Skip to main content
Medical Doctorate Program

Student Organization Handbook

Official Recognition

In order to be officially recognized as a UNC-SOM student organization, complete the following steps:

Re-register your existing student group every Spring semester: 

  1. Make sure you are listed as an officer on your organization’s Heel Life page. You must have at least one person listed as President and Treasurer. If you do not have a specific designated Treasurer, one of your Presidents can be listed for both positions. 
  2. Complete the Student Organization Spring Re-registration. The instructions can also be found on Heel Life. This process includes: 
    1. Registration Form in Heel Life 
    2. Advisor Agreement Form 
    3. Online Officer Orientation – at least two officers must complete this orientation – one President and one Treasurer
  3. Email us at VPStudentAffairs@med.unc.edu when you have received confirmation of successful registration. 

To register a new student group, follow the steps on the Carolina Union Website: This process includes:  

  1. Complete the online New Organization Registration form (more details below)
  2. Advisor must complete the Online Student Organization Advisor Agreement form
  3. Attend a New Organization Meeting with staff from Student Life and Leadership (this is the last step before the reg. form is approved).

Once approved, email us at VPStudentAffairs@med.unc.edu.

If you aren’t officially recognized by the University, you cannot use any University space as an organization and do not have access to campus funding sources. If you aren’t officially recognized by the School of Medicine, you cannot use SOM University space and you do not have access to the Dean’s Fund or to Medical Alumni Association grants.

Student Organization Website

All SOM groups are required to maintain a list of current officers and descriptions of current organization activities. This allows the SOM to show off our organizations to applicants, students, faculty, and friends of the SOM. This information is kept on the Student Organization website.

If you have any questions about the website, please contact the VP of Information Technology

Applying for Funding

The SOM VPs of Student Affairs send a funding application to all registered student groups each spring. Groups are responsible for preparing an organization budget and filling out the application forms by the stated due date. After groups submit their applications, the VPs of Student Affairs draft a budget based upon SOM Student Government funding guidelines. The VPs present the budget proposal to the voting members of Student Government who debate and approve it. There are two sources of funding controlled or partially-controlled by the SOM Student Government: the Office of Student Affairs and the Medical Alumni Association (MAA) Grants.

The Dean of the SOM gives $12,000 per year to SOM student organizations. This money is held in a University account in the University Finance Office, 440 W. Franklin Street. The VPs of Student Affairs are responsible for collecting budget proposals from student organizations each spring, creating a budget from the proposals, and submitting this budget to the Office of Student Affairs.

Student Govt Finances

What do I need to be thinking about right now?

Elect Officers! Make sure you elect new officers for your organization late in the fall semester so you can be prepared to re-register your organization in January and submit accurate budget information later in the spring.

Elect a treasurer! Be aware of all of the sources of funding and what kinds of projects could be funded by each source. Keep a good record of funding applications used year-to-year to save yourself some work. Communicate effectively with the VPs of Student Affairs.

Maintain your website info! Get help from the VP of Information Technology if needed.

How to use your Office of Student Affairs funding

Student groups can no longer receive reimbursements for purchases.  All purchases for the groups are made by the Office of Student Affairs directly to the vendors.

When your group wants to make a purchase using your funding, contact Debbie Williams (debbie_williams@med.unc.edu) to begin the process. To make a purchase, Debbie Williams will complete a vendor reconciliation form and forward it to the group representative to complete, sign and return.

Other funding sources for SOM organizations

If your organization needs funds greater than your Office of Student Affairs allocation, consider applying for funding from one of these sources:

Undergraduate Senate
Organizations with undergraduate members can apply for funding from the Undergraduate Student Government.

Graduate and Professional Student Federation (GPSF)
SOM organizations can also request funds from the Graduate and Professional Student Federation.