Reactivate a Chapter

Thank you for your interested in reactivating your local/university chapter. Reactivating the chapter can breathe new life and activity into the chapter. The following guide outlines the steps for reactivating an inactive chapter.

You will need:

  • One motivated person to serve as primary organizer and key contact person.
  • Roster of at least 10 members.
  • A temporary officers slate consisting of at least 4 officers (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, ,and Secretary), and one Faculty Advisor (professional).
  • A 6 month operations plan

Please reach out to your RVP and IISE Membership Administrator for more information.

First Steps:

  • If possible, assemble a group of interested people to assist with the initial planning and to assume some of the leadership roles.
  • Identify former officers (if possible) — find out what the problems were, get a sense of why the chapter may have gone dormant, obtain old documents, financial records, bank book, etc., and enlist their help in reactivating if possible.
  • Hold an interest meeting (mail announcement to all chapter members) to kick off the reactivation effort. Holding this meeting in conjunction with a plant tour or other "draw" event is a good idea (identify meeting times of primary competing societies in your area and avoid those; include your RVP!). At the meeting:
    • Ask for volunteers to fill the key leadership roles (president, secretary/treasurer, director for programs and director for membership) that have not been filled by your core group.
      • Allow/encourage sharing of roles/positions.
      • Give specific information about duties and expectations.
      • Break tasks into small, manageable pieces and get commitments from people to perform just those tasks (use everyone who wants to participate, no matter how little time they have).
  • Obtain input/feedback regarding meeting/event topics, times, locations, etc. What do the members want?

    • Resources Available From IISE

    • List of contacts for other chapters in your region (available from your RVP).
    • A copy of your chapter charter and other contents (if any) of your chapter’s file at IISE headquarters.
    • List of IISE prospects in your areas.
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