Student Organizations

Virtual and in-person volunteering guidance
If your are looking for a student organization that is not listed in the staff advisor and student group list below, please contact volunteer@jhu.edu.
View 2021-2022 Staff Advisor, Student Group, CERAC Commissioner List
CERAC Commissioner Office Hours
- Trinity Flynn (Chair)
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursday 12-1pm
Link: https://JHUBlueJays.zoom.us/j/5878063106
- Sooyeon Park (Vice Chair)
Office Hours: Mondays 11am-1pm
Link: https://JHUBlueJays.zoom.us/j/9264606523
- Andrea Guillen (Treasurer)
Office Hours: Mondays 10am – 11am, Wednesdays 7pm-8pm
Link: https://JHUBlueJays.zoom.us/j/7953244762
- Saisri Gussenhoven (Communications)
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Fridays from 2-3pm
Link: https://JHUBlueJays.zoom.us/j/7986897812
- Miri Cazes (Recording Secretary)
Office Hours: Wednesdays 8am-10am
Link: https://JHUBlueJays.zoom.us/j/97329423465?pwd=TzIwd0srZllybXdEUU5zTU91RFJzUT09
- Mikayla Chua (Grant Specialist)
Office Hours: Mondays 10am-12pm
Link: https://JHUBlueJays.zoom.us/j/9828592728
- Ujvala Pradeep (Grant Specialist)
Office Hours: Thursdays 3pm-5pm
Link: https://JHUBlueJays.zoom.us/j/4500246759
Staff Advisor | Student Group Name | CERAC Commissioner | |
![]() | Julie Rivera jriver56@jhu.edu | United Mission for Relief and Development (formerly United Muslim Relief) Encore Music Program JHU Pet and Animal Welfare Club Camp Kesem at Johns Hopkins University | Andrea Guillen aguille4@jhu.edu Ujvala Pradeep upradee1@jhu.edu Mikayla Chua mchua2@jhu.edu Mikayla Chua mchua2@jhu.eduu |
![]() | Astoria Edwards aedwar54@jhu.edu | American Red Cross Corps. Heart and Stroke Awareness at Hopkins Medical Interpretation and Translation Initiative Splash at JHU | Andrea Guillen aguille4@jhu.edu Andrea Guillen aguille4@jhu.edu Andrea Guillen aguille4@jhu.edu Andrea Guillen aguille4@jhu.edu |
![]() | Eli Lopatin elopati1@jhu.edu | Cooking 4 Love Hopkins Students Against Homelessness Jail Tutorial Remington Outreach Supporting Hospitals Abroad with Resources and Equipment | Sooyeon Park spark197@jhu.edu Sooyeon Park spark197@jhu.edu Trinity Flynn tflynn10@jhu.edu Sooyeon Park spark197@jhu.edu Sooyeon Park spark197@jhu.edu |
![]() | Kate Lynch klynch14@jhu.edu | Believe in Art Musicare United Against Inequities in Disease | Sooyeon Park spark197@jhu.edu Sooyeon Park spark197@jhu.edu Ujvala Pradeep upradee1@jhu.edu |
![]() | Kelly Milo kmilo1@jhu.edu | Circle K at Johns Hopkins University Hopkins Community Connection Student Group Kidney Disease Screening & Awareness Program/KDSAP Stepping Out Thread | Saisri Gussenhoven sgussen1@jhu.edu Saisri Gussenhoven sgussen1@jhu.edu Saisri Gussenhoven sgussen1@jhu.edu Saisri Gussenhoven sgussen1@jhu.edu Saisri Gussenhoven sgussen1@jhu.edu |
![]() | Luisa De Guzman ldeguzm1@jhu.edu | Advocates for Baltimore Community (ABC) Health Food as Medicine SALUD | Ujvala Pradeep upradee1@jhu.edu Ujvala Pradeep upradee1@jhu.edu Ujvala Pradeep upradee1@jhu.edu |
![]() | Margaret Hart mhart21@jhu.edu Center for Educational Outreach Whiting School of Engineering | Applying Science with Kids Charm City Science League Maryland Science Olympiad at JHU Ready, Set, Design! | Mikayla Chua mchua2@jhu.edu Not applicable Mikayla Chua mchua2@jhu.edu Mikayla Chua mchua2@jhu.edu |
![]() | Whitney Johnson wjohnson@jhu.edu | Alpha Phi Omega Best Buddies Hop Outside Habitat for Humanity at Johns Hopkins University IDEAL Real Food at Hopkins Sharing Languages Students United for America's Toothfairy | Mikayla Chua mchua2@jhu.edu Andrea Guillen aguille4@jhu.edu Trinity Flynn tflynn10@jhu.edu Trinity Flynn tflynn10@jhu.edu Trinity Flynn tflynn10@jhu.edu Trinity Flynn tflynn10@jhu.edu Ujvala Pradeep upradee1@jhu.edu Trinity Flynn tflynn10@jhu.edu |
![]() | Young Song ysong@jhu.edu | Hop Help Tutoring Project Finish to Start Special Olympics YO! Baltimore Tutoring Project Youth Library Tutorial | Miri Cazes mcazes1@jhu.edu Miri Cazes mcazes1@jhu.edu Miri Cazes mcazes1@jhu.edu Miri Cazes mcazes1@jhu.edu |
Be advised that students serving this semester are required to follow JHU Preparing for a COVID-Safe Spring Protocols, including wearing appropriate masks. Your Community Partner may require proof of vaccination and/or a recent negative COVID-19 test as a condition of your in-person service. Per the JHU Updated COVID Safety Protocols, students may not inquire or manage student’s vaccination status. Volunteers should be made aware of the conditions of in-person service and should individually determine if they are able to comply with those requirements.
