Event Planning

Planning an Event – Steps to Consider

This may be your first time planning an event or program for your organization, or you could have planned many events or programs for your organization. Regardless, this section will help you think about the different steps of planning an event or program.

Step One – Initial Planning

• What do you want your event to be about? Is this a social event? Will you be doing a fundraiser?
• Will you be the only person planning this event or will you have a committee to plan the event? If you have a committee, you will need to think about everyone’s schedules when planning meetings.
• Think about the location of the event. Where do you want to host the event? Will you have the event on-campus or off-campus? Keep in mind you will need to follow the policies of that location.
• What will you need for the event? Will you need to order catering or rent technology? Will you need staff to help with the event?

Step Two – Submitting in Huskie Hub

• All student organizations must submit an Event Registration on Huskie Hub for an event.
  • Events must be submitted by the given deadline but may be submitted before the deadline for early approval
• Please note: you may want to have the event registration form up while you are completing step one. There may be questions on the form you did not think about and will need to submit the form. Having the form up will allow you to ask those questions and fill out the form at the same time.
• Review all the information and do one of two things:
  • Submit the event for approval.
  • Or save your submission as a draft to revisit and complete.
    • Keep in mind you will need to submit your event for approval if you want your event to be approved.

Step Three - Approval Processes

The approval process is dependent on which kind of event is submitted:

On-Campus Events

• President and Advisor are Notified via email
  • If the president and/or advisor have a concern about the event, please contact studentinvolvement@niu.edu.
• NIU Police and Public Safety is notified
  • If there is a need to meet with NIU PD, a representative will reach out to the person that submitted the request.
• University Representative Approves
  • A university representative will make sure the organization is in good standing and that they are in line with the On-Campus Event Policy.
• Venue Approves
  • Keep in mind the venue will not approve the event until all necessary meetings and contracts are completed.
  • If charges are applied, the student organization will be responsible for paying those charges by the specified date and time.

Off-Campus Events

• President and Advisor are Notified via email
  • If the president and/or have a concern about the event, please contact studentinvolvement@niu.edu.
• NIU Police and Public Safety is Notified
  • If there is a need for security for your off-campus event, please contact NIU PD.
• University Representative Approves
  • If applicable, the university representative will check to make sure that any necessary trainings are completed by the student organization (i.e., risk management training for events with alcohol).