Chapter Operations

​Chapter Organization​

Many student members join through local chapters on their campuses. Modeled after the SHRM professional chapters, each group completes an affiliation process to receive a charter, writes its own by-laws, and elects its own student officers. If your chapter has been inactive for several years, contact Student Programs to obtain information on renewing your charter, or you can review the affiliation information we've included here. You can use the chapter by-laws developed in previous years, update them as needed, or write new by-laws for your chapter. You can read a sample set of by-laws. The majority of student members (95%) join through local chapters on their campuses. Modeled after the SHRM professional chapters, each group completes an affiliation process to receive a charter, writes its own by-laws, and elects its own student officers. If your chapter has been inactive for several years, contact to obtain information on renewing your charter, or you can review the we've included here. You can use the chapter by-laws developed in previous years, update them as needed, or write new by-laws for your chapter.

Your chapter must have a designated chapter advisor. The advisor is most often a faculty member at the college or university where the chapter is located; however, SHRM members outside of academics are also eligible to serve as advisors. The advisor serves as the point of contact for the chapter. Since graduating students ensure constant membership turnover, the advisor receives all chapter mailings, such as recruiting supplies and awards information, and maintains the chapter history and continuity from year-to-year. For this reason, it is very important to maintain regular contact with your advisor. Check with your advisor frequently to ensure that you are receiving supplies and updated information from the national office.

Most student chapters receive additional support from a local professional SHRM chapter. This group is known as the "sponsoring" or "parent" chapter. Your sponsoring chapter is your best source for interaction with professionals in the HR field. Your sponsoring chapter should have a designated "student chapter liaison" to be the link with your student chapter. To initiate contact with your parent chapter, call the student chapter liaison or chapter president and invite them to attend your meetings. If your advisor does not know how to contact these individuals, call the student program manager and request the parent chapter's contact information. Also supporting your chapter are state and college relations directors. These individuals monitor and oversee the interactions of professional and student chapters in their states or regions of the country.

Ten Characteristics of Successful Student Chapters

1. Participate regularly in the Merit Award program, elect a VP- Merit.
2. Elect chapter officers in April and begin planning for the fall term/ good succession planning.
3. Cultivate strong faculty support for the chapter.
4. Maintain regular communciation with the chapter advisor.
5. Work closely with their sponsoring chapter or local professionals.
6. Establish a schedule and hold regular chapter meetings.
7. Communicate with the national SHRM office.
8. Actively recruit freshman and sophomores (undergraduate) or first-year graduate students (graduate) to provide for chapter continuity.
9. Coordinate effective advance publicity for chapter events.
10. Keep a good balance of both social and educational activities.

Contact Student Programs, at SHRMStudent@shrm.org.

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