Manage a chapter

Get Involved

It is important to maintain your chapter throughout the year to ensure you remain eligible for funding/opportunities.

To qualify as "active" and therefore eligible for funding, chapters must always:

Have officer and advisor roles filled
Submit an annual report each year (October)
Have completed any follow up reports for other grants received

These can be managed through the Member Management Portal. If your chapter is having issues with the above requirements, please reach out to us at studentchapters@optica.org.

Ideas for hosting events

Looking for suggestions on how to impact the community and/or your chapter members? Here are some ideas to consider:

A workshop focused on career development:
- Mock interviews
- Resume/cv reviews
- Speakers from industry and academia
A multi-day conference consisting of:
- Career development and diversity programming
- Opportunities for students to share their research
- Social activities that highlight the culture of your city
Diversity programming with a focus on:
- Imposter syndrome
- Gender/Racial equity
- Unconscious bias in the workplace
Invitations for experts to address current trends in the field or things that students should consider as they progress through their career
Building or leveraging existing optics/photonics experiements to share at local schools, festivals, or perhaps even your local pub!

Don't be afraid to leverage the chapter map and reach out to other chapters for suggestions on events that are succesful.

Transitioning officers

It is important that the outgoing President complete the following before concluding their tenure:

Go into the Member Management Portal and add the incoming President.
Go into the Grants Database and transfer Primary Administrator access to the incoming President.
1. Here is a video to walk you through this database.

Incoming Presidents should then:

Go into the Member Management Portal and add the other officers, members, and modify any other information as needed.
Go into the Grants Database and add the other officers as members of the chapter.