Hopkins Engage
- Student organizations are encouraged to utilize Hopkins Engage and participate in existing initiatives organized by partner organizations rather than creating new initiatives to be conscious of partner capacity and expressed need.
- Currently, nonprofit organizations are varied in their ability to facilitate volunteer experiences and are navigating their own staffing in light of COVID-19. To be a good partner, we as JHU affiliates, are working to ensure they get the best support that they need at this time.
- Any student organization participating in direct service is asked to track participant service hours through the Hopkins Engage platform. The university is working with partner organizations to post any volunteer opportunities on that platform.
Have questions regarding plans for the 2021-2022 academic year? Contact volunteer@jhu.edu.
If you are unsure about committing to a student group, learn more about the CSC’s other programs.
Join a Student Organization on Hopkins Groups Today!
2021-2022 CSC Student Organization FAQ
Students are also required to follow the University Student Policies, Student Conduct Code, and all Undergraduate Student Organization Policies & Procedures.
General Questions
My group has been approved for in-person service, can we use Hop Vans or Lyft?
Student organizations who plan to serve this semester, have been reviewed and approved to serve, are encouraged to become van certified and reserve a CSC or Hop Van(s). Learn more about the van reservation process on the JHU Transportation website.
In addition, eligible CSC groups who have funding can consider using the Lyft Program. Learn more about the Lyft Program and Lyft Transportation Request process here.
I want to start a new service-oriented student group on campus, but I’m not sure how to start.
The New Student Org On-Ramp assists students in creating a sustainable CSC-affiliated organization that will live beyond their time at JHU.
Upon successful completion of this On-Ramp program, prospective student organizations should have full university approval to launch as a recognized student organization next semester, including access to Hopkins Groups. On Ramp sessions will include the following components:
- Creation of mission, vision, values
- Definition of short and long-term goals
- Identification of success measurements
- Executive Board Development
- Sustainability planning (i.e., fundraising and development)
- Established relationship with a local community partner
- JHU Document Prep and Approval for LEED Registration and CSC Risk Management
We also encourage you to join a current CSC student group or Log into Hopkins Engage to view community identified projects and opportunities. If you are have a project or activity that you are interested in supporting and need funding, please contact volunteer@jhu.edu to speak with a staff member.
Due to COVID-19, our student group cannot serve this semester or year. Will this impact our status and future re-registration?
A student group may choose not to be active during AY21-22 due to current extenuating circumstances. This decision will not impact recognized CSC group status or future re-registration. CERAC may also advise a temporary discontinuation in service if group projects and activities are not viable or in accordance to community partner interest during COVID-19.
General Funding Guidelines
What is my student group’s budget for the academic year 2021-2022?
It’s the sole responsibility of students to ensure that expenses are permissible under university guidelines, and that funds are spent within approved budget lines. Contact your CSC staff advisor for assistance if needed. Students should maintain a monthly record of expenditures to facilitate monthly comparison/reconciliation of group financial reports, and report any discrepancies to CSC staff advisor.
Student group leaders should be familiar with their group account number (Funded Program/Internal Order (Budget Number)/Cost Center number). Internal Order/Budget Numbers are the most important number as this is where all group balances and expenditures will remain. All budget and fund numbers are required to facilitate certain transactions. To access the group’s account number on Hopkins Groups, go to the money tab of the student group’s dashboard in Hopkins Groups. Account balances are visible as well.
How do I request additional funding for my group?
