Publication vies for CSO position
By Matt Rupel
Live Live OneWorld, Santa Clara's social justice magazine, took its first steps towards formal recognition when it applied to become a Chartered Student Organization last month.
Live OneWorld is an annual magazine that features Santa Clara students' reflections on and photos of abroad trips and global volunteer work. Currently, the university does not fund the publication. Instead, Live OneWorld handles all of its own finances.
"Becoming a CSO would benefit Live OneWorld a lot," said Zena Andreani, a sophomore and the co-editor of Live OneWorld Magazine. "Right now we run off of a lot of volunteer work. Becoming a CSO would give us more structure to work in."
The publication applied to be a CSO because that status offers several advantages. First, the university provides the financial resources required for the production of the publication.
This means that Live OneWorld would no longer be required to search for ways to pay for the magazine to be produced. Second, with Santa Clara's financial support, jobs would be created, expanding employment opportunities on the publication's staff.
CSOs are also typically allocated resources, such as office space and computers, for the staff to work with. They are also assigned an advisor from the university.
One of the biggest incentives to becoming a CSO is the possibility of publishing more than one edition a year, Andreani said.
Funding for all of the different CSOs comes from a predetermined amount of money from tuition. One issue facing Live OneWorld is that this pool of money is already split between eight organizations -- and budgets are already stretching as it is.
If Live OneWorld is accepted as a CSO, it will join the ranks of the Activities Programming Board, Associated Students, KSCU, the Multicultural Center, the Santa Clara Review, The Santa Clara, the Santa Clara Community Action Program and the Redwood.
Jeanne Rosenberger, vice provost of student life at Santa Clara, manages the budget and oversees the chartering process as part of her job.
According to Rosenberger, one of the current challenges facing the university is how to support Live OneWorld without disadvantaging any of the other eight student organizations.
The process of applying to become a CSO involves several steps. The organization must show that it would provide a service at the university that is both in line with the goals of Santa Clara and not currently available. The organization applying to be chartered must undergo a review process by the Review Task Force, a group appointed by the Dean.
The committee is made up of a Center for Student Leadership staff member, a university staff member, a representative of the organization under review, a student recommended by the Student Body President and a faculty member. This task force looks at a mission statement by the organization, a five-year plan, projected budgetary needs and operating procedures.
Once all of this is information is submitted to the Review Task Force, the decision process begins.
All of the current CSOs contribute their input to the decision making process as well.
One issue that has been raised by current CSO leaders to Rosenberger is the question of whether or not Live OneWorld really needs to become a CSO. The argument is that Live OneWorld is already well able to put out its annual publication at a high quality.
It has also been suggested that Live Live OneWorld could publish online, reducing costs and becoming a more dynamic forum through which students can share experiences. It could also result in more frequent publications.
The Review Task Force is meeting today to make its decision.
Contact Matt Rupel at mrupel@scu.edu or (408) 554-4546.