Putting together a Section of CLEP doesn’t have to be a daunting task. We’ve made it easy for you, with guidelines, sample materials, and promotional tools for you to modify to fit your own particular needs. The CLEP staff will work with you to make it a learning and enjoyable process.

Whether you’re constructing a Section (within the confines of a particular business or industry) or a community (with anticipated membership from multiple businesses) some commonalities apply. First and foremost, you need a key individual who can drive the decision through the organization or the community.

In a Section, that individual is most often the Regional Advocate or locally designated Vice President of Membership Services. Support from the entire CLEP national and local Board of Officers is absolutely essential. They must be convinced that a CLEP Section can become a partner in helping the organization “grow” its members and achieve its mission and vision. Once he or she decides that a CLEP Section will be a value-added business partner, they have the resources and the connections to appoint a Steering Committee or Formation Committe and “make it happen”.

For local Sections, you will be looking for that well-connected “sparkplug” that can help you reach out to business owners, entrepreneurs, and other community leaders. He or she must understand that by pooling resources and jointly sponsoring the formation of a Section, everyone can have an extremely cost-effective vehicle for developing employees and growing each and every organization. An added benefit comes from the ability to share best practices and lessons learned between and among various businesses.

So, your first goal is to get a decision made: “Yes, we will form a Section and be visible in our support of its development”. As you set out, contact CLEP headquarters and let us know that you are spearheading a drive to start a Section. We can assist you as you go through the website and showcase the online and other resources available to you. We have several stock publications and other tools which can help you explain the benefits of CLEP affiliation. Often times, we can put you in contact with sister organizations and/or other business partners of yours which have CLEP Sections. In short, we can put you in touch with colleagues and peers who currently work within the CLEP family of affiliates. Often, there is a member of the CLEP Board of Officers in your community or a Section close-by – people ready to work with you, hand-in-hand. If not, the CLEP staff will work with you electronically, by phone, and even in person, if need be. Remember… you are not alone!

Once a Formation Committee has been identified, it’s simply a matter of sitting down with the team and making sure that they understand what a CLEP member development Section entails… and what their “assignment” is, in terms of putting together the foundation on which the Section will build and grow.

To assist you, CLEP has an abbreviated formation process which we call “30 Days to Forming a CLEP Section”. Those steps are as follows:

30 Days to Forming a CLEP Section

1. First Meeting (1 hour)

Select your formation coordinator. Using the CLEP Operations Manual and outline below as a guideline, coordinator assigns teams to prepare Articles as it applies to Section being formed. Results to be brought to next meeting for final review and approval.

Article I - Name (Have everyone list suggested names on paper and bring back to next meeting.)
a. Article II – Mission and Purposes (assign to team)
b. Article III – Membership (assign to team)
c. Article IV – Dues (assign to team)
d. Assign volunteer to do physical changes of operating procedures as they are changed by the group.

2. Second Meeting (1 hour)

a. Review suggested Section names and collect. Have someone list all suggested names and bring enough copies for everyone in attendance to the next meeting.
b. Review, wordsmith, and approve Article II, Article III, and Article IV.

Using the model operating procedures as a guideline, coordinator assigns teams to prepare the following Articles as they apply to the Section being formed. Results to be brought to next meeting for final review and approval.

c. Article V – Officers, Article VI – Committees, Article VII – Board of Directors
d. Article VIII – Nominations and Elections, Article IX – Meetings
e. Article X – Amendments, Article XI – Dissolution

3. Third Meeting (2 hours)

a. Review Article recommendations, wordsmith (painful), and approve
b. Select officers (could be volunteers for first year)
c. President to make committee chair selections and report back at next meeting
d. Assign Team to develop skeleton program plan for upcoming year _ Treasurer to meet with officers to develop a tentative budget and bring to next
meeting for approval
e. Distribute list of names and have group rank them in the order of preference 1 through how many you have, 1 being ranked the first choice. Assign someone to tally the results and bring back to next meeting to vote on the 3 highest ranked names.

4. Fourth Meeting (1 hour)

a. Announce committee chair selections
b. Vote on name for Section based on the 3 highest ranked names from group.
Insert name in Bylaws.
c. Approve Program Plan
d. Approve Budget
e. Select charter date
f. Treasurer and President to open bank account for Section
(a fifth meeting can be scheduled if needed)

READY FOR CHAPTER!
 

Last update: March 27, 2008