This academic year student groups were awarded an annual allocation. Any groups that needs additional funding to complete a virtual or in-person service activity should apply for a CSC Supplemental Grant Request from their Hopkins Groups organization profile . A group who is serving should only apply for a grant if their community partner has been approved.
Funding requests are limited and will be determined by specific activity or project proposal in consultation with the Civic Engagement Recognition and Allocations Commission throughout the year and on a rolling basis.
Commissioners will be responsible for (1) supporting student groups, (2) allocating funding, (3) recognizing productive and ethical service. The Commission consists of student commissioners and CSC staff members.
Requests will be evaluated and awarded based on the proposal submitted and community identified need. Funding will not be allocated to student groups, projects, or activities for marketing giveaways, food, travel, or honoraria. To apply for a Supplemental Grant, log into your student organization’s page on Hopkins Groups > click “Money” (left side navigation)> Budgeting > Create Budget Request > CSC Supplemental Grant Request
How to make a Grant Request in Hopkins Groups
We encourage you to touch base with your CERAC commissioner to have them review and provide feedback on the grant prior to it’s submission . This process could take approximately 10-14 days, so please plan accordingly.
What’s the fundraising policy? Can our student group fundraise?
Center for Social Concern student groups may hold fundraising campaigns to benefit nonprofit organizations but encourage our student groups to consider whether alternative methods of serving a community partner might be more beneficial.
Approval Process
- The charity/organization must be approved by the CSC before proceeding with the fundraiser. We are unable to donate to international organizations unless they have a domestic partner who can receive the donation.
- Paperwork to get the charity/organization into the JHU vendor system (for payment purposes) must be completed before the event/fundraiser.
- Alternatively, we strongly encourage you to work with your community partner and the Center for Social Concern to leverage Hopkins Engage and affiliate with the CSC and your student group. Fundraising can be done directly through their organization’s GivePulse page.
What do we do with our money?
All fundraiser cash and checks will need to be coordinated with and taken to the Center for Social Concern for deposit within 3-5 business days. As a reminder, student groups are not allowed to use Venmo, PayPal, Kickstarter, or similar platforms to conduct group business, including collecting donations for fundraisers. Please contact your CERAC Commissioner prior to fundraising money to ensure we can receive deposit funds in a timely matter.
What is the reimbursement and purchasing policy?
The University also supports the engagement of Local, Small, Minority, Women-Owned, HUBZone, and Veteran-Owned Businesses/vendors. These actions are an appropriate extension of the University’s fundamental policy of Equal Opportunity. The list of Local, Small, Minority, Women-Owned, HUBZone, and Veteran-Owned Businesses can be found here. The System enables department staff to purchase products directly on behalf of student organizations and charge group accounts. We believe that students should not have to incur a financial burden to participate fully in their organization and, therefore, should not pay out of pocket. The CSC will NOT BE reimbursing students as ALL purchases need to be made through the CSC. Groups are required to plan in advance to purchase supplies and goods.
All purchase requests should be submitted via the Purchase Order Request form on Hopkins Groups.
In order for purchases to be approved, student groups must:
- have had their community partner approved via the Community Partner Service Request.
- have a budget and ample funding to cover their expenses (all student groups budgets are visible in Hopkins Groups and students are responsible to track their expenses and not exceed their budget).
- must be made in advance (14 business days)
If you have questions about purchases or reimbursements, please contact your staff advisor or volunteer@jhu.edu.
Child safety training, documentation, and questions
Center for Social Concern (CSC) Programs and Student Organizations working with minors must adhere to JHU’s Safety of Children in University Programs Policy.
All CSC students actively working with minors must complete the university’s child safety training annually and criminal screening.
Our student group will be working with minors. Is there anything we need to do?
Students who are virtually working with minors and/or serving in person, need to complete training, documentation, and follow the steps below.
Training & Criminal Screening Request
- To access the Mylearning training, do the following:
- Login to my.jh.edu
- Select “Education” on the left-hand navigation bar, select Mylearning
- Search for “Training on the Safety of Children in University Programs”
- After completing the training, save the certificate
- To submit the completion certificate (current academic year), complete the survey on Hopkins Engage and upload your certificate of completion.
- Before completing the survey, you will need to know the following:
- Name of CSC Program or Student Organization
- Name of your Community Partner
- If you will be serving minors virtually or in-person
- Before completing the survey, you will need to know the following:
- The CSC will review and provide the next steps for completing a background check or fingerprinting request. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with volunteer@jhu.edu.
- Once the criminal screen is complete, the survey status in Hopkins Engage will be updated “Approved.”
- CSC staff and student leaders will see the AY22 work w/minors tags in Hopkins Engage under user management. Read the FAQ below about Hopkins Engage Tags: Approved to work with minors .
