How do I form a Chapter?

1. Contact the Chapters Advisory Committee and let them know your interest in starting a chapter.  Also, explore this website and check out the "Guide to Starting and Running an SCB Chapter.
   
   
2. Poll local and regional interest in forming a chapter to confirm that there is likely to be a large enough group (at least 20) to make the chapter viable. Recruit from a broad pool of conservation biologists and practitioners, including those from agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academia (students and faculty).

   (a) If you wish to contact all current SCB members in your geographic region, our Washington office would be happy to broadcast a message on your behalf. (We have promised members not to share our mailing list, so the email will have to be generated from the Washington office, but the responses will come directly to you). Contact the Executive Assistant, Heather DeCaluwe, for assistance on this. Your query should list Board positions and committees, and ask respondents to indicate their willingness to serve in various capacities.

   (b) Do not limit your canvass to current SCB members other community members and environmental professionals may also be interested. Chapter members are required to be members of SCB and new interested parties may join for a small fee at www.conbio.org/join.

   (c) Graduate students are the work-horses of most chapters, and provide energetic and capable leadership. However, we strongly encourage University-based chapters to have several persons likely to remain active participants beyond the duration of a typical student career. Overlapping terms of 2 or 3 years can also provide better continuity than Boards that have 100% turnover each year. Please note that we do not have a special category for "student chapters" ? a chapter is a chapter, regardless of the occupations of its members.

   (d) Similarly, chapters vary in geographic scope from an individual city or campus to large ecoregions. If your chapter wishes to stake out a large geographic area, your officers should not all be from one city, and you should make conscious efforts to avoid being identified with the "capital city."

3. Please download the drafts below of a Chapter Charter and a general set of Chapter Bylaws.  Review the charter and bylaws drafts with the group, fill them out and adjust them accordingly, and return both documents as e-mail attachments to the Chapters-BOG Liason, the Advisory Committee Chair, and the Executive Office Representative for ratification by the SCB President.

   Chapter Charter - Word format OR PDF Format

   Chapter Bylaws - currently being revised, please contact finagle@umn.edu for more information

   *Please note Chapter by-laws must be submitted in English, the Spanish version is available for your reference.

   (a) Consider carefully the term limits for officers (Article II, Section 2). You want to make sure your chapter stays active and healthy, with good longevity and institutional memory. A term limit of one year is basic, as noted in the generic bylaws. However, some chapters have opted for longer terms (e.g., 2 years), staggered elections (e.g., only half the board is up for election at one time), or having the Vice-President serve as President-Elect (i.e., that person takes over when the current President's term is over). If you decide to choose one of these other options, or create a different one of your own, make sure to write it into the bylaws. See Article XII for details on making amendments. 

   (b) Please note that all Chapter members must be members of the parent SCB. The options for membership are described at https://www.conbio.org/join and include a $10 membership with no publications. Typically, the core activists (those who generated the initial inquiry) and enthusiastic respondents to that initial inquiry hold a small meeting at which they develop an initial slate of officers. These founding members should not feel embarrassed about the appearance of a "power grab" - experience shows that 95% of members will be grateful for your initiative, and the chapter will benefit from the quick start. As soon as possible, hold an election to ratify the slate of officers. You may also wish to hold the next election in less than 12 months to ensure that new persons feel welcome.

   (c) If the wording of Articles II, IV, or V have been amended, briefly describe the changes in a cover letter or e-mail when you submit the documents for ratification.  Most by-law changes are approved after review by the SCB President. In rare cases the Board of Governors may need to review the requested changes.

   (d) The signed, ratified copies of your Chapter's charter and bylaws constitute your authorization to form a local chapter.

4. The parent SCB supports Chapters by E-mailing members in your area, referring inquiries from prospective members to you, and linking your web site from SCB's site http://www.conbio.org/chapters/. Although the parent SCB cannot "give you" its taxpayer identity, it can accept donations from funders and pass them through to your Chapter promptly and without skimming off any of the cash. There are strict reporting requirements associated with this, however, to maintain financial accountability.

5. Each Chapter is required to maintain a web site. that provides names and contact information for current officers. Please contact the Chapters Webmaster with the URL for your chapter so that it can be linked from the global SCB site. The Executive Office is willing to serve as a free web host for your Chapter's site.