EngageSC Chat. The final deadline for groups to submit application modifications via EngageSC was Wednesday, October 8 at 11:59pm. The fall application deadline for RSO Advisors to submit their required documents was extended to Sunday, October 12. Please see below for more information on RSO recognition requirements and Advisor requirements.
The spring recognition application opened Monday, October 13. Applications will be accepted for new RSOs and re-establishing RSOs (RSOs whose recognition has lapsed). Please see below for information on requirements, timeline, and resources available to support you in submitting a complete and accurate application.
Please reach out to Campus Activities at stuacts@usc.edu with any accessibility needs.
Recognition Process Details
All student organizations are recognized through Campus Activities, except “social fraternities and sororities” as defined by the Department of Education, which are recognized through The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life (FSL).
All student organizations must complete recognition through the online recognition portal, EngageSC, on an annual basis. Recognition status for 2025-2026 runs for one academic year (between August 1-June 30) regardless of when an application is approved.
Note: Organizations that do not complete the recognition renewal process by the specified time will not receive recognition for the academic year and will lose all benefits.
The name and email of the primary contact on the application will be made available to members of the USC community. This student will also receive official communications from the university and is expected to share any pertinent information with their organization.
Important Dates
Application Opens
Monday, October 13
Application Closes
Monday, November 17 at 11:59pm
RSO Application Information Sessions and Office Hours
Information sessions provide time for a member of the Campus Activities RSO team to present an overview of application requirements to help officers understand how to submit a successful application. Office hours are sessions when officers may drop in to ask questions about their applications. Staff from the RSO team will be available for the duration of the hour to assist officers.
Please continue to visit this site for updates to this schedule. Slides from spring info sessions will be available in the RSO Toolkit.
| Date & Time | Location |
|---|---|
| Info Session: Wednesday, October 15, 2:30-3:30pm | Zoom |
| Info Session: Thursday, October 16, 3-4pm | Zoom |
| Info Session: Monday, October 20, 11am-12pm | Zoom |
| Office Hours: Wednesday, October 22, 1-2pm | Zoom |
| Office Hours: Friday, October 24, 1:30-2:30pm | Zoom |
| Info Session: Tuesday, October 28, 11am-12pm | Zoom |
| Office Hours: Wednesday, October 29, 11am-12pm | Zoom |
| Office Hours: Thursday, November 6, 1:30-2:30pm | Zoom |
Beginning an Application
Applicants should use a desktop or laptop computer to prepare and submit their application. See below for instructions on how to begin the application:
- New RSOs may begin their application by clicking “Groups” then “All Groups” to open the EngageSC Group Directory. Locate the blue box above the Groups list and select your group type to begin the application. New spiritual and religious groups should select “Register new USC Office o Religious & Spiritual Life (ORSL)”. New Recreational Club Council-affiliated groups should selected “Register new Recreational Club Council (RCC)”. All other new RSOs should select “Register new Recognized Student Organization (RSO)”.
- Re-establishing RSOs should determine if their group has an existing EngageSC page by submitting this form.
- Groups without an existing EngageSC page should follow the new RSO instructions above.
- Groups with an existing EngageSC page will have their officers updated according to the information provided in the form. Once access is granted, navigate to the group’s page to begin the application.
Recognition Requirements
The following items are required components of a complete application for the Spring 2025 recognition cycle. Answers to FAQs about these requirements, including how to access trainings, sign in to courses, and complete documents, is available in the RSO Toolkit.
- A complete and accurate application form, available on EngageSC. A current student officer of an eligible group must navigate to their group page to begin the form. The student who submits the recognition form must be a current officer who is listed as one of the five (5) required officers on the recognition form. Please note this application may only be submitted once per student. If you are an officer of multiple groups, we encourage you to work with your fellow officers to determine who should submit on behalf of the group. Applications cannot be transferred between officers. Groups that were recognized in the previous academic year are eligible to apply at this time.
