Student Chapter Resources
Running an ACS Student Chapter
- Read the ACS Student Chapter Handbook
- Past Student Chapter newsletters available here.
- Please review the ACS Template Constitution.
- Reach out to your ACS Faculty Advisor and provide them with the 2022-2023 Faculty Advisor Checklist.
- Check out how your chapter can get engaged this year here.
Recruiting and Building a Chapter
- To familiarize students with our mission, have a chapter leader recite the following description about ACS before introducing the speaker(s) at each event.
- “For those not familiar with ACS, we are a national network of lawyers, law students, scholars, judges and policymakers who believe that the law should be a force to improve the lives of all people. ACS works for positive change by shaping debate on vitally important legal and constitutional issues through the development and promotion of high-impact ideas. If you support these efforts and are not a formal part of our network, I encourage you to become a national member of ACS today.”
- Bring a laptop to each event so that members can sign up for national membership on-site.
- Print out and share our ACS Membership Form at your events.
- Encourage students to sign-in using the ACS Sign in Sheet during social and networking events.
- Show our “Welcome to ACS” video, this video on why courts matter, and Washington Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib’s keynote remarks from the 2019 ACS Student Convention. Discuss the benefits of national membership at informational and introductory meetings. Benefits include:
- Access to ACS’s online job bank.
- ACS’s weekly e-mail bulletin, which summarizes law and policy news from around the country, as well as upcoming ACS events.
- The chance to connect and build relationships with lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students with expertise in virtually every area of the law.
- Electronic versions of the Harvard Law & Policy Review, the official journal of ACS, and Advance, the official journal of the ACS Issue Groups.
- Eligibility to apply for student scholarships to attend ACS conventions.
- Access our flyer to reach out to pre-law undergrads.
ACS Student Membership
Programming Ideas and Resources
- Review our program guides here for ideas and resources on programming.
- Review the 2022-2023 ACS Model Calendar.
- View our blueprint for student chapters looking to get involved in Election Day class cancellation efforts. Sign up for this or any of our volunteer projects here. Also, take the Pledge to Become a Poll Worker and learn more about ACS’s Run.Vote.Work initiative here!
- Consider hosting film screenings and discussions. See Documentary Films Available Upon Request for ideas for suggested films.
- Additional ACS Resources: ACS Broken Law Podcast, ACS National Blog, ACS Analysis, ACS Projects, and ACS Speaker List for 20th Anniversary of 9/11.
- Post your upcoming events on social media and live stream/tweet them (with the consent of your speakers)! Check out our Social Media Guidelines for tweeting and taking photos at events.
Event Logistics
- Inviting Speakers: Sample Invitation Letter.
- Posting Events: Review our Event Posting Instructions for submitting events to the ACS website. You must post your event to the ACS website prior to receiving funding.
- Funding and Reimbursement Requests: Instructions available here.
- Use the Event Checklist to plan a successful event.
- Have speakers complete the Speaker Release Form.
- Advertising: Use the ACS Flyer Template.
- Sign In sheets for your event.
- Social Media Tips for Events