Policies and Procedures

School of Medicine Student Groups Rights and Responsibilities

Medical Student Senate, SOURCE and the Office of Medical Student Affairs

Medical Student Senate (MSS), SOURCE, and the Office of Medical Student Affairs (OMSA) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) seek to foster an environment that provides medical students with opportunities, resources, and support to explore and expand their personal and professional interests, build relationships and work with others, and develop skills and experiences while growing as individuals. Student groups provide an outlet for students to become engaged in the Johns Hopkins and greater Baltimore community, which can enhance their holistic development as students and future physicians.

In order to form and maintain status as an official JHUSOM student group, MSS, SOURCE, and OMSA must review and approve proposed activities involving direct interaction with individuals or groups in the Baltimore City community. This includes activities of all groups (i.e., interest, diversity/cultural, athletics/recreational, policy and community service). Of note, any student group interacting with the public is considered a community service group unless specifically exempted by SOURCE (including interactions with patients/families in the hospital). All community service groups must also register annually with SOURCE. Oversight from MSS, SOURCE, and OMSA ensure that student group activities:

  • are mutually beneficial to the Baltimore community and students
  • do not duplicate existing programs and services
  • appropriately utilize School and University resources
  • comply with all University and School policies, rules, and regulations, including use of the Johns Hopkins name
  • follow appropriate procedures for any potential clinically related activities (departmental approval for JHUSOM faculty oversight)

Student groups enjoy numerous privileges and have responsibilities for exercising those privileges in accordance with the values of JHUSOM.

Subject to availability, such privileges may include:

  • Access to space in AMEB and other campus locations
  • Funding
  • Ability to advertise and recruit through school listservs and elsewhere
  • Use of MSS Event Calendar
  • Inclusion of group info in Med Wiki
  • Participation in School and University special events (Orientation activities fair, SOURCE Community Involvement Fair, Second Look Weekend, etc.)

 

General Responsibilities

  • Completing an annual MSS Student Group Registration Form
  • Maintaining a membership that composes of at least 51% School of Medicine students (Exceptions to this rule, which may be necessary to serve the missions of certain interprofessional and/or collaborative service‐based groups, will be made by MSS on a case‐ by‐case basis)
  • Submitting a membership roster to MSS, OMSA, and SOURCE (applies to groups participating in service)
  • Reporting all community engagement activities to SOURCE (including activities, volunteer names, emails, and hours)
  • Conducting regular meetings, defined as three meeting per scholastic year.
  • Completing the Training on the Safety of Children in University Programs (for all student groups that interact with youth under 18 years of age); training can be accessed through myLearning (my.jh.edu) under education and search for course title
  • Having a faculty advisor from the JHU School of Medicine who is actively engaged with your group’s activities

 

AMEB Use Responsibilities

The use of AMEB space is open to all officially‐recognized student groups. Room reservations can be made online. When using AMEB rooms, groups are responsible for:

  • Resetting the layout of the room as they found it
  • Returning any chairs or tables borrowed from the hallway or other AMEB rooms
  • Cleaning up any food or drinks following the meeting
  • Removing any extra supplies following the meeting

 

Purpose of Membership Rosters

  • To determine the size of student groups
  • To determine members of the group outside of leadership
  • Awards and recognition (for example, Service Award at graduation)
  • Child safety training tracking for members (when working with youth)
  • Tracking community service hours and participants (required for student groups - will help groups know who is active in their groups
  • Communication tool for organization
  • To receive reimbursement for student group events (required by OMSA)

 

Student Groups vs. Non‐Profit, Community‐Based Organizations

Student groups that are closely aligned with a community‐based organization (CBO) must differentiate their student group from the CBO by following the above requirements. In these cases, the aforementioned rights pertain directly to the student groups only. School and

University leaders will correspond directly with the student leaders of the service‐based student groups. Staff and leaders of the CBOs do not have the same rights and will not be permitted to represent the student group at any school or university events.

Throughout the years, several service‐based student groups have developed into stand‐alone non‐profit, community‐based organizations. If a student group becomes a separate non‐profit, the non‐profit will need to be reviewed by a team of community engagement leaders from the the University (including representatives from JHUSOM OMSA, SOURCE, and the Center for Social Concern). The relationship that the University and school have with student groups is different than with non‐profits. Additionally, student groups and non‐profits receive different services and privileges. The non‐profit and the University will need to go through a process to distinguish these services and privileges through a formal written agreement.

Failure to adhere to the above responsibilities along with any additional MSS, OMSA and SOURCE rules and regulations can result in the revocation of a student group’s approved status.

 

Questions

For questions, please contact SOURCE and Dr. Barry Solomon, Assistant Dean for Medical Student Affairs, together:  SOURCE@jhu.edu and bsolomon@jhmi.edu.