CSF Advisers Workshop Q & A
Workshop Slide Presentation – Fall 2023
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19WG1on0mYMAVWElPwOV-Iqi97xKzCeZCprB6xzuC0eU/
For answers to your questions contact your region VP or other board or staff members. Emails are here https://csf-cjsf.org/board-of-directors/
Getting the year off to a good start
What do I need to do in the first couple of weeks after school starts?
- Start your Student Membership Drive – Prepare your student membership application using the approved Course Lists from 2022-2023. The membership drive should take place in the first 4 weeks of the semester. See CSF Resources https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-chapter-resources/ – Student Membership – Sample Student Application
- Submit Course Lists by October 1st – Update your Course Lists for 2023-2024 using your last approved Course Lists as a template. Download 2022-2023 Course Lists here https://csf-cjsf-hub.org/
More info about Course Lists – https://csf-cjsf.org/standardized-csf-course-lists/ - Pay Chapter Dues by November 1st – Begin the process by renewing your chapter and updating information here https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-cjsf-renew-a-chapter/
Contact csf-registrar@csf-cjsf.org for questions about Course Lists.
How do we pay dues?
Dues are due each school year by November 1st.
The dues payment process is on our website beginning here https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-cjsf-renew-a-chapter/ Click on the blue CSF button and on the next page complete the chapter renewal information form. After submitting you will be returned to the dues payment page where you can choose to pay online or by mail.
You can look up your chapter’s record of dues paid over the past few years here https://csf-cjsf-hub.org/
Membership Drives
Is there flexibility on the timeline for the membership drive? For example, this is our fourth week of school. Can we host one in the next two weeks?
The membership drive should take place within the first 4 weeks of each semester. Given that the time is just past, start the membership drive as soon as possible.
Where do I find the Student Membership Application form?
A Sample Student Membership form is available for download on CSF Resources https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-chapter-resources/ – CSF Advisor Resources – Student Membership
Student Membership Dues
How much is the student membership for CSF?
Student members may not be required to pay chapter dues. Your chapter may ask for a dues donation which will not affect chapter membership eligibility. Some chapters suggest a donation of $5 per semester. You will need to be sure to keep within the ASB rules at your school.
Chapter Structure
Do we have our own Bylaws, or do we all work under the same state ones?
Each chapter has Standing Rules which are a part of the charter process. If you do not have access to your chapter’s Standing Rules there is a sample form on CSF Resources – Reference Materials.
In addition chapters are bound by the CSF Bylaws, also found on CSF Resources – Reference Materials.
https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-chapter-resources/
When are student board elections usually held by chapters?
As soon as possible after your membership drive is over and you have your membership roster in place.
What should students receive if they gain semester membership?
Optional awards may include an appropriate membership card for all semester members. Additional information is in the CSF Bylaws ARTICLE 6 – SECTION 2 https://csf-cjsf.org/bylaws-constitution/
Requirements for Semester Membership
ARTICLE IV Requirements for Semester Membership – Sections 1-19 provides detailed information about membership eligibility and requirements, course lists course and grade (points) requirements, various grading schedules, transfer and exchange students. https://csf-cjsf.org/bylaws-constitution/
What happens if a student has classes from Lists 1 and 3 but nothing from List 2?
Students do not have to have List 2 courses, but they do need to have 7 points combined from List 1 & 2. So, if there are no List 2 courses, all 7 points would have to come from list 1.
If a student moves to California from out of state, may she use her last semester transcript for Spring 2023 membership, or are out of state schools not eligible?
Have the student apply during your membership drive (if they hasn’t already), yet you will want to pull the application for additional review. When a student transfers, the transcript is forwarded, and courses are “translated” from the previous school system to the current. Once that happens by the registrar and/or counselor, you should be able to determine, based on the credits she receives from your school, under which of Lists I, II, and III the courses fall. In other words, you “wait’ until the student’s transcript now shows the current progress toward graduation at your school; that spring 2023 semester from out of state will now show a set of courses that should be on your existing course lists.
My school offers several career technical education classes like forensic science and criminal psychology, in the past all these classes were in list 3 but this doesn’t seem right. They are honors courses and criminal psychology is even articulated to a community college.
Because of the variation in the actual course material offered from school to school you will need to provide the Registrar a complete description of the actual course offerings, the syllabus is ideal; the course catalog description is not sufficient information.
Contact csf-registrar@csf-cjsf.org for specific questions about classes offered and Course Lists.
We have several students taking college courses and we give them 2 semester’s worth of credit. Can we do the same for CSF membership?