- Current membership profile, including five required officers (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Programming Chair), a full-time faculty or staff advisor, and five additional members.
- Constitution and bylaws, consistent with university policies and regulations, ratified by the membership. Use the required fillable 2025-26 Constitution template. Please review the Document Preparation Instructions in the RSO Toolkit prior to beginning your documents. A Sample Constitution is also available to help guide you as you complete your Constitution. We recommend that you use Adobe Reader to complete. All fields are required except the Appendix. You may list N/A if not affiliated with any University department or parent organization under “Affiliations”.
- Accountability Document to establish a plan for taking all reasonable steps necessary to prevent infractions of university rules growing out of or related to the student organization’s activities. Use the required fillable 2025-26 Accountability Document and accompanying instructions. Please review the Document Preparation Instructions in the RSO Toolkit prior to beginning your documents.
- Completion of annual recognition training by the five officers of the RSO listed on the recognition application. Trainings are live and available to officers via SSO login. Officers do not need to wait for an EngageSC approval or assignment to begin the courses:
- Hazing Prevention 101 certificate dated July 1, 2025 through the application deadline.
- RSO Officer Training Learning Path dated July 1, 2025 through the application deadline. You must complete all 7 modules each academic year as part of recognition. Please reach out to Campus Activities at stuacts@usc.edu if you are encountering difficulties with progressing through the complete learning path. If you sign in via SSO and are not taken directly to the Learning Path, please refresh the original link or locate the Learning Path in the RSO Library section of Reach360.
- Planning and Hosting ADA Accessible Events Trojan Learn course dated July 1, 2025 through the application deadline. Please sign in to Trojan Learn via SSO and type in the name of the course exactly as it is shown here: Planning and Hosting ADA Accessible Events.
- Signed 2025-26 Commitment to Community form. Please review the Document Preparation Instructions in the RSO Toolkit prior to beginning your documents. All fields are required.
- Any plans to engage in certain activities, including those involving minors, use of hazardous materials, international travel, healthcare activities, and other activities as identified by Campus Activities from time to time. Organizations planning to conduct these activities may need to complete additional registration requirements before engaging in such activities.
- Advisor Requirements (see below)
- Please note there may be additional approvals based on your group’s activities.
Advisor Requirements
- Advisors must be full-time USC faculty or staff members who are not on sabbatical or leave. While part-time faculty and staff may serve as additional advisors to a group, the advisor listed on the recognition application must be a full-time faculty/staff member.
- Required Documents: Campus Activities will collect the Advisor training course certificate and Advisor Commitment to Community form. The deadline for RSO Advisors to submit their required documents has been extended to Sunday, October 12. These two requirements must be submitted via this Google Form to Campus Activities. Clery Act certificates do not need to be submitted to Campus Activities, but the course must be completed by the end of fall semester for groups to maintain their recognition status. Please see below for more details and refer to the Advisor Requirements FAQs document.
- Completion of a 2025-26 Advisor Training on Reach360 dated July 1, 2025 forward. Login to Reach360 (usc.reach360.com) with SSO. Once logged in, click this link to take you directly to the Advisor course. You do not need an assignment to take the course and may disregard any messages that say “You have not been assigned any trainings.” If you are not taken directly to the course, please click the link again. If your certificate does not automatically load upon completion of the course, please copy and paste the original training link into your browser and locate the “Download Certificate” link underneath the course title/to the right of your initials.
- Signed Advisor Commitment to Community Form: Complete by typing in the blank text fields using a PDF Viewer. Please be sure to initial all areas and include your name, department name, and the name of all RSO(s) you advise (no acronyms please).
- Completion of a “Clery Act for Campus Security Authorities” training on Trojan Learn. This course will be assigned to advisors at the close of the Fall recognition period and must be completed by the end of the Fall semester. There is no need to submit this certificate to Campus Activities as all completions will be tracked via reports from Trojan Learn.
- The Advisor FAQs Document has answers to most RSO Advisor questions.
