HOSA
HOW TO FORM A CHAPTER

STARTING A HOSA CHAPTER
Thank you for your interest in HOSA. Please review the following steps of the chapter affiliation process. If you have any questions, please contact your state advisor, Denise Abbott, at 801- 400-5600 or denisea@provo.edu or you may contact National HOSA at 1-800-321-HOSA. If this is a new chapter, contact Utah HOSA and indicate your interest in affiliating a HOSA chapter. Utah HOSA will add you to the mailing list. If this is a new chapter at a school or college, be sure you have the proper authorization from administration to have a HOSA chapter.

For some additional information about HOSA, please read through the advisor manual found at http://www.hosa.org/advisor/advisor_handbook.pdf.

A HOSA chapter is formed for each class of five of more students. Each chapter should elect an officer team and develop its program of work. The HOSA competitive events program can serve as an idea bank for your annual activities.

A membership application form that you will create should be completed with the names of those students that have indicated that they want to join the HOSA chapter. You will need their name, address and e-mail when you register them for HOSA online. It is highly advised that all students become members of HOSA as it is important to integrate HOSA into the classroom so all students can take advantage. It is important to give students a deadline for paying their dues and affiliate those members who paid. You can submit a supplemental application to submit those members paying after the deadline. The dues for National HOSA are $10.00 per person and the dues for Utah HOSA are $5.00 per person.

There are guidelines for membership in Article 3, Section 9 of the HOSA Bylaws at http://www.hosa.org/natorg/hosabylaws.pdf.

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3 and you have a HOSA chapter. If you came to a program that already has a HOSA chapter, your next steps will involve learning about the HOSA chapter from last years members. Most existing chapters have chapter officers, which is an excellent place to start. They should share with you the history of the HOSA chapter and their expectations for the coming year.

ORGANIZING YOUR NEW CHAPTER
If you are starting a new HOSA chapter, you have a wonderful opportunity to create an exceptional student organization. The good news is you can lead the chapter in a direction that clearly supports the purpose of HOSA.

FIRST GET APPROVAL. Make sure you follow the rules of your institution and get the support of your administrators. This may include asking a professional colleague to serve as a co-sponsor of your HOSA chapter.

SECOND DEVELOP INTEREST. Tell your students about the purpose of HOSA and refer them to the National HOSA website for more information. Give them an assignment to surf the HOSA website and then suggest ideas for their HOSA chapter. Begin explaining the importance of a being a member of an organization such as HOSA. Most students today are very computer literate and will find this an easy assignment.

THIRD HAVE A START-UP PLAN. One option would be to have interested students choose a planning committee to put together the pieces such as:

Constitution and bylaws (you can use those from Utah State HOSA found at http://www.schools.utah.gov/ate/HST/Documents/HOSABylaws.pdf.

Plan for electing officers. You may choose to select instead of elect officers for your first year. Try to find students who are enthusiastic and have a passion for health care careers.

FOURTH EMPOWER THE STUDENTS TO LEAD. Students need encouragement, guidance, and responsibility. If you let them know what they need to do, they will get it done. Your job is to give them a helping hand to get them started and guide them along the way.

FIFTH AFFILIATE. Collect dues and complete your online chapter affiliation. Your students are not HOSA members unless they pay their dues and are properly affiliated. The national dues are $10.00 per member and the state dues are $5.00 per member.

FINALLY GIVE THEM THE RULE BOOK. The best resource for organizing a HOSA chapter is the HOSA Handbook Section C, which can be found on the HOSA website at http://www.hosa.org/natorg/SectionC.pdf This is an excellent resource for everything HOSA members need to know to lead a HOSA chapter.

ONLINE AFFILIATION
The HOSA, Inc. Board of Directors has endorsed the continued use of the online affiliation system due to its success. Many of your suggestions to improve the system have been implemented and we appreciate your feedback for continued improvement.

The HOSA, Inc. Board of Directors requested the collection of additional information for membership to use in building an alumni database for future mailings and HOSA promotional activities. Therefore, it is vitally important that ALL information on the Affiliation Application be completed, WHICH INCLUDES THE HOME ADDRESS OF ALL MEMBERS, to build the national database with the same information collected in HOSA's internet system. Through online affiliation, chapters are able to take full advantage of HOSA membership. The online system allows chapter advisors the ability to view their affiliated HOSA members, print invoices, print membership rosters, register for the National Leadership Conference and much more.

Chapter affiliation is quick and easy using National HOSA's Online Affiliation. Before you begin, be sure you have your chapter's charter number and password and a list of members to affiliate. For each member, you will be asked to provide:

• Classification (grade or class in school)
• Organization and title (for professional members)
• Address
• Phone and Fax
• E-mail address

If you used online affiliation last year, your password will be the same for this year. If you don't know your chapter's charter number and password, or if you are a new chapter, call National HOSA headquarters at 1-800-321-HOSA for assistance.

Please send the national dues to National HOSA and Utah HOSA dues to Utah HOSA in c/o Denise Abbott. Chapters add additional money to stay in the local treasury for snacks during meetings, purchasing banners or other PR materials, etc. If your chapter adds additional money, such as $5 to stay at the local level, you will only send $15 per student to National HOSA and keep the $5 per student in the local treasury.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• Frequently Asked Questions - PDF