Registered Student Organization (RSO) COVID-19 Guidelines
Social connections through student involvement opportunities are important both to building a sense of community and also to the success of students. To ensure the health and safety of individuals and the collective UNO community, Registered Student Organization (RSO) activities will operate with COVID-19 guidelines parameters during the Fall 2020 semester.
Please review the UNO Return to Campus Guide for the most up-to-date information regarding the University's COVID-19 Response.
General Guidelines
- RSO’s will be required to develop an organization-specific Covid-19 Response Plan.
- RSO's will be responsible for having trained event monitor(s) at all in-person events. Event monitors can complete the training HERE. (Please enter your username as your first name and last initial.)
- In-Person RSO events and activities must have an event/activity plan in place that ensures safety for members and participants and one trained event monitor per 50 people.
- No unpackaged food or alcohol may be served or provided by RSO’s at organization events or activities.
- RSO Travel: RSO travel to represent the student organization in off-campus events or activities is discouraged through the fall semester except as necessary. Organizations should consider current rate of positive cases in the area travel is anticipated in order to determine associated risk levels.
Meetings
We strongly encourage RSO's to hold meetings virtually to conduct business. You can...
- Schedule Zoom meetings. Useful for online meetings, training, marketing events & town hall meetings, building collaboration-enabled conference rooms. Go to http://myapps.uno.edu and click on the Zoom tile to activate your UNO account.
- Use Google Meet. This is included in any Google account. Offers live-captioning and video recording that can be shared out with members later.
- Discord or Slack. Voice and text chat, can create a group for people to group chat. Supported on desktop, browser, and mobile app
In-Person Events
Please review the UNO Return to Campus Guide for the most up-to-date information regarding in-person events (e.g., event capacity, guest policies, etc).
- All event attendees are required to wear face coverings throughout the entire event.
- Maximum in-person attendance at the event will be the capacity of the space per university physical distancing guidelines. In Phase C, gatherings are limited to 50% capacity or 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors, whichever is less (updated March 1, 2021).
- RSO's should take precautions to ensure attendees to not crowd while entering or exiting the event space. Painter's tape can be used to mark lines for 6 feet physical distancing.
- According to the current restrictions, events can never have: dancing, singing or chanting, live entertainment, or unpackaged food.
- If an in-person option is necessary for the purpose of the event, meeting or activity, organizations should take all steps necessary to eliminate any activities that include physical touch, cannot maintain physical distance guidelines or includes sharing equipment/objects/items.
- Organizations should consider accessibility accommodations for those who attend in person as well as those unable to attend. They should consider streaming the event partially online/virtually so those unable to attend in-person may still participate.
- In-Person RSO events and activities must have an event/activity plan in place that ensures safety for members and participants and one trained event monitor per 50 people. RSO's will be responsible for having trained event monitor(s) at all in person events. Event monitors can complete the training HERE. (Please use your first name and last initial as your username.)
Virtual Events
RSO's may host virtual events without COVID-19 restrictions.
- If you would like your virtual event to be shared on the University calendar, please submit a virtual event registration form.
- Please caption any videos you will use or watch.
- Some students will need to have a sign language interpreter or a real-time captioner present during a videoconference meeting. If a student requests one of these services for your event, send the following details to schedule@yourccgroup.com and copy aaking@uno.edu: Date of meeting, Time of meeting (Start/End), Consumer (student’s name) and contact info, Point of Contact (your information), Your meeting ID number/link, and whether an interpreter or transcription is needed.
A note on hosting virtual events
Videoconferencing offers opportunities for trolls to enter public spaces to share pornography or racist, hateful speech. Here are tips to make it a little harder for folx to troll your event:
- Don’t use your Personal Meeting ID in Zoom.
- Enable the “waiting room” feature on your meetings so you can see who is waiting to talk with you. Let just one new student join at a time.
- Disable risky activities in your settings. Disable “Join Before Host” and disable screen sharing and remote control. Also disable file transferring, annotations, and the autosave feature for chats.
- Assign multiple co-hosts to help moderate the chat and conversation in case anyone tries to derail your meeting. By clicking on “participants,” hosts can mute participants and message them directly.
Please give members grace and understanding during this time. Together we can ensure a safe and successful school year!
