Part I - Initial Steps

Be Committed

Starting your own chapter will be a difficult process but whatever happens, you can be sure that your efforts will grow as you involve more people and you will make an impact on others. Be prepared and be determined. Pump yourself up and feel passionately about the issues. Develop a plan for difficulties you will certainly encounter and commit yourself to success. There is so much your group will grow to be able to do, but everything is accomplished through small steps.

Find a Small Group of Passionate Students

Brainstorm through people you know and ask them to see if they are interested in helping you. You could even make brief presentations at the meeting of other organizations, like Amnesty, and invite people who may be interested to join you. Having even one or two other students to help organize the chapter will make a tremendous difference. Get to know each other well and help inspire one another. Work together and distribute responsibilities for building the chapter.

Find a Faculty Advisor

Having a faculty member to support and advise you can be extremely helpful or even necessary for some schools. Find someone that you like and who you will feel comfortable going to. Explain to him/her what SCCS does and why you are interested in starting your own chapter. Use your own excitement to persuade him/her to help you. He/she may not even have to understand or know about child survival issues. In fact, it would be better to choose someone who already has experience advising student groups so that he/she can offer you the appropriate advice and help guide you through the process.

Register the Organization

The process of registering a student organization is different for every college. Nevertheless, it will not be difficult to find out how. Search the school website using terms like “starting a student group” or go to the student activities center and ask. Once the steps are clear, outline a clear plan and set up a definite timeline for completing the entire process.

Ideas? Need help? Contact our National Organizer by e-mail here.

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