Once a chapter has been installed, its organization and management should be seen to fairly soon.

Writing Chapter Bylaws

One of the first duties of the new chapter members, under the direction of the Chapter Advisor, will be to create a set of bylaws for the governance of their chapter. The bylaws should cover election of officers and their responsibilities, chapter finances, admissions criteria, meetings, etc. The bylaws should be detailed enough to guide future chapter members and officers in the routine affairs of the chapter, but need not anticipate every possible question of governance. They may not conflict with the national constitution. Writing the bylaws is an excellent exercise for students of political science and their enthusiasm for the task can sometimes lead to an overly complex document. Here the guidance of the Chapter Advisor is very important.

• Review Examples of By-Laws

Developing Membership

Identifying potential members, publicizing the chapter, and developing membership and installing new members, are vital to establishing your new chapter.  The following pages describe these activities:

• Admission Criteria
• Publicizing the Chapter and Inviting New Members
• Initiation Ceremony

Chapter Officers

The national constitution requires each chapter to have a President, Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer. It is a good idea to have the chapter advisor serve as Secretary-Treasurer to insure continuity in all chapter activities and record-keeping. The President and Vice-President should be student members who show the leadership, energy, and dedication to PSA necessary to keep their chapter of the honor society active. They will be responsible for organizing meetings, recruiting new members, delegating responsibility for special activities of the chapter, and seeing to the election or appointment of their successors.

Finances

Procedures for handling finances should be organized when the chapter is established.  For more information on this, see Handling Chapter Finances.