Alaska Recreation and Park Association
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ARPA Section Guidelines


Section Creation Guidelines
The following are guidelines for ARPA members to form and maintain sections within the Association. The goal for developing these guidelines is to ensure that there is a mechanism for members to align themselves with other professionals working in similar occupations within the entire field of Parks and Recreation, as well as a vehicle for the ARPA Board of Directors (BOD) to hold sections accountable to the Association to remain active and contributing to the Mission of the Association. 

The process for a group of 5 or more members to form a section within ARPA is as follows:
  1. Submission of by-laws outlining the purpose and goals of their section to the ARPA Board of Directors (BOD) for approval, using an available template to guide and facilitate the process.
  2. Submission of minutes from the initial meeting that includes a role call and lists duly elected representatives in the positions of section chairperson and section vice chairperson. The section shall also list one individual who shall be the liaison between their section and the education and training committee at all meetings.
  3. Submission of section membership (a minimum of 5 ARPA members required) who have affirmed their willingness to participate actively in the section.
All required information must be submitted to the ARPA President at least 30 days prior to the next scheduled quarterly BOD meeting to be considered at that meeting
The ARPA BOD will review the required materials prior to the next scheduled BOD meeting, and either affirm the creation of a new section, request additional information or revisions to necessary documents, or deny the section along with reasons for the denial.

Annual Section Requirements
On an annual basis, sections will be required to complete the following to remain "active" within ARPA as affirmed by the BOD:
  1. Make copies of section meeting minutes from quarterly meetings available to the ARPA BOD upon request, as well as to their membership.
  2. Have a designated representative who is active with the education & training committee
  3. Submit an annual section budget to the ARPA BOD no later than the Q3 ARPA BOD meeting.
  4. Submit a minimum of three sessions to be held at the Annual Conference
  5. Section leadership shall give a verbal affirmation to remain an active section for the coming year to the ARPA BOD at the Q4 ARPA BOD meeting.
 
Should a section not follow through on all above guidelines, the ARPA BOD shall have the following options:
  1. The BOD may vote to place the section on "probationary" status and email all section members to inform them of this decision along with necessary steps to return the section to "active" status and a deadline for doing so or face being declared "inactive."
  2. The BOD may vote to declare the section "inactive" and remove their representation on the ARPA BOD. Additionally, should members wish to re-form a section they will be required to follow all steps necessary to form a new section.




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