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.
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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!
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?
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:
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.
Commitment
To maintain an active chapter status and be eligible for University Student Chapter membership rebates, the chapter will:
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Complete the CSJ Chapter Application Form online, and download the Chapter Agreement
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Email the following documents to Membership@counseling-csj.org with “CHAPTER APPLICATION” in the subject line:
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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.
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. |
connect with csj
Join CSJ on social media @CSJNational and join our community on ACA Connect!
Still got questions? Email Info@counseling-csj.org