CSF points for a college course may be counted only in one semester.
More information on semester credit for courses outside the norm is in the CSF Bylaws on our website here https://csf-cjsf.org/bylaws-constitution/
If a student transferred from the only other high school in my district, are they still eligible to apply for this semester? Or do they have to wait until their transcript has grades from our school?
Does the other HS have a CSF chapter? If so, you could ask for the adviser to confirm that student’s semester membership status before transferring. If not, then you can have the student apply and wait until the transcript arrives to confirm the previous semesters.
More information in the CSF Bylaws Article IV Section 14 on our website here https://csf-cjsf.org/bylaws-constitution/
Can students qualify for CSF with only SDAIE courses?
A full schedule of only SDAIE courses would not give the students any List I courses. These types of classes are List II at the most. In short, no.
We are reviving our chapter after many years of dormancy. Is there a benefit to seniors gaining membership if they’ve never had membership before?
Yes, because you are reinvigorating the chapter, you could offer to let seniors (and juniors) apply for previous semesters in an effort to build lifetime memberships before graduation. That is an adviser decision since they would be responsible for tracking the application process.
This is a unique one-time situation as retroactive memberships are NOT allowed. Only in the case of a transfer or new student.
Where can I find the chart for the college classes?
The CSF Bylaws Article IV, Section 10. https://csf-cjsf.org/bylaws-constitution/
We just started our chapter last year and we gave the students the opportunity to apply for previous semesters and this year some students who are seniors are barely finding out about CSF. Are they able to apply for previous semesters too? Is it worth it for them to do it?
Students had ample opportunity during the past school year to apply for CSF membership and therefore the line needs to be drawn, just like with all other schools’ membership drives in fall and spring, and no retroactive membership would be allowed at this point.
Sealbearer Status
How is it possible for a senior to earn sealbearer status?
To become a Sealbearer, the student must have earned four semesters of membership. Those semesters must be in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. One of the qualifying semesters must be in 12th grade senior year. ARTICLE V – Requirements for Life (Sealbearer) Membership
Did you say that one of the four semesters to qualify to be a seal bearer has to be during their senior year?
Yes,
https://csf-cjsf.org/bylaws-constitution/
If a student has skipped their junior year but is just joining our new chapter will they be eligible to be a sealbearer?
A student completing high school work in 4 semesters (not including grade 9) must earn CSF membership in at least 3 semesters.
Seymour Award Nominations
I would like to know about the rules for eligibility for the Seymour Award. I need some clarification. The rules state:
Nominees must have earned Sealbearer status by the end of the first semester of their senior year.
However, the by-laws state that for Sealbearer status, “one of those semester memberships must be earned with senior grades.”
As I understand the process, students are not eligible to apply for Sealbearer status until they have completed one semester of senior work. So, do you mean that they need to have earned Sealbearer status with their senior year first semester grades?
The nominee must have completed the first semester of senior year to apply for semester membership. If that is the fourth (or fifth) semester membership, then the student will have achieved Sealbearer status. Only senior students who have achieved Sealbearer status can be nominated for the Seymour Award.
Community Service
Is there a community service portion to CSF? I saw that the scholarship talked about it, but I didn’t see a specific requirement for members or for a charter to have any?
CSF does not require community service as a condition of membership. Community service is encouraged and may be requested of chapter members as long as it is not required.
Do we need to keep track of their service hours?
Because community service is not required by CSF the decision is up to the advisor whether to track service hours. You may use this information for chapter recognition or school requirements.
I heard we have CSF “sanctioned” community service events, how would I know if something is sanctioned?
CSF, the state organization, does not sanction community service events, although your chapter may partner with local organizations or school service opportunities and promote to members that area of service. Community service may also be done by members through their church, YM or YW, 4H, scouting or other organizations. Service to family such as helping elderly relatives with shopping or meal preparation is also community service.
So if my chapter puts the event together it’s “sanctioned” and if the student goes out on their own for community service it’s not a CSF sanctioned event. Is one more beneficial than the other?
However CSF members choose to do community service, it will benefit their community. If your chapter has a favorite project it would be beneficial to the chapter if members participated in that service.
Does anyone happen to have a list of volunteer options and the equivalent hours associated with those things? For example, I know that our school last year had students write cards to senior citizen homes as a volunteer opportunity, but I don’t know how many hours that task would be for.
