Contact SEA

Need help starting a chapter? Contact SEA Headquarters and we can give you starter materials, put you in contact with other SEA Chapter heads, and even help you find potential faculty advisors.

Recruiting Members

Before your first meeting

    To ensure a good turnout at your first meeting (and to avoid having to do all of the legwork yourself), find a few people that are excited about starting a Chapter.  Talk with your friends and other people who may be are interested to help you in setting the direction for the group.
    Your core group can help publicize the first meeting and generate interest for your chapter and projects.

Building your group

• Campus Media: Post flyers around campus. Post on your school’s calendar of events. Write to your school paper or see if they wish to write an article on your chapter.  See if your paper dedicates free space to notices for upcoming events.
• Tabling:  Set up a table at your school’s organization fair, or near a common gathering place (lunch halls, the mail center). Provide information for interested students that wander by.  Have a sign up sheet so you can contact students about upcoming events and meetings. 
• Other student groups on campus: Cosponsor an event with other campus groups. The college Democrats or Republicans may have similar interests, as may science-oriented clubs (political science, computer science, engineering societies, honor societies, etc.).
• Graduate schools, undergraduates, or staff with scientific interests: Have a mix of graduate and undergraduate students as well as post-docs, staff, and faculty. A diverse group will connect you to more resources and ideas. In addition, financial aid for clubs is often available from both undergraduate and graduate student government associations. Some universities have staff run laboratories, libraries, and other centers that may be related to science and politics.  Don’t overlook these people; they are already likely to be excited about SEA!

Engaging Faculty

    Your chapter will also receive a boost if faculty are involved.  Some of your faculty members may already have joined SEA. Contact SEA headquarters to find out. In addition, you may find faculty members who are interested in SEA’s issues by looking through your course catalog, or searching your university website for faculty academic interests.

    Faculty members are often happy to be approached by interested students.  Asking a faculty member to be your sponsor (or to serve on a faculty advisory committee comprised of faculty from different departments) may link you to more resources, including easing university recognition of your chapter, making booking rooms easier, accessing funding (see fundraising, below), and providing mentorship and great ideas.   

Holding an informational meeting

    Have fun!  The main goal of a first meeting is to get people excited about your group.  It isn’t necessary to hammer out all of the details at this meeting.  Schedule a movie about science and politics and have a discussion afterwards, or meet briefly over pizza to brainstorm ideas for the coming semester.  You should be prepared to talk about why you are interested in starting a chapter, and what types of activities you think the chapter might do.  It isn’t necessary to have all the details worked out, or all the answers—your colleagues will respond to your enthusiasm. 

    Once you have an idea for the meeting and have secured a room, tell everyone about it.  Hang flyers near trash cans, water fountains, in bathroom stalls, or tape them on the sidewalks.  A neatly handwritten flyer can be unexpected and attention-grabbing.  (See the appendix for an example.)

    After the meeting, follow up with an email or letter to all the people who participated.  Send them minutes of the meeting, information about action items or the next meeting. (See the appendix for an example.)

Getting Recognized

    The sooner you can get official school recognition for your chapter, the better.  Recognized clubs are often listed in student directories, campus guides, and are often eligible for funding from the student government.

Official recognition by SEA

    To be an official chapter, your group’s missions must be in accordance with ours.  Furthermore, you must contact us with information for your officers and faculty advisors and your chapter’s constitution.
Official recognition by your school
    Each college or university has different requirements for campus groups.  In addition, there may be different requirements for undergraduate groups than for some graduate groups. The head of student activities or a member of the student government association should be able to help you navigate this process. Having a supportive faculty advisor can help ease the process for getting official recognition.

    Being recognized officially helps raise money for campus activities, reserve rooms for meeting, recruit member, increase visibility, and attract faculty members and speakers to work with your group.

The Constitution

    Most schools require a constitutional for official recognition.  Some things to think about:
•    Leadership structure: The chapter can work on a consensus basis where very member takes part in the decision-making process, or through a more traditional structure with a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, etc.  It is a good idea to appoint someone to account for any money you receive—groups that misallocate funds are not likely to receive funding in the future! If you have officers, your constitution should describe their duties and how they are elected or appointed.
•    Membership: Requirements for membership are an important aspect of the constitution. Lenient requirements allow the greatest participation, but every member should share a belief in the mission, and remember members do not have to be scientists or engineers.
•    Meetings: Your constitution will likely include information about how often you meet, notify members, and how decisions are made.
•    Faculty advisors: How are advisors selected?  What should their role be?
Amendments: Don’t forget to think about how to change the rules once your chapter has learned more about working together effectively.  What procedures are used for proposing, discussion, and ratifying amendments to the constitution?

Staying Active

A few tips on being an active and successful chapter:
Keep your members updated
    Successful chapters keep their members involved and in the loop.  While you don’t have to bother your members every day or every week, make sure everyone knows what is going on and try to keep everyone involved. 

Include everyone

    You don’t have to do everything, every member can do a small part. By delegating tasks, you make sure you aren’t overloaded, and will let people feel they are doing something meaningful. Try to make sure everybody has a backup.  That way if someone is busy, everything gets done.  This means everybody has something to do without being overwhelmed.

Preparing agendas for meetings

    Know what needs to be covered for each meeting. While other things may come up, you will have a basic structure for what needs to be done during a meeting so you don’t waste your members’ time.

    Don’t meet too often, if you are meeting every week with little to do, members are less likely to come. Instead, hold fewer meetings with a meaningful agenda.