Form a Project Team

New Team Application Criteria

Student organizations that want to apply to become an Engineering Student Project Team must:

1. Register as an Student Organization with Cornell Campus Activities and maintain status for one full academic year prior to the July 1 conditional status start date for new teams, i.e., you may apply during the Spring semester after one complete Fall semester as a registered organization. 
2. Have support from a faculty advisor willing to oversee grading (SU or letter grades).
3. Include a minimum of 10 undergraduate student members.
   • Members must come from at least three engineering or CIS majors.
   • Three members must be willing/able to serve in required project team leadership positions (primary, business, and safety leads).
4. Focus on a project that:
   • Addresses a significant/substantial engineering challenge.
   • Requires multidisciplinary collaboration.
   • Involves distinct goals/deliverables each academic year.

Any Cornell student organization that meets these criteria may apply to become an Engineering Student Project Team (SPT), however, selection as a SPT is not guaranteed for all eligible groups. Selection is based on the quality of the application submission, the individual student organization's situation, and availability of necessary resources (including funding and workspace).

2025 New Team Application Process

Student organizations that want to apply to become an Engineering Student Project Team will complete the following process:

Step One. Complete the Engineering Student Project Team Application (form will open on Jan. 20)

Applicants will be asked to provide the following:

• Team Information (Team Name, Team Website, Link to Campus Groups Profile)
• Faculty Advisor Information (Name, Email, College/School/Department affiliation)
• Team purpose/mission
• Team goals (annual and longer-term)
• Annual timeline of key activities
• Team organizational structure
• Current team roster (roster should include the following information for each member: first name, last name, NetID, class year, college, major) and team constitution/bylaws (file uploads)
• Is the team affiliated with a national organization? (If yes, provide information.)
• Does your team work with community partners? (If yes, provide information.)
• Does your team travel or plan to travel? (If yes, provide information.)
• Information about the team’s current workspace and/or workspace needs.
• Any additional information that you think will be important for the application review process.

Step Two. Participate in a review process. This will include:

• Application review conducted by Project Team Staff, the Project Team faculty committee, and a selection of current project team student leaders.
  • This may result in additional questions, requests for more information, or the need to update/resubmit application materials.
• Meeting with the Project Team Director or Assistant Director.

Step Three. If approved, the organization will earn Conditional Student Project Team (CSPT) status for one year.

During this year students on the team will:

• Be eligible to earn one credit (SU) each semester.
• Develop learning outcomes and syllabi (support and templates provided).
• Participate in safety training, leads meetings, and other programmatic requirements.
• Enroll in the Project Team on-boarding course (all members).

During this year the team will:

• Be partnered with a “mentor team” to ensure support and guidance.
• Be eligible for some college funding and participate in college-supported fundraising and sponsorship activities.
• Participate in SPT recruiting activities.
• Participate in the SPT annual review and Spring budgeting process.

If the CSPT meets all requirements during their first year, they will be eligible to achieve “full team” status after the annual team renewal process.

Questions?

Email Engineering Project Teams, eng_projectteams@cornell.edu