Rules for Affiliation

Basic Qualifications

1. Any bona fide association of teachers of English having 25 or more members (including English sections of city, state, or regional teachers associations) may become an affiliate of the National Council. The Council recognizes the desirability of organizing affiliates at local, state, regional, and interstate levels, and shall encourage local, regional, and state groups to affiliate with the next highest unit as well as with the Council. Normally not more than one affiliate shall be accepted into the Council from any one of these levels in any single geographic area except for justifiable reasons.

Criteria for Affiliation

1. All members of the governing board of the affiliate shall be members of the National Council of Teachers of English.

2. Every affiliate of the Council shall appoint or elect a liaison officer for the purpose of interpreting the affiliate to the Council and the Council to the affiliate.

3. The affiliate shall have a written constitution that

a) provides for continuity of personnel within the administration of the organization (e.g. by creating a permanent post of Executive Secretary; by appointing the liaison officer for a two-year term or longer; by establishing a clear succession of certain officers for two-year terms or longer, with officers ending their terms in alternate years; or by retaining past officers as members of the governing board);

b) states a relationship between the affiliate and NCTE;

c) for local affiliates, states a relationship between the local council and the state or provincial council;

d) contains a dissolution clause providing for disbursement of the affiliate's treasury to another nonprofit organization should the affiliate become defunct;

e) is on file at NCTE.

4. The affiliate shall have a written policy for involvement of people of color (e.g. See NCTE's Policy on Involvement of People of Color).

5. Each affiliate shall pay annual dues: for affiliates having between 25 and 249 members dues shall be $10.00; for affiliates having between 250 and 499 members, annual dues are $15.00; for affiliates having 500 or more members, annual dues are $25.00.

6. The certified members of the Board of Directors of the National Council from an affiliate, or his or her alternate, shall attend the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Council at least once every three years or the affiliate shall be suspended.

7. Each local, state, or regional association affiliated with the Council and with dues fully paid shall be entitled to select one or more of its members who are also members of the National Council to serve as Directors of the Council. Any Director chosen to represent an affiliate shall be familiar with the affairs of the affiliate. All affiliates shall be entitled to name one member of the Board of Directors. Affiliates which have between 150-349 members who are also members of NCTE shall be entitled to name two members of the Board of Directors; affiliates with 350-549 such members, three directors; with 550-749, four directors; and so on, up to a maximum of six directors. Affiliates, which name more than one member to the Board of Directors, shall name their liaison officer as one member of the Board of Directors.  Directors shall serve from the opening of one Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors to the opening of the next Annual Meeting, unless in the meantime the affiliation of their association with the Council has lapsed. (The Annual Meeting is held during the national convention in November.)

8. A certified member of the Board of Directors shall make a report to the members of his/her affiliate of the actions taken at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Council.

9. The affiliate shall hold at least one general meeting each year for the total membership, of which a part shall be devoted to the business of the affiliate. In addition, the governing board of the affiliate shall hold at least one additional meeting per year.

10. Each affiliate shall direct its secretary and/or liaison officer to submit reports at least annually to the Council. These reports are to include the following:

a) A statement of the membership of the affiliate accompanied by a membership list

b) A generalized report of an annual meeting

c) The results of the election of officers

d) A summary of projects undertaken or contemplated.

e) Notice of special situations and problems as they arise in the area served by the affiliate

f) Notice of special needs of the affiliate or its committees

11. Each affiliate must maintain effective means of disseminating information to the membership. Among the procedures most frequently used are publication of a journal or newsletter, occasional memoranda or letters from the president, columns appearing regularly in the state or provincial affiliate journal, and reports made at affiliate meetings. The NCTE Division Director of Communications and Affiliate Services as well as the regional representative to the Standing Committee on Affiliates should be on the mailing list to receive these communications.

Steps Toward Affiliation

1. An officer of the association, usually the president, submits a formal application to NCTE through the Division Director of Communications and Affiliate Services.

2. The association officer returns

a) the Application for Affiliation form;

b) a statement certifying that all members of the governing board are members of NCTE;

c) a copy of the association's constitution;

d) a copy of the association's policy on involvement of people of color;

e) a list of the association's members;

f)  payment of dues; and

g) if a local affiliate, a letter of support from the state or provincial organization.

3. The completed affiliate application is presented to the NCTE Executive Committee which votes on it.

4. If the application is approved, a letter is sent to both the president and liaison officer announcing the approval of the new affiliate. In addition, an announcement of approval is made in a regular Council publication (e.g., Council-Grams).

Benefits of Affiliation

1. Connection to a national network of professionals working
to improve the teaching of English language arts.

2. Representation on the NCTE Board of Directors.

3. Representation by regional representatives to national committees (e.g. Standing Committee on Affiliates and SLATE Steering Committee).

4. Information on affiliate activities and operations and leadership through participation in biennial regional affiliate leadership meetings, through special NCTE Convention programming, through Council-Grams (an electronic newsletter for Council leaders), and through the Affiliate Web site.

5. Information on a wide variety of projects and programs from the Affiliate/Assembly Lending Library and ability to share ideas and information with other leaders through the affiliate discussion list.

6. Information on NCTE through the NCTE Directory, NCTE press releases and other announcements, and the NCTE Web site.

7. The use of Manage My Organization, an online program designed to enable NCTE affiliates and assemblies to manage their membership using the NCTE database.

Services

1. Conference planning services through the Cosponsored Speakers Program, Affiliate Exhibit Kit Options, and regional conference policies as well as promotion of affiliate meetings in Council-Grams, The Council Chronicle, and on the NCTE Web site.

2. Ability to obtain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the IRS through the NCTE Group Exemption Letter.

3. Publications benefit through the Information Exchange Agreement and the Committee to Review Publications of Affiliates and Assemblies as well as the Newsletter Editors Handbook, the Journal Editors Handbook, and the Publications Directory.

4. Membership recruitment through the NCTE/Affiliate Mutual Membership Recruitment Program which sends the affiliate flier to all NCTE members, through the NCTE Web site links to affiliate membership information and to the affiliate's Web site (if there is one), rebates through the Long Way Together Program for recruiting new NCTE members, name and address lists or labels for NCTE members in the affiliate's area, ideas and success stories in Council-Grams.

5. Eligibility for a number of affiliate awards, including awards for leadership development, membership development, multicultural programs, recruitment of English language arts teachers of color, high school teachers of excellence, affiliate excellence, journals, newsletters, Web sites, and advancing the cause of intellectual freedom.

6. Consulting services from NCTE staff on affiliate projects, such as conference planning, membership recruitment, and involvement of people of color.