My community partner requires criminal screening, what do I do?
If you are not working minors but require a criminal screening per community partner request, do the following:
- Complete the survey on Hopkins Engage.
- Before completing the survey, you will need to know the following:
- Name of CSC Program or Student Organization
- Name of your Community Partner
- Before completing the survey, you will need to know the following:
- The CSC will review and provide the next steps for completing a background check or fingerprinting request. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with volunteer@jhu.edu.
- Once the criminal screen is complete, the survey status will be updated “Approved.”
- CSC staff and student leaders will see the AY22 work w/minors tags in Hopkins Engage under user management. Read the FAQ below about Hopkins Engage Tags: Approved to work with minors .
I am a student leader, how do I verify which members have completed their child safety training and completed their background checks/fingerprinting?
Student leaders identified in Hopkins Engage CSC Student Organizations have administrative access to view their members’ tags and see their status. If you have questions about this process, contact your CERAC Commissioner or attend Hopkins Engage Open Office Hours on Tuesdays (1-2pm EST). An explanation of Hopkins Engage tags are below.
AY22 Work w/Minors
The “AY22 Work w/Minors” is a tag used in Hopkins Engage for the CSC Program and Student Organization participants/members. This tag indicates that the student has completed requirements per the JHU Policy and necessary criminal screening completed by a community partner and cleared to work with minors during the AY22.
AY22 Work w/Minors (Fingerprinting)
The “AY22 Work w/Minors (Fingerprinting)” is a tag used in Hopkins Engage for the Center for Social Concern Program and Student Organization participants/members. This tag indicates that the student has completed requirements per the JHU Policy and necessary criminal screening completed by the CSC and can work with minors during the AY22.
AY22 Work w/Minors (Background Check)
The “AY22 Work w/Minors (Background Check)” is a tag used in Hopkins Engage for the Center for Social Concern Program and Student Organization participants/members. This tag indicates that the student has completed requirements per the JHU Policy and necessary criminal screening completed by the CSC and can work with minors during the AY22.
I belong to multiple student organizations. Do I need to complete child safety training and a Hopkins Engage Survey for each organization I’m working with?
Child Safety Training
No, you only need to complete your training and background checks/fingerprinting one time per year. Also, in Hopkins Engage, you will see this completion in your MyActivity> Surveys > Status = Complete
Hopkins Engage
Yes, you should complete the survey on Hopkins Engage for every organization you are working with minors and upload your Child Safety Training certificate of completion.
I completed the Training on the Safety of Children in University Programs (MyLearning module) last year. Do I need to complete it again?
Yes, this is an annual requirement of the CSC.
What is the JHU suspected abuse or neglect of a child policy?
Those students who are working with children under 18 years of age are required to complete JHU’s online child safety training prior to service. The training discusses your responsibilities of working with children. It will also provide best practices when working with children, describe the different types of child abuse, and JHU’s process of reporting suspected abuse or neglect of a child. This training is completed in Path Training. See FAQ above for additional information to access the training.
Reporting Process
If you need to report suspected abuse or neglect of a child, you need to report it internally to the Office of the General Counsel and externally to Baltimore Child Protective Services within 48 hours of the incident. The Center for Social Concern can assist you with this process. For your reference, both offices contact information is listed below.
Office of the General Counsel
3400 N. Charles Street
Garland 113
Baltimore, MD 21218-2688
Phone: (410) 516-8128
generalcounsel@jhu.edu
Baltimore Child Protective Services
1525 N. Calvert Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Phone: (410) 361-2235 (24 hours)
Fax: (443) 423-7003 or 443-423-7002
After hours fax: (443) 423-5950
Background Check Requirement Questions
How long are my background checks good for and who processes them?
All background checks completed by the CSC will be useful for five years. JHU Partners with Universal Background Screening, Inc., you will receive an email from eforms@universalbackground.com. Please click the link they provide and complete all required questions as soon as possible.
Is there a cost for background checks?
No, the CSC will be covering the expense of background cost fees for CSC student organizations.
I do not have any employment history. How do I answer this question on the background check form – what do I do?
Enter “NA” for this question.
I belong to multiple student organizations. Do I need to have a background check completed for each organization?
No, all background checks completed will be good for five years. However, you will need to complete (MyLearning) Training on the Safety of Children in University Programs every year.
Our community partner wants volunteers to be fingerprinted for service this year. What do our members need to do?
Email volunteer@jhu.edu and provide contact information of the community partner and description of service being provided this academic year. Please copy your CERAC Commissioner on this communication. The CSC will work with the community partner regarding JHU policies.