All it takes is one committed person, a couple of friends who share your ideals, and a little time and effort. You will be amazed to discover how many of your classmates will want to get involved with an organization that is internationally recognized and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. By providing concrete projects to get involved in, you are giving your fellow classmates a chance to broaden their horizons and realize their potential to change the world in which we live. Before starting a chapter, we invite you to explore our Facebook page to see what activities IPPNW student chapters are taking around the world.
The following sections are aimed to give you a framework and suggestions for how to build a successful IPPNW student chapter. Remember that this is only a framework and should be guided and amended to best suit your individual environments.
Faculty Liaisons/Sponsors 
In launching your chapter you may want to consider recruiting a faculty member to join your efforts. Many chapters have profited from the participation of an interested faculty. Faculty, whether they are integral to the daily tasks of the chapter or are less involved, they can assist in ensuring the chapter continues on past the core group’s graduation. In addition to the expert knowledge and experience they can contribute, faculty may also act as effective liaisons with administrators at your academic institution and thus give more institutional credibility and support for your efforts.
If there is a national IPPNW chapter in your country, it might be helpful to contact them and ask for mentoring. You will find a list of international affiliates and their contact persons here. There might even be a regional group near your school.
Building a Core Group of Members
This can be as simple as joining together with two or three of your friends or your fellow students and declaring yourselves an IPPNW student chapter. Once you have a few companions and a recruited a faculty sponsor (not obligatory), you are ready to think about broader outreach and your first meeting.
One effective way to let students know about your chapter is to post flyers around your campus and circulating emails to clubs and departments. It often helps to personally invite individuals who may be less likely to respond to mass advertisements. You may also want to create a basic website or Facebook page for your chapter that can link to both your school and IPPNW. We also invite anyone interested in our work to follow the IPPNW Students Facebook page. Another way to attract attention is to set up a table during student orientation to distribute literature and tell students about IPPNW. You can have sign-up sheets to collect names, phone numbers, and email addresses for upcoming meetings.
Your First Meeting
Your first meeting is very important. This is your chance to increase awareness about IPPNW and our mission among your fellow students and convince them to get involved. You can start the meeting by introducing your core group and briefly describing IPPNW, its history and international scope, and your specific chapter mission. You can then begin to share your ideas about the groups agenda, possible future projects and get input from the participants.
In choosing projects, decide on a few that offer variety within the scope of IPPNW, serve the needs of the community, and provide the most interest for students. You may want to pass around a sheet and ask members to sign up for projects.
Committees can then be formed and coordinators can be elected for each project. Before the end of the meeting, decide on your next meeting date and the platform you’ll use to communicate (email, Facebook groups, WhatsApp, etc).
It is vital that you plan some sort of activity soon after your first meeting to ensure chapter momentum. You can think about team-building activities that will strengthen the spirit of the group, such as cooking-evenings, film-screenings, trips around your town, etc. (this list could go on forever – be creative!)
Suggested Chapter Structure
The following outlines suggested chapter structure. You may amend this to best suit your chapter, but we recommend that you maintain a written copy of your chapter structure and position responsibilities.
Officers
Especially with the rigorous schedules of medical students and the high fluctuation of students it is highly recommended to staff every office with two people.
- Co-Presidents: The Co-presidents will lead the group and make sure work happens continuously.
- Treasurer: The treasurer is responsible for monitoring and disbursing chapter funds as well as coordinating fundraising efforts to support chapter projects.
- Secretary: The secretary is the institutional memory of your chapter and its link with the general public. The secretary keeps minutes of chapter meetings and reports on its activities. They also handle publicity with the media, get the word out to fellow students, and write the reports for the regional directors.
- Web Master: The web master is responsible for creating and maintaining a local website or Facebook site. They will work with the secretary on publicity and stay in contact with regional and international representatives.
- Committee Heads: The committee heads are responsible for coordinating any one of the projects your chapter has chosen to pursue. They will be responsible for coordinating efforts for the particular project and reporting the progress to the chapter as a whole.
- Liaisons: The duty of a liaison is to network with other organizations to let them know what you are doing, to keep track of events they sponsor, and to use their expertise when appropriate. The number of liaisons will depend on the number of organizations at your respective schools.
None of these offices are obligatory. Please adapt these proposals to the need of your group. However it might be very helpful to distribute tasks and responsibilities, straight from the beginning.
Key Take-Aways
Create a small, core group of people who are committed to the creating and maintaining the new student chapter. Find a faculty/staff person at your school to serve as a sponsor, they’ll be more likely to help than you may think. In addition to faculty support, we encourage you to make contact with your national IPPNW affiliate. All of our affiliates have a vast amount of knowledge and research to share regarding nuclear weapons, the climate crisis, war and poverty, and countless other topics. Have an agenda ready for your first meeting, but leave ample space to find out what topics and activities people are interested in exploring. Create a platform (Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.) to encourage communication and to share meeting information. It is important to have a few elected officers to ensure organization, productivity, and longevity of the organization.
Most importantly, find what works best for your student chapter along the way.