Establishing a New ASPRS Student Chapter

Interested in starting a new ASPRS Student Chapter at your institution? The process begins with a Student Chapter Petition Application you can fill out online. Watch the short video for an explanation of the complete process.

A Student Chapter must have a Faculty Advisor at a Host Institution and must be sponsored by an ASPRS Region. A minimum of three students are needed to serve as Officers; all three can all be from the Host Institution or they can be from other colleges and universities in the same Region.

Have questions? Contact us at programs@asprs.org

File

ESTABLISHING AN ASPRS STUDENT CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

The authority for establishing a Student Chapter of ASPRS is set forth in the ASPRS Bylaws

  • Student Chapters are sub-elements of ASPRS Regions.
  • Student Chapters are intended to encourage students to become members of ASPRS by engaging them in local, regional, national, and international activities of the Society.
  • Student Chapters provide a structure within the Society to provide support and opportunities targeted toward undergraduate and graduate students at the university level.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

A Student Chapter requires a minimum of three students and one faculty advisor who are Individual Members of ASPRS in good-standing. Most of the time, all four individuals will be at the same institution, but there are provisions in the Bylaws for multiple colleges or universities in the same Region to form a combined Student Chapter. Most of the time, the Student Chapter will be sponsored by the ASPRS Region that geographically contains the host institution, but there are also provisions in the Bylaws for assignment of a different host Region.

A Student Chapter must have a Charter, Bylaws and Operating Procedures. Templates for these documents have been developed by the Student Advisory Council and the Region Officers Council. The Host Region will assist with drafting of these documents to help streamline the application process.

HOW TO GET STARTED

  1. Review the Student Chapter Bylaws Template
  2. Gather the following information:
    1. ASPRS Host Region Name
    2. Host Institution Name and Address
    3. Faculty Advisor Name, ASPRS Member Number
    4. Student Officer Names and MyASPRS ID number.
    5. Proposed Chapter Name
    6. Annual Operating Year Start and End Dates for all Chapters are Sep 1 – Aug 31
    7. Proposed Annual Meeting Month: Student Chapters can hold their annual election in any month of their choosing within the Operating Year.
    8. Proposed Frequency of Student Chapter meetings. At least three meetings, in addition to the Annual Meeting, must be held throughout the year.
  3. Submit the Student Chapter Petition Application.

APPLICATION PROCESSING

Processing of the Petition Application then entails these additional steps:

  1. ASPRS Headquarters creates a PDF document from the Petition Application that will be circulated to the Petitioners for signatures.
  2. ASPRS Headquarters will forward the signed Petition to the Host Region.
  3. The Host Region will create a draft Charter, Bylaws, and Operating Procedures based on the approved templates.
  4. The Host Region will return the draft documents to the Faculty Advisor for their review, comment, and approval.
  5. The Host Region will forward the Petition, Charter, Bylaws, and Operating Procedures to the Region Officers Council for approval.
  6. The Region Officers Council will forward the Petition, Charter, Bylaws, and Operating Procedures to the ASPRS Board of Directors for adoption.
  7. The Executive Director will send the approved documents to the Faculty Advisor, along with a Student Chapter logo, instructions for creating a Student Chapter Community and Website, and guidelines for creating Social Media accounts.
  8. The Student Advisory Council Chair will provide the Student Chapter President with a schedule of upcoming SAC meetings and access to the SAC Leadership Community on the ASPRS website.

Printable version of these instructions