1 Start Your Chapter
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Find a mentor
- The single most recurring piece of advice that advisors offered was to find a mentor. You need someone to be your champion as you navigate the waters of being a new advisor. Your mentor could be another CTSO advisor at your school, a teacher or fellow advisor in your district, someone at the state level, or even someone you met at a conference. Your mentor can act as a starting point for your questions and a sounding board when you need advice.
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Learn about your program, then ask questions
- Regardless of your experience level with the CTSO you’ll be advising, a great way to start is to learn about your program! Each CTSO will have information through their website and advisor portals. You should be able to find most of the basic information you need there. Do your research first – then reach out for help.
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Affiliate your chapter
- The final biggest step to start a chapter is to affiliate your chapter with the national organization! Each CTSO will have a different way of completing this, but it’s virtually the same: collect the required information and dues from the students, log into the CTSO portal, and affiliate your chapter and register your students. Bonus tip: Find out what information you’ll need to enter beforehand and include those fields on your CTSO application form.