Will I be required to get a COVID-19 vaccination?
According to Governor Abbott’s Executive Order, any organization receiving state funds cannot require a COVID-19 vaccination. However, the University strongly encourages all students, faculty and staff to get a COVID-19 vaccination, which is readily available at multiple sites throughout the region.

Will I not be able to participate in student organization activities or suffer any consequences if I do not get a COVID-19 vaccination?
You will not be banned from participating in student organization activities from not being vaccinated. However, to protect yourself and those around you, we strongly encourage you to consider being vaccinated.

Can a student organization officer ask if I have been vaccinated? Can they ask if I have had COVID-19?
Student officers should not ask whether any student has received the vaccine or contracted COVID-19. However, if you test positive for COVID-19, it is your responsibility to report your diagnosis via the COVID-19 Report Forms.

Can I as a student officer ask if my members have been vaccinated? Can vaccination be a requirement for membership or participating in activities?
Student organizations and officers should not ask whether any student has received the vaccine or contracted COVID-19. This cannot be a requirement for membership or a requirement to participate in activities. However, if your members test positive for COVID-19, please share information and resources with them from the university's UH Responds to COVID-19 page.

Can I as a student officer ask or require my members to wear masks? Do we have to wear masks to participate in event or organization activities?
As of May 18, 2021, the University of Houston continues to encourage the wearing of face coverings, especially for individuals who are not fully vaccinated, but following Governor Abbott’s Executive Order and effective immediately, face coverings will no longer be required on campus. Student organizations and officers should not require anyone to wear face coverings. However, you can highly encourage face coverings for your events. For more information about this update, visit UH Responds to COVID-19.

The Center for Student Involvement encourages all Registered Student Organizations to register their virtual meeting and events in Get Involved. This is in an effort to ensure UH students can discover meetings, events and activities that are open to them.

The Center for Student Involvement can help you set up:

• Virtual member and executive board meetings (can be managed via Microsoft Teams )
• Officer elections via Get Involved
• Events in a virtual environment

We are also available via online meetings or phone calls for support and assistance with your student organization.

As you consider hosting virtual meetings and events, please be sure to take the following steps:

• Place meeting and events in Get Involved for approval as you normally would do for on-campus events
• Under Event Details, when asked “Show To,” please select the most appropriate for your organization
  • If this is a meeting or an event that is open UH students, then select “students and staff at University of Houston.”
  • If this is a closed meeting or event that is only open to the organization, then select “organization members.”
  • Public and Invited Users are other options you could choose if appropriate
• When selecting, “Who can attend this event,” mark the box that says “open to UH community” as many students are looking for ways to engage with other students during this time
• Add the virtual location (the Zoom link or other link) to this event – this is a new feature that Get Involved offers

We encourage you to continue to meet during your normal day/time for meetings by using an online video conferencing system such as Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams (AKA Teams) is a workspace for real-time collaboration and communication, meetings, file and app sharing, and more.  Students, faculty, and staff can create virtual meetings that can be joined by anyone in the world with a simple link.

• There is a screen-sharing feature that would allow a PowerPoint or documents to be displayed and discussed as well as a recording option if content would like to be recorded in advance and distributed to organization members.
• Teams may be helpful for: full organization meetings, executive board meetings, committee meetings, interviews, one on one conversations, and more.

Microsoft Teams Resources:

• Microsoft Teams Quick Start Articles
• Getting started with Microsoft Teams playlist on YouTube
• Productive Meeting Tips playlist on YouTube
• Get Started with Microsoft Teams instructor-led training
• Run Effective Meetings with Microsoft Teams instructor-led training

Your organization's Get Involved page has the capability to facilitate many things online that organizations may have initially scheduled for in-person meetings during the next few weeks into the remainder of the semester. The organization tools available for your organizations may be very helpful for this. Log on to the CSI On Demand page and get all the information on:

• Creating a Virtual Election
• Office Change Requests
• Event Registrations
• Get Involved Overview of all Features

Email csi@uh.edu if you have any questions.