American Association for Women in Community Colleges |
Start a Chapter
Are you interested in starting a chapter at your college? AAWCC looks forward to working with you. The best way to get started is to reach out to your regional director for assistance.
Beginning the Process
A local chapter provides the opportunity for women at community colleges to participate directly in the kinds
of activities, networking, communications, professional development, leadership, nurturing, mentoring, and personal growth that have made AAWCC strong at the national and regional levels.
AAWCC activities and events create a synergy that promotes and assists women in their professional goals. When women come together in a campus chapter, the power and resources of the group are greater than the sum of its parts. AAWCC is a catalyst for empowerment.
All women at a college can participate in chapter activities if the college has an chapter membership. Officially recognized chapters are authorized to use the AAWCC logo, pins, colors and publications.
Because we are an organization for women (not of women), membership is encouraged for anyone who want to support chapter events and the mission of AAWCC.
Forming a Chapter
Gather your core group of interested women to plan the establishment of the local chapter. AAWCC offers a guide to forming a chapter.
Develop a timeline and a draft of chapter bylaws, using the sample bylaws template. Get input from regarding the activities that they want to organize for the chapter. After the meeting, send out the minutes, and solicit feedback on the draft bylaws.
After the bylaws approved, the chapter should elect officers. Conduct a ceremony to celebrate your new chapter and install the officers. Next, submit your petition for approval with your bylaws and officers’ contact information to your regional director. Your regional director will review the documentation, assist you in making any needed additions, and present your petition to the AAWCC board of directors. When the board approves the chapter, your regional director will contact the chapter officers.
Paying Dues
Chapters are responsible for paying membership dues by July 1 to AAWCC, which uses annual enrollment headcount (according to IPEDS) for membership dues. With the payment of dues, chapters are active for the year ahead. Chapters must also submit an annual report and membership rosters (names and email addresses of members) with their annual financial reports.
As chapter rosters change, and members are added or subtracted throughout the year, the chapter will be responsible for tracking membership and submitting new members or any changes to the national organization.*
*If you are reported as a local member, you will automatically be a national member as well.
I was heartbroken to receive the news that Dr. Mildred Beatrice Bulpitt, Founder of AAWCC and Leaders Institute, passed away on August 21. Although I never had the honor of meeting her in person, I believe I had begun to know her intimately through her interviews and writings. I didn't fully understand her greatness until I was asked to speak about women in community colleges at the Michigan Community College Association's Summer Workshop. Through the research, I found a new person to celebrate and appreciate! Dr. Bulpitt’s courage, persistence, and moxie captured my inner being. I now understood what great sacrifices had been made so that I could sit in the president’s chair. For that, I will always cherish Mildred, and the multitude of other unknown individuals, that came before me and made a courageous stand for equality in community colleges.
Dr. Bulpitt was a warrior to the end. Long after she retired, she continued to encourage women to have the confidence to move to the head of the line and take the reins of leadership gallantly. I am pleased that she lived to see the fruits of her labor as the number of female community college presidents has increased from approximately 50 in 1980 (when the Leaders Institute began) to 344 in 2015.
Today, I challenge us to remember Dr. Bulpitt and her important work by increasing the number of women in key decision-making roles at every community college. We need to work together to push females through the leadership pipeline and be intentional about moving the needle. Dr. Bulpitt's legacy, and her spirit, remains in all of us. Let's continue what she started!
The American Association for Women in Community Colleges changes women’s lives through education, service and leadership development. | Email: info@aawccnatl.org AAWCC, P.O. Box 32682 Pikesville, MD 21282-9998 | Official AAWCC Technology Partner |
