Policies and Guidelines for Outside Speakers: Event Approval

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Student organizations are encouraged to offer opportunities to their members and peers to expand their professional knowledge. If a student organization is inviting a guest speaker (who is not affiliated with MWU) to campus, the organization must follow these guidelines:

  1. The topic presented by the guest speaker must align with the mission and objectives of the sponsoring MWU student organization and be related to healthcare and/or individual professional development. Topics should not have a political or activist focus and should have an educational emphasis that is aligned with the mission of the student club/organization.
  2. Non-MWU Presenters include
    1. Anyone who is not MWU faculty/staff (including Adjunct faculty);
    2. Presenter is from outside organization/vendor;
    3. Presenter is Alumni;
    4. Presenter is from regional/national professional organization;
    5. Presenter is an instructor not affiliated with MWU; or
    6. Not applicable to fitness (yoga/aerobic) instructors.
  3. Applies to these types of events
    1. Meetings with students virtual or in person;
    2. Meetings with students on or off campus;
    3. Guest lectures;
    4. Vendor presentations; or
    5. Approved MWU events:
      1. If event is not approved by MWU, then student organizations cannot use MWU resources (i.e. MWU email, pulse/connect) to share information about event.
  4. Event Approval Process
    1. Students need to secure timely, written approval (at least 4 weeks) from their faculty advisor once the name and topic of the presentation has been determined.
      1. This approval must be submitted to Student Activities Staff before event can be approved.
    2. Faculty advisors must attend presentations and remain for the duration of the event. If an event involving an outside speaker veers off topic and not aligned with the mission of the student club or organization, the faculty advisorshould redirect the presentation or stop the presentation altogether.
    3. Before the presentation is approved, the speaker must share their PowerPoint, materials, or outline of presentation with faculty advisor to ensure topics are appropriate and within MWU guidelines.
    4. All outside speakers will be required to sign a Code of Conduct Agreement.
    5. Presentations related to finances or student loan repayment must also be approved by Student Financial Services.
    6. Presenters are not allowed to solicit student contact information or sell products during presentations. Presenters can share their own contact information for students to reach out to them.
    7. The Dean’s offices in each college may have additional requirements for guest speakers that should be shared with faculty advisors for their organizations.

Student organization, club and class accounts are maintained on campus in the Office of Business Services unless said groups can provide documentation of requirement of an independent account from the respective national organization.