From improv to pre-law, find your people at the student org fair

Student organizations are an important part of the Northwestern experience, allowing students to bond over common interests and learn new skills. And, with more than 450 student organizations, Wildcats have plenty of opportunities to find a community on campus that caters to their interests — from musical improv to pre-law.

Students can discover their next favorite club or activity at the annual fall student organization fair during the first week of classes. This year, the fair will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on both Wednesday, Sept. 17, and Thursday, Sept. 18, in Norris University Center and on Cohen Lawn. Each day will feature a different lineup of organizations, so students are encouraged to stop by on both dates.

Northwestern Now sat down with Joe Lattal, associate director of student organizations & activities, ahead of this year’s fair to learn more about student organizations on campus and how undergraduates can connect with them.

What is a registered student organization (RSO)? What benefits do they receive?

RSOs are approved by the Student Organizations & Activities office. They must be led by undergraduates and complete annual requirements, including trainings to learn the rules about recruitment, how to reserve spaces and the rules around fundraising and budgeting.

The benefits are RSOs can reserve space on campus at the lowest rate available — in many cases, that’s $0. They’re eligible to have a table at our student organization fairs, have a Student Organization Finance Office account to manage their funds, have a presence in the Cats on Campus app and website, and pursue financial grants from the University, as well as allocations from the student government activity fee.

Tell us about ’Cats on Campus. How can students use it to find and stay connected with student organizations?

Students can search for groups on the ’Cats on Campus app or website. Every group page also has a link for that user to alert an officer they’re interested in learning more or becoming a member. We’ve always had an online directory of student groups, but our office is excited that this is an app. It’s going to be easy for students at the fall organization fair to snap a photo of a group’s QR code and that automatically messages the group leadership that they’re interested in learning more.

’Cats on Campus also includes the ability for students to create group chats on there, and group officers have access to send push notifications. So say, if they’re planning an event, they can send a reminder an hour beforehand. It’s a lot of the technology that students are already using on their phones adapted for the Northwestern student org community, so that’s exciting.

Related: How do I start a new student org?

What inspired the switch to this new platform? What else does it offer?

We’re seeing the volume of activity in student organizations reach levels that haven’t been as high since the before remote learning era. Having a mobile app where everything is centralized is really helpful. It also connects with the PlanIt Purple events calendar, the varsity athletics calendar, information about campus dining halls, so it’s much more than just what goes on in student organizations.