Frequently Asked Registration Questions
(Revised 9/24/24)

For quick access, use <Ctrl-F> and enter a keyword from your question in the search box.  If your question is not addressed here, please contact the MASC Registrar at wayne.perry@mdstudentcouncils.org

1.  Do I have to be a member of MASC to register for a conference? Your school does NOT have to be a member of MASC to register for the Fall Leadership Conference.  ONLY MEMBER SCHOOLS may register for the Winter Leadership Conference and the Convention.

2.   How do I register a delegation for a statewide event (Fall Leadership Conference,  Winter Leadership Conference, and the Convention? 

Only the school advisor may register a delegation for MASC statewide events.  This may not be delegated to a student as the process entails making a financial contract with MASC. After you review the Registration Checklist and have completed the Registration Worksheet (both documents are available on the event page), use the registration link provided on the event page to begin registering your delegation.

3.  What is an “attending advisor”?

MASC is not responsible for students attending events.  Every student must be under the direct supervision of an adult authorized by their school’s principal.  This individual is typically the school’s SGA advisor/sponsor, but he/she may be another teacher or other staff member from the school.  In some circumstances, the principal may approve of an attending advisor from another school or office (i.e. the Regional Advisor) to be responsible. Only with special permission from the MASC Executive Director, the principal may authorize a parent to serve that function.  The individual authorized must be familiar with and able to enforce the relevant student policies of his/her school and district. Additionally, they will fully meet MASC’s expectations of all advisors at the event.

4.  What if my school wants to participate, but I am not able to attend? 

Although MASC prefers that students attend with their school SGA advisor, we realize that there are circumstances that prevent that from happening.  The key point is that students are directly supervised by an adult authorized to do so by their school principal. In such circumstances, another teacher or staff member of the school attends as the advisor.  Alternatively, the principal may authorize the regional advisor or an advisor from another school in the district.  On rare occasions, the principal may even authorize a parent to serve in that capacity, but in such a case, the parent must be able to fulfill all responsibilities of a school advisor. (See the question above.)

5.  Why can’t students attend MASC events without an advisor? Isn’t MASC a student organization?

Technically, the Maryland Association of Student Councils (MASC) is not a student organization.  As its name states, MASC is an association of school student councils, not students.  Member schools send delegates, authorized by school principals, as representatives.

6.  In the interest of building leadership capacity, can our SGA president take care of the online registration?

No.  Online registration creates a binding financial contract between the school and MASC.  Only an adult duly authorized to act as an agent of the school principal may do that.

7.  What do event registration fees pay for?

Fees associated with participating in MASC events first go to pay for the costs of the event.  The money collected pays for food, facility use, health staffing, instructional materials, and name tags, as well as administrative costs for office supplies, postage, server space, contracts, personnel, and other MASC operating expenses including a stipend for the hosting school/region.  MASC works very hard to keep participation in our events as affordable as possible.  Situations involving prohibitive financial hardship should be discussed with the school principal and the regional advisor.

8.  Why does it say my school has “0” votes?

This indicates the number of votes your school is allotted.  “0” votes typically means that your school is not yet a member of MASC.  (Regional offices will always indicate “0” votes.)  Membership is not required to attend the MASC Fall Leadership Conference so this number is irrelevant.  Membership is required for attending the Winter Leadership Conference and the Convention.  You can apply for membership by clicking “Join Now” on the MASC website.  If your school has already applied for membership, and you still have “0” votes, your application is likely still being processed.  Have you submitted your dues payment?  Have you submitted a copy of your application form signed by your principal?  Each of these will stall the processing of membership.  If you have any further questions about your membership, contact the MASC Registrar.

9.  I didn’t receive a “Registration Confirmation” email. Should I just register again?

No.  If you clicked on the submit button at the top of the page, the confirmation email was immediately sent to the advisor email address from the form you just submitted. It is sent from <no-reply@goformz.com>. Re-registering will only duplicate your information and complicate the whole process.  The problem in such a case is typically one of the following: something in your system’s (or your school’s) network server has blocked or re-routed your email, your computer’s settings, your email software settings, or any combination of those possibilities.  There is no uniform way school systems handle incoming emails.  If you did not find it in your inbox immediately, try the following:

a.  Check your other mailboxes/folders, such as “Trash,” “Junk,” or “Spam.”

b.  Some email programs have various labels for their legitimate inboxes. Check to see if it is under a label other than your primary one, such as “Updates,” “Social,” “Promotions,” etc.

c.  There may be a time delay that your email system uses. Check for it again in a couple of hours.

d.  If you have waited and searched and still can’t find your “Registration Confirmation” email, first contact your IT specialist in your school. Sometimes email servers will block unknown email address domains. Your IT specialist should know what to do. Invite that individual to contact the MASC Registrar.

Not receiving your confirmation email could also be due to a simple typo in the email address on the form (it happens).  If you have waited and searched and your IT specialist has no other explanation for why you can’t find your “Registration Confirmation” email, contact the MASC Registrar.

10.  My delegation has changed significantly since I first registered online. Should I just start over?

No.  Starting over duplicates information and complicates things.  Inform the MASC Registrar of what kind of changes you need to make.  The registrar will determine the easiest and most efficient way to deal with them.  Occasionally, you will need to start over again but contact the MASC Registrar first.

