I’m curious as to how many Chapters have not signed the affiliate agreement? We are debating it here in St. Louis and have asked a series of questions and are awaiting answers. I am aware of 4 that have not signed.
I was on the Middle Atlantic Region Conference call on Monday and there were a few chapters in the Mid Atlantic Region that hadn’t signed and at least one that wasn’t going to sign.
Several Florida chapters apparently have not signed. One has received notice from Institute leadership that their connection to the Institute will be terminated September 1 and their membership reassigned.
I’m out of the loop on this. What is the reason for the affiliate agreement? Is there a benefit to the Chapters? What changes are being forced on the chapters? What do they receive in exchange?
Wouldn’t most chapters have to change their bylaws before signing and complying with this sort of thing? That is not a quick or easy process for most chapters from what I recall. I doubt that they could get this done by September.
Is this suicide by micro-managing? Just curious.
Whoa!
If the Institute pulls the charter of the offending chapter, what happens to the funds in the bank account of the chapter?
Here is some content and Q&A for those like me who are not familiar with what is being mandated.
https://cdn.fs.pathlms.com/vgYwh0gbT06X2GEsM2Qm
Thank you to the CSI members (our colleagues) who asked really good questions about this big change.
David, if the Institute pulls the charter of offending (offensive) chapters, they should very quickly spend their money and throw a giant party to further industry cooperation and goodwill.
As to the funds a chapter owns, they would still be owned by the chapter - a corporation in its own right. My reading of the agreement is that the lapsed chapter just can’t use CSI designation and materials, and won’t get dues. Theoretically, it seems they could continue to meet and be an industry group outside of the world of CSI (though they may need a name change).
I let my membership lapse after I retired so I’m out of touch with this. What do folks think is the main sticking point here? Is it uniform dues? I didn’t see much else in the agreement that would cause such a large degree of concern. Small chapter survival may be tough, I can see, though I don’t know how this would be different in the new agreement.
Being an officer of our chapter, I read the Affliation Agreement. It is basically a franchise agreement where chapters agree to follow the directions of Institute.
Wouldn’t the Agreement have to be signed by the chapter president every year?
I think the agreement states how often it must be signed - it may be self-renewing. As to who signs, it is probably the president. However, the corporate by-laws, and any corporate resolutions passed by the board, will be the determiner of who can legally sign any contract on behalf of the corporation. Usually this is established by the role rather than the individual. For example, the clerk may be empowered to sign.
There is a three year continuity clause in the agreement, so even if a chapter moved to terminate the agreement once signed, it would be in effect for three years.
Well…
The chapter to which I had HOPED to transition, got semi-suspended for not signing the affiliation agreement by the deadline. Complete suspension is coming soon.
They national has no interest, I think, in actually having local chapters. Local chapters have been struggling because of the “bowling alone” phenomenon. And under the guise of “helping,” the national organization did a lot of crap that didn’t really help. And now… They have started on-line things that helps make it harder to engage people in local chapter programming. And the whole credentialing thing is such a money sucker: every year, I (well, my employer) is shelling out money for the dues AND the credential. Every year because I have the CDT, CCS, and the CCCA.
Sigh…
Before they banish a section for not signing the affiliation agreement, they banish chapter leaders from the leader pages of the website. However, they are not exactly lightning quick at reinstating that once the chapter DOES sign the affiliation agreement. It’s been two weeks since we signed their damned agreement and we still have not had our access to the leader sections reinstated.
@Loretta: Did you email Liz about the issue. She has resolved all my issues very quickly
Apparently, my chapter president has been emailing her several times.
My chapter is not signing the agreement and our chapter president indicated that at least two other Chapters somewhat close to us are also not signing. So if I would continue my CSI membership, my ‘home’ chapter will now be at either end of the state.
My chapter sent out a chapter survey out to all chapter members and based on the responses they received back, the Board voted unanimously to not sign. One of the last emails from the Chapter President had a list of about 10 items that they disagreed with regarding the affiliation demand from the Institute.
I think the email that came from national was disingenuous to a degree as it stated how they have been attempting to work with chapter leadership to get the affiliation agreement signed, whereas Chapter leadership is saying national is not trying to work with them at all. It’s either sign it or you are gone. Personally, I don’t plan to renew my membership if they yank the Chapter’s charter.
We had an attorney review our agreement and, although there are areas that aren’t in the favor or chapters/regions, at the end of the day, if a chapter/region wants to continue to exist, then sign the agreement. What is there to gain by not signing? Focus on the big picture!
Exactly, Robin.
I just learned today that two chapters in the my region have been dissolved because they refused to sign the afiliation agreement. 