Student Organizations Complex

Decision Process

To maintain office space in the Illini Union, each organization must register each year with the Registered Organizations Office by the third week of the fall semester, as well as comply with the Space Survey. All organizations are randomly surveyed to assess usage of the office space. The survey will be conducted by an Illini Union representative. Tenants that are not Registered Student Organizations are exempt from the survey.
1. The survey will occur over a 16-22 week period starting no sooner than the first full week of classes in the fall semester through the last day of classes fall semester, and resuming no sooner than beginning of classes spring semester and concluding by the middle of March.
2. Spot checks will be made Monday through Friday, 9am – 9pm for a total of no less than 65 and no more than 120 surveyed hours. A schedule will be drawn randomly by IUB of each hour of each weekday; at least one and not more than two of each of these hours will be surveyed during the space check. The survey will not occur on weekends, holidays or during vacation periods.
3. IUB student members will conduct space checks between 10am and 5pm and Illini Union staff will conduct the rest.
4. During a space check, it will be noted only whether or not people are present and each group of people will be counted as a single hour. If an office door is closed, the person conducting the space check will knock on the door to check if anyone is inside. Those persons sitting in the common area of the SOC will be asked if they are representing an organization for purposes of the space check.
5. Offices are expected to maintain a minimum usage of 35 hours per week and cubicles are expected to maintain a minimum of 15 hours per week. Offices failing to meet 50% and cubicles failing to meet 18% of the hours checked in the survey will be considered “delinquent.”
Empty offices and cubicles are created when:
1. Those "delinquent" organizations which are already on probation fail to meet their space checks and are thus automatically evicted (see item [G] below), and
2. The appeals of “delinquent” organizations are turned down by the Illini Union Board.
In order to maintain diversity within the SOC and the chance to apply for space, the Illini Union Board should reevaluate the space check requirements and the number of empty offices and cubicles during the spring of every even-numbered year.
Those organizations that do not meet the minimum space requirements and are not already on probation are given the opportunity to appeal the Illini Union Board's decision to evict. This appeal will be heard by the Policy Committee of the Illini Union Board. Denial of the appeal (or failure to appeal) will result in automatic eviction. If the appeal is accepted, the organization will automatically be placed on probation (see item [G] below).
Any organization in an office that fails to meet its minimum space usage requirement and either is on probation (thus automatically evicted), or whose appeal is unsuccessful, will be given the option of being allocated a cubicle (instead of an office) for the following year, if the organization has met the minimum usage requirement for a cubicle and if there is a cubicle available. Such an organization would have the highest priority for placement into an empty cubicle. If more than one such organization exists and they are competing for empty cubicle space, then the organization with the highest space count will obtain the space.
Those organizations that are not "delinquent" and have met all other requirements of their lease will automatically be invited to renew their space for the following year.
Any organization who fails to meet recommended minimum space usage expectations, even if their appeal is successful, will be considered “on probation” for the next two years. If they fail to meet recommended minimum space usage expectations two years in a row, or two years in a three-year period, they will automatically be evicted at the conclusion of their lease and will not be granted a second appeal. An organization who has been evicted for any reason may not apply for space for the entirety of the following academic year.
The priority list for allocating space to any applicant will be as follows:
1. Registered student organizations which meet the Illini Union Board's general requirements for continued tenancy and which accept this space
2. Recognized student government bodies of a multi-college nature or those whose members are elected on a campus-wide basis:
  1. Illinois Student Government
  2. Student Trustee
3. All other applicants
Upon review of the applications, the IUB Policy Committee will recommend to the full Illini Union Board which organizations should be allocated office or cubicle space. The recommendation will contain at least two (2) alternates which will be given space if an organization which is offered space does not wish to occupy it. These alternates will be on a "waiting list" for the remainder of the academic year. If for any reason office space opens up, then these alternates will be given first choice, in rank order. If there are no more alternates when space opens up, the IUB Policy Committee will decide if another application process is warranted.
A change in or denial of office/cubicle space will be explained in one of the following manners:
1. To maximize usage of the office/cubicle as demonstrated by the recommended minimum office space usage expectations
2. Failure to comply with Section I General Requirements of the IUB Guidelines for Office Space
3. Failure to meet recommended minimum office usage expectations
4. Priority listing of Registered Student Organizations
Appeals regarding the space allocation recommendations shall be considered by the IUB Policy Committee. All student organizations not meeting the recommended minimum office usage expectations or complying with Section I General Requirements shall be given written notification of such status prior to consideration of space allocations. Appeal requirements are as follows:
1. To enter an appeal, a typed letter must be submitted to the Vice President for Policy at least 24 hours prior to the appeals meeting.
2. Only oral presentations with a typed supplement will be considered at the appeals meeting. The supplement shall be signed by the president or chairperson of the organization. The oral presentation shall be given only by the president or chairperson of the organization or a designated representative (and student member) of the organization.
3. The oral presentations with a typed supplement shall be based on, but not limited to, one or more of the following arguments:
  1. The organization must prove that an inaccurate assessment of space utilization, as outlined in the IUB Guidelines for Office Space, has occurred (the survey is assumed always to be accurate unless proven to the contrary), and/or
  2. The organization must justify their inability to meet recommended minimum office usage expectation, as outlined in the IUB Guidelines for Office Space, and/or
  3. The organization must explain why it did not abide by Illini Union rules and/or university regulations, and/or
  4. The organization must explain what steps it will take to ensure that it will meet all of the requirements of the lease in the next year if the appeal is accepted.
4. The IUB Policy Committee reserves the right to set time limits on all p resentations.
5. The IUB Policy Committee will take into consideration any new information presented by the organization in the appeal regarding an organization's inability to meet the recommended minimum office usage expectation in its allocation recommendation to the Illini Union Board.
The final decision regarding office space allocation shall be made by the Illini Union Board.

Illini Union
1401 West Green Street Urbana, Illinois 61801

Friday, May 16, 2008