11.  What do I do if I need another copy of an invoice?

A .pdf of your Registration Report/Invoice is attached to your Confirmation Email. Save that file so that you have access to as many copies as you may need.

12.  I completed an initial registration but then went on 2 more times to add more students. I now have 3 separate invoices. Is there a way to get one invoice that combines them all so that I can just pay a single amount?

It is perfectly fine to combine multiple invoices into one payment. That is totally up to the individual that is paying; usually your school bookkeeper. If a separate single invoice is required, contact the MASC Registrar and one will be provided.

13.  Why are there deadlines for registration, payment, and refunds?

Unless you have participated in organizing a statewide event for many hundreds of people, you may not realize the amount of work that goes into efficiently planning and carrying out a successful event.  Detailed planning for MASC events begins at least a year before the actual event.  Facilities must be sought out and reserved.  Event materials must be pre-ordered and food must be determined and arranged (including as many as 50 special diets) long before an event takes place. A significant amount of money is spent or encumbered by the deadlines we set.  Vendors are not likely or able to accept changes if they are too late, and if they can make changes, there are frequently additional charges applied.  Most of the costs for a participant have already been paid for by the time the deadline comes along.

14.  My school wants to pay membership dues and registration with one payment. Is that acceptable?

It is much easier for the bookkeeping purposes to have separate payments. If your school bookkeeper really would like to combine payments, it is acceptable. Just be sure that invoices are included with a check or explanation provided for a credit card payment.

15.  Why does the principal have to sign our invoice?

The entity attending the event is the school as represented by a delegation of students and an advisor.  A school may not be represented at MASC events without the signed authorization of the school’s principal or designee.

16.  This is the first time my school has participated in a MASC event. When I tried to register, my school was not on the dropdown list. What now?

Fall Leadership is open to all middle and high schools in the state of Maryland. Our database of schools includes any school that has been a member or has participated in even one MASC event since 2004.  Winter Leadership and Convention are for member schools only. If your school is not on the list, it may mean that your signed membership application has not been received and/or you have not paid dues. It may also mean that your school has a balance due from past events. School may not register if they still owe for past events. Be sure you are looking for the formal name of your school. We make every attempt to use the school name that your system provided to the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). It’s easy to forget that your school’s name is much more formal than what it is called by students, teachers, and families. The best way to be added to the list is for your school to become a member.  Click  “Join Now” in the banner at the top-right of our website at http://mdstudentcouncils.org to begin the process. It is also possible to have your school added to the database, even without becoming a member, simply by contacting the MASC Registrar.

18.  What do I need to check in my delegation when we arrive at the event?

Within a day or 2 of the event, you will receive instructions regarding on-site check-in, but here is a brief explanation.  There are two purposes for on-site check-in:

The first is to verify that MASC has complete and accurate information about your delegation. To accomplish this, a Check-In Form will be made available on your dashboard just before the event that tells you what information we already have in our database. Simply print out the form, make any corrections needed according to the instructions, and bring it to on-site check-in. Then, you will provide critical additional information by submitting a Participant Emergency Form for each participant, including any adult. (For the Convention, you will also bring a Delegate Contract for each student.) You will need to declare that everything is complete and accurate.

The second purpose is for you to receive the materials your delegation needs for the event. Among other things, this may include nametags, session materials, schedules, and sometimes tee-shirts and other items.

19.  Because of various reasons, I’m not going to be able to meet the deadline. What do I do?

Contact the MASC Registrar immediately. Remember that meeting the deadline only requires that a scan/photo of your Registration Report/Invoice signed by your principal be sent to the MASC Registrar by email. The signed invoice not only authorizes your delegation to attend but also guarantees payment. Although MASC expects you to process payment of the invoice at the same time you request a signature, there is no deadline for payment. The various schools and systems across the state have differing timelines for processing payments well beyond the control of the advisor. Once MASC receives the invoice signed by the principal, payment is assured.

Meeting the deadline is the sole responsibility of the school advisor. Do not depend on someone else to meet your deadline. If you need to submit the form to your office to be processed and submitted, be sure the office is aware of the deadline and late fees if the deadline is missed. Follow up with them until you know the signed form has been submitted.

20.  What if I find out MASC has not received our payment but the office tells me they sent it?

This is almost always due to the school’s accounting software that auto-fills an old address and then creates an envelope/mailing label with incorrect information. First, confirm that the payment was sent to the address provided on the invoice. In such cases, ask the office involved to contact the MASC Registrar. If payment was sent to the correct address, send the MASC Registrar the check number, the amount, and the date the check was written/sent and it will be investigated and resolved.

21.  What do I do if one of my students cancels at the last minute? Can I get a refund?

MASC strongly suggests that you arrange to have additional students ready to substitute for a delegate at a moment’s notice. There is no additional fee for substitutes. If you have complete paperwork for him/her, you can decide to bring a substitute right up to the time you leave for the event.

There are no refunds of registration fees after the signed Registration Report/Invoice submission deadline. In cases of extreme circumstances, an appeal can be made to the MASC Executive Director for a partial or full refund. Remember that by the time of the postmark deadline, most of the anticipated registration fees for an event have been encumbered; materials have been purchased, food has been ordered, and contracts have been signed. Refunds after the postmark deadline are not just revenue losses, they are additional costs that MASC and the event host must cover themselves.