Frequently Asked Registration Questions
(Revised 10/5/25)

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? It depends on the event. Your school does NOT have to be a member of MASC to register for the Fall Leadership Conference.  However, ONLY MEMBER SCHOOLS may register for the Legislative Session and the Convention.

2.   How do I register a delegation for a statewide event (Fall Leadership Conference,  Legislative Session, 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 event’s Registration Checklist and have completed the Registration Worksheet (both documents are available on the particular event page), use the registration link provided on that 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  approved by the principal.  In some circumstances, the principal may approve of an attending advisor from another school or office (i.e. the Regional Advisor) to be responsible. On rare occasions and 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 must 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, 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 zero votes?

This indicates the number of votes your school is allotted.  Zero votes typically means that your school is not yet a member of MASC.  (Regional offices will always indicate zero votes.)  Membership is not required to attend the MASC Fall Leadership Conference, so this number is irrelevant.  Membership is required for attending the Legislative Session 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 zero 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 Membership Coordinator.

9.  My principal and I didn’t receive emails as described in the registration instructions. Should I just register again?

No.  If you clicked on the submit button at the top of the page, separate emails to you and your principal were immediately sent to the email addresses provided on 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 rerouted 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 trash/junk/spam folders for the <goformz.com> domain. Also, be aware that some email systems have various labels for legit inboxes such as “Updates,” “Social,” etc. Check in those too.

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

c.  If after waiting and searching you and/or your principal can’t find your emails, first contact your IT specialist in your school. Sometimes email servers will block certain email address domains. Your IT specialist should know what to do. Invite that individual to contact the MASC Registrar at <wayne.perry@mdstudentcouncils.org>.

Not receiving the emails could also be due to a simple typo in an email address on the form. It can happen to the best of us and can be an invisible space unintentionally added.  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 at <wayne.perry@mdstudentcouncils.org>.

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 the emails sent after you submit your registration. 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 who 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?

Since membership dues and event registration payments are now handled by separate offices, this is no longer possible without making special arrangements with the MASC Registrar.

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?

The registration process pulls school information from a custom database of schools that have been a member or have participated in even one MASC event since 2004. If your school is not on the list, it is most likely due to one of the reasons described below.

a. Your school is new to MASC. In such a case, click in the “Enter value” box that pops up and enter your school’s name and go on to the other fields to provide the requested information. For future events, you will find your school listed.

b. Your school has a balance due from past events, or at least the MASC records indicate such.  Schools may not register if they still owe for past events.  Contact the MASC Registrar to resolve this issue.

c. 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 official name is much more formal than what it is called by students, teachers, and families.

18.  What do I need in order 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. There are three purposes for on-site check-in:

a. To verify that MASC has complete and accurate information about your delegation attending the event.

b. To submit Participant Emergency Forms for each attendee including adults and to declare that the information is complete and accurate. For Convention only, this includes Delegate Contracts.

c. To receive the materials your delegation needs for the event.  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 the principal has submitted their signature and approval. This 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.

Please note: Meeting the deadline is the sole responsibility of the school advisor. Coordinate with your principal or admin secretaries so that the signed form is submitted. Do not depend on someone else to meet your deadline. Follow up with them until you know everything has been completed.  If paying by check, double-check the PO box address on the invoice!!

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.