I am not aware of any listing that documents the hours associated with specific volunteering projects. Nevertheless, I would guesstimate that students writing letters would take about an hour to create two or three letters. That was the approximate average rate my students had when we last sponsored a letter-writing campaign.
CJSF Transition to CSF
How do CJSF transition into CSF? Are there any benefits in high school if they were in CJSF in middle school/Junior high?
There is a great poster detailing the benefits of CJSF membership on our website. You can download it and use it at your school. https://csf-cjsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CJSF-Poster.pdf
Our middle school does not have CJSF, would the Fall Advisers’ Summit be beneficial to someone who may want to begin it and become an advisor? Or is there another process for them?
The Fall Advisors Summit is a good opportunity for new advisors to learn about starting a CSF or CJSF chapter. In addition there are online workshops organized by CJSF board members that will provide a lot of information to new and potential advisors. Contact your region VP for more information. Find your region VP here https://csf-cjsf.org/board-of-directors/
Student Involvement
I noticed online that the next student summit was going to be held in Northern California. Is that still happening?
Student Summits and other regional in person gatherings for students are centered around the five Region Conferences held annually in the Spring. These conferences include, at a minimum, the Seymour Award Interviews and Huhn Award Workshops, and Awards ceremony. Student workshops and networking, as well as workshops for advisors are made possible by having the events hosted by a local chapter or several chapters in cooperation. The Calendar lists the dates for 2024 region conferences, and future years as well. https://csf-cjsf.org/calendar/ To learn more about these events and about hosting a region conference at your school refer to https://csf-cjsf.org/about-conferences/ and contact your region VP and the President-Elect for more information.
The Student Leadership Conference is held annually online. This is a student-focused event to share ideas, answer questions, and gain experiences involving your CSF/CJSF Chapter. All sessions are presented by students, for students, and about students! Presentations from previous years are on our website https://csf-cjsf.org/student-leadership-conference/.
The CSF/CJSF Student Advisory Council, or SAC, is a diverse group of CSF and CJSF members from every corner of California, the SAC focuses on statewide collaboration between middle school chapters, high school chapters, and the CSF/CJSF state board itself. Student members can sign up to attend online SAC meetings throughout the school year. https://csf-cjsf.org/student-advisory-council/
Student Led Projects – CSF and CJSF members are invited to share projects they have initiated or participated in to give service ideas to other members around the state. More information https://csf-cjsf.org/student-led-projects/
CSF Financial Awards
Are there only 2 scholarships offered through CSF throughout the year?in February.
CSF offers two awards each year.
The Michelson Essay Contest is open to Junior and Senior members of CSF. Students submit their essays online on our website from November 1st through December 22nd.
There is one award given each year for the best essay submitted. The writing prompt and additional information is on our website here https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-awards/#Michelson
The Seymour Award is open to Seniors who have earned Sealbearer status by the end of the first semester of their Senior year. Candidates must be nominated by their adviser and provide transcripts and other documentation. Nominations are open from January 1st through February 18th. There are 10 Finalists in each region who receive $2,000 each, and 1 Recipient and will receive an additional $3,000.
Finalists are selected by a committee review of the application and materials submitted. All Finalists must attend in person the Seymour Finalists Interviews in his or her region to receive a financial award. The region Recipient will be chosen from the 10 Finalists in each region at the interview.
- Because nominees compete against other members in their region it is essential to know your chapter region when nominating.
- Chapters must be in good standing for nominations to be considered: dues paid through the current year, and course lists submitted and approved by February 1st.
Get all the details on our website here https://csf-cjsf.org/csf-awards/#Seymour
Panda Express Fundraiser
The Panda Express fundraiser. How does that work?
Chapters are encouraged to participate in the two Panda Express fundraisers each year. 2023-2024: November 9, and April 19. Participating chapters will receive a donation from CSF equal to 10% of the pre-tax sales attributed to their chapter. For details about how to participate and requirements to receive the donation check out this page on our website contact fundraisers@csf-cjsf.org for additional information.
We are in Yosemite and the closest Panda Express is 45 mins away in Merced. Any thoughts on how to make this work?
– Some chapters take orders and a volunteer picks up the food and brings it back. One advisor’s husband makes a 45 minute trip and there is a Panda Express get together when he returns.
– A chapter field trip is also a possibility.
– All is not lost if there is not a convenient local Panda Express, your chapter can participate by getting the word out to family and friends all across the USA! Provide them with the fundraiser information and code, have them place their orders online and send you a copy of their purchase receipt from the date of the fundraiser. https://csf-cjsf.org/panda-express-virtual-fundraiser/
