How to Start a Student Chapter
Objectives and Purpose
- Promote high professional standards and attitudes and offer a perspective of the future role of business communicators
- Demonstrate the purpose of membership in professional associations and encourage continuing membership
- Provide transition experience from the classroom to the field
Basic Requirements
- An active communication, public relations or journalism department
- A faculty advisor who is already an IABC member or is willing to join IABC
- Plenty of student interest—you will need a minimum of 10 members to start the chapter
- Be sponsored by a practitioner IABC chapter with a practitioner chapter liaison (this is preferred but is not an absolute requirement)
- Include IABC in the chapter’s name
- Develop chapter bylaws that conform to the IABC model
- Elect a slate of officers
Role of the Sponsoring Practitioner Chapter Liaison
The liaison must be an IABC member. He/She may be the faculty advisor or may be the educational relations chair for the sponsoring practitioner chapter. The liaison will:
- Serve as an ex-officio member of the student chapter board.
- Oversee and encourage student participation at the local, district and international levels.
- Provide resources from the local chapter to the student chapter as recommended.
- Coordinate recommended programming between the student and practitioner chapter.
- Receive periodic membership rebate from IABC world headquarters.
- Monitor student memberships and follow up on discrepancies between international, practitioner and student chapter records.
Role of the Faculty Advisor
The faculty advisor must be an IABC member. He/She will:
- Act as key link between IABC and the student chapter.
- Make sure that chapter operations conform to campus requirements.
- Offer day-to-day guidance in helping officers run the student chapter.
- Motivate student chapter members.
- Keep IABC headquarters informed as to the activities of the student chapter.
Role of the Student Chapter President
- Provide a monthly student activity report to the practitioner chapter liaison.
- Communicate student chapter concerns to the liaison at the sponsoring practitioner chapter.
- Share issues raised by international and the sponsoring practitioner chapter with other student members.
- Work in a timely and accurate manner on student chapter memberships with the sponsoring practitioner chapter liaison.
- Encourage student member participation in local, district and international IABC activities.
First Steps
Do you have further questions? Are you interested but unsure where to begin?
Contact
, and IABC staff will put you in touch with the educational relations contact at the practitioner chapter nearest you and help you through the necessary steps to establishing your university’s own chapter.
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