Chapters

sTART A cHAPTER.

We are very excited about your commitment to the development of counseling as a social justice activism and your interest in forming CSJ chapter. CSJ and the Membership Committee are committed to building an efficient and quality application process. Currently, we have the following process in place for CSJ chapters.

Starting a CSJ Chapter

Interested in starting a CSJ Chapter within your state, or a student chapter at your college or university?
Download our CSJ Chapter Toolkit for everything you need to start and maintain a chapter!

Here is the process for forming a Counselors for Social Justice chapter:

So you want to start a CSJ Chapter?

Welcome to Counselors for Social Justice! We are excited that you have chosen to establish a student chapter of CSJ. As you begin we would like to orient you to the organization and some of our hopes for the future of social justice in the counseling field.

DOWNLOAD the welcome letter

Building a CSJ Chapter

Some CSJ members have asked about how to start a CSJ chapter, be it on a college campus or a local group of professionals. This is an important question because we know from history, that any successful movement has to be organized. Thus the questions; how do to pull like minds together to form an organization? We would like to invite the ACA community to help in creating a list of suggestions for activist organizational development as a living document. Here are a few suggestions that we have to get started:

Hosting a lunch or an evening viewing and discussion of a video on social justice and counseling, followed by an introduction to starting a chapter? Here are a few videos that are on YouTube:
- The devolution and evolution of the social justice counseling and advocacy movement
- Using the ACA Advocacy, Multicultural, Social Justice and LGBTQIA Competencies
Hosting a panel discussion of counselors and social justice advocates in neighborhood groups to talk about the relationship between social injustice and counseling (e.g. Black Lives Matter), followed by an introduction to starting a chapter?
Partner with a local advocacy group to put on a forum related to social justice and mental health.

The CSJ website has some resources that can be printed and used as literature on different subjects related to abuses in our society for which a CSJ chapter may want to organize around. Resources can be found here.

Constitution Guidelines

Please use the following outline as a guide to complete your constitution. Student chapter constitution must be in accordance with the National Counselors for Social Justice constitution. Policy statements, and mission statement.

Article I

The official name of the organization – ‘Counselors for Social Justice – your university name’ is recommended

Article II

Mission Statement, A detailed declaration of purpose of the proposed student chapter of Counselors for Social Justice National

Article III

A statement of affiliation with the national Counselors for Social Justice organization

Article IV

The criteria for selecting membership

Article V

The criteria for voting membership (only university students, faculty and staff qualify as voting members, three-fourths of the voting membership must be students)

Article VI

The duties and privileges of membership

Article VII

The establishment of officers, their duties, and authority

Article VIII

The procedures for selection and removal of officers (All officers must be current, regularly enrolled students in good academic standing at their universities)

Article IX

The frequency of meetings

Article X

Dues of the organization, including how they will be collected and a provision stating that the policies, activities and finances of the organization are subject to the control of the majority of its voting membership. All members of the student organization must join the Counselors for Social Justice national organization with a portion of those dues being allocated to the student chapter

Commitment

To maintain an active chapter status and be eligible for University Student Chapter membership rebates, the chapter will:

Submit a Chapter Annual Report Form annually by September 30th. The form includes updated chapter information, accomplishments over the past year, and goals for the following year.
Meet at least twice every year.
Ensure all members of the University Student Chapter are members of the Counselors for Social Justice National organization.
Have, at all times, a designated University Student Chapter Faculty Advisor. The University Student Chapter Faculty Advisor must be a member of a full time faculty member and a member of CSJ.
Comply with CSJ Bylaws, policies, and procedures as determined by the CSJ Board. Chapters found to be out of compliance with this agreement at any time may be designated as inactive and will be ineligible to participate in CSJ programs.

Complete the CSJ Chapter Application Form online, and download the Chapter Agreement

APPLICATION FORM

CHAPTER AGREEMENT

Email the following documents to Membership@counseling-csj.org with “CHAPTER APPLICATION” in the subject line:

Signed Chapter Agreement.
Your chapter's Counselors for Social Justice Chapter Constitution/Bylaws

After your completed application has been approved, your chapter will receive confirmation of your chapter as active. Your chapter will remain active for one year. Please note: Chapter applications must be approved by the CSJ Board, which meets once per month. Because of this meeting schedule, please allow up to two months of processing time for your application. We look forward to working together. Thank you!

maintaining a Chapter

In order to maintain the affiliation as a CSJ Chapter, each chapter will complete an Annual Report to provide updated information about your chapter, your accomplishments, and your goals. Even chapters that have gone inactive are required to please submit the Annual Report each year in order to stay in good standing with your chapter charter. PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN PROCESS STARTING WITH THE 2023-2024 PROGRAM YEAR: ANNUAL REPORTS WILL BE DUE ANNUALLY ON MAY 31. The next Chapter Annual Report for active CSJ chapters will therefore be due on May 31, 2024.

ANNUAL REPORT FORM

Featured Tips & Updates

From Frannie Neal, University of arizona

Find local organizations interested in similar social justice issues, and collaborate with them. Create effective marketing strategies (via social media, newsletters, email listserv, and other methods) to disseminate important information to membership. Find engaged university advisers who are willing to help. Create sustainability practices to ensure smooth leadership transitions.

From Rachel White, Wright State

My biggest tip for new chapters is to expect to do a TON of work the first year and to have very engaged faculty advisors. Another tip is to make sure you immediately become a university/college organization. There are so many university resources that we couldn't touch until we were officially recognized. I think another good tip is to get really involved with any local counseling groups to begin networking in the field before you graduate. I've already been tapped to be President Elect of our local Counseling Association because of being involved with the Chapter and the group. I went to them as a student to say "how can we help you all in the field?" and it's just blossomed into opportunities I never would have imagined.

FROM BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY

Collaborate with other organizations on campus with similar interests and hold officer meetings monthly or at least check in by email monthly. This is a student chapter of CSJ involved in bullying reduction trainings at middle schools, therapeutic boarding program, LGBTQ safe zone training, recruiting counseling students to attend film screenings related to social justice issues, working with the homeless population in Boise, participated in the NAMI walk, helping with the “dreamers” campaign (supporting children of undocumented residents in Idaho who have to pay out of state tuition even though they have resided in Idaho their entire lives), and are beginning to meet with Idaho Legislators through the Idaho Counseling Association.