{"id":165520,"date":"2026-02-23T11:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/165520\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:38:08","slug":"usf-room-policies-shouldnt-sideline-student-organizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/165520\/","title":{"rendered":"USF room policies shouldn\u2019t sideline student organizations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>USF needs to be more accommodating to student organizations in the future. ORACLE PHOTO\/VIOLET VASQUEZ PIMENTEL<\/p>\n

Student organizations are one of the most important parts of a fulfilling college life.<\/p>\n

Attending activities hosted by on-campus organizations provides students with a higher sense of belonging, in turn leading to enhanced academic and personal motivation, according to a 2024 study<\/a> from the National Library of Medicine.<\/p>\n

In my experience, attending events tailored to my interests has been some of the most fun I\u2019ve had on campus and has allowed me to meet so many amazing people.<\/p>\n

USF offers over 600 student organizations, many of which host regular events, according to the university<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Organizations can reserve over twenty rooms<\/a> in the Marshall Student Center for these social events without charge, according to the MSC Plan and Market Events FAQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But unfortunately, members of student organizations have recently encountered issues using the room reservation process.<\/p>\n

Contradictions between the deadlines for reserving and cancelling rooms should be addressed to smooth complications for organizations looking to hold events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: When USF club funding drops, connection does too<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior to December 2025, student organizations were allowed to cancel a room reservation up to three days before the corresponding event without incurring fees, according to an older version <\/a>of the MSC\u2019s Policy and Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, new policies state organizations must now give at least seven days of notice, according to the updated document<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The MSC\u2019s Policy and Guidelines<\/a> state that while the first failure to comply with these policies simply incurs a warning, the second failure incurs a $50 fee and a $100 fee for any subsequent violations.<\/p>\n

Matt Marshall, the director of the MSC, said rule changes aren\u2019t inherently a negative thing.<\/p>\n

Marshall said these new policies were created to increase the \u201cavailability and quality of space\u201d for groups that hold events at the MSC.<\/p>\n

Overall, the new rules are important for allowing time for the MSC staff to set up for events, and the university still provides plenty of leeway to student organizations.<\/p>\n

Still, there remain some issues making reservations more difficult than they need to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Katya La Costa is a sophomore nursing and public health major, as well as president of the Alpha Omega Campus Ministry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

La Costa said cancellations used to be more flexible prior to the policy change. Still, she said the updated rules make sense and are fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey encourage accountability and help prevent last-minute cancellations that disrupt scheduling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, La Costa said some of the rules surrounding the room reservation process are contradictory.<\/p>\n

La Costa\u2019s concerns stem from \u201ca discrepancy\u201d between the reservation and cancellation deadlines, she said.<\/p>\n

Student organizations must provide at least 10 days\u2019 advance notice to book a room, according to the MSC\u2019s Policies and Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means that even when a space opens up due to a cancellation within a week of the event date, other student organizations are unable to use that space,\u201d La Costa said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This problem should be addressed in keeping with Marshall\u2019s described commitment to increasing the \u201cavailability and quality\u201d of rooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s Marshall Student Center to reduce hours amid budget constraints<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

La Costa said a possible solution would be to allow bookings up to one week in advance to better align with the seven-day cancellation window.<\/p>\n

I believe this would certainly be better than leaving a one-week gap where student organizations can cancel rooms but not reserve them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the complications caused by the room reservation rules, La Costa said she feels overall positive about the room reservation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, I do believe the rules around reserving and canceling rooms in the MSC are fair to student organizations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And the occasional stress is worth struggling through, she said, because of the community her organization provides.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe consistently have around 60 members attending our events, which contributes to the challenge of finding appropriately sized spaces,\u201d La Costa said. \u201cBut despite the difficulties, I wouldn\u2019t trade it because the people and community are amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Student organizations are invaluable to social life on campus, and it\u2019s great that we\u2019re at a school that offers so many.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, with a few small changes to the room reservation rules, USF\u2019s student organizations can thrive even further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USF needs to be more accommodating to student organizations in the future. ORACLE PHOTO\/VIOLET VASQUEZ PIMENTEL Student organizations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-165520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}