RSO Advisor Office Hours
Advisor info sessions provide dedicated time for Campus Activities staff to connect with advisors and provide support in understanding the advisor commitment and with the completion and submission of RSO requirements. This page will be updated with information on upcoming advisor office hours soon.
| Date & Time | Venue |
|---|---|
| TBD |
Document Downloads
Please review the Document Preparation Instructions in the RSO Toolkit prior to beginning your documents.
Recognition documents are not protected and do not require paid subscriptions to Adobe or any other platform or app to complete. Use the links below to open the documents in a new browser window and complete there, or download to complete with Adobe Reader. Adobe Reader is available as a free download here. Using Adobe Reader enables key accessibility features and provides help text and other important features of the document. However, you may choose to use either method to complete your Constitution as long as you maintain the fillable form format. We recommend using the Sample RSO Constitution as a guide to ensure you understand what should be completed in each section.
- 2025-26 Officer Commitment to Community Document (direct link) or download from RSO Toolkit
- 2025-26 RSO Advisor Commitment to Community Document (direct link) or download from RSO Toolkit
Why an Organization Would Not Be Recognized
Note: Official recognition is a privilege granted by USC and the university reserves the right to revoke, limit, and/or suspend the privileges of an RSO should the organization fail to adhere to university expectations or adequately demonstrate on an annual basis that its members serve as upstanding citizens, positive role models for other students, and good neighbors.
A student organization might not receive recognition due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
- Application is incomplete (missing components, incomplete training, etc.).
- The organization is not in good standing with the Office of Community Expectations or Office of Civil Rights Compliance.
- Evidence exists that the unrecognized student organization engaged in behavior contrary to the standards described in the USC Student Handbook and USC Student Commitment. Refer to the RSO Accountability page for additional information.
- The organization is not student-led and student-run.
- The organization is not open to all students.
- The organization charges for services (donations are okay).
- The organization is unable or unwilling to operate within university guidelines, policies, and procedures.
- Purpose or activities of the organization violates university guidelines, policies, and procedures.
Additional approvals aren’t met (required for high-risk RSOs)- University Clinical Services
- Youth Protection Services
- RSOs covered by MOUs (Fraternity and Sorority Leadership and Development, Rec Sports, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life).
Loss of Recognition
Official recognition is a privilege granted by USC and the university reserves the right to revoke, limit, and/or suspend the privileges of an RSO if the organization fails to adhere to university expectations or adequately demonstrate on an annual basis that its members serve as upstanding citizens, positive role models for other students, and good neighbors. As members of an RSO, you are expected to set a high bar of ethical conduct for your members and take proactive steps to ensure all members meet that bar. Refer to the RSO Accountability page for additional information.
Loss of recognition and/or benefits can result from but are not limited to:
- Incomplete recognition renewal application.
- Non-compliance with national governing body policies.
- Hazing (see “RSO and Membership Accountability for Hazing,” below).
- Misrepresentation (fronting).
- Acts of individual members (see Accountability of RSOs, below).
- Bank fraud, larceny, or theft.
- An organization fails to adhere to the educational mission of the university.
- The written request of an organization.
- Other violations of the USC Student Handbook.
Additional Expectations for Specific RSO Categories
- RSOs may be affiliated with other off-campus organizations. If this is the case, the RSO must submit a copy of the constitution, article of incorporation, or other governance document of the external organization for university approval. Current policies and procedures related to RSOs can be found on the Campus Activities website.
- Religious organizations seeking recognition must also comply with expectations issued by the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life.
- Recognition of social fraternities and sororities at USC is guided by the Trojan Greek Community Standards and Accreditation, USC governing fraternity and sorority councils, and if applicable, inter/national organization policies. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has oversight of these RSOs.
- Club Sports seeking recognition must first be a university recognized student organization. Once approved the student organization seeking to join the Recreational Sports Council must follow the guidelines outlined on the USC Recreational Sports website.
FAQ
Please visit the Frequently Asked Questions section if you have any questions regarding the recognition process.