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Event Co-Sponsorship Policy

We welcome co-sponsorship requests from individuals and organizations inside and outside of OSU. All requests are subject to the following conditions, and are subject to the Director's approval (and in the case of non-OSU partners, are subject to university approval). Before requesting co-sponsorship, please review the following expectations and requirements and let us know if you have any questions. Events must relate to our mission, and be educational or academic in nature.  We give the arts priority, but do require more co-sponship and lead time for major performances. We have expectations, require a certain level of pre-event preparation, and follow-up after the event, which we discuss in detail below.  

Expectations for Co-sponsorship

  • Attendance needs to be at a certain level to justify expenditures - how many students or community members can we count on?
  • Education must be an element of the program design. Specifically, our learning objectives is that people walk away with a new understanding of the diversity of the cultural communities and languages of the Middle East.  This means some background information should be presented or shared in a handout. 
  • OSU units and/or non-OSU organizations take responsibility for any travel arrangements needed for guest speakers unless written into a prior memorandum of agreement with MESC.   
  • Lead time. The more we have, the more we can do. If all you need is publicity, two weeks is enough. See more details below. Note: if your event coincides with an event we are already planning, we may not be able to approve your request. Please send date, time, location, title, featured speaker, bio, and any other pertinent information at least 2 weeks before the event. Thanks!
  • Post-Event follow-up; i.e.,proper documentation and information sharing for our fiscal processes and evaluation efforts. We require receipts and attendee lists for any event we co-sponsor. See more details below.

Lead-time also allows us to:

  • conduct research on background of the topic
  • write blog posts to promote the event
  • do image research for these materials
  • obtain help from other units with publicity (this is very important as it extends our networks). These units will require dates ahead of time. The farther ahead the better - increases likelihood we will get additional coverage in outlets such as the Lantern or local news channels.  

Outreach and Engagement Goals

  • potential audience members mark their calendars as soon as possible. This will encourage local people to come.
  • raise awareness about the rich array of cultural offerings provided by Ohio State to the Community
  • connect to local Middle Eastern diaspora communities and other allies. 

Institutional Goals

Recruit students: raise awareness about Iranian language and culture classes at OSU

Cross-disciplinary connections: attract other departments the humanities, their students and faculty

Lead-time also allows us to:

  • conduct research on background of the topic
  • write blog posts to promote the event
  • do image research for these materials

Follow-Up

Our Business Office requires the following documentation for payment. This is for auditing purposes and proper custodianship of university funds. 

  • RECEIPTS: Please submit receipts associated with expenses we are supporting the next business day after the event. Please scan your receipts and save the file with a meaningful title we can recognize and the date of the event - month/day/year. You can submit receipts via this email.

  • ATTENDEES RECORD: Please submit a list of attendees, or a sign-in sheet, for any portion of the event where food was served. Use this email to submit attendee lists for any event we co-sponsor. 

  • We also appreciate any pictures you may have taken at the event. Please submit pictures via this form

Any additional documentation you may have, such as survey results or comments from attendees would be appreciated. Please share with MESC staff. Thank you!

For Community Organizations

The Middle East Studies Center welcomes opportunities to partner on academic engagement activities. However, we adhere to university policy and our own policy with regard to which events we can co-sponsor.  Budget allowing, we can co-sponsor events for organizations outside of OSU, provided they are a not-for-profit organization and the request is approved by the Outreach and Engagement Office. In early 2014, the University adopted a centralized approach to processing requests for event sponsorships.

For OSU Units

If you are faculty, student or staff of OSU and would like to submit a co-sponsorship request for events and guest speakers to mesc@osu.edu, please take the following provisos into account:

  • There is at least one additional co-sponsor for the event;
  • There is at least one professor promoting the event to their students;
  • Our financial contributions are limited to transfers (max. $200 per event, if the budget allows) after the event has concluded; and
  • We have complete event details for publicity (date, time, title, speaker name and affiliation, place, co-sponsor list, in addition to any other salient details) two weeks prior to the event. 

We will (if the above requirements are met) provide:

  • A modest amount of co-sponsorship funding (max. $200 per event, if the budget allows). 
  • Publicity
  • Sweets and coffee/tea

Co-Hosting Events

If we receive the information request above at least a year in advance (and approve the event), we will:

  • make this a signature event, presented as a co-equal partner with your department.
  • professionally produced publicity materials, including flyers or postcards. 
  • reserve a space
  • introduce the speaker (biography must be provided two weeks in advance)
  • create related educational materials, and invite P-12 teachers
  • host the speaker (not meaning lodging) for a period of time during their stay.

Additional services, approved on a case-by-case basis, include:

  • inviting a speaker or performer 
  • paying a portion of travel
  • creating a program
  • Note: Please check our event calendar before making any co-sponsorship requests as we may not accept a request for a day another event has been scheduled. 

Thank you! We look forward to working with you. 

Event Accessibility and General Information Statement

For more information about this or other activities, please get in contact with the Middle East Studies Center, (614) 292-5897  To support our programs please go to our development page or consider joining our team

Parking and Accessibility

The Campus Parc web site provides comprehensive parking information. Disability spaces are available in those parking garages and behind Campbell Hall for visitors with valid disability permits. Parking accessibility information is here, more specific questions can be answered by Campus Parc and an ADA accessible parking map is located here.

Please let us know if you have questions concerning access, or need to request accommodations for a disability. We will either direct you to the event organizers, or, if we are the organizer, make arrangements for any necessary accommodations. Early requests are encouraged, and a week will generally allow OSU units to provide seamless access.